Drill Type:   Defense Drill

Purpose

This drill emphasizes getting in front of ball carriers and attacking them square.

Set Up

  • Set up 4 bags, or 4 lines of cones (3 cones deep) to create alleys.
  • Offense and defense players will face each other at the middle alley.

Execution

  1. The offensive man will initiate the drill from behind four bags.
  2. He will start in the middle of those bags.
  3. On “go,” he will start to move laterally.
  4. The defensive man will mirror him by sliding or moving laterally, whatever is necessary.
  5. Now when you say “score,” the offensive man will come up the alley in which he’s located.
  6. The linebacker must move his feet to get in front of the offensive man before he attacks the ball carrier and takes him back.

Coaching Tips

  • Even though we try to move our feet to always get in front of the ball carrier, there are circumstances that occur where we are approaching a ball carrier at an angle. When we do that, it’s very important that we get our head in front of the ball carrier.