Coaching Defense: A 3 Word Naming System for Playing Fast on Defense!
When you devise your defense for today’s offenses you want to have the ability to lineup and play fast. You can’t have a wordy play system or you will get torched and often misalign. So we came up with a 3 word system.
Thus I came up with the 3 word system that really works well. The reason I use it is it allows us to play fast and get lined up only using 3 words. You don’t need wristbands or fancy call sheet, just a quick way to get lined up to handle today’s offenses.
The system is premised on terminology that is easy but also has much word association involved.
First, all the players look to the sideline to see the call and get aligned. They are all responsible for getting the call. We don’t allow talking the first 3 days in camp when the call is made so guys can’t get lazy and start getting the calls from their teammates. (Now communication is important so after the call) we talk and make our tight calls, strength calls, checks and anything after the defensive call is made.
We call the front first, then the blitz/movement and lastly the coverage. Everything is always 3 words. If we want to show on anything we do I just add a John Cena Show signal to the call. We just add that to the end of the call. Easy for 2nd and long and 3rd down situations. The players have flexibility at times to show in their gap or move around behind the DT/DE.
For example, when I call a man coverage it usually involves super heros. How many ways are you going to play cover 0? So cover o is either spider man or super man for the two ways we play it. So the calls are spider or super. That’s easy to signal if you think about it. Thus the man at the end makes it easier to remember.
Swipe across your chest or use a fist.
You get the idea.
We always call it the following way with 3 words:
Front Stunt/Blitz/Movement Coverage
Base Slant (movement) cover 2 (blue)
Base smoke(sam blitz) cover 3 (green)
odd strike Cover 4(red)
We can call any front: base, load, odd, tite, Mug, and then the blitz or movement followed by the coverage. It is so easy to incorporate.
The next part is that we use word association for everything. Word association makes it so much easier for the players.
For man free we can go with animals. Any blitzes we try to start with a S for the sam, W for the will, and m for the mike. If we combine the 2 LB, we can do it different ways.
F for the the free, C for the CB and A for the anchor or strong safety if they are blitzing. The kids pick up the defense in 3-4 days as we usually introduce it in camp and they go back and reteach it.
Colors were zone pressures, Super heroes were man concepts (Super and Spider for man to man cover 0)
Then we would have code words off each to disguise coverages and on the field so we aren’t yelling the same things to each other throughout the game. Sometimes the far DB can’t see so we do allow players to talk sometimes. We try to avoid yelling the calls as again, we hold everybody accountable from day 1. Important to not say the calls as much as possible. We also have 3 people signal. This is important as teams will try to steal your signals.
This is how to develop an easy system that can really help you get lined up fast and not limit your playbook. I hope this was helpful to you in developing an easy system on the defensive side of the ball.