A lot of times in youth football, the defensive side of the ball is neglected.
We suffered this problem my first year coaching youth football.
It was an 8th grade team with about 15 kids and at least 5 or 6 real good athletes.
Offense took priority, there was ALMOST no existing defensive unit time spent in practice and an average to less than average amount of spent on tackling.
Needless to say our offense was nearly unstoppable, and our defense was swiss cheese.
We played in a much weaker league since we had so few athletes and throughout the regular season dominated teams with two to three times the amount of kids but maybe only half the talent we had.
But talent doesn't always translate to wins even at that level of football.
Throughout the year because of our defense being suspect vs well coached or experienced offensive attacks we had to make several adjustments with our personnel, because as you know, in youth football you need to be able to make GREAT adjustments otherwise you'll get blown out of the water by teams that might not be as good as yours.
One of the first adjustments we ever made was actually done before we got into league play.
In youth football one of most dangerous and demoralizing plays is the sweep, pitch out, or toss play.
If you can get an athlete out in space you have the chance to break one tackle or make one man miss and just outrun the whole team as opposed to running between the tackles where an offensive player must go through at least 3 levels of the defense.
We decided to put one of our better, faster, stronger athletes out on the wide corner SPECIFICALLY to shut down the sweep and toss plays.
It worked beautifully, because not only did we do a better job containing and demolishing outside runs before they got started but the "monster corner" picked off THREE passes in a 6 game season.
Most of the interceptions where in the flats, which is AGAIN the most often attacked zone in youth football.
This strategy can work well for any youth team if you can afford to spare the athletes (which most teams should be able to, I hope you had more players sign up then we did, because practicing with 15 kids was TOUGH).
Here are some reasons why you should consider putting your best tacklers out on the "monster corner" 1.
Vision and the ability to anticipate and make the play.
- There is no clearer position on the field besides perhaps the safety spot.
When you are out there on the corner yes there is pressure but at the same time it becomes MUCH more clear as to where you need to be and what you need to do.
The reason I say this is because when your playing the linebacker spot in youth football there are a lot of kids who may LOOK to be great linebackers and be good tacklers but they get caught up in the wash.
They take a false step and then can't get through the scrum to make the play.
If your better athletes don't quite yet have the INSTINCTS to play the linebacker spot, they aren't making tackles where they need to.
2.
You need one on one athleticism out on the corner on the sweep plays and the flat passes.
- The corner spots on the defense should NOT be a minimum play or weaker player spot.
If you did this you are putting an inexperienced athlete out on an island to fend off some of the more successful plays in youth football.
Don't try those odds! Corners need to get off blocks RIGHT NOW, to make the tackle on the perimeter and they need to shut down any pass to the flat.
Some players may not like the idea of playing out on the corner.
This problem is easily fixed by putting emphasis on the position.
Make sure you call it the monster corner and make a big deal out of it.
Our first Monster corner wasn't too excited about playing outside the box because he thought he wouldn't be getting in the action.
Tell him the same thing I've told you.
The sweep is dangerous, the flat pass is dangerous, and you need a great player to HOLD IT DOWN.
Soon he was thriving in his role, making the important tackles and picking off passes.
We suffered this problem my first year coaching youth football.
It was an 8th grade team with about 15 kids and at least 5 or 6 real good athletes.
Offense took priority, there was ALMOST no existing defensive unit time spent in practice and an average to less than average amount of spent on tackling.
Needless to say our offense was nearly unstoppable, and our defense was swiss cheese.
We played in a much weaker league since we had so few athletes and throughout the regular season dominated teams with two to three times the amount of kids but maybe only half the talent we had.
But talent doesn't always translate to wins even at that level of football.
Throughout the year because of our defense being suspect vs well coached or experienced offensive attacks we had to make several adjustments with our personnel, because as you know, in youth football you need to be able to make GREAT adjustments otherwise you'll get blown out of the water by teams that might not be as good as yours.
One of the first adjustments we ever made was actually done before we got into league play.
In youth football one of most dangerous and demoralizing plays is the sweep, pitch out, or toss play.
If you can get an athlete out in space you have the chance to break one tackle or make one man miss and just outrun the whole team as opposed to running between the tackles where an offensive player must go through at least 3 levels of the defense.
We decided to put one of our better, faster, stronger athletes out on the wide corner SPECIFICALLY to shut down the sweep and toss plays.
It worked beautifully, because not only did we do a better job containing and demolishing outside runs before they got started but the "monster corner" picked off THREE passes in a 6 game season.
Most of the interceptions where in the flats, which is AGAIN the most often attacked zone in youth football.
This strategy can work well for any youth team if you can afford to spare the athletes (which most teams should be able to, I hope you had more players sign up then we did, because practicing with 15 kids was TOUGH).
Here are some reasons why you should consider putting your best tacklers out on the "monster corner" 1.
Vision and the ability to anticipate and make the play.
- There is no clearer position on the field besides perhaps the safety spot.
When you are out there on the corner yes there is pressure but at the same time it becomes MUCH more clear as to where you need to be and what you need to do.
The reason I say this is because when your playing the linebacker spot in youth football there are a lot of kids who may LOOK to be great linebackers and be good tacklers but they get caught up in the wash.
They take a false step and then can't get through the scrum to make the play.
If your better athletes don't quite yet have the INSTINCTS to play the linebacker spot, they aren't making tackles where they need to.
2.
You need one on one athleticism out on the corner on the sweep plays and the flat passes.
- The corner spots on the defense should NOT be a minimum play or weaker player spot.
If you did this you are putting an inexperienced athlete out on an island to fend off some of the more successful plays in youth football.
Don't try those odds! Corners need to get off blocks RIGHT NOW, to make the tackle on the perimeter and they need to shut down any pass to the flat.
Some players may not like the idea of playing out on the corner.
This problem is easily fixed by putting emphasis on the position.
Make sure you call it the monster corner and make a big deal out of it.
Our first Monster corner wasn't too excited about playing outside the box because he thought he wouldn't be getting in the action.
Tell him the same thing I've told you.
The sweep is dangerous, the flat pass is dangerous, and you need a great player to HOLD IT DOWN.
Soon he was thriving in his role, making the important tackles and picking off passes.
Source...