12 Man Defense Site
Philosophy of 12 Man Defense Site Dan Jacobs is the author of this site, it contains one
of the best defensive playbooks around. The defense is based on the 12 Man scheme of
Football being used in Canada, but I am sure the enterprising Football Coach can adjust
this defense to meet their own needs by using their own imagination. The Secondary
coverages are good examples of Nickel and Dime Packages, and there are alot of good
linemen reads and schemes that can be adjusted.
Background of the Scheme: The system presented in this notebook is a synthesis of
schemes I've seen and discussions I have had over the last 10 years with a variety
professional, university, junior and high school football coaches in Saskatchewan. The
system is not unique and owes a great deal to Ted Heath of Temple University, Alex
Young of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Greg Johnson, head coach at Campbell
Collegiate in Regina.
Philosophy: The 43 Over is a gap control defense. The teaching emphasis is on
disciplined execution, penetration and aggressive pursuit of the ball. When we recruit
defensive personnel we look at strength and quickness before size.
Our first objective is take away the big running play. We want to keep the offense to 4
yards or under on any run. We feel that giving up big plays against the run is a recipe for
disaster. With our wide field, 41 yards from the near sideline to the far hash mark,
controlling the run particularly the wide side sweep and the toss is critical. If we can
manage this and all other things are roughly equal, we feel we have a very good chance
winning.
Our second objective is to control the hook and curl zones on the wide side of the field.
Limiting the number of completed passes in these two zones is important to us for two
reasons. First, allowing high completion percentages in these zones are first cousins to
giving up the big running play. Eventually the offense will get a big play out of a pass if
we allow too many completions in these zones. Second, since these are shortest throws on
the wide side, it is important that we get pressure on the QB quickly. If we allow the
offense to sprint wide side with out pressure we will give up play on a run by the QB.
With quick, consistent pressure the QB does not have the time or space to set up and
throw deep.