Building a championship football team

by Paul W. Bryant

OUR DEFENSIVE NUMBERING SYSTEM AND TERMINOLOGY

After coaching for a number of years, and always trying to find something that would make football easier to understand for the average player, I came upon a system of defensive numbering that has proven very valuable to me since then. In the past I have used many different defenses. I always employed the technique of giving each defense a name. Most of the time the name had little in common with the defense, and this confused, rather than helped, the players. After discussing the possibility of the numbering system with my own and other college and high school coaches, while at Texas A & M in 1956 I finally come across a feasible plan for numbering defensive alignments. I must give credit to O. A. “Bum” Phillips, a Texas high school coach, for helping work out the solution as he experimented with the numbering system with his high school football team.

In the numbering of our defense now, we give each offensive man a number, as well as the gaps between the offensive linemen. [Figure 1] is an example of our defensive numbering system.

Figure 1

Accompanying each number is a particular “technique,” which will be explained shortly. If a defensive player lines up in a 2 position, he will play what we call a “2 technique”; a 3 position plays a “3 technique,” etc. Therefore, from end to end of the offensive line we can line-up our defensive men and each position has a particular technique.

Who calls the defense? How is it called and what does it mean? Who is included in the call? Each linebacker calls the defense for his particular side of the line. He controls his guard, tackle and himself, but he does not control the end on his side of the line. The latter is controlled by the defensive signal caller in the secondary who gives a call for the 4- or 5-spoke defensive alignment.

Each linebacker calls two numbers. The first number tells his guard where to line up and his accompanying defensive technique. The second number gives the same information to the defensive tackle.

As an example, if the linebacker calls, “26,” the guard will play a 2 technique and the tackle a 6 technique. If the caller said, “59,” the guard would play a 5 technique and the tackle a 9 technique. When the linebacker tells the guard and tackle which techniques to play through his oral call, then he lines up in a position to cover the remaining gaps. As an example, [Figure 2] illustrates a 26 call, and the linebacker must take a position between his guard and tackle so he can fill the gap(s) not covered by the other front defenders. You can see by this example the linebacker is in a position to help out over the offensive tackle position, and also on a wide play to his side of the line.

Figure 2

[Figure 3] illustrates the position of the defensive right guard, tackle and linebacker when the call is 59. The linebacker is now in a position to help out on a play that is in the middle of the line.

Figure 3

One point I failed to mention, if we are playing a 4-spoke defense, which will be explained and illustrated shortly, we assign one defender to play “head on” the offensive center, and he does not figure in any of the calls. He lines up the same every time, as is illustrated in [Figure 4].

Figure 4

When we play a 5-spoke defense, which will also be explained shortly, the two linebackers assign one player to the area inside the offensive guards. As an example, if we are playing a 5-spoke defense and the call on the right side is 59, the call on the left side must be a one as the first digit, such as, 17, 16, 15. [Figure 5] illustrates a 59 call on the right, and a 17 call on the left, with one man playing a 1 technique in order to keep from having a large gap between the two guards.

Figure 5

You can quickly observe that by having our players learn only a few numbers and their accompanying techniques, we can line up in numerous defensive alignments merely by calling two numbers. Figures [6] and [7] are examples of 59 and 39 defensive calls, which are 4-spoke defenses with a man in a 0 technique, and are commonly referred to as the Oklahoma and Eagle defenses, respectively.

Figure 6

Figure 7

[Figure 8] illustrates a 25 call, with a 0 technique, and is a 9-man front defensive alignment.

Figure 8

[Figures 9-11] are 5-spoke defenses representing 26, 37, and 13 calls, which are commonly referred to as a wide tackle 6, a split 6, and a gap 8 alignment, respectively.

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

These defenses, [Figures 6-11], have the same call to each side. Each side is actually independent of the other as far as the calls are concerned. To eliminate any confusion, merely designate which side (left) is to call first, and the other linebacker (right) can adjust on his call accordingly so there is not a large gap in the middle of the defensive line. The linebackers must be especially aware of this if we are employing a 5-spoke defensive alignment.

The signal caller should never call a defense involving two successive numbers, such as 2-3, 7-6, as this will leave too much territory for him to try to cover (see [Figure 1]). The caller is always responsible for having a man in, or capable of covering, every gap.

It is very simple for the defensive signal caller to change the guard and tackle assignments even after he has given them a position to line up in and its accompanying technique. The caller merely adds a zero (0) or a one (1) to the end of the number he has called. As an example, if he gives the call 37 and he wants the players in the 3 technique to charge one-half a man toward the inside, he will say, “30.” If he wants this defender to charge one-half a man to the outside, he would say, “31.” This second call is given to only one player at a time, but he can change both of their techniques by saying, “31—71,” or “30—70,” etc.

Advantages of a Defensive Numbering System

Our present method is the simplest one I know of for getting players into various defenses quickly with a minimum amount of talking. We feel it eliminates much confusion. We have found the players take a great deal of pride in learning only a few techniques, which they are able to execute well. We know it makes our job easier as coaches, and we can do a better job of coaching the boys. As a coaching point, when a coach talks to a tackle, as an example, he talks in terms of a particular technique (6, 7, etc.), and the player understands him immediately. When the coaches are discussing plays, or in a staff meeting, we identify the particular technique immediately, and everyone understands each other. We have also found the method useful when making out the practice schedule as I merely specify, “Tackle coach work on 6 technique,” etc.

Employing a defensive numbering system requires the defensive signal callers to be alert. They do not merely call several numbers. They must be aware of the tactical situation at all times, and call a sound defense according to a tactical and strategical planning. As an illustration, a good short yardage call would be 13, and sound passing situation calls would be 36, 37, 39, 59 (see Figures [1], [3], [6], [7], [10], [11]). I spend at least several minutes every day with my defensive signal callers. It is the linebackers’ responsibility to see that we line up in a sound alignment every time.