Building a championship football team

by Paul W. Bryant

OUR GOAL LINE DEFENSE

Our goal line defense is very simple, and I am certain many other coaches use the same goal line defense, as illustrated in [Figure 25]. Perhaps there are a number of goal line defenses that are better than ours, but we have faith and believe in our goal line defense, and I believe this is 50% of the battle. When we go into our goal line defense, we want our boys to be so sold on what they are doing that they are not going to let the opposition score. Each man is going to take it upon himself to see that they do not score over his particular defensive area. Playing goal line defense is a terrific challenge. There is not much territory remaining, and the big questions are, “Who is going to come out on top?” and “Who will end up with the ball when the dust settles?” If we give our team a sound plan and teach it to them well, and they believe in it and in us, we will do all right.

Figure 25

[Figure 25] illustrates our goal line defense, and the individual and team duties and responsibilities are as follows:

Ends—The defensive ends line up in a four-point stance as close to the line of scrimmage as they can get, just shading the outside eye of the offensive ends. On the snap of the ball the defensive ends will charge low and hard through the tail of their offensive ends, trying to get approximately one yard deep into the offensive backfield. If the flow comes toward his side and the quarterback has the football, the defensive end tries to force the quarterback to pitch back to the off-halfback.

Tackles—The defensive tackles line up on the outside eye of the offensive tackles, and they aim for a spot one yard deep in the offensive backfield behind the inside foot of the offensive tackles. Each tackle is responsible for the hand-off play to his side, making the tackle or forcing the dive play to the inside so our middle linebacker can make the tackle.

Guards—The defensive guards get their spacing by lining up on each other, but theoretically they will line up on the inside eye of the offensive guards. They are responsible for sealing-off the middle of the line, and for keeping the offensive center from blocking the middle linebacker. They aim for a spot about one yard behind the offensive center’s position. They must get to this spot using a low, hard submarine charge.

As illustrated in [Figure 26], if our six linemen carry out their defensive assignments using a low, hard charge and get to their predetermined spots, we will form a wall.

Figure 26

Middle Linebacker or Defensive Center (see [Figure 25])—He is responsible for making any play that occurs between the offensive tackles. He should make the tackle on a hand-off, on a play up the middle, and help on the off-tackle play. On a back-up pass, he will drop off covering a short zone. If the play starts wide, the middle linebacker will pursue the football. He should be one of the best defensive football players. [Figure 27] illustrates the defensive position and responsibilities of the middle linebacker on our goal line defense.

Figure 27

Inside Linebackers or Fullback and Right Halfback (see [Figure 25])—They are responsible for the off-tackle play and the quick containing of the quarterback on the option play ([Figure 28a]). If the flow goes away, they check for the counter play before they pursue the football. On a running pass toward one side or the other, as illustrated in [Figure 28b], one linebacker will cover the flat and the other his hook spot. On a back-up pass they will cover the short one-quarter zones or areas.

Figure 28a

Figure 28b

Outside Linebackers or the Left Halfback and the Quarterback (see [Figure 25])—They are responsible for the wide play. They must not permit the play to get outside of them on their particular side of the defensive alignment. When the offensive play starts, both outside linebackers will “read” the offensive end closest to them, and the flow of the offensive backs. It is important they diagnose a running pass correctly, because the offensive end to the on-side must be covered correctly if his route is deep. (The outside linebacker must cover the deep man whether it’s an end or a back.) If the play is away, the backs will revolve toward it.

The two inside and two outside linebackers ([Figure 25]) play 4-spoke pass coverage on all passes, which will be explained in greater detail in [Chapter 5], “Pass Defense.” Our automatic “Thunder,” which is very good versus this particular situation, will also be explained later.