Building a championship football team

by Paul W. Bryant

PASS DEFENSE OBJECTIVES

Pass defense is so vital that one simple defensive mistake can cost your team a football game. In order to have a good football team, the play in the defensive secondary must be sound.

The primary objective of pass defense is to keep the opponent from scoring, and secondly, to get the football. We stress these points all the time. On every play we want each player trying to get possession of the football for our team.

Pass defense consists of the following phases:

1. Rushing the passer.

2. Holding up the receivers.

3. Covering the areas or zones.

We have found it difficult to do a good job of all three of these phases at the same time.

Rushing the Passer

Rushing the passer is a good element of surprise, especially with an 8- or 9-man line. Overloading one side of the line is a sound tactic, too, because you have more men rushing than the offense has blocking, and the quarterback must get rid of the ball quickly. If the quarterback has sufficient time to spot his receivers, then throw to one of them when he breaks to get open, it is difficult for the defense to cover the pass properly.

The men rushing the passer must have their hands up high, forcing the passer to release the ball higher than he does normally. Such tactics keep the passer from throwing the fast, straight, bullet-like pass, which is the hardest for the defenders to break up. Secondly, the rushers with their hands high cause the pass to remain in the air longer because of its upward trajectory as it is released. Consequently this gives the defensive secondary time to release from their areas and sprint to the spot where the ball is descending.

The man who has the outside rush, and whose responsibility it is to contain, must get his hands high. He should not leap off the ground in an effort to tackle the passer, as he must be in a position to contain him in the event the passer tries to get out of the pocket and/or runs with the football.

When we are rushing the passer, we want our players to know they must not permit the passer to throw the football. In a definite passing situation when we decide to overload a zone and rush more men than the opposition has blockers, we acknowledge the fact we are sacrificing coverage in our secondary. Therefore, we must put on a strong rush, and we cannot permit the ball to be thrown.

[Figure 42] illustrates an overload on the right side of the offensive line. Analyzing the illustration and assuming it is a passing situation when we overload, if the opposition does throw a drop back pass, we are in good shape because we have more rushers than they have blockers. If the opposition runs to their right, which would be our left, again we are sound defensively because they are running into our strength. In other words, we are 66⅔% correct before the play even starts. If the opposition goes to their left (our right), we are not strong, but by our right side hitting and sliding to the outside, as illustrated in [Figure 42], we will not be hurt.

Figure 42

There are many ways of rushing a passer, but we do not expect to do a really good job of rushing unless we out-number the blockers. Then, when we have a pass rush called, our boys know they cannot permit the passer to throw the ball, as I cited previously.

Holding Up Receivers

We work on detaining the receivers at the line of scrimmage, but we probably do not devote enough time to this phase of pass defense. The purpose of this defensive tactic is to give your linebackers time to get to their defensive areas before the receivers get to them. It also gives your defensive halfbacks time to get their width and depth and get set up in their respective pass coverage zones. We hold up receivers several different ways as illustrated in [Figures 43-45].

[Figure 43] illustrates the tackle playing head up on the offensive end in order to detain him.

Figure 43

[Figure 44] illustrates the defensive end and linebacker pinching-off the offensive end, making it difficult for him to release for a pass.

Figure 44

[Figure 45] illustrates a third method of holding up an eligible receiver, merely by placing the linebacker in front of the offensive end so he can “whack” him as he releases from the line of scrimmage.

Figure 45

Covering the Areas

We cover the areas on pass defense and not the eligible receivers. We want our players to be in the middle of their areas in a good football position, and as soon as the ball leaves the passer’s hand, we want our boys to forget about everything else except intercepting the pass. We want our defenders to play through the receiver for the ball. They should never go around the receiver, unless it is a short pass. They should go for the ball at the highest point they can reach, and never catch the ball low if they could have intercepted the pass at a greater height. Our logic is that if a defender is waiting for the ball to come down so he can handle it at his chest or waist, the intended receiver has time to come in front of our defender and catch the pass for a completion. Whereas if our defender will go back when the ball is thrown, plant, and come toward the opponent’s goal line intercepting the ball with arms and fingers extended upward, the intended receiver can’t possibly take the ball away from him. This, of course, would depend upon the type of pass that was thrown.