Defensive Line Drills Defensive Line Drill Library DL

Defensive Line Drills

Defensive Line Drill Library DL Drills 1 Posistion Stance 2 Alighnment & Assighnment 3 Defeating Block Types (P. 3 -4) 5 Pass Rush Moves (P. 5 -6) 7 Combination Bag Drill 8 Sack & Strip Drill 9 Combination Snap/Bag Drill 10 Contain & Alley Drill 11 Drop Back Contain & Pursuit Drill 12 Cross Face Reaction Drill 13 Mirror Bag Drill/Machine Gun Drill 14 Weave Through Bags Drill 15 5 Man Sled Rip and Shiver Drill 16 5 Man Sled Rip & Shriver/Roll 17 Combination Snap & Bag Drill 18 DL Ladder 1 Foot Drill 19 DL Ladder HK Drill 20 DL Ladder HK Shuffle Drill 21 Pass Rush w/Hoops (Cones) 22 Hoops (Cones) Progression 23 Soukup Drill 24 Weave & Contain Drill 25 Weave Cones Drill 26 Tip Pass Drill 27 3 Cone Drill 28 Beat with Feet Drill 29 Rag Drill 30 DBL Hip Drill 31 Roll Sprint Out & Contain Drill 32 DL Stunt & React Drill 33 Plant, Cut & React Drill 34 Block distinction Drill 35 DL Extended Bag Work 36 Control & Takle Drill 37 DE Block play bs. TE (P. 37 -41) 42 DL Cone Drill x 3 43 Hands & Press/Launch Drill 44 Press & Shed Tackle (Cross/Angle) 45 Strike & Load Drill 46 Quick Hands 47 Get off, Set & Read 48

DL Stance Hands & Feet -The Defensive lineman should align with his inside hand down and inside foot back. -Pretend the inside eye is on the ground and you need to pick it up. -Feet should be approximately shoulder width or a little wider apart. -Have good bend in knees, ankles and waist. -65% on the front hand 35% on the back foot. -The players feet should be in a toe-to-instep relationship with feet pointing straight ahead. Upper Body -Back should be flat and tail should be slightly above your shoulders. -Player should have forward lean with more weight on hand than feet. -Off hand ready to go! Not resting on the quad. #1

Alignment Assessment Gap Identification C B A A B C Inside Defensive Alignments 6 i 3 i 2 i 2 i 3 i 6 i Outside Defensive Alignments 7 5 3 3 5 7 Head Up Defensive Alignments 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 #2

Defeating Block Types Being Down Block S T C $ R G T E Base Block M T C Coaching Point: Strike chest plate with thumbs up. Control outside shoulder. Use both hands! Have eyes on the V of the neck of the offensive lineman. Shock, shed & pursuit to ball. S N G R T E Block Out M S N C R T G T Coaching Point: Fight pressure with pressure and force back. Don’t give ground! Keep shoulders square as you can. E Coaching Point: Fight pressure with pressure and force back. Compress gap that is attempted on being created. Squeeze the OL to restrict the size of the hole. Keep shoulders square to the L. O. S. in case the ball bounces outside. #3

Defeating Block Types Reach Block M S N T C $ R G T E Down Block S T $ R C G T E Trap Block M N S T C R G T E Coaching Point: Step with inside foot. Widen on 2 nd step while fighting to maintain outside leverage. Aim eyes at the V of the neck. Player should now push through the OL’s outside shoulder. Try to make the OL’s shoulders perpendicular to the L. O. S. Don’t run away from block so as to create lane. Coaching Point: Down = down. $ must step down. Goal of the DL is to get his hands on the TE’s and drive him down. Eyes up and come off the but of the TE with shoulder perpendicular to the L. O. S. The $ drives the TE and doe sot let him climb to the LB’s. Finally don’t forget Down = Down! Coaching Point: The Defensive lineman being kicked out must spill. The spill means that the DL should hit the G trying to kick him out. Get your head and arm on the inside while making contact. Get as far inside as you can. Contact the OL low and on the inside 3 rd of his body. #4

Pass Rush Moves A (1 -7) Bull Rush 1 Club and Rip 4 Used as a strong surge over the outside shoulder of an offensive blocker. The bull rush is used versus linemen who lack strength or pass set inside to much. This is an all out attempt to whip your man physically, and must be your first technique because it sets the offensive man up for all other escape moves. Rusher must get off quick and force blocker to move his feet and turn his shoulders. The rushers aiming point must be an imaginary shoulder wider than the pressure point. Once rusher gets close enough he will execute a club and rip technique in an attempt to break down the angles of the blocker's shoulders then explode to the quarterback. 1. Designing Your Bull Rush Drills: 2. No head fakes, pulls or throws, but simple power thrust and get the offensive blocker on his heels. 3. Once getting the blocker on his heels, force the blocker back into the quarterback. 4. Drive your forehead through the throat or chin of the offensive blocker, then with both hands punch through his numbers in an upward movement. 5. Defensive lineman must keep his pads underneath the blocker. Butt and Rip 2 Technique used whereby the defensive lineman drives his face mask to a point just above the blocker's numbers with the hands grabbing both shoulder points. The rusher will drive forward working blocker up and back in an attempt to over power him. Once the rusher has the blocker off balance he will rip and explode to quarterback. Punch, Shoulder Club & Rip 3 Same as the punch and shoulder club except the rusher will now rip with the offside shoulder and arm. Used to stop the feet of blocker, then work a side to the quarterback. Club and Turn 5 Use Jet technique from a three point stance, driving the heel of the hand on the side of your first step into the shoulder of the blocker, simultaneously grabbing the blocker's opposite arm above the elbow with the other hand, turning the blocker away from you, while continuing your charge around the blocker to the quarterback. Rip Through 6 Release the inside hand, pulling with the outside hand arm, turning the shoulders of the blocker. Dip and rip with the inside arm and leg. Must get shoulder in the armpit of the blocker, rip the inside arm to the sky. Defender must get his hip past the blockers hip, roll the hips through while ripping the inside arm to the sky. Punch Shoulder, Club & Swim 7 It is the same as the punch and shoulder club except the rusher will now swim over with offside arm after the shoulder club. Use this technique when you want to force offensive blocker to stop his feet. You should be able to beat him to the side. #5

Pass Rush Moves B (8 -12) Inside Crossover 8 Jab Step and Throw 10 You use this technique when an offensive lineman has taken away your outside Go or Jet. The object of this rush is to take advantage of the offensive blockers over compensation to stop the outside jet move. Jab step forward under control, making contact with your hands on the blocker's shoulders. Push off with your inside foot, sliding laterally and forward to the outside of the blocker while throwing him off to the inside with your hands. Continue your pass rush past the blocker to the quarterback. Note: Any combination of the above techniques can be used. The defensive lineman must adopt a combination that most suits his abilities. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Drill Technique Explode off the football. Take Jet angle outside. Turn sharp inside and drive helmet for outside shoulder of offensive blocker. Crash inside shoulder so blocker will compensate with body weight. Drive inside shoulder through outside number of offensive blocker's chest. Inside arm should be in a drag arm position as outside hand grabs jersey. Drive up field in a pinching manner destroying blocker. Pull outside shoulder out and back as inside arm clubs inside shoulder of blocker. Bring outside arm over as you cross over. Club backside of blocker with outside hand as you release to sack quarterback. Punch and Shoulder Club 9 Technique whereby the defensive lineman will punch the offside shoulder of the blocker then club the onside shoulder of the blocker in an attempt to get blocker off balance. Coaching point - The punch must occur on the 1 st step. Use this technique when you want to stop an offensive blocker and then work a side. Swim Over 11 Same as rip through, but your inside arm will come over the top of the blocker's shoulder, as if punching the quarterback. Must bring arm over quickly, with elbow landing on kidney area of the back, this keeps the blocker from wheeling on the pass rusher. Emphasize tight hip to the blocker and must get the inside hip past the blocker when making the swim move. Never stop your feet from moving up field when making any type of counter move. Break and Rip 12 This move is used to counter a late lock out by the blocker, strike down through the outside arm of the blocker with the inside hand arm. Possible rip or swim move. It is important to keep a good grip on the outside shoulder of the blocker while driving up field, the key is to keep the tip of the shoulder pad pulled down the outside hand, because the blocker can't square up on the defender #6

Combination Bag Drill #7

Sack & Strip Drill Coach Explanation: Getting an edge rush, creating turnovers as well as getting a sack. 1. Perform edge rush. Take tight round hoop angle around the hoop. 2. Sack and strip. Strike downward with hand on passing arm. 3. Scoop ball and score. If not dive on like grenade. Note: Could add coach/player holding a blocker. Could also do drill w/Blue roof for lowering pad level. End: Alternate lines for the DL. Go from one side to the other. Wobble #8

Combination Snap/Bag Drill #9

Contain and Alley Drill #10

Drop back Contain, Alley, and Pursuit Drill #11

DL Pursuit/Cross Face Reaction Drill #12

Mirror Bags/Machine Gun Drill #13

Weave Through Bags Drill #14

Five Man Sled Rip & Shiver Drill #15

Five Man Sled Rip & Shiver and Roll Drill #16

Snap & Bag Drill Explanation: Agility, movement and redirection! Drill: See notes below. #17

DL Ladder 1 Foot Drill #18

DL Ladder HK Drill #19

DL Ladder HK Shuffle Drill #20

Pass Rush w/Hoops #21

Hoops Progression Drill Coaching Points Purpose: To teach proper use of running the feet, lean, dip and rip techniques. 1. Full speed effort. Procedure 1. Utilize PVC pipe to make hoops 7 feet in diameter. 2. From starting position, execute progression with DL. 2. Maintain balance. 3. Execute lean, dip, and rip techniques. 4. Use leg drive to shorten edge rush. 1 HOOP • Run both directions. • Run/Lean/Dip/Rip vs. OL without pressure. • Run/Lean/Dip/Rip vs. OL with pressure. 2 HOOPS • Run figure 8’s. • Run/Lean/Dip/Rip figure 8’s vs. OL without pressure. • Run/Lean/Dip/Rip figure 8’s vs. OL with pressure, #22

Soukup Drill Purpose: To teach agility and reaction. Procedure: Player crabs on all fours, then flips his body over rolling on his seat, and then continues to crab on all fours. Repeat, following direction from coach left and right, somersault, regain your feet, forearm lift man in front, and finally the player turns to meet the opponent coming from behind, this is a quick reaction move. Drill can also be performed from bear crawl position. Also feel free to mix in “monkey roles” with a group of 3. Coaching Points: Stress low center of gravity, quickness and operating from a good football position. Coach can use hand or oral signals for reactions Bear Crawl Crab Walk #23

Wave and Contain Drill #24

Weave Cones Drill #25

Tip Pass Drill To quickly teach having separation from an OL and working into a passing lane, we will use our tip pass drill. We will align two or three groups of OL vs. DL and put a QB at different depths. This drill works well to teach rush lanes and responsibilities, finding an open rush lane, working the timing of our rushes, and gives us the opportunity to work specific moves. Purpose: To teach DL to work into passing lanes and tip passes Procedure 1. Align OL vs. DL. At snap, QB drops to simulate pass. 2. DL works pass rush moves. QB pulls guide hand as if to throw. 3. DL disengages and works to passing window to tip ball as QB throws. Coaching Points 1. Get off the ball. 2. Work a pass rush move. 3. See the QB and force a line to the QB. 4. As QB pulls guide hand, work to the passing lane. #26

Three Cone Drill Procedure Three-Cone Drill 1. Fit OL and DL in attack position. We will use a sideline of a field as the line of scrimmage. We place an OL straddling every 5 yards and place a DL across from him. A cone is placed between each 5 -yard line at a relative 3 -step drop depth. We will begin the drill from the left side of an OL and execute a pre-determined pass rush move with a burst to the cone. We will then slide the DL group 5 yards in the other direction and rush the other direction to work rushes from the right edge. 2. On “Hit”, DL executes pass rush move. Purpose: To teach and practice rushes from the FIT position. 2. Clear the hips. 3. After beating OL, burst to QB at 3 -step drop depth. Coaching Points 1. Fast hands, fast feet. 3. Stay on track for 3 -step; don’t get washed up field. 4. Employ counter moves if needed. 5. Burst to QB #27

Beat w/Feet Drill Procedure Beat With Feet 1. Align two cones 3 -4 yards apart. Purpose: To teach DL to use their feet to beat OL 2. Align an OL between the cones and a DL facing the OL. 3. On “hit”, DL works to move past the OL using feet and speed. 4. OL has restricted use of hands (not a contact drill). 5. After DL beats OL, re-circle and continue drill. Coaching Points 1. Move the feet. 2. Full speed effort. #28

Rag Drill Procedure 1. 2. Line up behind the line. Break on movement from coach. Note 1. Drive w/movement side leg. 2. Opposite hand grabs the towel. 3. Could use a FB on a stick to simulate snap of ball. 4. Could add hoop to provide edged symbol. Object 1. 2. Stay tight to cones and low. Rip low and grab rag. QB Rag Rip inside hand down low and grasp rag. “This teaches the low dip rip and getting skinny vs. the OL on pass rush. ” #29

Double Hip Drill Procedure 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Strike Sled from stance. Other player holding bags provides pressure from the outside on the side. Play w/good balance and wide base. Play w/contact. Bag does not have to come every time, this ensures the DL player will not cheat the drill. Go from DL, to bag holder to out. . X 1. 2. Work on gap control Work on playing w/good base & leverage while taking pressure from DBL team. Rag Object Led Sled #30

Roll Sprint-Out, Contain Drill Procedure 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. QB/Coach gives scout look for DL. Start w/summersault Stress low center of gravity for defender as he executes his forward roll. From a good football position execute a somersault, come to your feet in a good hitting position, with extended arms and hands lifting the defender and warding off or shedding the blocker. Then reacting to the coaches hand signal, reacting to the proper angle of pursuit. Object 1. To teach agility, shedding or warding off an opponent and reaction. #31

DL Stunt & React Drill Explanation: Getting off the ball, Coming down under control and retracing to locate ball. Drill: Coach starts drill w/movement. DL comes down back and reacts to coaches given direction. Note: Coach gives reaction to retrace and chase to designated side. Use most often with our stunts. Examples (Slant Strong, Pinch or Slant Weak. Later work with Nut, Ton & Hurricane. End: Refill at back of opposite line. Coach B A G #32

Plant, Cut & React Drill Explanation: Coming down of the line. Planting, cutting and reacting to cut back run. Drill: Come from behind cone line, go down around lower cone. React and chase ball. Fit up with proper tackling form. Note: Make sure DL gets around the bottom cone. End: Offense, defense & Out. Coach #33

DL Block Distinction Explanation: Down = down wrong arm and spill void. Coach gives lineman one of 2 things. Block down, down and pull! Drill: Lineman goes down, close down gap by pinching g towards the center. Head and arm on inside of kick out black. Spill it! Opposite DL work to cross face of down block away from kick out. Note: DL x 3, Offense and out. End: Coach give action for lineman to follow. Coach #34

DL Extended Bag Work Explanation: Agility, movement and redirection! Drill: Sprint, backward run, combo, agility and more. See notes below. #35

Control & Tackle Drill Coach Explanation: Coming down of the line. Planting, cutting and reacting to cut back run. Drill: BC = Ball Carrier 1. QB hands off to the back. Use plays from given weeks opponent. 2. Back must stay inside the box or avoid tackle. Note: Can also work in different backfield sets 4 -5 Yards such as split, wishbone or others. End: HB, QB, OL then DL and out. Wishbone Split I #36

DE Block Play vs. TE Explanation: The C gap defender to your defensive line versus a TE is critical person in being effective at stopping a running game. Drill: Man on base/Double Note: Two groups (Younger and older) End: Left, Right, Offense & Out. Coa ch #37

DE Block Play vs. TE Explanation: The C gap Drill: Man on Reach Note: This read uses the OT as the visual key and the TE as the pressure key. 1. The DE will put his near hand to the man down. End: Left, Right, Offense & Out. Coa ch #38

DE Block Play vs. TE Explanation: The C gap Drill: Zip Read Base/Double Note: Different technique on the TE. End: Left, Right, Offense & Out. Coa ch #39

DE Block Play vs. TE Explanation: The C gap Drill: Zip Read Reach TE Note: This read uses the OT as the visual key and the TE as the pressure key. 1. The DE will put his near hand to the man down. End: Left, Right, Offense & Out. Coa ch #40

DL Cone Drills x 3 #41

Hands Press & Launch Drill Explanation: Using hands and having explosive violence with them. Note: Lock out elbows! Can also use band to keep hands in tight. Coach: Stand back with staff to start movement Technique: Press & Launch 1. Press off blocker bad 2. Launch onto your belly on the read bag 3. Elbows in tight with your thumbs up! End: DL, Bag holder to out DL Sh DL Press off blocker bad and launch on to red bag iel DL ld Shie d B A G DL Coach #42

Press Shed & Tackle Drill Explanation: Using hands and having explosive violence with them. Note: Have Back in one of the 3 positions. Coach: Coach can start the drill with 1. movement staff. 2. Coach should use blue roof for depth and get off. Coa 3. Back can cross (L/R) or angle ch Technique: Press, Shrug and pursuit! 1. Pursuit to the ball of any given 3. 2. Shrug blue blocker! End: DL, RB to bag holder to back of line. 1 DL DL Shield 2 3 #43

Strike & Load Drill Explanation: Working the strike on blocker collision. Using hands and being explosive. Note: Work left shade x 3 than right shade x 3 1. Knees bent and loaded from crouched 4 point stance. 2. Pick up ball and explode (Toss) towards other side. 3. Other side catches and resets to send back. Coach: Use movement to key the start to the drill. Ball staff works great! Technique: Elbows in tight and thumbs up. End: Side goes 2 -3 sides in an alternating fashion. After that the next group of 4 comes in. Coach DL DL MB MB DL DL 4 Points Stance By load side #44

Quick Hands Drill Explanation: Pass rush, block defeating and using hands. Note: Club-Cloth or Club-Rip Coach: Can play setter of have players do it. Def, Bags & Out. Technique: 1. DL/Bag take off on movement. 2. Bag will extend to a side. 3. DL must club side and get over and out. 4. Bags than perform same drill the other way in an alternating manner. 5. Elbows in tight with your thumbs up! End: Go 4 times and rotate DL DL “Club direction side and get over” Shield DL DL Coach #45

Get Off, Set & Read Chase 1 of 3 paths Get Off, Set & Read Explanation: Block Distinction Coach: Can play setter of have players do it. Give all reads! Technique: Penetrate heal depth and react the read. 1. Setter should show Pass set, Pull (L/R) and Chase 3 directions 2. Use stick to simulate movement start. End: Hustle back to line. DL DL Coach Pull Pass Set #46