Alignments

For a 4 man front there are 2 Ends (Tackle and Rush) and 2 inside guys (Nose and Eagle). First, our
number system:

Head up alignments are even numbers and shades are odd numbers.

In a base 4 man front: Tackle and Nose are our weak side players (away from the TE). Tackle is in a 5
and Nose, a 1. Rush and Eagle are our strong side players. Rush is a 6 to 7 depending on what we
scout for that week and Eagle is a 3.

Gap Responsibilities:

Gaps are labeled from the inside, out. Each position has a gap responsibility. Rush – C, Eagle – B,
Nose – A, Tackle – C.
Stance
Hand to the man is down, gap hand up. This means that whichever gap they line up to, that hand is
up.

Whatever hand is down, the opposite foot is up. So, if right hand is down then the left foot is forward.

This stance example will be for a right handed stance (right hand down, left foot forward):

1. Feet – with the left foot forward, take right toes and put them to the instep of the left foot.
Spread legs to shoulder width or a little more. This will make the feet be in a staggered
stance.
2. Hands – right hand in the ground. ALL of the weight is forward onto this hand. You should be
able to walk by, kick their hand out from under them and they would face plant into the
ground. Up on the pads of their fingertips. NOT on the palms of the hands of on knuckles.
You cannot fire out of the stance as well as you can when you are on your fingertips. Left
hand is off the ground and in front of them ready to fire out. Arm is not resting on their knee.
3. Stance length – feet are no wider than slight outside of shoulder width. As far as distance
from feet to hands, it depends on the size of the player. I don’t have a defined length. They
should not be extended so far that they have to take a huge step to get going but should also
not be so balled up they can barely move.
4. Butt – Butt is up in the air. Should be the highest point in the stance.
5. Head/Eyes – Head is down and facing forward. We do not look at the ball; we have eyes on
our key read which I will cover later. See the ball out of the peripherals.

I tell my guys to always be in a 3 point stance. A 4 point stance is not as effective. The only time I’m
ok with a 4 point is in short yardage situations (3rd and 2, 4th and 1, Goaline).

Starts
Having a great stance is important to our starts. It creates our first landmark for our first step.

As soon as the ball is snapped we are firing out of the stance like a cannon ball.

1. First Step – Replace the hand. So in the right handed stance, where the right hand started is
the landmark for the first step. Right foot would be the first step and is going to literally
replace the exact place where the hand was. The hand will no longer be there because along
with the first step, they are shooting their hands.
2. Shoot Hands – Full extension is important. As the first step comes up, get hands on the man.
First person with hands on is usually going to win the battle. Hand placement varies on where
the man is shaded. Lined head up, both hands are in the o-lines armpits, THUMBS UP. Grab
 and lock arms out. Shaded to the right, left hand is now on the center breast plate and right
hand is in the armpit. Switches for shaded left.

Stance starts having the same techniques no matter where lined up. Always have these rules. Now,
when the o-line starts down blocking/reaching, things will change and I will cover that. Same things as
when the d-line starts stunting.

KICK OUT or TRAP

Any kick out blocks we wrong arm. So if it’s a trap, pull to kick out, FB kick out we are wrong arming
the block. Make sure that when they wrong arm that they stay square to the LOS. As soon as their
shoulders turn they put themselves at a disadvantage.

Always remember that we are only 1-2 yards deep. Any deeper than that then we open up a running
lane.

READS
Each position has a read. Depending where they line up. So if we use the base defense then it would
be as follows:

Rush – Knock of TE so they are not to have a free release then work to the tackle. So the read for rush
would be TE to T

Eagle – Reads Guard

Nose – Reads Guard to Center. Have to anticipate the double team. Don’t give the guard a free
release to the LB

Tackle – Reads Tackle. 9 times out of 10 they are just going to get down block away. But still need to
be ready for the reach block every now and then.

Eyes are on the knees to hips. That’s going to show what direction the O is going.

Another pre snap read is hands. Some o linemen are not good at hiding it. Look at the hands. Do
they have a lot of weight on their fingers or none at all? Will help to identify if you’re getting run or
pass or pull. To help identify if getting pull block they can look to see if they are angled or body is
leaning one way.
Post snap, high hats v. low hats.

DOWN BLOCKS
Down blocks are pretty simple for Tackles. So their read is stepping down the line so they will step
down with them. Inside foot is up and outside foot is back, shoulders parallel with LOS. Punch the hip
of the tackle and shuffle down the line. Be ready for the kick out block coming to you (puller or FB)
and then wrong arm it. If no kick out block be ready for anything coming back that way. I refer to
the tackle or whoever is the backside player as the CBR player. Cutback, Boot, Reverse. This person is
slow playing the play and waiting for anything to come back their way. If they break down the line too
soon then they could allow the play to bounce back. Do not commit to pursuit down the line until
the ball has crossed the LOS.

DOUBLE TEAM BLOCK

Anytime we get a double team it is important that we first get hands on our read. So for a nose they
are taking their initial steps with the guard and getting hands on. Since we are shaded that means
one hand on center chest plate and one hand under shoulder (steering wheel). Be ready for the
center to attack other shoulder. I teach them to not even worry about the center. Push pull
technique with the guard. So if we are on the right side we are pulling with left hand (center chest
plate) and pulling with right hand. Then, stepping through the gap between guard and center,
dipping shoulder through. With the hips, I tell them to literally sit in the lap of the center. So now they
are sideways between the guard and center, hands still on the guard. Once the shoulder is clear then
throw the guard by and should be clear of the double now.