What is Cover 3 coverage in football?
Cover 3 cuts the deep field into three equal strips and gives one to each of three defenders, with everybody else covering short areas in front of them. Nothing is allowed to get behind anyone, every defender faces the quarterback, and short throws are given away on purpose. It is the easiest sound defense to teach and the one most teams should start with.
Why Cover 3 works
Nothing gets behind you, ever
Three defenders splitting the deep field means every deep route in every part of the field has somebody standing behind it before it starts. The long touchdown that loses youth games simply cannot happen if the three deep players do their one job, and their one job is to not let anybody past.
Every defender can see the ball
Zone defenders face the quarterback the whole play. They break when he throws rather than reacting to a receiver's shoulder, they tackle better because they are looking at what is happening, and interceptions come from watching the thrower rather than chasing the catcher.
It does not ask anyone to win a footrace
No defender has to be faster than a receiver. He has to be in the right strip at the right depth, which is a thing you can coach in a week rather than an athlete you have to be handed. This is why Cover 3 works for a team that did not get to pick its players.
The same three strips at five players and at eleven
Three deep is three deep. Team size only decides how many players are left to stand underneath them.
- Five players, three deep · 5v5Five players, three deep in 5v5: Three deep, two underneath, and nobody chasing anybody. The corners and the safety each take a third of the field behind them and the two backers take the curl and the flat in front, which means every defender is watching the quarterback instead of running with a receiver. This is the call for a team that keeps getting beaten deep, for a windy day, and for the week a coach has a defender who cannot run with the man he is lined up over. The cost is the throw underneath: the space between the backers and the deep three is open by design, and a patient offense will take six yards there all afternoon. Make them prove they can.
Three deep thirds and two defenders underneath, which is as thin as zone gets. Nothing goes over the top, and the short middle is open by design because there is nobody left to put there.
- Eleven players, three deep · 11v11Eleven players, three deep in 11v11: Three deep, four under, with the strong safety rolling down to the flat, that is the sky part. The corners bail to their thirds and the free safety has the middle alone. The standard early-down call: it fits the run with an extra man and never gets beaten deep.
The identical three strips, with seven players underneath instead of two. Same call and the same picture deep. The difference is that the flat, the hook and the curl each get an owner.
How to teach Cover 3 in one practice
- 1
Walk the thirds before you run anything
Put three players on the field and walk them to their strips. Left third, middle third, right third. Have each one run to the back of his strip and stop. Five minutes of walking beats an hour of explaining, and once they have stood in it they own it.
- 2
Backpedal at the snap, always
Deep players move backwards first, every single snap, no exceptions and no matter what the offense shows. The most common mistake is a deep defender stepping forward toward a short throw. A short completion in front of him is a success; a receiver behind him is a touchdown.
- 3
Stay on top of the deepest man in your strip
Not covering him, on top of him. The instruction is: whoever is deepest in my strip, I am deeper. If nobody is in my strip, I drift toward the middle and keep my depth. Young players want a person to guard, so give them a rule that behaves like one.
- 4
Underneath defenders get to a spot, then face the quarterback
Short zone players run to their area first and look at the thrower second. The failure here is chasing the first receiver they see, which drags them out of an area and opens the exact window the offense was aiming at.
- 5
Everybody breaks when the ball is in the air
Nobody moves toward a receiver until the ball leaves. Then everyone moves at once, toward the catch, and the nearest defender pulls the flag while the others arrive. This is the drill that turns a zone that looks right into a zone that gets stops.
Three ways to firm it up
Bring a short defender to the flat, and it is Cover 3 Sky
One underneath player starts wide and attacks anything thrown outside quickly. It takes away the easy short throw to the sideline, which is the first thing every offense tries against three deep.
Drop a deep player into the short middle, and it is Cover 3 Buzz
Rotate a safety down to the hook area and let a corner take his deep third. The shell still has three deep and the soft middle gets an owner, which is the standard answer when they keep throwing at twelve yards over the middle.
Give the deep and short players route rules, and it becomes match
Instead of covering an empty strip, each defender picks up whichever receiver enters it and plays him like man coverage. This is match coverage, it is the grown-up version of the same shell, and it is where a team goes once spot-dropping stops being enough.
What changes in your format
5v5 and NFL Flag
Three deep and two underneath, with nobody rushing or one rusher depending on your league. It is the most common sound defense at this size for a reason, and the thing to accept is that the short middle is genuinely open. Tell your two underneath players to stay wide enough to take away the sideline and let the short middle be completed, because the alternative is a receiver behind everybody.
6v6 and 7v7
Three deep and three or four underneath, which is the point at which Cover 3 stops having obvious holes. This is the best default defense at this size: it can be installed in one practice, it survives a team with a fast receiver, and the underneath players are numerous enough to cover the flats and the middle at the same time.
9v9 and 11v11
Cover 3 is the most-played coverage in football at this size, usually behind a four-man rush with seven defenders dropping. The three deep strips are identical to the smallest format, and what the extra bodies buy is named underneath jobs plus the ability to roll a safety down and still have three deep. Every variation with a word after it, Sky, Buzz, Cloud, is a different way of getting that fourth player to the right place.
When not to call Cover 3
Against short, patient throwing
Cover 3 gives away everything in front of the deep players and asks the offense to be disciplined enough to take it. A team that is happy to throw five-yard routes all afternoon will move the ball, and the answer is to press the short throws or send pressure rather than to keep waiting for a mistake.
Against four receivers running deep at once
Three deep defenders can cover three deep routes. A fourth deep route stretches somebody, and the one that hurts is a receiver running up the seam between the middle third and an outside one. Any offense that floods the deep field is attacking the arithmetic rather than the technique.
When your defenders chase
Zone only works if players hold areas. If your team drifts toward the ball every snap, you are not playing Cover 3, you are playing five people running at a receiver with nobody deep. Either drill the discipline or play man coverage, where chasing is the assignment.
When you need the ball back right now
This shell is built to prevent the big play and give up the small one, which is exactly wrong when you are behind late and need a stop rather than a slow drive. That is the moment for pressure and man coverage, and taking the risk on purpose.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the football playmaker, collect them in the playbook maker, and print printable play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Draw Cover 3 for your own team
Open the designer, put three defenders on the deep strips, and save it as the first defense in your playbook.
Open the free play designerRelated questions
What does Cover 3 mean in football?
Is Cover 3 the easiest defense to teach a youth team?
What is the weakness of Cover 3?
What is the difference between Cover 3 and Cover 2?
How do you beat Cover 3?
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Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.