11v11 Defense
The best starting defense in 11v11 football is Cover 3 behind a four-man rush. It is the most common shell in the game because it keeps three defenders deep and still leaves eight in and around the box, and four rushers is the number that lets your coverage stay hidden, since the offense blocks the same four every down.
Pick your format
Everything below is written for this format. Press the pill again for all of them.
What changes at 11v11
A defense always rushes
The questions are who and how many, never whether. Four is the default, and sending a fifth is a decision about a specific down, because it forces somebody behind him to cover two things.
Every coverage on the shelf is available
Ten shells are written for eleven a side, including Cover 6 and Tampa 2, which need a true middle linebacker and enough bodies to run two coverages at once. This is the only hub where nothing on the Coverages shelf is left off.
Personnel changes the defense before the snap
Nickel and dime packages swap linebackers for defensive backs against passing sets, which needs a fifth and sixth defensive back that no smaller format has. The front and the coverage are two separate calls here, and the fronts shelf is where the first one lives.
Start here
Coverages
Ten shells written for eleven a side, the full shelf: from where everyone lines up to Cover 6 and Tampa 2, which only the larger formats can play.
- Coverages and frontsMan, zone and the common shells in one place, with what each one gives up.3 deep4 underneath
- Where everyone lines up · 11v11Before any coverage: the spots your players stand in every single down, and why each one is there.Where everyone stands
- Man coverageEvery defender is responsible for one player and goes where that player goes.ManNo help
- Zone coverageEvery defender is responsible for one patch of grass and covers whoever comes into it.2 deep3 hook
- Man vs zoneWhich of the two your age group can actually run on Saturday.ManZone
- Cover 0 · 11v11Man coverage with nobody left behind it. When the rush is the whole plan.Man underneath
- Cover 1 · 11v11Man coverage with one player staying deep to clean up what gets past.1 deepMan underneath
- Cover 2 · 11v11Zone, split into two deep halves, and the hole that always opens between them.2 deep5 underneath
- Cover 3 · 11v11Zone, split into three deep thirds. The youth default, and why it is the default.3 deep4 underneath
- Cover 4 · 11v11Zone, split into four deep quarters. Very hard to throw over, and it leaves everything short open.4 deep3 underneath
- Cover 2 Man · 11v11The hybrid: everyone underneath is in man, two players stay deep behind them. Man coverage with a safety net.2 deepMan underneath
- Cover 6 · 11v11Quarters on one side, Cover 2 on the other. One defense that answers two different things at once.4 deep3 underneath
- Tampa 2 · 11v11Cover 2 with one defender sprinting to the deep middle, covering the hole Cover 2 leaves.3 deep4 underneath
- Match coverage · 11v11Zone that turns into man once the receivers declare. What most good defenses actually run, and the last thing to teach.3 deep4 underneath
Stop the…
All nine written for 11v11, where blocking is legal and stopping the run means winning a gap rather than an angle.
- Stop the sweepOne player runs wide and outruns everyone. Contain has to beat speed, and that is a spacing fix.Fix lives in the flat
- Stop their best playerEvery team has one, and at this age they get the ball every down. Where to put your best defender, and where not to.Fix is a matching rule
- Stop the quarterback runningNobody rushed, so the quarterback just walked forward. The single most common way a youth defense gives up yards.Fix lives in the hook
- Stop the deep ballEveryone came forward and nobody stayed behind it. One rule fixes this, and it is not a coverage.Fix lives deep
- Stop the quick throwsThe ball is out in a second and a half to somebody standing three yards away. Rushing harder makes it worse.Fix lives in the flat
- Stop the rub routesYour defenders keep running into each other and you cannot work out why. Switch, do not chase.Fix is a matching rule
- Stop MeshThe two crossing routes that make man coverage collide. The most-run concept in flag football.Fix lives in the hook
- Goal line defenseNo grass behind you, so the deep help you normally rely on has nowhere to stand.Fix lives in the hook
- Two-minute defenseProtecting a lead with the clock running, and the two mistakes that give it back.Fix lives deep
Fronts and pressure
A tackle defense always rushes, so the flag questions about whether to rush are left off. What remains is who, how many, and how to keep the quarterback in the pocket.
- How many to rushNought, one or two. Each extra rusher is one fewer defender in coverage, and that trade is the whole defense in 5v5.2 rushing3 off it
- Who should your rusher be?Not automatically your fastest player. The job needs discipline more than speed, and picking wrong is why the quarterback keeps escaping.1 rushing3 off it
- Keeping them from getting outsideRushing straight at the quarterback opens the sideline. What contain means, in a sentence you can say to an eight-year-old.2 rushing2 off it
- Blitz looksStanding somewhere that suggests you are coming, then not coming. Free pressure once your players can be trusted to fake it.3 rushing2 off it
- QB spyOne defender whose only job is the quarterback, ignoring every route. The answer to a quarterback who runs.1 rushing3 off it
- What a front isWhere your linemen and linebackers stand before the snap. A different question from what they do after it.5 on the ball2 off it
- The 5-2 and 6-2 frontsWhat most youth tackle teams actually line up in, and why more linemen beats more linebackers at this age.5 on the ball2 off it
- The 4-3 frontFour down linemen, three linebackers. The one you have heard of, and what it asks of each player.4 on the ball3 off it
- The 3-4 frontThree down linemen, four linebackers. Harder to block, harder to teach, and it needs a real nose tackle.3 on the ball4 off it
- Nickel and Dime packagesTaking a linebacker off and putting a fifth or sixth defensive back on. Personnel, not coverage. You still have to call one.4 on the ball2 off it
Other common coaching questions
The rules a defensive coach ends up arguing about, answered plainly.
Every one of the 35 cards on this page has a page written for 11v11.
Draw a 11v11 defense
Drop a coverage on the field, move the defenders, save it for Saturday.
Open the designer