How do you run a flag football practice that is all defense?

The sheet: 60 minutes, 5 blocks

Coaching it in the trenches, block by block

1. Movement and backpedal

   Defensive feet from the first minute. Backpedal, shuffle, open and turn.

   0:00 10 min
   Set up

   Cones every five yards across twenty, and a second line for partners to work back to.

   Run it

   Jog and shuffle for three minutes, then eight minutes of actual defensive footwork: backpedal five yards, open the hips and run, then break back forward. Everybody does it, not just the players you think of as defenders, because a flag team plays both ways and the child you hid at safety is the one they will throw at.

   Say this

   • “Backpedal with your chest over your toes, not sitting back.”
   • “Open your hips, do not spin.”

   Watch for

   Hips opening in one movement rather than a turn and a stumble. That is the difference between staying with a receiver and conceding ten yards on the first move.

   The mistake

   Treating this as a warm-up and letting the technique go. It is the only footwork block in the session, so the standard set here is the standard all hour.

   Go deeper

   Open, wheel and shuffle
2. Pursuit angles

   Run to where he will be. This block wins more games than any coverage.

   0:10 12 min
   Set up

   A sideline marked with three cones, a start line fifteen yards infield, two lines of defenders.

   Run it

   Twelve reps, one defender from each line per rep, cutting off a carrier running flat out down the sideline. Nobody chases from behind. If a defender ends up behind the runner, stop and show the angle he should have taken, then run it again immediately so the correction is attached to the rep.

   Say this

   • “Run to where he will be.”
   • “Pick your spot before you move.”
   • “Do not slow down to reach.”

   Watch for

   A first step that points downfield of the carrier rather than at him. Everything else in this block follows from that one step.

   The mistake

   Letting it become a race. The fastest defender will cut anybody off from any angle, which proves nothing and teaches the other nine nothing. Pair them by speed.

   Go deeper

   Pursuit angles
3. Pulling a flag under pressure

   Live carrier, real cuts, one defender. The pull is the tackle in this game.

   0:22 14 min
   Set up

   Two lanes of cones, each about eight yards wide, with a queue at both ends so nobody stands still.

   Run it

   Six minutes of one on one in the lane, then eight minutes of a three on one corral where three defenders have to squeeze one carrier without any of them diving. The second half is where the lesson actually lands: a flag is pulled by the defender who arrives second, after the first one has taken away the escape.

   Say this

   • “Nobody dives. Squeeze him, do not chase him.”
   • “One hand at the flag. The other one is your balance.”
   • “Talk to each other. Say whose he is.”

   Watch for

   Defenders who close the space and wait rather than lunging. A missed lunge in the open field is a touchdown and they need to feel that in practice, not on Saturday.

   The mistake

   Praising the spectacular one-handed dive that worked. It worked once. Praise the three defenders who left the carrier nowhere to go, because that is the thing that repeats.

   Go deeper

   Crazy corral
4. One coverage, live

   Cover 3 first. Three deep, everybody else short, nothing gets behind you.

   0:36 16 min
   Set up

   A full defense against your own offense running its real plays. Cones marking the depth of the deep third defenders so the shell is visible from the sideline.

   Run it

   Walk the alignment first: who is deep, who is short, and what each area is. Then twelve live reps. Say the coverage out loud before every snap for the first six, then stop saying it and see whether they line up correctly on their own. That second half is the actual test.

   Say this

   • “Deep three, you cannot be beaten over the top. Ever.”
   • “Underneath, keep everything in front and squeeze the throw.”
   • “Point at who you have before the snap.”

   Watch for

   Three defenders genuinely deep at the snap and the underneath players breaking forward on the catch rather than drifting back. A shell that collapses the moment the ball is snapped was never really installed.

   The mistake

   Installing two coverages because the first one went well. One coverage played correctly beats two played approximately, and the second one is next week's block.

   Go deeper

   Cover 3, explained
5. Chasing game

   Everybody live, flags flying. Finish a defense day by pulling flags for fun.

   0:52 8 min
   Set up

   A square about twenty by twenty, everybody in belts, no ball at all.

   Run it

   Sharks and minnows, or freeze tag if you want them working together. Eight minutes, a winner, and then out. A defensive session is the least popular hour of the week for most youth teams, so the last eight minutes matter more here than in any other plan in this set.

   Say this

   • “Everybody in. Pull a flag, make a shark.”
   • “Last one with flags wins it.”

   Watch for

   Children using the angles from block two without being told to. That transfer is the only honest evidence the session worked.

   The mistake

   Cutting this because the coverage block overran. Move minutes out of the coverage block instead: the sixteen minutes there have diminishing returns after rep ten, and these eight do not.

   Go deeper

   Sharks and minnows

Why this order

• Angles before coverage

  Most youth flag points are given up in the open field by a defender who ran at the ball carrier rather than at the point where the two of them would meet. No coverage fixes that, and every coverage assumes it is already solved.

• Everybody does defensive footwork

  A flag team plays both ways, and the child you hid at safety is the one they will throw at. The footwork block is for the whole squad rather than the players you think of as defenders.

• Pulling is the tackle in this game

  Fourteen minutes on it, and the second half of the block is three defenders squeezing one carrier. The flag is pulled by the defender who arrives second, after the first has taken the escape away.

• One coverage, not two

  Cover 3 played correctly beats two coverages played approximately. The test is whether they line up right without being told, and that takes the whole sixteen minutes.

Where to go next

• Open it in the plannerThis exact plan, editable. Drag drills in, move blocks up or down, then print the sheet.
• Next: 90-Minute Situational Football Practice PlanOnce the defense can play one coverage, situations are what stretch it.
• The drill libraryFilter by the problem you have, the space you have and the age you coach. Anything there drops into this plan.

The 60 minutes, block by block

1. 1

   0 to 10 minutes: Movement and backpedal

   Defensive feet from the first minute. Backpedal, shuffle, open and turn.

2. 2

   10 to 22 minutes: Pursuit angles

   Run to where he will be. This block wins more games than any coverage.

3. 3

   22 to 36 minutes: Pulling a flag under pressure

   Live carrier, real cuts, one defender. The pull is the tackle in this game.

4. 4

   36 to 52 minutes: One coverage, live

   Cover 3 first. Three deep, everybody else short, nothing gets behind you.

5. 5

   52 to 60 minutes: Chasing game

   Everybody live, flags flying. Finish a defense day by pulling flags for fun.

Adapting it

• Seven and eight year olds

  Drop the coverage block entirely and split the time between the two pulling blocks. At that age defenders chase the ball and a shell is a shape they cannot hold, so the useful work is all in the open field.

• A team that already plays Cover 3

  Cut the coverage block to ten minutes and add a second shell, either man or Cover 2, so they have an answer when Cover 3 gets solved. Keep the angle work at full length regardless.

• Ninety minutes

  Add ten minutes of one on one man coverage between the pulling and coverage blocks. That is the block this plan leaves out for time, and it is the first thing to add when time exists.

What to cut when you are running late

• Take minutes out of the coverage block

  Sixteen minutes of shell work has diminishing returns after about rep ten. If the session overruns, that is where the minutes come from, not from the finish.

• Never cut the chasing game

  A defensive session is the least popular hour of the week for most youth teams. The last eight minutes are what stop it feeling like a punishment, and they are where the angles show up unprompted.

• Do not cut the angle block to save the coverage

  It is the wrong trade. A defense with good angles and no coverage concedes fewer points than a defense with a coverage and no angles.

Take it to your team

Related questions

Related guides

• Install Mesh in 60 Minutes→
• 30-Minute Flag Football Practice Plan for a Rained-Out Field→
• Flag Football Practice Plan for the Week Before the First Game→
• 90-Minute Situational Football Practice Plan→
• Build your own practice plan→
• The flag football drill library→