SAN DIEGO STATE DEFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY & TACKLING FUNDAMENTALS By Secondary Coach Chris Ash

P RESENTATION O UTLINE 1) Philosophies A. Keys To Defensive Success B. Defensive Philosophy C. Tackling Fundamentals D. Importance of Pursuit E. Drills 2)Questions

Keys To Successful Defense 1.Staff continuity. 2.Have a system and philosophy that each coach understands and believes in. 3.Keep things simple and consistent. 4.Players must understand and believe in what we are doing. 5.Players must give great effort in everything that they do. 6.Professional development. Learn new ideas.

Defensive Philosophy Every great defense starts with one. You must have one to know what you want to do. It keeps you on track in bad times. Our philosophy starts with getting great effort. Everyone can play hard regardless of athletic ability. We must stop the run. We will play with 8 man fronts. We are going to be an attacking front. We do not sit and read. We are a single gap defense. It gives our players a chance to know exactly what they are doing and to play aggressive. Players must have discipline. Big plays can happen if one guy makes a mistake.

3 Things Our Players Must Do: 1.Play Hard! 2.Play Smart! 3.Play Together! 3 Things Our Defense Must Do: 1.Create turnovers and get the ball back for our offense. 2.Make the offense one dimensional by stopping the run. 3.Keep the opponent out of the end zone.

Why are tackling fundamentals important? 1.Missed tackles are usually the difference between a good and a bad defensive team. 2.Vs. today’s spread offenses, you must have good fundamentals to tackle in space.

Most common mistakes with missed tackles: 1.Tackler drops his head. 2.Tackler leaves his feet too early. 3.Tackler opens the parachute with his arms. 4.Tackler does not have a good base. 5.Tackler takes a bad pursuit angle.

How to make better tacklers: 1.Teach proper fundamentals. Don’t just find out who the tough guys are. 2.Do drills that improve technique. This builds confidence. 3.Work on it everyday.

Three basic elements of tackling: APPROACH This involves your movement to the ball carrier and gathering yourself. This requires concentration on the runner. Keep your eyes open and your head up. As you approach the ball carrier, get close to him and “step on his toes”. Your feet must widen to insure a good base, come to balance. Flex your knees and lower your hips to get under control and to put your body in a position to strike.

FIT In a game, we want to get the ball carrier down any way we can. But when the opportunity to make a great hit is there, we want to punish and intimidate our opponent. When the tackler gets in position to tackle, we want him to shoot his guns. The arms are cocked at his hips so he can club up and wrap around the ball carrier and grab cloth.

FINISH Explode through the runner. Continue to drive your legs forward to stop the ball carrier’s forward momentum and knock him back. Pin the runner to the ground.

Importance of Pursuit The most important ingredient to being a great tackling team is relentless team pursuit on every play. The more people you have flying to the ball with good angles cuts down on the room a ball carrier has to maneuver and make cuts.

What is a Loaf? We will grade effort on every play to emphasize how important it is. If the effort is not up to the standard we expect and need out of every player we will grade the player with a LOAF for that particular play. The following criteria is what will determine the effort grade. 1) Not turning and running to the ball. 2) Not getting up off the ground. 3) Any change of speed. 4) Getting passed up by another player. 5) Turning down a hit.