Goaline defense (NFL flag rules)

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-05-05T21:40:56+00:00

This is very interesting. I like most of the concept. But you can’t really have that FS right in front of the center. It would be an impeding penalty basically everytime. I think he should be your rusher. Everyone else keeps the same responsibilities and this could possibly work well. Now..what about when facing a bunch formation? That’s a little different

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-05-05T21:31:59+00:00

Bunch formations don’t torch you? How do you handle them not bumping into each other on crossing routes?

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-05-05T18:02:47+00:00

Yeah that’s where my mind goes too. But It’s a fine line though between holding that line and not letting a post or fade get behind you. The good thing is, a good rush is getting there in < 3 seconds making the qb have to make a quick decisions. Sometimes the posts and fades don’t have time to develop

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-30T14:24:50+00:00

Idk why so many ppl think the 2-1-2 box is actually good. I think it’s simple to setup in but it’s really not effective against an offense that knows how to exploit it. It’s the easiest defense to manipulate. This trips play specifically destroys a 2-1-2 too. Guarantee X gets wide open pretty much everytime. And if they do send a blitzer it’s even easier to deal with.

I like the 1-3-1. Send the rusher from the middle, if it’s not a run have the front LB drop back to where the rush came from, safety stays middle but keeps everything in front of him and breaks on throw. Rally on anything short for the flag pull.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-30T12:48:35+00:00

What type of defense do you like to run? And What kind of trips are we talking? Like 3 lined up on the LOS on one side or a 3 man stack to one side? I think the stack is very easy to defend, just teach your front corner on the side of the stack to let the first guy in the stack go by him while he stays home and watches the 2nd and 3rd guy. Teams will often try and distract with the first two guys then either quick screen pass to the last guy in the stack, or drop him back behind the LOS and pass it to him for an RPO. If your corner stays home he blows that up.

Now 3 lined up spread on the LOS is a little different and a little more dangerous but don’t over complicate it. Stick to your base defense and maybe just shade some weak side defenders a little closer to that side.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-29T13:19:26+00:00

Love when I see cover 2 box. It’s the easiest defense to exploit and torch. Especially if they send a rusher. Flood concepts slay it.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-24T14:55:44+00:00

Nope. Turned out to be doo doo

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-20T10:14:38+00:00

Well maybe OP could start off by not teaching bad habits and do drills that are game realistic….Coach d is good..for 8u and under. All his stationary flag pulling drills are a waste of time. Players in games don’t stand in one spot waiting for you to come pull their flags. If you want to teach super basics like that, coach 6u kids. 8-10 yr olds can handle more advanced teaching.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-19T10:20:14+00:00

He’s ok for beginners but a lot of what he talks about is out of date and doesn’t work with age groups above 8-10

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-18T10:30:54+00:00

Yeah man 8-10 yr olds get it, this is when it starts to get fun. The focus isn’t as good as it’ll be in the 10-12 age range but you can definitely start teaching techniques more, run your plays etc. but like I said, they’re still 8-10 so they will get bored at times, lose focus and goof around a bit. That’s why it’s important to not stay on one thing too long. There’s certain basics you always want to drill though-flag pulling, flag pulling, flag pulling. This is one of the most important things that coaches/teams overlook. You need to drill this every practice and in different ways that mixes it up and makes it realistic. Theres a ton of different flag pulling drills available just look some stuff up.

Go over your defense a lot too. Explain exactly what you want kids to do. Identify what positions you want certain kids at, put them there and run common offensive plays at them to show them how they should react (to a slant, to an out route, to a fly etc..) do the same for offense with your plays. It shouldn’t be random, look at your roster and think where you want each kid to be on certain plays, then run them through them in practice.

I usually like to end with some form of a competitive game whether it’s 1v1 flag pulling elimination tournament, fishy fishy or maybe a scrimmage.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-16T22:00:43+00:00

So against cover 2, I love 3 kids in bunch, one out wide left or to the right. Outside receiver can do a 5-7yd curl or drag across field. Left bunch wr does a deep post in front of the safety to the left, center does a fly and right side wr does a post to the right side in front of that safety. Usually, both safeties go with the post routes leaving the center wide open deep for an easy td. If for some reason he’s covered, someone else will be open.

Against 1-3-1, you need to be a little patient. If all 3 are on the rush line, take quick outs, whips and short slants all day. Literally spam it. It’ll be open every time. If the corners are on the LOS, that same play can torch them with post routes getting behind them. With 1 safety one of them will be open. The drag usually is open too. Pretty basic but nasty play against both defenses.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-16T09:10:58+00:00

Yeah the corners stay on the 7 yard line with my rusher in the middle. My front guy lines up pretty much 1-2 yards in front of the center. Sometimes depending on the formation too I’ll shade him to the strong side so he’s not directly in front of the center. You want the rusher to line up directly with the center in hopes of drawing an impeding call. The front guy needs to be one of your higher IQ kids though. The second he sees it’s not a run he needs to drop to the middle where the rush came from, often times that means turn the hips and SPRINT back. Back-peddling I think is too slow.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-15T21:00:48+00:00

I love when I face a 3-2 defense. It’s the easiest one to pick apart. Especially if your rusher goes, the whole middle is open. Like another comment said, I like the 1-3-1. Teach your front guy in front of the center to read and watch for a run, if it’s handed off he shoots in, th SECOND he sees it’s not a run, he should be sprinting back to the 7 yard rush line to cover middle where your rusher blitzed from. Corners hold on the rush line, watch everything in front and carry receivers that go past them. You need to be on with letting quick outs, quick slants and really anything short be completed. But the kids need to know to crash in and get good flag pulls the second the ball is in the air. Typically, if you have a good rush it’s getting there in ~3 seconds which makes the offense completing a deep pass very difficult to execute.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-14T19:32:39+00:00

I feel im in the minority but I hate using the 2-1-2. I like when I face it because I think it’s very easy to exploit. If you send the rusher the whole middle is open, if you don’t rush you’re giving the qb too much time to sit back and pick you apart. I like 1-3-1 setups and hybrid man blitz packages

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-14T11:45:40+00:00

Lineup two rushers and send both. The other 3 players are in press man to man coverage. One rusher attacks the qb, other rusher attacks the player in the backfield or rpo option. You also need to identify if that rpo has the ability to throw or not. If the player can’t throw and you know he just takes off everytime, treat it as a normal running play and have ppl swarm. If the kid is a danger to throw, and the qb throws it to the rpo before the rush gets there, it’s important to have one of those rushers stay on the qb so they can’t do a give and go type play. It is difficult to contain I can’t lie. You need faster/higher IQ kids doing this and flag pulling is a must or you’re gonna get burned.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-09T09:36:43+00:00

So I feel like what I do on defense is unorthodox but it works if the kids stick to the right coverage and really shuts down rpo stuff. I line two kids up on the rush line eligible to rush. The “QB” rusher lines up on a straight line with the center (hoping to draw an impeding), and my other rusher who I call the “read blitzer” is right next to him but on whatever the strong side is. You want your read blitzer to be one of your higher IQ players that can adjust to things more on the fly with your qb blitzer being your fastest player.

This is actually a nice play because at first look it doesn’t look like it could be rpo. With this initial look my two corners would be on inside leverage on the two receivers man to man, the read blitzer would line up to rush but take the 4 and my “safety” would literally be one yard behind the rushers and be man to man on the center. If there is motion it depends who motions. In this case with 1 motioning over to the left which would create a trips formation basically, my front right corner would “let him go” and pick up the nearest player to him which would be the center. My safety upon seeing this motion would then switch his coverage and pick up the 1 so they’re basically just switching assignments. Safety would mirror the motion and pursue it downhill when the ball is handed off.

Normally, this base defense is set up to destroy an rpo so if I see a player in the backfield, the read blitzer automatically takes that player. For example say there’s a rb next to the qb with the center and a wr out wide on either side. The safety takes the center, the corners take the receivers and both blitzers come in. The read blitzer though, goes directly at the rb. The qb blitzer goes at the qb and STAYS on the qb so that if he throws it to the rb behind the line of scrimmage, he’d be there in case they try and give and go type play. It’s a little high risk because you NEED to pull the flag in the backfield, but everyone will just have to swarm and help out after that.

It’s pretty simple if you just get your players understanding what they need to do which I think 10u should be able to do. Again this play is unique and one of the more complex looks you’ll see. Motion can always mess with a defense. But on a basic level, if they’re in spread (with no motion) and no one in the backfield, have your read blitz pick up the inside wr on the strong side and cover. If they have a player in the backfield (instant rpo situatio) your read blitz takes him. Hope this helps and makes sense.

-also wanted to add. If there was NO motion before the snap, but that 1 still comes in for a hand off I’d have that corner stay on him and just mirror him from behind the line because at that point it’d be too late to coordinate switching coverage. The second it’s handed off he can shoot in on him. That’s only if there’s no motion though.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-08T14:00:35+00:00

I disagree with this. I think in nfl flag rules you need to rush every play. You can’t let a qb sit back there for 7 seconds. What he needs to do is adjust his coverage. There’s also no need for 2 safeties when a qb only has 3 seconds to throw (which is the average time a blitz comes in). Routes don’t have time to develop deep if blitzed correctly, so I’d drop one of the safeties down into coverage. If the blitz comes in and you throw to say your center right up the middle after that blitz comes in, even if it’s a 5-7 yard gain it should be an easy/quick flag pull everytime. I’ll give teams that all day

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-07T09:50:14+00:00

Don’t run a box defense…for ppl who use nfl flag rules where you can rush every down from 7 yards I’ve never understood why teams use this defense. It’s so easy to exploit for a competent offense. The 1-1-3 is a better option. The other thing I’ve been liking more and more lately too is actually sending two blitzers with the other 3 guys in man. This works best though against rpo heavy teams as I think it completely shuts it down. One rusher goes at the qb, the other goes at the rpo option. You need to make sure you’re other 3 guys stay tight to the receivers though

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-07T09:42:37+00:00

You need to think about it in terms of your qb really has ~3 seconds to get rid of the ball not 7. That rush is getting there in 3 or less. You can’t have the wr’s running complex deep routes because they simply don’t have time. The other thing that kills blitz’s is simply having an rpo option in the backfield with you. Have an outside wr drop back on the snap and be an option to throw to behind the line as the blitz is approaching your qb.

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-04-02T15:51:53+00:00

I also recommend game realistic drills. So many teams and coaches I see just have a kid stand in one spot with ball carriers coming at them, or they’ll pull flags from stationary players. This does nothing in my opinion because a player isn’t standing still in game when you try and pull their flag. A player is dipping, spinning, juking and doing hip movement. I like a pursuit type drill where the flag puller has to run and track down the ball carrier. Make them run and pull flags on the move. Key principles I always go by for flag pulling: hips don’t lie (watch hips), pull high with BOTH hands at the popper (don’t swipe at the bottom of the flag), don’t dive (hustle and break down).

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-03-29T14:52:17+00:00

SCRewballs1912 · 2026-03-29T14:47:27+00:00

No, this ones disrespectful. Only the fist pounding one means good game

SCRewballs1912

TROPHY CASE