There are 4 things all championship defenses do well. They all pursuit relentlessly to the ball carrier, they are able to beat blocks, they tackle well, and they are able to generate turnovers. If you commit to working on these 4 things you will be very tough defensively.
4 Things ALL Championship Defenses Do Well
Pursuit
All championship defenses have defenders that relentlessly pursuit to the ball carrier. There is nothing more demoralizing for the offense than a smothering defense. The team that ended up winning our league last fall had a defense that was relentless. They had excellent pursuit to the ball carrier and they took excellent angles as well. Having excellent pursuit to the ball carrier will allow you to get numbers around the ball carrier and it will help deter big plays. Your defenders have to understand that they not only have to get to the ball carrier, they have to take the proper angle to the ball carrier to assure that there are no cutback lanes. Drill like the pursuit drill are excellent ways to practice getting to the ball carrier while taking the proper angle.
Related Content: Utilizing the Pursuit Drill
Block Destruction
The best defenses master the art of block destruction. To successfully destruct blocks, defenders must utilize good technique and also have the mindset that they will refused to be blocked. Technique is critical however, having the desire to get off blocks and keep chasing the ball is half the battle. Great defenders will utilize great technique and they will have that desire to get to the ball carrier. We utilize the dip and rip move for our defensive linemen and we utilize the shock and shed for our linebackers. We work on block destruction every single practice. If you want to have a championship caliber defense, your defenders must be excellent at destructing blocks.
Related Content: Rip Move for Block Destruction
Tackling
ALL championship defenses tackle extremely well. Tackling with proper technique will deter big plays, demoralize the offenses, and it will keep your defenders injury free. When you watch a dominate defense you will notice that all the defenders tackle very well. You will notice that all the levels of the defense get to the ball carrier and tackle extremely well. In youth football, so many offenses rely on their athletes making big plays for touchdowns. If your defense tackles well, you will eliminate those big plays and frustrate the offense.
Forcing Turnovers
Championship defenses all do a very good job forcing turnovers. Championship caliber defenses pride themselves on getting the ball back for their offense. If your defense can generate 3 or more turnovers in a game, you will have a good shot at winning the game. Stealing possessions is something that all championship defenses pride themselves on. Forcing turnovers is something that needs to be practice regularly. If you want to force more turnovers on defense, you have to practice forcing turnovers during the practice week. When you watch a dominate defenses on film, you will see defenders always trying to hack the ball out of the ball carriers hands.