7on7 Defense Vs Empty Formations


By FirstDown PlayBook on Apr 30, 2024
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Right or wrong, when you walk out onto a football field to coach a 7on7 defense football field, you know that you are in for an unfair competition. Offensive coordinators may bristle at the notion that the playing field is tilted in their favor, but common sense would back up the defensive coaches on this one.

Having said this, we don’t think that anyone, on either side of the ball thinks that 7on7 competitions are a waste of time. Anytime you can get out on the football field and play the game, it’s a chance to get better.

Three Ways To Coach High School Football Better

However; Defensive coordinators have to be careful to make sure that their defensive players don’t become frustrated. This can happen before the ball is ever snapped in an eleven man football setting. Good defensive coordinators also need to guard against creating defenses that are designed just to win at 7on7 competition. This ends up hurting the very players you are trying to improve.

More 7on7 Help: Bunch Shallow Cross Concepts

Bad habits are hard to break once the fall arrives. As we just mentioned, the main reason for participating in 7on7 is to get better for the regular season. Your football plays you call should reflect this. This includes you if you’re coaching 7on7 defense too. If a coach approaches this correctly, they can get both goals accomplished during 7on7 season.

Design Your 7on7 Defense To Carry Over To The Fall

We spoke with a high school coach this week who was getting ready for a 7on7 tournament. He was trying to get as prepared as he could for the many different empty formations he was sure he was going to see. We pointed him to the FirstDown PlayBook defensive section.

The video below is a little dated in regards to how you find the defensive help. FirstDown PlayBook has vastly improved how you find plays and defenses over the past several years. We now even allow a coach to find complete playbooks. This popular youtube video is still spot on when it comes to coaching 7on7 defense vs empty sets. It is sound regardless of if you are defending Dagger concepts or 4 verticals.

FirstDown PlayBook offers you thousands of 7on7 plays and defenses. You can find and edit these plays in several different ways . Player assignments, coaching points & quarterback reads are included with all of the FirstDown PlayBook 7on7 plays.

Jay Graham