Every term in this file is something our kids should know and use on the field. Coaches will use these words every single day. This is a living document — we add terms as we install new things.
The shape the offense lines up in before the snap. "Diamond," "J-Bird," "T," "Ruby," "Spread-Bone" are all different formations. The formation is our first clue about what's coming. Before you do anything else, find the formation, get the call, and set your alignment.
How our defensive line and linebackers are arranged. We live in a 3-3 base (3 down, 3 behind) and flex into a 2-2-2 against second-exchange spread offenses (2 rush, 2 linebackers, 2 corners). The front is the run-stopping half of the defense.
How the back end splits the field in the pass game. Cover 2 means two defenders each have half the deep field. Cover 3 means three defenders each have a third. Coverage is a rule — it tells you what space you are responsible for once the ball goes in the air.
Where your feet are before the snap. Alignment is not a suggestion — every call gives you a specific alignment. Bad alignment means wrong gap, wrong angle, wrong leverage. The play is lost before the ball moves. If you don't know your alignment, ask before the snap.
Your position relative to the man or ball you are playing.
Leverage tells you which way the ball should end up. If the ball goes the other way, you were wrong.
Playside = the side the ball is going. Backside = the opposite side. Most run calls assign different jobs to playside defenders (attack the block, set the edge) vs. backside defenders (don't chase — protect against the cutback). You'll hear us yell "Playside!" and "Backside!" on every run snap.
The receivers and backs who could come at you before the ball is snapped. Once you've read the formation, ask yourself: which offensive player could enter my zone, my man, or my fit on this play? Could the slot run a crosser into me? Could the back check out and attack my flat? Naming your pre-snap threats is how you react first-step post-snap instead of waiting to see the play develop. If you don't know who your threats are before the ball moves, you're already chasing.
The space between two blockers. Running out from the center, the gaps are labeled A, B, C, D. Every gap has to be accounted for by somebody on every run play. An unaccounted-for gap is where the runner is going.
The specific thing your eyes are on. Usually a player, sometimes a body part. A rusher's key might be the up-back's outside shoulder pad tip. A linebacker's key might be the tailback's first step. Your key tells you what the play is. If you don't know your key for the call, you're guessing every snap.
Your first 1–2 steps after the snap — measured, balanced, eyes locked on your key. You are not committing yet; you are confirming the picture you called pre-snap. Feet move, weight stays under you. Once the key tells you what the play is, read-steps end and you commit. Too fast and you gamble on the wrong read. Too slow and you're a yard behind the play. Read, then run.
The gap or area you are responsible for on a run play. Every defender has a fit on every call. If the ball hits your gap, it's your tackle. If it doesn't, stay in your fit. Don't leave your gap to chase the ball — his cutback has an open lane right where you used to be.
The job of keeping the ball inside of you. The contain player is the widest defender on his side. He cannot get beat to the sideline. His job is to turn the ball back to help. Lose contain and a sweep becomes a touchdown.
The correct way to pursue the ball. Always keep your help between you and the runner. Stay slightly outside and behind him, so:
Getting beat "outside-in" means the runner got outside of you with nobody left behind to clean it up. That's how sweeps become touchdowns.
The path you run to cut off the ball carrier. Run to where he will be, not where he is. Too flat (straight at him) = you miss. Too deep = he cuts back underneath you. A good pursuit angle is a disciplined diagonal.
A coverage where you cover a space, not a person. Get to your zone fast, then watch for threats entering your space.
A coverage where you cover a person, not a space. Wherever your man goes, you go. Man is simpler to understand — but harder to play well, because you have no zone help. You cannot lose leverage.
Trailing a receiver on his hip — close enough that you can see the receiver AND the quarterback at the same time without turning your head away from the receiver. In phase = you can play the ball. You don't have to grab, hold, or climb his back — you can make the play clean. If you're in phase, you have a chance to make a play on the ball.
Trailing a receiver behind his hip, too far back to see the QB without turning away from the receiver. Out of phase = you are beat unless you close the gap. Rule: when you're out of phase, your only legal play is on the man — not on the ball. Don't reach over his shoulder. Don't climb his back. Play the hands, not the flight. Catch back up before you try to make a play.
Receivers in your zone. When you're in zone coverage, you are not assigned to a specific man — you are reading threats. Most dangerous threat first. If a threat leaves your zone, pass it to the next defender and look for the next threat coming in. Pre-snap, these are your Pre-Snap Threats (#7) — the receivers who could enter your zone. Post-snap, a threat is anyone who has entered your zone.
A pass rush under control. You do not run past the passer chasing a sack — that just opens a scramble lane for him. Break down a few yards before you get there, squeeze the pocket with your partner, keep him trapped. A missed sack is fine. A QB who escapes because we over-ran is a disaster.