Man On Man Defense

[lew7hokiefan 0]

I see that most of y'all like the zone defenses. And that you are mostly talking about ages 6-10. What about kids that are 10-12? Who likes the man on man defense and can you tell me the strengths and weaknesses. thanks

[Coach Rob 26]

I see that most of y'all like the zone defenses. And that you are mostly talking about ages 6-10. What about kids that are 10-12? Who likes the man on man defense and can you tell me the strengths and weaknesses. thanks

I played in a 10-14 league this past fall and we stayed with a zone. I'd say the biggest weakness for M2M is the mismatch (e.g. someone blowing their coverage or missing a flag on a misdirection play).

[Johnp2 21]

I completely agree with Rob, here, Lew.

Early in my "coaching career", I went machisimo and implented some man defenses. However, what I found was the players were more interested in chasing their man, instead of the ball. Backs to the ball allows an offense to run it down your throats without fail.

Of course the oldest I've coached is 8-9. We tried man a few times this season, but had much more success with zone.

With that said, we faced a team this season that had an abundance of incredible athletes who ran a man coverage. They were savvy enough to look for the run first, and had catch-up speed to cover our receivers should we pass. I found it VERY frustrating----so you have the personnel, I'd recommend a man defense. Else, stick with a safe zone.

[Orange 26]

With that said, we faced a team this season that had an abundance of incredible athletes who ran a man coverage. They were savvy enough to look for the run first, and had catch-up speed to cover our receivers should we pass. I found it VERY frustrating----so you have the personnel, I'd recommend a man defense. Else, stick with a safe zone.

I couldn't agree with you more. If I had far superior athletes I'd run man defense all the time. With slightly better athletes I think you can mix in man from time to time to throw off the offense, especially if they are picking at your zone. Equal or some weaker players, play most (if not all) zone.

[Johnp2 21]

One of the things this team did, which I found interesting was that their players called out the numbers of the person they were going to cover at the LOS before each play. ("I've got 21!", "I've got 17!", etc.)

This did two things I believe. First, it kept them on the same page as to their assignments, and second, it seemed to intimidate my players a little. If you end up implementing a man defense, might be a good practice.

[jqmoney 3]

I Coach 9-12 year olds I liked the Zone Because we are able to see the play develope in front of us we had our second game this season my Defense ran 4 diffrent Zones and it worked because and they didnt get a first down. It's alot easier to stay in a area then with a man we played a team today that played man because we ran reverses double passes and Ran Rob's QB Switch play like 3 times and it scored everytime because no one is on the QB. That's the Trouble with man but with Zone my kids can Watch the QB and Break on the ball and also watch the play develope in front of them

[lew7hokiefan 0]

I Coach 9-12 year olds I liked the Zone Because we are able to see the play develope in front of us we had our second game this season my Defense ran 4 diffrent Zones and it worked because and they didnt get a first down. It's alot easier to stay in a area then with a man we played a team today that played man because we ran reverses double passes and Ran Rob's QB Switch play like 3 times and it scored everytime because no one is on the QB. That's the Trouble with man but with Zone my kids can Watch the QB and Break on the ball and also watch the play develope in front of them

Thanks,

My DC likes the man on man, but I would prefer Zone. We lost pretty bad today. I would even prefer a half zone half man D. We'll see what happens.

Thanks everyone.

[Johnp2 21]

My DC likes the man on man, but I would prefer Zone. We lost pretty bad today. I would even prefer a half zone half man D. We'll see what happens.

Thanks everyone.

I've been fortunate to have an incredible DC the past few seasons who is very creative. We constantly give each other advice (he'll give me some things he's seeing while we're on offense, and vice-versa). Not sure how far into the season you are, but I would think it would be difficult to implement a zone mid-season. If you are seeing explicit examples of how your defense is getting burned, I'd bring it up to your DC. Good luck, please keep us posted!

[Coach Rob 26]

I'd definitely play M2M if a majority of my players were capable of handling it. Zone definitely covers the sins of my weaker players. I found it was pretty easy to exploit the weaknesses when a team played M2M.