PLAYER ASSIGNMENTS:
• Players 1, 11. Aim for the outside of shoulders 3 to 5 yards. Contain. Never get logged and never give up your outside.
• Players 2, 10. Aim for the ball carrier’s shoulder on your side.
• Player 3. Aim for the ball carrier’s nose. This player is your torpedo. He must be fast, willing to blast blockers and make a tackle.
• Player 4, 9. Aim for the ball carrier’s ear on your side.
• Players 5, 6 and 9. Aim for the ball carrier’s nose. Blast any return wall — going through the wall, not around it.
• Player 7 (Kicker). Aim for the ball carrier’s nose. Must stay 15 yards behind the pile to act as a safety.,By Tony Thivener, Special Teams Coordinator
Columbus Academy High School, Columbus, Ohio
WHILE WORKING ON punt and kickoff coverage, many special teams coordinators become frustrated with players about maintaining their lanes. How many times have you heard a special team’s coaching yelling “Stay in your lanes! Stay in your lanes!” to his players?
This frustration can be eliminated by having your players attack an opposing player’s body part instead of trying to maintain a lane.
The idea behind the “attacking-a-body-part” concept is that each player is responsible for keeping a relationship on a specific part of the returner’s body as opposed to staying in a particular lane. By keeping this relationship with the returner’s body part, each cover man automatically maintains a particular lane no matter what has happened to the other cover men in terms of being blocked or knocked out of their lanes.
We found that our cover team, although acting as individuals by attacking a particular body part, was much more aggressive because they knew before the ball was even kicked where they were going. It didn’t matter what the ball carrier did — because no matter which direction he ran — players simply had to keep in relationship with their target body part.
Lanes form naturally because of the distribution of the body parts that were assigned to each player.
The lanes were actually much more uniform because the players were more aggressive and were getting to the ball carrier more quickly. And because of their more aggressive pursuit, they were actually being blocked less effectively by our opponents.
Successful Scheme
Our opponent’s total yardage for punt returns last season was 4 yards and kickoff returns averaged only 13 yards per return. Since our kicker would kick inside the 5-yard line on kickoffs, our opponents usually started with field position inside the 20-yard line. We had a great long snapper, punter and kicker, so that really helped in the coverage, but our cover teams also did their jobs aggressively and effectively.
The best part of teaching your cover teams this technique is how easy it is. No longer does a coach have to spend the time talking about and demonstrating lane assignments. You can literally just tell them what body part to attack and then cut them loose. It’s not rocket science, so make it what it is, aggressive football coverage.
Punt Coverage — Attacking The Ball Carrier
When covering punts, your players will maintain their lanes by attacking a particular body part on the ball carrier. Attack the side (left or right) of his body according to where you align. The following shows the body part aiming-point assignments for each punt-cover player.
• Center = nose.
• Guards = ears.
• Tackles = shoulders.
• Ends = outside of shoulders 3 to 5 yards. Contain.
• Up Bulls = shoulders.
• Personal Protector = outside the right shoulder. Be a safety.
• Punter = outside left shoulder. Be a safety.
As the punt-cover players pursue downfield toward the ball carrier, each player must adjust his lanes according to where the returner’s body part is that he is attacking. Lanes will be maintained by attacking a specific body part.
Kickoff Cover Team
This scheme teaches your kicker to kick into the corner to shorten the field that needs to be covered and to dictate your opponents’ return. You can kick into the right or left corner.
DIAGRAM 1: Kickoff Coverage.
Kick from 1 yard inside the hash.
