The Base 5-3 Defense for Youth Football.
I am always asked which defensive scheme do I see the most at the pop warner football level. The answer is the base 5-3 defense. I believe many coaches like the 5-3 since it is effective against the run. Most youth football teams cannot pass the ball, so using a run stop defense makes sence.
What is the introductory player responsibilities of the 5-3 defensive scheme? This article will answer this question in great detail..
Our coaches make sure that every player knows our base package inside out. Every player who lines up anywhere on defense must have a complete understanding of all the responsibilities of every position in the base set. If you wnat to play defense for my team, you will learn this area early on. You will not be playing defense for our team if you do not understand two very simple concepts. Knowing where to line up and what to do are the two mandatory requirements a player must have to play on our defense. Knowing where to line up is the first step and can usually be taught, to the players, from the information we get from our scouting report. As great as the scouting report is, I do not like any suprises so I nake sure the defense knows how to line up against just about every formation we may see. Everything from the spread to an unbalanced line needs to be taught to the entire defense to assure no surprises on game day.
Understanding the reponsibilities of all your team mates is the second phase of becomming a great defensive player. The players needs to know who is responsible for gap containment, outside containment or zone coverages. The entire defensive team benefits when everyone is aware of everyone elses responsibilities. It is easy to pinpoint where the defense is "leaking" and we can correct the problem.
In the base 5-3 defensive scheme we have eight primary run stop defenders. We use five defensive linemen which consist of two defensive ends, two defensive tackles and a nose guard. Three to five yards behind the defensive line we have our three linebackers with the middle linebacker lined up over the nose guard and the two outside linebackers lined up behind the defensive ends. There are three defensive backs with the safety lined up 8-10 yards behind the middle linebacker and the two defensive backs lined up 7-10 yards outside the outside linebackers. The crucial positions in this defensive set are the Nose guard, Linebackers and the Defensive Tackles. In our pee wee football coaching program, the Nose guard is responsible for the A gap. The middle Linebacker must cover the backside A gap as well as the B gap on both sides. The defensive tackles have either the backside B gap or front side C gap. The balance of the defense covers the rest of the gaps down the line. The three defensive backs will drop into three deep zone pass coverage and the outside linebackers have outside run containment responsibility.
In conclusion, the 5-3 is a great basic defense to run at the pee wee level since it is designed to stop the run and most youth football teams cannot pass and must try to run the ball.
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Jim Oddo has been coaching pee wee, flag, pop warner and youth football for over 23 years. He has attained an 80+% winning percentage. Read how to win with over 400 FREE tips and posts regarding every area of little guy football at: http://footballplaybooks.info. In addition to coaching tips, there are many different offensive and defensive playbooks all modified in Youth Football Playbooks.
