Happy 4 week anniversary to the JV Playbook! I don’t know how many people are actually reading this right now, but if you are, thanks for keeping up! Summer has just started for us here in New York, so with it comes the start of Summer install and speed work, 7v7 tournaments, and of course, shoring everything up for the beginning of the season.
Have I mentioned that I hate the Double Tight Double Wing Offense?
If you’ve read my offensive system post, you already know I have a love/hate relationship with the Double Tight Double Wing. It’s been the thorn in my coaching side for 13 seasons, and every year I have to stare it down like it’s the final boss of a video game. We spend an absurd amount of hours in the film room and on the whiteboard trying to slow it down, contain it, survive it. And somehow, no matter what we throw at it, it becomes a war of attrition. It runs right over you because it’s simple, it’s nasty, and it’s a freakin’ system.
That word again: system.
This post isn’t going to be about how to stop the Double Wing (someday I’ll write that one). This post, rather, is about creating your own defensive system, one that can withstand any offense you go against. Because defense, like offense, thrives on structure.
The Conversation Part 2
If you’re coaching JV defense, let me say something that will save you YEARS of frustration:
Don’t build your own world. Join theirs.
Just like on offense, your first stop should always be the varsity head coach. You need to know what they’re running and how they want it taught. Your job is to prepare kids for that system, not invent your own.
Sit down and ask the right questions:
Take notes. Learn their terminology. Steal their drills. Because your number one priority as a JV defensive coordinator is to develop players for the next level. And you can’t do that if you’re out here running a 3-3 Stack when varsity lives in a 4-2-5.
I know it can sting a little. You may love your old system from college or your favorite NFL team’s fire zone pressures. But again—this isn’t about you. This is about continuity.
The best compliment a JV coach can receive is this: “This kid came up to varsity and already knew what we were doing.”
That’s the win.
Choose Two Base Fronts and a Few Stunts
Let’s talk meat and potatoes.
At the sub-varsity level, you don’t need to run five different fronts and rotate every snap. What you need is two base fronts that your players can align to in their sleep.
Here’s how we do it:
Why two fronts? Because it lets your players understand different gap responsibilities. It lets you shift personnel if you’re thin at one position. And it gives you flexibility without overwhelming your kids.
But you don’t just install fronts. You install them with intention. When installing fronts with intention, we need to look at our team’s run fits. What’s a run fit? Well, a run fit is how each player is responsible for a specific gap or area when defending against the run. Each defensive system has their own definition of run fits, but in ours, we go with the umbrella. In the umbrella run fit:
Once we teach the run fit concept, we then begin on each kid’s individual role in the defense; their Job. For this, we’ve started working through Joe Daniel’s ASKA principles. What’s ASKA, you ask? Well, when you’re teaching your defense you teach:
Once you have your ASKA principles down, it’s not only easy to see progress, but it’s also easy to identify where your kids aren’t developing. This is where filming your practices always helps. For example, we might get gashed in practice on a certain run play (let’s say God’s play, Power) and we need to know how exactly it happened. We can go back to the film and identify who’s not running their ASKA principles. Maybe the 3 Tech wasn’t ALIGNED in an actual shade but head up, and engaged head on with the down blocking tackle. Maybe the linebacker didn’t KEY the pulling guard and follow him to the play.
Once your players are locked in on their run fits and their ASKA, then—and only then—you add in stunts. At the JV level, we need these kids to be flying around without stunts, but obviously not all defenses can survive without stunting.
In order to stay simple and focus on development, choose 4-5 base stunts like:
Install those stunts with purpose. Don’t add 20 just because you saw it on a clinic tape. Rep the same stunt until your kids can run it without thinking. AND MAKE SURE YOU’RE TEACHING THEM HOW TO DO IT!! Just because you tell a kid to blitz, it doesn’t mean they’ll take the right track or run it the correct way. Always teach with intention.
It may seem boring, but remember, your goal isn’t variety. Your goal is confidence and consistency.
Techniques Over Scheme
Here’s the ugly truth: scheme doesn’t matter if your kids can’t get off a block.
Sub-varsity defense should be built around technique, not play calls. Because the more time you spend on teaching HOW to play defense, the more success your players will have when they move up.
You need to teach:
If you don’t spend time on this every week, your defense isn’t developing. It’s surviving.
Every Tuesday after a Monday game for us is a “technique day.” We strip the install back and go all-in on fundamentals. Because JV football isn’t about who has the fanciest pressure package. It’s about who can line up, read a key, and run their feet through contact.
Focusing on the technique rather than the scheme might seem counterproductive to the idea of winning games, but think about it: how many coaches have you listened to in your lifetime that have said “the best defenses don’t blitz, they just play.” You can’t even consider yourself the best defense unless your kids know how to do the fundamental stuff and do it well.
Run Heavy = Box Heavy
This is the hill I will die on: if you’re not playing with at least 7 in the box at the JV level, you’re asking to get run over.
Sub-varsity football is a RUN-FIRST world. Period.
Most teams can’t pass protect. Most quarterbacks aren’t accurate beyond 10 yards. And most receivers still struggle with route depth and breaks. But almost EVERY team has one kid who can run angry behind a pile of linemen.
So what should your defense do?
Even if you’re a base 4-2-5 or 3-3 Stack team, that 7th man needs to be in run fits early. You need to have bodies near the ball.
If you give up a fade? Tip your cap and line back up. But if you give up 240 rushing yards on 28 dive plays? That’s on you.
Have a run-first plan. Have a force player identified every play. Work being Gap-Sound during every individual and team period. Rep your run-fits every day in Team AND Scout. And teach pursuit angles every week.
One drill we run right from Day 1 of install to the end of the season is the Pursuit Drill. Every kid on the team rotates through, looking where to find the ball, and how to take an angle to get there. The further you are from the ball, the deeper an angle you need to take. By the end of the season, we’re not letting those 55 yard broken runs score anymore, because our kids know to pursue to get them.
Remember: the first job of any defense is to stop the run. Don’t overthink it.
At the end of the day, building a JV defensive system isn’t about stats. It’s not about being the number one defense in the county. It’s not even about stopping the Double Wing (okay maybe a little bit).
It’s about preparing your kids to compete at the next level.
You do that by:
It’s not glamorous. But it works.
Because when your linebacker gets called up and nails the spill technique on Power, or when your corner checks a formation and flips the coverage without blinking—that’s the win.
That’s what development looks like.
Next week, we’ll take a look at some examples of building a Development focused practice plan, because even if you’re practicing with your varsity teams, you need to take time to build on the skills for your specific players.
In the meantime, if you have questions about Sub-Varsity coaching, or any other football questions, hit me up on Twitter @CoachEaston268 or leave a commentl. I’m always down to talk ball. Also, check out the JV Plays of the Week and Drills of the Week to help you Sub-varsity coaches develop your kids better!
And as always, keep checking out the great materials available on coachingshare.com.
Until then: Build it. Rep it. Teach it.
That’s coaching for development.
