How to Read a Defense | A Guide to the Basics of Football Coverage

Terms discussed: man, mirror technique, off man, press man, zone, coverage shells, cover 2, cover 3, cover 6, cover 7, man-match, pattern-match, rip/liz, greendog blitz, man free

The offseason is in full swing which gives us plenty of time to distract ourselves with any scraps of football we can cling to. For this offseason, the main distraction will be coverage concepts.

Coverage is one of the most important aspects of football but due to generally awful camera angles, most fans aren’t encouraged, or often even able, to get the full scope of what’s happening on the field.

The goal of this upcoming video series is to solve some of these issues. To get into the nitty-gritty of what football coverages are like and how Florida State Defensive Coordinator Adam Fuller uses them in his scheme.

So to start things off there needs to be a primer. This primer needs to not only educate viewers about the differences between coverage families but also how to identify them using the generally awful angles you get watching the game from home. Then it should explain how the offense can attack those coverages and what modifications the defense needs to make to fill those gaps. Hopefully, this primer accomplishes those things.

Music Credit: LAKEY INSPIRED
Track Name: "Better Days"
Music By: LAKEY INSPIRED

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License for commercial use: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported "Share Alike" (CC BY-SA 3.0)

[nikitaa]

Who’s here because CFB 25 hard as hell

[daveedmondson]

Thanks for increasing our football IQ's.

[austinshivers]

This is great. As a fan who didn't play organized football, these help me really understand what I'm watching. And you teach the ideas much better than most.

[Chrisx]

GREAT Video. As a football fan, i've always found myself wanting to dig a bit deeper than just what you see on tv. Keep these going!

[ADPuckey]

I love this video. This is exactly the kind of stuff I've been looking for - a perfect introduction to scheme stuff for someone who already knows the basics but never played the game. Really well done, stoked to check out the rest of your videos.

[xrexc]

Love these bro! They're great teaching tools. Keep em coming!

[LTGiants]

Great introduction video, thank you for putting this together. I have played Madden for years without really paying attention to what all of the X's & O's mean. Now with Peyton and Eli on MNF, it's made me want to understand it more and this helps a lot! Thanks.

[shadowki]

Excellent video. Understanding instead of just watching is key to Madden domination. Keep up the good work.

[dkoda]

This is really good man. Your information was solid and the visuals were clean, too the point, and informative. Keep up the work man, this is a great video for anyone knew to the gridiron.

I know I just wrote this on Reddit but felt like I should comment directly here too.

[TheMichaelBeck]

Came across your channel. Love it. I played from '82 to '86 until I fracture dislocated my ankle running routes during P.E. without my ankles taped the Monday before the first game of my senior year of high school. Since my season was over I shadowed my coaches during games. I learned a lot more about the game coaching than playing. I served in the Army and after retiring I started coaching the Pop Warner team I played for as a kid. I absolutely loved it. I've coached middle school kids ever since. As a life long Seminoles fan, GO 'NOLES! Cheers.
P.s. I never let my kids practice without taped ankles. Lesson learned.

[jobaecker]

Great video - filled in some gaps with detailed explanations. One thing I don't like about TV coverage is that they don't always show you all the players at once, where you can "see" the strategic placements and shifts before the play starts.

[PercentBettr]

Excellent and simple breakdown, one of the best Ive seen.

[jonspringer]

I love football and getting into the defense and learning as I am watching makes even the boring games fun!! Great video, thank you!

[dharrison]

Absolutely loving these videos you're putting out, man! Much appreciated!

[UKswish]

Gday from here in UK. Thanks for the brilliant content. I'm always interested in the nuances of American football and Basketball as growing up in the early 90s ( born 81' ) UK we never had alot of access to the " American sports " so never got to really learn the game even though I've been a fan for nearly 3 decades. So to be able to watch and learn from a well presented, really informative and uncomplicated video/s is a brilliant find that I'll be watching and studying ALOT. Big thanks and look forward to seeing more.

[sionedwards]

This is very helpful. As a new fan from the UK it's great to see videos like this to help me understand the more intricate side of the game

[loganfowler]

Great stuff Kev, keep em coming! GO NOLES!

[JJackson]

Nice work! I learned many new concepts.

[supash]

Okay you got me on the quiz portion, I totally thought that was cover 6 (2 on the left and 4 on the right)at 8:15. Great video!

[stephenrusche]

Great information. Thanks for sharing!