Mount Union’s defense gives their opponent’s offensive coordinator nightmares trying to prepare to move the ball against them! 

Last season, the Purple Raiders were the second best defense in the country at stopping their opponents on 3rd down, allowing the offense to convert just 20.6% of the time!

This critical area of defensive dominance is why today we’re going to talk about one essential, but often overlooked area of the game that Mount Union DC Daryl Ely prioritizes teaching to his players to get these results (and you can too!)

Learn how you can emulate Mount Union’s defensive dominance with our latest release: The Mount Union Defense – The Complete Series

Understanding Different Areas of the Field

Coach Daryl Ely’s approach to coaching is to always avoid assuming that a player has knowledge or information that he hasn’t directly taught them before.

Situational football is something that’s natural for coaches to think about on a regular basis, but more often than you realize, the deeper intellectual side of the game may never have been taught to the athletes that you’re working with. This makes it essential to cover this information in detail with your players so that the entire unit is on the same page and can take their preparation to the next level, which is one of the reasons Mount Union’s defense has been so successful!

Coach Ely breaks situational football into different zones of the field as shown above. Each area has been given a name, and has a corresponding list of play types that the defense is expecting to see from the offense in this area. This helps the defense stay a step ahead and not get caught off guard by what the offense throws at them.

Zones of the Field & General Things to Expect:

• Backed Up (-1 to -3):
  • QB Runs
  • Power Runs
  • Quick Game
• Coming Out (-4 to -10):
  • Shots Downfield
  • Quick Game
  • QB Runs
  • Power Runs
• Grey Zone “Fringe” (+40 to +20):
  • Shots Downfield
  • Trick Plays
• High Red Zone (+20 to +13):
  • Shots to End Zone (Fade Balls)
  • QB Run Game
  • RB Out of the Backfield
  • Man Beaters
• Goaline (+3 to +1):
  • QB Runs
  • RB Out of the Backfield
  • Power Runs
  • Man Beaters

This list is based on what Mount Union expects to see from offenses against their defense, so this might look a little different for your program. What’s important to take away from this, is that having these conversations with your players and helping them understand the game at a more advanced level will do wonders for their performance and will allow your defensive unit to see massive results on game day!

Learn how to shut down the opposing offense with The Mount Union Defense – The Complete Series.

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