Defensive Football Strategies (American Football Coaches Association) [Paperback]

American Football Coaches Association (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2000

They say that defense wins championships. If so, this book is your formula for winning a title with a solid defensive football team.

Defensive Football Strategies is a complete collection of tactics, teachings, and insights from some of the best defensive minds in the game. Readers will find winning strategies from 90 top coaches—legends of both the past and the present—including Bob Stoops of the University of Oklahoma, Bo Schembechler of the University of Michigan, Charlie McBride of the University of Nebraska, and R.C. Slocum of Texas A & M.

Inside are 73 detailed presentations on many of football's most successful defensive systems used during the past 40 years. With the help of 600 X-and-O diagrams, the book covers these areas:

- Philosophies, fronts, and schemes
- Run defenses
- Pass defenses
- Formation and down-and-distance adjustments
- Goal line defenses

Defensive Football Strategies was developed in cooperation with the American Football Coaches Association. It's an expert resource that coaches can use to build a defense that will win it all.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

“Since entering the coaching profession in 1972, I’ve gained a great deal of insight from many different coaches to form my strategic approach to the game, Now one of the very best collections of offensive football wisdom is available in one book from the American Football Coaches Association. Offensive Football Strategies features the schemes, formations and plays that have been producing points, wins, and championships for the past 40 years. It doesn’t matter if you’re a high school or college coach, or what offensive philosophy you have, this book provides a wealth of information for a more successful scoring attack.”

Phillip Fulmer

About the Author

Since its establishment in 1922, the American Football Coaches Association has striven to provide a forum for the discussion and study of all matters pertaining to football and coaching and to maintain the highest possible standards in football and the coaching profession. These objectives, first declared by founders Alonzo Stagg, John Heisman, and others, have been instrumental in the AFCA's becoming the effective and highly respected organization it is today.

The AFCA now has more than 10,000 members, including coaches from Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, and Russia. Through annual publications and several newsletters, the association keeps members informed of the most current rules changes and proposals, proper coaching methods, innovations in techniques, insights in coaching philosophy, and business conducted by the board of trustees and AFCA committees. A convention is held each January to give members a special opportunity to exchange ideas and recognize outstanding achievement.

The association promotes safety in the sport and establishes strong ethical and moral codes that govern all aspects of football coaching. In addition, the AFCA is involved in numerous programs that ensure the integrity of the coaching profession and enhance the development of the game. It works closely with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the National Football League, the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, Pop Warner, and other organizations involved in the game of football. Indeed, one of the goals of the association is to build a strong coalition—TEAM AFCA—of football coaches who will speak out with a unified voice on issues that affect the sport and profession.

The AFCA is the team of the football coaching profession. All current and former football coaches or administrators involved with football are encouraged to join. For more information about becoming a member of the American Football Coaches Association, please log on to the AFCA Web site (www.afca.com) or contact them at the following address:

American Football Coaches Association
100 Legends Lane
Waco, TX 76706
[phone]

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics (August 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736001425
• ISBN-13: 978-0736001427
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than Average, March 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Defensive Football Strategies (American Football Coaches Association) (Paperback)

Strengths: The book broadly covers most of the elements of defensive football strategy. Most defensive approaches that have been attempted successfully in the last 40 years are reviewed and explained. Football coaches, especially at the HS level where the athletes' practice time is limited, will appreciate the book's simplicity and its ability to convey the essence of a particular defensive approach. Do these philosophies work? They have, in various forms, for decades.

Weaknesses: The strength of the book is also its primary weakness. It covers so much material that nothing is covered in detail, and coaches seeking the finer points of a particular defensive scheme may have to look elsewhere for assistance. Some of the newer defensive philosophies, especially the incredibly specialized schemes used in the pro ranks (defensive ends dropping off into coverage in short zones, linebackers who only play in running situations, or cornerbacks involved in intricate blitz schemes) are not covered. HS coaches will probably not have the time or athletic talent to indulge in that level of detail anyway.

As for the critique that defensive schemes designed to stop offenses from the 1960s don't belong in the book, I would beg to differ. In many areas of the country, especially the deep south, HS football coaches still employ the offensive systems in which they themselves played in decades before. Perhaps the most prominent example is the use of the triple-option out of a wishbone formation, once a staple of college football (Oklahoma and Alabama in the 1970s), never used in the pro ranks and abandoned by almost all college teams except the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. It was not unusual to find Tennessee HS football teams still running this offense through the 1990s. In this regard, the book's coverage of defenses designed to stop antiquated offensive game plans is a strength at the HS level.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Average book, January 20, 2009

By 

C. Bradley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Defensive Football Strategies (American Football Coaches Association) (Paperback)

After buying it and reading it, I can see both reviewer's points. The concepts of playing defense are included in this book, but it does include alot of stuff about defenses that are not played as much today (60, 76, 5-2, 5-3, etc.) in higher levels.

This book is not geared to stop newer offenses, like the West Coast, spread-styles, or pro-style pass oriented attacks. It is essentially combined from articles written in the '60s-'80s, when teams were more run-oriented. As such, the examples shown are good for playing run defense against option offenses like the veer, Wing-T, and various forms of the Bone and other pro-sets (2-backs).

In the lower levels, this book would be very useful, but its application to newer passing offenses is limited and not very helpful. One would need to supplement the information here with books geared to defending these offenses.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!!!, September 21, 2010

By 

Spread411 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Defensive Football Strategies (American Football Coaches Association) (Paperback)

This book is great! Has anything a defensive coach could ever want. I bought this book, because I wanted to get different ideas on what coaches thought about defense. It has helped me learn what defense I want my players running. Very easy to follow with all the diagrams and descriptions of the defenses.