DC-Advice on Defense

"BTW, I have coached mainly 5-3 at older ages (I also played for years in that defense). That is what I know best. Unfortunately, it is very susceptible to OT stuff at this age level.

The 5-3 requires a big, strong Sam LBer who can fill the offtackle hole.

Now, for next year’s 10-11 team, I like these defenses in the following order:
1) Wide Tackle 6 (moving to 6-5 in short yardage);
2) 6-1 cover 2;
3) 6-1 monster (please explain role of monster);

In a monster defense the strong side safety (SS) moves up either as an extra Sam LBer over the TE or as an extra DE on the LOS. The weak safety (WS) moves over to the middle of the field and plays Cover 1 or Cover 3. From the sideline, the defense will look like a 5-3 but, where a 5-3 is balanced, a 6-1 monster is unbalanced to the strong side. In your case, you can think of it as your 5-3 with the Mike LBer shifted over the strong side guard and Will LBer over the weak guard. You can play a "monster" from any Cover 2 defense, such as 5-2, 6-1, or 4-3. Because it can unbalance against an unbalanced offense (Going strong against strong), it is a superior defense to the 5-3.

4) 4-6; and
5) 5-2.

To this, you can also add the Pro 4-3. This defense was popular in the late 50's and early 60's. It was designed to stop virtually every youth play now in existence and can be played with, or without, a monster. With a good MLBer and FS, you can kick some butt with this. I ran it for a year and was very happy with it. Your opponents will not recognize it, it is easy to run, and is difficult to spread. Vince Lombardi wrote a very short, simple two volume set of books and one of these volumes contains the defense. It's an easy 15 minute read and I highly recommend it. He covers everything. You can teach it in a night.

My chief concerns are the C gaps (isolation plays),

If you "box" your DE's you will trouble defending this. Rotating a "monster" up on "C" gap can help solve this.

sweeps,

An even front, such as a Pro 4-3, is usually very effective at stopping both sweeps and offtackle plays because the center is often assigned to the MLBer and he can't make the block.

reverses,

The job of stopping the reverse lies first with the DE to that side and, second, with the cornerback to that side.

and 10 yd out passes (or your Pass Right/Left type equivalents).

If the other teams have as many studs as you say, this will be a problem. I only know of two youth solutions at the youth level. One is to play bump and run coverage and the other is to play a 3 under, 3 deep zone (Which is, again, from an even front). In B&R coverage, your coverage is only good for 4 seconds so the QB has to be sacked in 5 seconds or less by the DL's. In 3 under, 3 deep zone, you will hold the other team to 33% pass completions at the youth level no matter how good they are provided the FS is a stud.

Also, I tried the GAM; but got frustrated by being burned on passes and OT runs (if they broke through).

You weren't playing a stud at FS. You need someone who flies around the field here making tackles and interceptions. He's your #1 player in the GAM.

I also do not like the Split 6 because both backers are positioned too far inside.

I have used the Split 6 as a changeup defense when offenses get inside my 20. If the other team was running the ball to get that far, the Split 6 will stop whatever play they were running.

Questions
*Where would you place your studs in a WT-6?

I have never lined up in a wide tackle 6. It does not take an offensive genius on the other side of the field to see the holes if he scouts you. How do you propose to align it? But, in answer to your questions, the studs go to LBer, especially INSIDE.

*Would you be inclined to mix up your defenses during a game, say rotating occasionally (based on what the offense is doing) between WT-6, 6-1, & 6-1 monster? I’m interested in your thoughts here.

It's always nice to be able to change up your defense, especially if what you start out with isn't working. It also makes a coach's job of scouting you much more difficult. He has to spot them all, then prepare his team for them all.

I agree with your "even front" thinking but, with six DL's you lose 4-5 of them on every run play and you've only got five DB's against the pass and it sounds like they can pass. If you go to a 4-3 Pro you'll get the advantage of an even front, be able to play 6 DB's ( 3 under, 3 deep) and a monster. Although it is an even front (i.e. no NG), it actually has 5 men on the line so you'll be tough to spread. You should stop everything. Although I only ran it one year I set two defensive league records. In seven regular games my FS made 49 tackles (I have since broken that record several times but it was a first when I did it from the Pro 4-3.) and my MLBer set a league record seven INT's, a record which still stands (The offense has no choice but to throw slants and hooks and my Mike would just read the QB's eyes). Both players were my #1 and #2 studs, respectively. I think this defense is what you're looking for. Contact your local library for Vince Lombardi's two volume book. If they don't have it, they should be able to get it on inter-library loan. You might also be able to buy it from football book sites. Ask if you have questions.

*Am I being too much of a standard youth coach here with 6-man fronts?

The six man front poses a problem for many youth offenses because they want to assign their center to the MLBer and he can't get there. The drawback is in the hook and slant passes plus the fact that on any given run play, 4-5 of your six down linemen are not a factor, which is close to half your team. The six man fronts will work well with three studs (Cover 2) or four (Monster). Since that falls within your talent range your thinking is good. The "I" is not going to have fun against that six man front - but the wishbone might. My only concern is the level of your coaching competition. Are any of your opposing coaches former HS coaches? If not, you're okay. But if there's some bright football wizard who walks over everyone in your league and he's been coaching for more than three years, chances are he's seen it. If so, you only have to look at my playbook to see what he's going to do to you. If you're in WT-6 with Cover 2, he's coming up the gut with traps and Wham. Your six down linemen will play the whole game and never make a tackle and your corners will be too far outside to help, leaving three defenders to stop the TD every play. He'll pound on those guys until one of the misses. Against this guy, I say 4-3 Pro. Those "I" teams will see a stud MLBer with a stud FS behind him mirroring their backfield. Against "Twins" you can put 2-3 defenders on them, never have to shade the FS, and still have the strong side covered. Unless this coach is as old as Malcolm Robinson, he won't have a clue what to do. Come to think of it - Malcolm has probably played 4-3 Pro. He can offer his opinion on this defense. What say you Malcolm?

*If playing a 4-6; how would you align the D and what are the players assignments?

Against "I" formation Twins, you'd probably see this:

                S
       C     W     M
    C     E  T  N  T    S E
   O       O  O 0 O  O   O
       O        O
                O
                O

*What is your philosophy on blitzing?

I run a 46 and we have 22 different blitzes to reach the QB. We blitz "I" formation teams almost every down. In our opinion, our blitzing LBers can reach the QB before the TB can take the handoff since we have the shorter distance to go. So we usually bring one LBer from somewhere with instructions to take the handoff away from the QB as his first choice or tackle him as hs second. Against this, the "I" has no choice but to try and trap the FB (Hard to do against a 46) or pitch outside to the TB who is almost always tackled for a loss since Mike, Will and the FS are unblocked and are all studs. Having said this, you're probably now sold on running the 46 but the 46 requires a lot of talent to run. You only need four studs to fill the key positions but the other seven all have to be good or better than good. There can be no weak points (i.e. weak players) in the defense or it won't work. Also, you must have good coaches at every position. The kids have to know what to do and do it right and so they must be properly drilled. The 4-3 Pro is easy to understand and one coach can teach the whole thing whereas as it takes 3-4 coaches to teach the 46.