It’s football season!
For the CFLers, at least.
Still, it’s nice to have some current systems and schemes to study.
Here’s a breakdown of a Run Fit from the first pre-season game of the 2023 CFL season.
Run Fit vs. Gap Scheme
The type of play being defended here is what I call a “Gap Scheme”. This means there are Pullers.
On this particular play, the first Puller is the backside Guard, and the second Puller is an eligible Wing. I call this a “Power G”.
There are many different options when it comes to defending this type of play. We’ll explore one example shown here:
First Puller
How will you deal with the first Puller? Your answer to this questions will help inform your entire Run Fit.
Two popular options here are to Box or to Spill.
In the clip above, we see the Defensive End SPILL the Pulling Guard. This means he works to get INSIDE the Puller.
This player appears to use a Wrong Arm Technique when Spilling the play. He executes a “Dip and Rip” with his outside arm to get inside the Puller. Then he squares back up and fights the pressure of the blocker.
It’s well-executed, and he ends up participating in the tackle on this play.
Second Puller
If we Spill the first Puller, the second Puller will often work around and outside that collision. This is what happens in the clip above.
When we meet the second Puller, we are again posed with the same question: Box or Spill?
In this clip, the defender Boxes the second Puller. This means he remains OUTSIDE the block. This is often a physical play, and great pad level and technique are necessary to stop the momentum of the blocker.
Frontside Linebacker Run Fit
The Frontside Linebacker’s first job is to RECOGNIZE the play. They must see the Pullers, or hear their backside teammates calling out “Pull! Pull!”.
The next key is for the Linebacker to get OVER TOP of the down block from the Offensive Tackle. We want to remain tight to the play while doing this and not give up too much ground.
We see the Frontside Linebacker do a great job on this technique in the clip above.
Backside Linebacker Run Fit
Again, step one is SEEING the Puller and reading the play.
Often times there is no one left to block the backside Linebacker. If the frontside players do a good job with this Fit, everything is funnelled back to the backside LB.
I like to call this the “All-Star Lane”. If everything works out properly, you get to be the All-Star on this play.
The Run Fit
When it all plays out as discussed above, the fit ends up looking like this:
Final Thoughts
Again, this is just one example. There are many different ways to fit this run.
The key is for everyone on your Defence to understand your Run Fit CONCEPTS. Different players may be asked to fill different roles based on your Front, Blitz, Stunt, etc.
All the best,
Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
IG: @jonsvecx
Twitter: @jonsvecx
To read more check out Canadian Football Chalk Talk: Defensive Basics, and Canadian Football Chalk Talk: Linebacker Toolbox.