Canadian football Offences take full advantage of our pre-snap motion rules, but Defences can get in on this action as well. One way to accomplish this is by Shifting Fronts.
Shifting Fronts
A shifting Defensive Front means that the Defensive Linemen and Linebackers will line up a certain way, and at a certain point before the snap they will change into a different look. Simple enough.
It’s up to you, as the coach, when it comes to how dynamic you want to get with this. You could build in a mechanism where every Front could be shifted into any other Front, or you could simply have a couple of “Shifts” ready in order to accomplish specific things.
Deception vs. Execution
The concept of weighing your level of deception versus execution is a massive topic, and it directly applies here.
It’s a fine line: how “tricky” do you want to get versus simply lining up and playing. Too much in either direction, I’d argue, could hurt you on Defence.
Your answers may also differ from year to year. With a veteran group, for example, you may be able to play around with more pre-snap shifts on Defence. With a younger group, you may want to spend your time just getting lined up in the first place.
Why Shift?
Essentially, we’re trying to create some confusion for the Offence. This could appear in a couple ways.
First, in the Run Game, you could try some shifts in order to confuse the Offence’s “count”. When running an Inside Zone, for example, the Offensive Lineman will decide pre-snap who they are blocking and where the double teams are. A well timed Shift could confuse this count and at least cause some hesitation for the Offensive Linemen.
When it comes to Pass Rush, the same goal is there. The hope is that the “Shift” will cause some hesitation in the Pass Protection Scheme and give the rushers some good angles to work with for their pass rush moves.
Timing
The timing of the Shifting Front is key. Typically one defender will be designated to make the “SHIFT!!!” call. If it’s done too early, the Offence will simply adjust and you haven’t really gained anything. If it’s done too late, the defenders will be in a poor position to execute their assignments.
One rule that I’ve worked with in the past is this: If no “SHIFT!” is called, don’t shift. Sometimes the designated player sees something in the look and decides against the shift. At other times, they simply forget or are too late. Either way, don’t shift until the call is made. And if there’s no call, there’s no shift.
Final Thoughts
A Shifted Front, when done properly, can put your players in a good position to make a play. On the other hand, a poorly timed Shift could do the exact opposite. As with anything in football there is a risk-reward ratio here, and the result will probably have a direct relationship with how much practice time you dedicate to the Shift. Some good scouting can also tell you which types of Shifts might be best to use against your next opponent.
Take care,
Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
IG: @jonsvecx
Twitter: @jonsvecx
Jon Svec is the author of the e-book Canadian Football Chalk Talk: Defensive Basics.