I love Vice tackles.
I love talking about them, coaching them, seeing them play out.
But how are Vice tackles created?
Trick question.
Vice tackles can come together in many different ways.
Here’s one:
The Situation
The Offence is running an Inside Zone here.
They are adding in an extra blocker to the front side of the run.
As this rep plays out, the Running Back ends up bouncing the ball to the outside.
A Defensive Back and Linebacker come together to make the Vice tackle.
Front Hip
The Defensive Back ends up being the Front Hip player on the Vice. This means he is the player that the ball carrier is coming TOWARDS.
The Defensive Back becomes an active participant in the Run Game when the Receiver he is covering down adds-in to double team the Defensive End.
When this happens, the Defence loses their Edge on the play.
The Defensive Back then becomes a Force player. Notice his angle as he comes downhill, always remaining on the Front Hip of the Running Back.
Back Hip
The Linebacker ends up as the Back Hip player, meaning he is the player the ball carrier is moving AWAY FROM.
It appears as though the Linebacker is originally a B Gap player on this call, since the Defensive Tackle is crossing face to the A Gap.
When the Running Back sees the Linebacker in the B Gap, however, the ball bounces.
The Linebacker does a great job here of maintaining a yard or two of DEPTH before fully committing to his Gap. This allows him to pursue outside when the ball bounces.
Final Thoughts
There’s nothing like seeing a great Vice tackle come together.
For more Canadian football coaching resources check out my Gumroad page by clicking here:
All the best,
Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
IG: @jonsvecx
Twitter: @jonsvecx
To read more check out the Canadian Football Chalk Talk e-books series, which includes: Defensive Basics, Linebacker Toolbox, and Modern Pressures.