Pre-Snap Defensive Checklist

Some things to look for before the snap as a Canadian football defence

A lot of information can be gathered before the ball is even snapped.

In Canadian football, there are a few key things to look for when discussing pre-snap reads. Here are a just a few thoughts on the topic.

Avoid “Paralysis by Analysis”

Before getting into a laundry list of indicators, first a cautionary warning to avoid going overboard with your pre-snap reads. Good defences play fast, and it’s difficult to play fast if you’re spending all your time thinking. This is especially true at earlier levels of player development.

There are certainly some great ways to get a head start on the play with efficient pre-snap reads, but not all of this information needs to trickle down to the players. One of the challenges as a coach is deciding which bits of information are important for your players to know, and which bits can remain with the coach and be filtered through a play call or well-timed buzzword from the sidelines.

Communication

Who is your communicator? Common candidates include the Free Safety or Middle Linebacker. Or perhaps you have certain defenders tasked with communicating specific pieces of information? Either way, a good communication plan can avoid confusion if two players think they are seeing two different things. Often the read being “correct” is less important than the fact that all 12 defenders are identifying it the same way.

Field/Strong/Wide??

A Canadian football play can end at any point within our 65-yard wide surface. Often, the ball will then be placed on a hash mark to begin the next play, and this is your first — and arguably most crucial — bit of pre-snap communication.

I’ve heard it called many things, and none of these names are correct or incorrect as long as everyone is on the same page. Whether you go with Field/Boundary, Strong/Weak, or Wide/Short, we’re all saying the same thing: there is more space to one side of the field compared to the other side. Identifying the Field/Strong/Wide side (ie. Field Left!) will often tell your players where to line up, which is the first key to defensive success.

This is a fairly simple concept when the ball is on the hash, but a little more focus is needed when the ball is placed in between the hashes. Now the communication must be loud and clear, and again you’re never wrong as long as all 12 players are in agreement. When the ball is dead centre of the field, you will need to instruct your players on how you want them to call it. Going with the Quarterback’s throwing arm is a common choice here.

Side note: It will be interesting to see how the new placement of the hash marks in the CFL will impact this concept. Feel free to share some of your thoughts in the comments.

Personnel

Your game plan will likely include some of your opponent’s tendencies based on personnel. This can be a helpful hint to your players when it comes to what types of plays they should expect to see next.

There are many different ways to identify your opponent’s personnel groupings. A simple one would be to base it on how many Running Backs are on the field (ie. Ace=1, Deuce=2, Heavy=3, Empty=0).

There are also some numbering systems out there that you could employ (ie. 11 Personnel=1 RB, 1 TE, etc.).

Either way, being consistent and making sure your players understand what each personnel group truly means (ie. what tendencies are presenting themselves based on personnel) are key here.

Formation

A common tactic here would be to use a numbering system that begins with the receiver count to the Field/Strong/Wide side. An example would be a 32 Formation, which would have three Receivers to the Field and two Receivers to the Boundary.

Note: A big decision here includes deciding how you will identify Tight Ends/Wings. Are they counted as Receivers or Running Backs? This decision will help frame a lot of your alignment adjustments versus TE/Wing sets.

Backfield Sets

Much like receiver counts, identifying your opponent’s Backfield Set might give you some great clues as to what play is coming next. I’ve seen this done many different ways, and again it comes down to how many different names/identifiers you want your players to learn. Also, how do they actually apply this knowledge on game day?

Depending on what’s going on in your league, in Canadian football it’s common to see a lot of Single Back Sets presented as Gun Strong, Gun Weak or Pistol (RB is set behind the QB). When Fullbacks come into play, a lot of different options become available in terms of Backfield Sets.

Motion!!

In Canadian football, this is the big one. Offences in this country do a great job of using pre-snap motion to try and identify, confuse, and outnumber Canadian defences. Communication is key here because motion often happens fast.

Identifying the type of motion you are seeing is important because you might have different reactions to different types of motion. For example, when the Offence runs a Receiver across the formation very early, very slowly, and behind the Quarterback, you might want to identify this a certain way (ie. Orbit, Rover) because the defence has time to adjust.

Conversely, when the offence motions a Receiver across the formation very late — right at the snap or right before the snap — you might want to treat this differently and give it a different name (ie. Jet, Slice).

When you combine the different types of motion with the fact that Canadian offences are able to motion anyone/everyone across the formation, you are left with an unlimited amount of possible motion options. Because of this, communication and identification are key here, and it’s likely that a large portion of your practice time will be spent working on your motion rules.

Game Plan Key

Every once in a while your scouting report will produce one “key” that you can use to get a real jump on the play. Maybe the splits of the Offensive Linemen are different on run versus pass? Maybe the Quarterback’s feet switch when his first read is to the left or right? Leaving room for these keys and having a plan when it comes to how they will be communicated within the defence can give you a real edge on game day.

Final Thoughts

Again, I believe an important point here is deciding how you will distill this information to your players. For instance, a certain opponent might have no tendencies when it comes to personnel — they run the same plays no matter who is on the field. The same opponent’s formations, on the other hand, might provide some great keys. If this were the case, you might want to emphasize your formation identifications instead of your personnel identifications during that week of practice.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to subscribe to my new Youtube channel to watch some short videos about Canadian football schemes and techniques:

All the best,

Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
IG: @jonsvecx
Twitter: @jonsvecx