The Coach's Eye: Defensive Linemen

When fans evaluate a defensive lineman, the first thing they usually look at is the stat sheet. How many tackles did he make? Did he record a sack? Was he constantly around the football?

Those numbers matter. You want your defensive linemen making plays and stopping the run. But after more than 30 years of coaching and scouting football, I can tell you that evaluating defensive line play requires looking far beyond the numbers.

I’ve seen defensive linemen play outstanding games without making many tackles. I’ve also seen players put up statistics while not playing their assignments the way they should.

The difference comes down to technique, leverage, effort, and discipline. Let me explain what I look for when evaluating defensive line play.

Attacking Mentality

I like an attacking defense, and I want my defensive linemen coming off the ball aggressively. When I evaluate a defensive lineman, I’m watching how hard he comes off the ball and whether he’s hitting his target. In my system, that target was always the V of the neck.

I’m also watching his hands. Hand usage is critical for a defensive lineman because you cannot simply catch an offensive lineman and allow him to control the engagement. You’ve got to attack. You’ve got to deliver a punch, get your head inside, and keep the offensive lineman from establishing control of you.

If an offensive lineman gets his hands inside and starts controlling the block, he’s got the advantage. That’s why I want my defensive linemen coming off the ball low and hard, striking their target, and using their hands properly from the beginning of the play.

Hit and Separate

One drill we did every single day was called Hit and Separate. On command, the defensive lineman fires off the ball. I want him getting his hands inside, locking his arms out, and creating separation between himself and the offensive lineman.

That separation is critical. If you don’t create separation and the offensive lineman gets into your body and starts running his feet, he’s got you beat. He can control you, move you, and take you away from where you need to be.

The defensive lineman has to fire off low and hard, get his hands inside, and lock those arms out. Once he establishes control, he needs to find the football, shed the blocker, and get to the play.

But there’s one more thing he cannot forget: maintain your gap.

Attack the Block, But Maintain Your Gap

I always coached a gap-control defense. That meant I wanted my defensive linemen attacking the offensive line while remaining responsible for their assigned gaps. Our approach was simple: hit and separate, maintain your gap, and get to the football.

You cannot have defensive linemen freelancing and abandoning their responsibilities because they see an opportunity to make a tackle somewhere else. A player might look aggressive because he’s chasing the football, but if he leaves his gap and opens a hole for the running back, that aggression can hurt the defense.

I’m looking for a defensive lineman who can strike the blocker, create separation, stay square, maintain his gap, and then get to the football. Technique and discipline have to work together.

Stay Square and Win With Leverage

Defensive line play and offensive line play have something important in common: leverage. Whoever consistently gets his hands inside and stays low is going to have an advantage. I want my defensive linemen staying square rather than allowing an offensive lineman to turn their shoulders and control the block. When your shoulders turn, you lose the ability to control the engagement the way you should. Staying square, maintaining separation, and keeping your leverage put you in a better position to find the football and make a play.

And there’s a bigger consequence when a defensive lineman loses that battle. If an offensive lineman drives a defensive lineman backward into the linebackers, you can essentially take two defenders out of the play. The defensive lineman has lost his ground, and now the linebacker behind him has to fight through that disruption, too.

That’s why controlling the line of scrimmage matters so much. Defensive linemen aren’t just responsible for what happens to them individually. Their technique affects the entire defense.

Effort Has to Last Beyond the First Few Plays

When I’m evaluating a defensive lineman, I’m looking at all of it: technique, effort, coachability, and discipline. But I also want to know what that player looks like late in a drive. What is he doing on the eighth or ninth play of a 10- or 12-play drive? Is he still coming off the ball with the same effort? Is he maintaining his leverage, or is he getting lazy?

I tried to rotate my defensive linemen every few plays because I wanted them fresh. But football doesn’t always give you that opportunity. If an offense is running tempo late in the game, you might not have time to substitute. Your defensive linemen still must maintain their discipline, play with leverage, and gut it out when they’re tired. You can have all the technique in the world, but you still have to execute it when you’re exhausted. That’s part of playing defensive line. The physical demands don’t go away just because you’re tired, and your responsibility doesn’t change because you need a rest.

Coachability Starts With the Player—and the Coach

This applies to every position, but a defensive lineman who won’t make an effort to correct his mistakes isn’t going to stay on the field with me. Period.

A player has to be coachable. If he’s using the wrong technique, getting his hands outside, losing leverage, or failing to maintain his gap, he must be willing to make the correction.

But there’s another side to accountability that coaches need to understand.

If I see a player making a mistake, correct him, and he continues making that same mistake, then I leave him in the game without addressing the problem, that’s on me as the coach. I have a responsibility to hold my players accountable.

Now, if that player is your best player, you’re probably going to get him right back in the game in a hurry. He may be making plays, and you certainly want his talent on the field. But you still have to get the technique right. You don’t want a player developing bad habits simply because he’s talented enough to overcome some of his mistakes.

Talent matters, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for coaching.

Why Tackles Don’t Tell the Whole Story

This is the biggest mistake I see when fans evaluate defensive linemen: they focus too much on how many tackles a player makes.

Yes, you want your defensive linemen stopping the run and getting involved in tackles. But consider what happens when a defensive lineman is good enough to draw double teams. If two offensive linemen have to account for one defensive lineman, somebody else on the defense may be left unblocked or have a better opportunity to make the play. That defensive lineman might play the best game of his career and finish with only one or two tackles.

But what if he stayed low, used his hands, maintained his leverage, and refused to get blown off the ball? What if he clogged up the middle, created havoc at the line of scrimmage, and gave the running back nowhere to go?

The running back has to bounce the play outside or try to cut it back. That movement creates an opportunity for a linebacker or another defender to make the tackle. The player who gets the statistic may not be the player who made the play possible.

That’s why I want to know how a defensive lineman performed his assignment. Did he maintain his gap? Did he stay square? Did he create separation? Did he control the blocker and help the defense stop the run?

You can have a defensive lineman play an outstanding game and finish with two tackles because his work allowed other people to make plays.

On the other hand, a player might accumulate tackles because he repeatedly leaves his gap and happens to find the football after a running back cuts back into his area. I call that dummying into tackles. The numbers might look good, but that doesn’t automatically mean he’s playing sound defensive line football. I’m looking at the technique and the assignment, not just the final statistic.

The Scout’s Final Take

When you watch a defensive lineman, don’t just count his tackles. Watch his first step. Watch his hands. See whether he stays low, creates separation, and keeps his shoulders square. Watch whether he maintains his gap and controls the line of scrimmage.

Pay attention to whether offensive linemen are moving him backward or whether he’s making them work to control him. Notice when he draws a double-team and creates an opportunity for somebody else to make a play.

And watch him late in a long drive. Is the effort still there? Is the technique still there? Is he still doing his job when he’s tired?

Those are the things a coaches and scouts sees that a stat sheet cannot fully explain. Defensive line play is about more than making tackles. It’s about controlling the line of scrimmage, disrupting the offense, maintaining your responsibilities, and giving your teammates the opportunity to succeed.

Hit and separate. Maintain your gap. Get to the football.

That’s how I coached defensive line play, and that’s what I want you to look for the next time you watch a game.

That’s The Coach’s Eye.