My hope is that the information here will help you learn DEL football more quickly, and hopefully enjoy your first seasons more. However, you should not expect to make the playoffs instantly, as it takes time to get a feel for scouting and coaching, acquire the players you want, and have the team "gel".

A caveat for this tutorial is that much of what is contained is one veteran coach's opinion rather than absolute fact. Part of this is because of the trial-and-error nature of learning to coach; part is because different coaching philosophies result in different "optimal" players as well as different coaching strategies. This tutorial tries to show some of the options that are present; undoubtedly other valid options have been omitted (and will be filled in over time).

This section is intended to aid in scouting. Because any task except passing or kicking can be carried out by players at more than one position, the notes below are broken into skill sets. You will need to consider the fraction of the time a player does a task in order to determine what abilities you want the player to have. These notes are intended to give you a feel for what abilities are needed for what positions; if you get hopelessly confused, the player ratings ("A" through "F" letter grades shown after the abilities) are not great, but are also not a horrible thing to fall back on.

Successful DEL coaches look primarly at the player abilities rather than their stats when scouting. While there is some "hidden" information in the abilities (real abilities are on a scale of 0-100 rather than 0-10, so you don't know if somebody with a "6" is really a 6.0 or a 6.9), this is still a much better scouting tool than the player's stats. A better player should have better stats, of course, but better stats can also result from good luck, how the player was used, or teammate skills.

Throwing (QB): For nearly every team, the quarterback is the most important player on the roster. Because of this importance, selection of a starting QB is your most important personnel choice. The most important ability for a QB is his passing ability ("Ps"), which increases the chance of a complete pass and decreases the chance of an interception. I would rate my starting QB's passing ability as the most important single ability for any player on the entire team. The other ability that directly enters into the passing equaion is the arm strength ("PB"); a higher ability translates into better deep passing. This is more important if you want to throw the ball deep; less so if not. The third very important ability for a quarterback is his intelligence ("In"). While this doesn't directly affect completion percentages, it helps the QB pick the best pass, avoid a blitz, etc. I consider PB and In of roughly comparable importance.

For a traditional offense, the mobility abilities of speed ("Sp"), weight ("Wt"), and rushing ("Rs") are useful for scrambling, but not as important as the big three passing abilities. For a team running an option attack, clearly these become more important and probably outweigh the passing skills. Finally, stamina ("St") is not very important and run blocking ("RB") is not at all important.

Rushing (TB, FB, WR): For a team with a balanced attack, or even one with 2/3 passing, the second most important player on the roster will be the primary primary carrier. Almost always, this is your starting tailback. However, depending on the formation(s) and plays you use, your fullback can see as much rushing duty as your TB. Thus, perhaps more than any other offensive positions, you need to take your game plan (and especially the formation you want to use) into account when deciding what players you want on your roster.

There are three main skills that dictate a player's rushing ability. How hard a player is to take down is determined by rushing ("Rs") and weight ("Wt"), with the rushing ability roughly twice as important. Rushing also helps a player fumble less and gain an extra yard when being tackled. The other important ability is speed ("Sp"), which is important on sweeps and whenever the runner gets past the line. The relative importance of speed to rushing depends largely on whether he runs more up the middle or around the end. The prototype roster below assumes a two-back set on defense with the TB running more sweeps and the FB more in the middle; in this set the TB runs about twice as often as the FB. On reverse plays, a WR will generally be the carrier and run a sweep. Since, using normal plays, a WR will never run up the middle, speed is as important or more important than rushing to the success of a reverse. This will also be the case for a receiver who is running after catching the ball.

Intelligence ("In") is a mildly-useful ability for runners, as a smart one will be able to bounce to a better hole if one exists. Stamina ("St") will help a runner stay in the game after a tiring carry. The blocking skills ("PB" and "RB") and passing skill ("Ps") are not used for rushers.

Receiving (WR, TE, TB, FB): The three skills that directly affect a receiver's ability to catch a pass are his receiving ("Ps"), speed ("Sp"), and intelligence ("In"), in order of decreasing importance. The receiving ability is the most important, as it determines the odds of a ball being caught if thrown to the receiver. The other two help the receiver get open, with intel. roughly 2/3 as important as speed on average. (The ratio is not fixed; intel is used more against zone coverage and speed against man.) The length of the pass is also a factor: passing skills are all less important on short passes, which have a higher likelihood of completion. Thus, if your running back catches mostly screen passes, he will need very little receiving ability.

Once the ball is caught, the receiver becomes a ball carrier; see the previous section for a description of what makes a good rusher. As with runners, stamina ("St") helps a player recover quickly after a tiring (long) reception. The blocking skills ("PB" and "RB") are not used for receivers.

Offensive Blocking (all but QB): The last offensive skill set is blocking, which is a task that all players will need to do from time to time. Blocking happens on the line of scrimmage between offensive lineman and defensive lineman or blitzers, when a back picks up a blitzer, and downfield on running plays and screen passes. A player's ability to block is determined by his weight ("Wt"), pass blocking ability ("PB"), and run blocking ability ("RB"). The three values are of comparable importance, though PB becomes more important than the others on a pass play and RB on a run play. In all cases except for a lineman blocking a defensive lineman, speed ("Sp") will be used as well; when used it is generally about as important as the other skills, but the exact ratio can range from half to twice depending on the situation.

Intelligence ("In") is a marginally-useful skill for a blocker, as it helps him pick up blitzers. Stamina ("St") is a little more important for lineman, who can get tired as the game progresses. Rushing ("Rs") and receiving ("Ps") skills are not used for blockers.

Tackling: Abilities for tackling are identical to those used for rushers. Note that for a defensive lineman or blitzer to make a tackle, he has to successfully fight off the block and make the tackle. For defensive backs, speed becomes the most important skill. You can't tackle what you can't run down, and your defensive backs are your last hope against giving up long touchdowns.

Pass Coverage: Abilities for pass coverage are identical to those used for receivers. Note that intelligence is useful for reading plays (especially trick plays), so while intelligence is probably less important than speed in determining the odds of a pass being completed, it is of comparable importance overall for a defensive back. Nevertheless, the Ps rating is significantly more important than either other.

Defensive "Blocking": Abilities used by defensive players to fight off blocks are identical to those used for offensive blocking.

Kicking (PK): The kicker needs to perform two functions: field goals and kickoffs. The first ability is his leg strength, which determines how far the field goals and kickoffs go. The second is accuracy. On kickoffs, a more accurate kicker can avoid the better returner. On field goals, a more accurate kicker puts the ball between the uprights more often. For a field goal of typical distance, the effects of the two abilities are similar. For a kickoff, generally getting touchbacks is more important than avoiding the better returner, thus making leg strength more useful overall.

Punting (PN): The punter is brought on the field solely for punting. As such, his skills are the simplest to analyze. His leg strength ("Sp") determines how far a good punt flies. Accuracy has two uses. First, an inaccurate punter is more likely to shank a punt; second, he will kick fewer touchbacks. Overall the leg strength is a little bit more useful.

Prototypes: To give specific help in terms of scouting, I have developed the following player prototypes. Each player is given 40 "points" of skills (except for kickers with 15), the average for players in DEL football. The points are then distributed according to my estimate of relative importance. "Imp" is my estimate of the relative importance of having a good player at the position (on a scale of 0 to 10), assuming a 4-3 defense or split-back offense with 2 WRs.

Compared to other coaches, I probably put greater than average emphasis on speed and intelligence. I like to have a fast offense (most notably at FB and TE) to create mismatches with a "typical" defense, and I like to have a fast defense to prevent somebody from doing exactly the same thing to me. Thus other coaches would likely use my prototype OLB at safety, my ILB at OLB, and my DL at ILB. Likewise, my prototype TE could play WR on many teams.

Player prototypes will also vary based on your play selection. If you want to run the ball a lot, you may want a TE who resembles a 6th OL. I like wide-open offenses, thus my TE resembles an extra WR. Likewise, if you want to run mostly or only with your TB, your FB can also resemble a lineman. On the other extreme, a team that passes most of the time will want better receiving skills for its running backs.

Defensive prototypes will vary less than offensive, since every defense needs to be able to successfully defend against any offense in the league.

Roster Makeup: So far in this section, the emphasis has been on what talents to look for in your players. For the last section, I will address the makeup of the roster. By DEL rules, you must have 1 player at each kicking position; 2 players at QB, TB, FB, TE, and C; 3 players at OG, OT, and all 6 defensive positions; and 4 WRs. This makes a total of 40 players out of your 45-man roster. In deciding what to do with the five extra positions, you should consider what formations you want to use and make sure you have enough players for every formation (including one per position for injury replacements). My recommendation is one extra at FB (for power-I), TE (for 2-TE), CB (for nickel packages), and DT (for goal-line sets); this accounts for 4 of the 5. The fifth can be a WR in case you use 4-WR sets, or a fifth CB for dime packages.

Building a Team: So you've taken over a team filled with scrubs. Where do you start? The position importance rankings above should get you on the right track. Your top priority needs to be getting a good quarterback and a good running back. Having one without the other usually means you'll have a one-dimensional team that clever defenses will load up against. For the rest of your offense, you need to decide what kind of team you want to run and get the personnel to make it happen (see below). For the offensive line, don't be fooled by the low importance in the above table. Your line is as good as the weakest link. In other words, four average linemen plus a star is little better than five average linemen. However, four average lineman plus a scrub is much worse than five average linemen. So while you shouldn't necessarily spends tons of effort to get superstar linemen, you do need to make sure the line is sound at all five spots.

On defense, the line is the most important position. While an offensive lineman blocks and a runner runs, the defensive lineman must be able to fend off the block andmake the tackle - essentially a two-job position. The other reason for the importance is that the defensive line is the basis of every play. On running plays, the linemen get the first crack at tackling the runner. On passing plays, they can sack the quarterback, force him to scramble or throw the ball away, or at least get some pressure on him.

Second in importance come the defensive backs, as they are your primary pass defense as well as being the last players between your opponent and the end zone. A successful strategy can be to use the four best coverage men on your team (good speed and pass defense with decent intelligence) at DB, with the better tacklers put at safety and the worse ones at corner. Many coaches like to have at least one safety whose skills resemble the prototype CB more than the SF, since this permits much more flexibility in one's coverage options.

The last position is linebacker. The importance of your linebackers is inversely related to the skill of your line. Thus if you have good linemen (as recommended), the linebackers are not as important. You may want to consider signing one or two linebackers with good coverage abilities, since they - like a SF with great coverage skills - can give flexibility to your pass coverage. This is especially useful for long yardage situations, but also useful in general since linebackers are the primary defenders against RB passes. However, if you have to make a choice, run support is a linebacker's primary responsibility.

Your depth charts give the ranking of players at each position, from best to worst. In nearly every case, you should put the players in order of skill -- your best player first, second-best second, and so on -- as the side preferences can put your top player to one side or the other.

Before a play begins, however, your depth chart can be adjusted for one of two reasons. First is the player preferences, in which a player who is not normally a starter can be designated a starter for any of the five situations (short yardage, long yardage, red zone, goal line, or hurry-up). Any such "specialists" will be moved up the depth chart as far as is necessary to make them starters given the formation. For example, the #4 CB on your depth chart who was a specialist for the current situation would be moved up to #3 in a 3-CB formation or #2 in a 2-CB formation. Note: there is no need to make a regular starter a situation specialist, as he would be a starter anyway. Some owners list their best players as specialists in every situation in a vain attempt to have them play more downs; this is a waste of time and only serves to confuse your coaching orders. I rarely use specialists, unless I have a one-dimentsional player who is excellent on running downs but poor on passing downs (or vice versa).

The second set of depth chart adjustments is caused by fatigue. If reserve use is set to "most", backups will come in whenever the starter is more tired. If it is set to "least", the backup must be 40% fresher than the starter to replace him. The advice here is pretty obvious: the better your backup, the more you should use him. I never use "most", though, as it gives all players equal playing time and I never have a reserve who is exactly as good as the starter.

The side settings let you determine who lines up on which side of the formation (strong side or weak side). This is especially important for the wide receivers, since the pass route a player runs is designated by where he lined up in the formation. There are three sets of options. Selecting "random" will put the top player on the strong side 50% of the time and on the weak side 50% of the time. Since this prevents your opponent from designing plays to exploit a weak player on your team, I always set to "random" when there is no reason not to. There are also two "most rested" settings that will allow you to put the top player in the shuffled depth chart (see the previous paragraph) on the strong or weak side. This is the option to use when your players have similar skill sets, but you want the more effective player to be lined up on a specific side of the field. Finally, you can specifically choose that the top player on your depth chart (or his substitute) be placed on the strong or weak side. This is useful if your two players have substantially different abilities. This is commonly used at WR if you have a speedster and a possession receiver. By always placing one on the strong side and the other on the weak, you can design pass plays where the fast receiver goes deep and the good-hands receiver runs shorter routes but is used more on third downs. You may also wish to do this if you have a strong safety who is essentially a fast linebacker and a free safety who is more of a pass defender. Other common uses of sides: you want your best pass blocker to be your weakside tackle and a good run blocker at strong tackle (for sweeps); either "rested man weak" or "top man weak" can be used to accomplish this. On defense, you probably want to use "rested man weak" at end (to put pressure on the QB's blind side) and "rested man strong" at corner (for matchups with the opponent's top WR).

Returners: Return men must do two things: catch the ball (requires receiving - "Ps") and run with it (requires speed "Sp" and rushing "Rs"). A returner with a good receiving ability is less likely to fumble the kick, one with good speed and rushing will average more yards, and as usual, one with better rushing is less likely to fumble when tackled. Because WR and TB are the positions most likely to have high skills in these three ratings, those players are the most likely to be good return men. WR is the most likely, since although rushing is of secondary importance when picking receivers, you probably have at least one with a rushing skill of 5 or 6. It is also worth noting that while a fumbled punt can be recovered by either team, a fumbled kickoff will always be recovered by the receiving team unless the fumble comes after the carry. Because of this, I usually pick a backup TB (who has very good speed and rushing) as my #1 kickoff returner and a backup WR (with very good speed and receiving and decent rushing) as my punt returner and #2 kickoff returner.

The coaching options should be fairly self-explanatory. I only have comments for a few of them. The aggression settings should be used with care: increasing them will increase the number of penalties your team takes. Since I consider offensive penalties (drive-killers) worse than defensive, I generally play with a low aggression on offense. You should also be careful about fourth-down attempts, 2-point conversions, and fake kicks, as an unsuccessful attempt for any of these could be disastrous. I keep most of these fairly low.

Regarding game training, I like to train 2 in everything except conditioning. Training in conditioning effectively gives your players more stamina but they start the game more tired. I'm not sure if its worthwhile. Remember that offensive training and defensive training are added separately, so you can add one pass offense and remove one run offense without increasing your players' fatigue, but adding one pass offense and removing a run defense will increase offensive players' fatigue.

Matchups: Choosing a wide receiver matchup is always a plus for your team. There is no downside to doing so (as there is for DL keys), except that you may not have the time to do so for every game.

The trickier decision involves which defensive lineman should get double-coverage. I tend to use this option only if one or two are significantly more dangerous than the others. By "more dangerous", I look for a lineman with a large number of sacks and tackles. Note that doubling one lineman will make the others a little more effective; this is why one should not double a lineman who is only a tiny amount better than the others.

The offensive and defensive plays and playbooks will likely be the hardest part of learning to coach a DEL football team. This section will not be a "how-to" manual, but will go over most of the considerations I make when designing my playbooks.

Control of your team is broken into three levels: situational settings (which determines your playcalling), package selection (which determine the packages you use), and package construction (which define every available play).

Situational Settings: The newest part of coaching football is situational settings, which custom-tailor your playcalling to meet your team's needs. In the past, you had to tweak play usage settings until you got the desired effect; now you can directly set, for example, the percent of running plays that should be reverses.

The first three options set how much you will let your players and coaches modify plays and playcalling during the game. "Play alteration" refers to a QB throwing to a secondary or tertiary receiver or a runner bouncing to a different hole than the one the play was intended to use. "Playcall alteration" is the adjustment of your playcall settings late in the game to reflect what has worked and what has not worked earlier. If you haven't scouted your opponent (or don't fully understand the game), you may want to set this to "most" so that, once enough plays have been played for trends to become clear, your playcalling is based 2/3 upon past play success and only 1/3 upon your settings.

The other options all come in pairs: the base value for the particular type of play, and the change that should be made to that value when trailing. (The opposite change is made when leading.) These options are detailed below:

• FB runs: The amount of carries the FBs will see, compared with the TBs. At most the FBs will have as many carries as the TBs on middle runs and 15% as many carries on sweeps. This value should be set based on your fullback's rushing abilities. Note that the QB running amount is set by default to 10% of the TB carries up the middle and 5% on sweeps. However, since the default packages contain no QB runs, your QB will never carry the ball unless you make a package containing a QB running play.
• Middle runs: The percent of time the ball will be run middle or off-tackle (as opposed to sweeps); "most" means 75%. This option is not used for reverses, options, or draws. This value should primarily be set by the situation; teams tend to run inside more on short yardage and outside more on long yardage.
• TE passes: The percent of time the TE will be the primary receiver; "most" means equal with the wide receivers for short and medium patterns and half for long. This option is not used for screens. This value is lowered in long passes, and should be set by how good a receiver your TE is.
• RB passes: The percent of time a running back will be the primary receiver; "most" means equal with the wide receivers for short and medium patterns and half for long. This option is not used for screens. This value is lowered in long passes, and should be set by how good a receiver your runners are.
• Long passes: The percent of time the primary receiver will run a post or corner route; "most" means 25%. Non-long passes will be split 50-50 between short and medium primary receiver routes in most situations, though in long-yardage all non-long passes are medium. This option is not used for screens. This should be set by whether you want to grind the ball down the field with short passes or go for the home run ball.
• Draws: The percent of pass-like plays that will be draws; "most" means 25%. Note that since this value is determined as a percent of pass-like plays, you do not need to account for the run-pass ratio when setting. A middle setting is good for keeping the defense honest on passing downs; for short yardage it can be safely set to never.
• Misdirections: The percent of run-like running plays that will be misdirections; "most" means 20%. Misdirections keep the defense from overpursuing run plays; a medium setting is good for keeping it honest, though you may want to set it to "never" to go with power running on short yardage.
• Reverses: The percent of run-like running plays that will be reverses; "most" means 10%. Reverses keep the defense from overpursuing run plays; a medium setting is good for keeping it honest, though you may want to set it to "never" to play it safe on short yardage.
• Options: The percent of run-like running plays that will be options; "most" means 50%. For most teams, this should be set to "never"; if you are an option team, "most" is a good setting.
• Play-action: The percent of run-like plays that will be play-action passes; "most" means 25%. Note that since this value is determined as a percent of run-like plays, you do not need to account for the run-pass ratio when setting. A middle setting is good for keeping the defense honest on rushing downs.
• Screens: The percent of pass-like passing plays that will be screens; "most" means 20%. A middle setting is good for keeping the pass rush honest.
• QB Rollout: The percent of pass plays on which the QB rolls out instead of dropping straight back; "most" means 40%. Rollouts are good if your OTs are better than opposint DEs and if your QB is mobile.

Likewise, avoid the temptation of blindly copying your long yardage plays into your hurry-up offense. While both situations are passing downs, there is a slightly different goal. A long-yardage play must pick up a certain number of yards. Since the computer will attempt to pick a play that will get the yardage, it is useful to have both the #1 and #2 receivers running routes of comparable distance to give your QB two receivers past the first down marker. In contrast, the main goal of a hurry-up offense is to pick up yards and stop the clock. Thus a fair amount of rushing is fine, so long as it is mostly sweeps. Passing is preferred, but you probably want to limit yourself to outside routes and long passes to maximize yards gained per time used.

Finally, there is the issue of the red zone offense. Although it will probably be largely a copy of your normal offense, you probably want to eliminate long bombs and any plays that seem to create a large number of turnovers. (Such plays should maybe be eliminated altogether, but especially in the red zone).

Package Selection: A DEL playbook defines the packages you will be using and a few options regarding the use of each. The key to a good playbook is to use the best packages for the situation.

When picking which offensive set(s) you want to use, your main concerns will be useful sets and maximizing the playing time of your best players. These are not always compatible; if you have two all-pro fullbacks, this does not mean a power-I should be your base formation, but probably the power-I should be your main goal-line and short yardage formation. One other note before going into the formations in detail: if you are a brand-new coach, you probably want just a single package used in each situation -- probably a two-back (I or split) set in normal and red zone, an I or power I in short-yardage and the goal-line, and a spread or shotgun in long-yardage and hurry-up.

• Backfields: The simplest is a no-back set, which will give you five WRs plus TEs. Unless you have a QB who is a legitimate rushing threat, I do not recommend using this because the defense will know a pass play is coming. You also lose the extra pass protection you get from a running back. Next up are the 1-back sets, which can either be TB or FB. I usually use a TB as my lone back, but if your FB is the better runner you can use him instead. I find these to be the optimal passing-down sets, as there is a rushing threat and the added protection but you still get four WRs plus TEs. Of course, if you only have three good WRs plus TEs, you might as well always use 2-back sets for more protection, since you don't lose a whole lot. I also like to mix in 1-back sets in my normal and red zone playbooks, which spread the defense a little and perhaps force the defense to remove a linebacker in favor of an extra cornerback.

  What I consider the all-around backfields are the split and I formation. Each has one TB and one FB; the differences are subtle. In the I formation, the TB lines up behind the FB. In the split formation, he is to the weak side. The differences are thus related to the positions. The split back set gives you a decent chance to pick up a blitzer from either side, as the backs are already to the sides of the QB; the I formation can still pick up a blitzing OLB or defensive back but is less likely to do so. On running downs, the FB always blocks for the TB in an I set, but can never get the TB to block for him. In the pro set, either back can block for the other up the middle, but the FB is otherwise limited to blocking strongside runs for the TB and the TB limited to blocking weakside runs by the FB. My favored all-around backfield is the split back set, since I usually have a FB who is a good rusher and like to give him a chance to run. (This helps keep the defense from keying on my TB too much.) However, if your FB is a good blocker but poor runner, you may wish to use the I and only run the FB occasionally as a decoy.

  Finally are the three-back sets: wishbone and power-I. As with the two-back sets, the physical locations of the running backs gives slightly different run- and pass-blocking assignments and capabilities. The wishbone can always provide two lead blockers (1 FB and 1 TB) for any TB run, since there is one TB on either side; the power-I can only provide two lead blockers (both FB) for a middle or strongside TB run. There is an additional complexity that the wishbone uses 2 TBs and 1 FB; the power-I is the reverse. Both are excellent goal-line or short-yardage formations; I generally use the power-I since my FBs are much better blockers than are my TBs and the goal in a goal-line stand is to bludgeon your way through the defense. Since either three-back set requires two of one position, I highly recommend that you have five backs on your roster: two TBs and three FBs if using a power-I or the reverse if using a wishbone. (This will use up one of your five extra roster spots.)

• Receivers: The second half of choosing a set is deciding on the makeup and positions of the receivers. Assuming you don't use a no-back formation, you will have between 2 and 4 receivers. The two-receiver option corresponds to the three-back formations. As noted above, these are probably goal-line or short-yardage, so the emphasis is not on speedy wide receivers. Again, I like to go with the power option on goal-line situations; this means going with 3 backs, 2 TEs, and no WRs. This will require having three TEs on your roster, of course (two in the play plus an extra in case of injury), which uses up another of your five extra roster spots. I have two goal-line formations: one with 2 TE/0 WR and one with one of each (both using a power-I).

  Your three-receiver sets will almost certainly use one TE (always on the strong side) and two WRs. You could use no TEs, but this would weaken your running game more than it would strengthen your passing game unless your TEs were horrible blockers and horrible receivers. You could also go with two TEs, but this would probably limit your passing game. In order to fill all the deep routes, I like to line up one WR on each side in this set.

  Finally, if you use a 1-back set, you will have four receivers. Here it may be profitable to use no TEs and four WRs, since you may catch your opponent without the ability to defend four WRs on one play. If you go with a no-TE set, you should put three WRs on one side and one on the other to maximize the mismatch capability. Since this is a passing formation, the other sensible option is one TE and three WRs. If you catch your opponent without a nickel package in his defense, you can probably put your third WR on the weakside and have him covered by a linebacker. I run two four-receiver sets. One is four WRs with 3 WRs one the strong side, which I use only on passing downs. My three-WR has with 2 WRs on the strongside (plus the TE, of course); I use this formation in normal situations as well as passing downs.

• Package use: the base usage of a package ("most" is about 5 times "least"), and alteration to the usage to apply when leading.
• Run amount: the percentage of the time you want to run, and the alteration to the run amount to apply when trailing.

Most of the principles regarding offense also apply to defense. However, there is one critical difference: the defense must be able to stop whatever the offense throws at it. Thus, while you can get by with "incomplete" offensive game plans, your defense has to account for everything. Because of this, I would recommend that the new coach use only library packages until you understand the game fully.

Setting your defense, as with offense, consists of three things: situational settings, package selection, and package construction.

Situational Settings: Four things can be determined for each situation, affecting your selection of plays and how your team plays.

• Key: is the defense guessing run, pass, neutral, or guessing based on previous plays? You can select key settings for early or close games, when ahead, and when behind. In general, you want to key on the play that would do more harm, and "best guess" otherwise. Thus, even if a team runs half the time or more, you might want to key pass if the runner isn't that great. You also may want to key pass if the other team throws a lot to tight ends or running backs, since a linebacker keying on run would have a hard time stopping such a play.
• Zone: how much do you want to use zone coverage (as opposed to man)? There is a "general" setting, an adjustment for if ahead/behind, and an adjustment for if guessing run/pass. Zone coverage is safer against long passes, but prevents blitzing.
• Blitz: how much do you want to blitz? There is a "general" setting, an adjustment for if ahead/behind, and an adjustment for if guessing run/pass. Blitzing removes linebackers or backs from coverage, giving more sacks and tackles for a loss but also more big plays.
• Stunt: how much do you want to use line stunts? There is a "general" setting, an adjustment for if ahead/behind, and an adjustment for if guessing run/pass. Line stunts represent a gamble -- if you guess right you can clog the hole on a run stunt or get more pressure on the QB on a pass stunt, while if you guess wrong the other team will have an easy play.

Coverage vs. the pass rush is always a tricky question, the answer to which depends on your personnel. My teams generally feature fast LBs with good pass coverage skills; they are thus best used in pass defense. Other teams carry ILBs that could pass for defensive linemen; such players are probably best off blitzing. Against the run, it is an issue of having your linebackers on the line (where they can tackle for a loss) vs. having them behind the line (where they cannot be easily blocked). Again, since I don't usually carry big linebackers with great blocking skills, and since I have good defensive linemen, I don't blitz very often.

Packages: As with offense, you will want multiple formations and personnel. I use five different sets: a base 4-3 defense, a 4-2 nickel formation, a 3-2 dime formation, and two goal-line sets (5-3 and 5-2). Because of my choices of formations, I carry one extra DT for the goal-line and two extra CBs for my nickel and dime formations. However, you can probably get by with only one extra CB, since dime formations are not that common and it is unlikely to be missing a CB and a SF at the same time from injury.

For your base formation, I recommend a 4-3 (4 linemen, 3 linebackers). A 3-4 can be used if your second ILB is better than your second DT. Either formation allows for a good combination of a pass rush, pass coverage, and run-stopping ability. The library contains a full set of packages (4-, 5-, and 6-back) for either 3 or 4 man fronts.

For run-stopping formations, you generally want more linemen and/or linebackers. A simple move to a better anti-run formation is to go to a 4-4, sacrificing a safety for an extra linebacker. More extreme run-stopping formations can be used in goal-line or short-yardage downs. Most teams will add at least one extra DL for goal-line situations, going to a 5-2, 5-3, 6-2, or 6-3. I tend to avoid 2-LB formations, since it is a little weak against sweeps. The only thing to be careful of is that you have the capability of lining up against any offensive formation. Since you can specify how many WRs a play can be used against, this doesn't mean that your 6-3 needs to be able to cover 5 WRs. It does mean that you should include a goal-line defense that can cover 5 WRs. You should also consider the skills of your players at each position. If your ILBs are better run-stoppers than your OLBs, then a 5-3 or 6-3 can use two ILBs and only one OLB. Likewise with the backfield, where you can use 2 SFs and 1 CB instead of the more customary 1 SF and 2 CBs.

For pass-stopping formations, the most common formation is the basic nickel, a 4-2-5. This formation usually will have no ILBs, 2 OLBs, 2 SFs, and 3 CBs, but as always you should choose the formation that uses your best coverage men. Some teams will even use the 4-2-5 nickel as a base formation in normal situations if they are worried about the other team's passing attack. There is also the issue of getting pressure on the quarterback. If your DL is excellent and you can get by with three rushers, then go ahead and use a 3-3-5. Against 4- or 5-WR sets, you may also need to bring in a dime formation, in which you have 6 defensive backs. I play the dime with 4 CBs (and carry enough decent CBs on my roster to make this a viable option); 3 SFs plus 3 CBs is also a valid option.

Once the packages are determined, you will want to decide what offensive formations they are used against. My rule of thumb is to only use dime against 4- and 5-WR sets, use nickel against 0-4 WR sets, and use my standard formation against 0-3 WR sets. My DL-heavy goal-line formations generally just go against 0-2 WR sets. I can do this since I always carry at least one safety who can cover a wide receiver, meaning that there can be one more opposing WR than CB. If you don't have such a luxury, make sure that your CBs by WRs are outnumbered only when in zone coverage. If you are worried about stopping TE passing, you may consider using a standard (4 DB) set only against 0-2 WRs and bringing in the nickel more frequently; this will put a DB on the TE more frequently.

The final setting in package selection determines how often the package is used. As with zone/blitz/stunt amounts, there is a base frequency ("most" is 5 times "least", ahead/behind adjustment, and run/pass adjustment.

Understanding the pass coverage options available is crucial to getting solid performance from your team and therefore gets its own section. The first choice you must consider is man-to-man coverage versus zone coverage. For a quick rule of thumb, man-to-man is a good choice if you defense is as talented as the defense - especially in speed. If you have a slow cornerback covering a fast wide receiver, he will repeatedly get burned. A zone defense will leave the receiver wide-open less often, but it does so at the price of looser coverage; the defender is covering an area of the field, and covers any receiver who comes into that zone.

Zone Coverage. There are basically three options for zone coverage - 2 deep, 3 deep, and 4 deep. This refers to the number of defensive backs that are playing in the deep zone. The choice of which you want to be playing is really dependent on the style of game your opponent plays. If the other team has a penchant for deep passes, having more players deep means more DBs to cover those passes. The downside is that it leaves fewer defenders to cover the shallow zones. There are also 0-deep and 1-deep zone defenses; these will give minimal coverage deep. The 1-deep zone is not recommended for any use; the 0-deep is good for goal-line defense.

Players in the deep zone must be cornerbacks or safeties. The game will first play safeties in the deep zone, starting with the weak-side. If more players are in the deep zone than safeties on the field, cornerbacks will be added, again starting with the weak-side corner. The exception to this is 3-deep zone played in a formation with two safeties and two corners; in that case both corners and the weak safety play deep while the strong safety plays shallow. Note that blitzers are taken out before zone assignments are made; thus a 3-deep zone with a blitz from the weak CB would result in the remaining corner and both safeties playing deep.

Most teams run a 4-3 defense, which means you have seven players sitting back in zone coverage: two outside linebackers, one inside, two cornerbacks, and two safeties. In a two-deep zone, you will see the two safeties playing deep and the other five defenders playing shallow. A three-deep zone will use both corners and the weak safety. A four-deep zone uses all four DBs. Note that, since linebackers cannot play in a deep zone, you cannot run a 4-deep zone if you are running a system like a 4-4 or a 5-3 which has only three defensive backs.

A zone-blitz happens when you blitz a linebacker and drop a lineman into coverage. While your lineman is rarely as talented a defender as your linebacker, this is a different look which could confuse the quarterback.

The primary advantage of a zone is that it tends to give up fewer big plays, since individual players are not operating without backup. There is always an adjacent zone and the defense collapses on the receiver as the ball is thrown, so he is less likely to make a big play. A zone defense is also marginally better at defending the run, since it is harder for wide receivers to find a good defender to pick up for a block, since the defender is not always lined up immediately across from him. A zone defense is most easily exploited by receivers and quarterbacks with good intelligence.

In short, zone coverage tends to give up more completions but compensates with more help. If you don't have very good pass defenders, this may be the preferred option since they wouldn't be able to break up many passes in man coverage. Of the zone options, 3-deep seems to provide the best combination of pass coverage and run support, since it is the only zone that has the strong safety in shallow coverage. The 2-deep zone will provide better pass coverage on short passes, while 4-deep is useful if expecting a long pass.

Man Coverage. To understand man-to-man coverage, you need to have some understanding of zone coverage and blitzing, since those directly tie into where your players are playing on the field. The offense always has five eligible receivers; this is typically a tight end, fullback, tailback, and two wide receivers, but obviously that changes with the formation. You must have a defender assigned to every eligible receiver.

There are several man-to-man options from which to choose. You can have straight man-to-man, man/zone combo defenses, and man with double coverage. Straight man-to-man coverage (known as 0-man) is the simplest, with one man assigned to cover each eligible receiver on offense. Cornerbacks are assigned first, followed by safeties, outside linebackers, any defensive end back in coverage, inside linebackers, and finally a defensive tackle in coverage. Obviously a lineman rushing the quarterback or a linebacker or defensive back blitzing will not be given a coverage assignment. Assignments are made on wide receivers first, tight ends second, and running backs last. In an I formation, the tailback is considered to be on the strong side of the fullback in front of him. Any additional defenders will play in a shallow zone, though 0-man coverage is usually combined with a 6-man rush thereby leaving no unused defenders.

DEL includes two types of man/zone combo coverage. The more commonly-used ones are man under/zone deep, in which one or two players (generally safeties) play deep zone coverage and man assignments are made with those players removed. With a standard 4-3 defense, 1-man coverage would allow one blitzer while 2-man coverage allows no blitzing. To illustrate straight man and man-under, let's consider the most common situation: a 4-3 defense facing off against a Pro-set formation. The table below shows defenders' assignments with a variety of common coverage/blitz combinations.

Player	SCB	SSF	SOLB	ILB	WOLB	WSF	WCB
2-deep	SWR	deep	TE	FB	TB	deep	WWR
1-deep, ILB blitz	SWR	TE	FB	blitz	TB	deep	WWR
1-deep, WOLB blitz	SWR	TE	FB	TB	blitz	deep	WWR
1-deep, 8 in the box	SWR	TE	FB	shallow	TB	deep	WWR
0-deep, ILB blitz	SWR	TE	FB	blitz	shallow	TB	WWR
0-deep, WOLB blitz	SWR	TE	FB	shallow	blitz	TB	WWR
0-deep, ILB+WOLB blitz	SWR	TE	FB	blitz	blitz	TB	WWR

The next possibility in man coverage is the ability to double up on one or two receivers. There are two major motivations for using double coverage. The first is because your opponent has a receiver who is much better than your cornerbacks, or who is the other team's only dangerous receiving threat. The second reason is that you have one great cornerback and one very lacking corner. The main disadvantage of double coverage is that you lose safety help deep against other receivers.

An important difference between the double coverage sets and regular man coverage is what happens to extra defenders. In a normal man defense, you specify the number of deep defenders and thus extra defenders must setup in the shallow zone. In the double defenses, double-1 and double-2 refers to the number of receivers being doubled rather than the number of deep zone defenders. Therefore, since shallow zone defenders are less useful than deep ones, the game places extra defenders into the deep zone. While this distinction is fairly obvious, it does lead to a situation in which you want any unused linebackers to be blitzing. For example, let's say you want to run the double-1 from the 4-4. You have three DBs and four LBs for a total of seven men in coverage. Five are assigned to the five eligible receivers and the one in the deep zone (the safety) provides the double coverage. That leaves one extra defender, which means you will have one defender in the deep zone. The weak-side CB moves into the deep zone, so your WOLB ends up in man-coverage with the weak wide receiver. To avoid this probably-unwanted development, blitz a linebacker and the matchups work out as expected.

The second man/zone combo defense is man-strong/zone-weak or man-weak/zone-strong, in which half of the field plays man-to-man and half plays zone. These defenses require that two defenders always be playing deep. The reasons for playing this again are usually determined by major mismatches. If you think you have a corner who can shutdown the opponent's best receiver, a strong man/weak zone set might be a good fit, as you expect your CB to lock down the WR. Similarly, if your opponent's #1 WR is much better than your DBs but the rest of your defense matches up well, strong zone/weak man gives you more help covering the star receiver to keep him from beating you, while giving you tighter coverage on the other receivers.

In short, the key to man defense is to have corners good enough to lock up the other team's WRs. If you can do this, then a 2-man defense is perhaps the perfect coverage, with 1-man also being a viable option if you want 8 men in the box. A 3-man defense is great for covering WRs when in a nickel package, however it puts linebackers on the other team's TE which can lead to a lot of easy underneath completions. I don't particularly like 0-man, simply because of the tendency to give up 75-yard touchdown plays.

If you don't have two good cornerbacks, you'll need to compensate. The best way to handle this in man coverage is to use double-1 coverage if you have one good and one bad or double-2 if you have two bad. Obviously this takes help away from other parts of your defense, but it's better than getting burned every down.

Conclusion. There is no answer for what is the perfect coverage. In general, your best bet is to vary your coverage packages: offering some man, some zone, blitzing from man coverage and zone coverage. Vary your looks with different numbers of players deep. The goal is to keep the offense off balance. If you blitz on every play, always run a 2-deep man, always zone blitz, or anything of the sort, the offense will figure it out and start to exploit it.

written by Andy Dolphin
additional suggestions by John Fitzpatrick, Stephen Thompson, and Seth Clark