Some of the most common and consistent slogans in defensive football have understandable and coherent ideas behind them, but nonetheless don't really square with sound defensive football. "Fly to the Ball," "Swarm the Ballcarrier," and other such directives are clear enough in their intention, but especially when dealing with inexperienced players, they can be deceptively misleading.
Let me give you a real world example from our season opener last year. It was our new staff's first game at Highland Park, and we were still fighting old bad habits from the past. As a DB guy first, of course a coverage mistake comes immediately to mind. Our opponent was lined up in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1TE), with two receivers split out into the boundary.
We were running a split field coverage, where the boundary DB's were in Cover 2 and the field side DB's were in man. The boundary/zone side receivers ran a double deep posts concept, with the field side single receiver running a vert. The field side corner, juiced up on a "fly-to-the-ball" mentality, decided to break off of his "locked up" man coverage responsibility (#8) and try to make a play on the inside post coming from the boundary side of the field. The problem was that the boundary safety was on it, and in position to make a play.
The result? A nasty collision between corner & safety that led to a one concussion and six points for the other team.
Now, what is the point of this example? Simple; it reveals why old platitudes like "fly to the ball" can be easily misapplied and encourage self-centered plays rather than DYJ (Do Your Job) team plays. Our safety put himself in great position for a PBU or a pick, but our island corner got greedy, wanted the ball for himself, and the result was an explosive touchdown that broke the game open (we lost 41-21).
It would be just as easy to find examples in the front 7. When young players have the mentality that they are to fly to the ball, they often lose a sense of the mental skills that make great defenses:
-Eye Progression
-Key Reads
-Gap Responsibility
-Selfless Play
Great defense is not and cannot be predicated on 11 guys all trying to make a highlight reel play all the time. Often, players grade out perfectly without ever getting close to the football. Playing great defense means knowing your job in every situation; fitting your gap, running within your coverage progression, and finding joy in creating plays for your teammates. An outside linebacker can't bullrush the mesh point in the backfield and give up the edge because he wants to "fly to the ball." A nose tackle can't jump into someone else's gap because he sees the ball going there. You get the point.
Defense can't be about personal accolades, or flying to the ball in the hopes that you add to your Hudl reel. Defense must be about a shared desire to do one's job as well as possible, every snap. Sometimes that means getting the tackle for loss, the PBU, the interception, and the glory. More often it means ending the play with no real stat to show for it, but by doing your job you made it impossible for the offensive play to succeed, and as a result, one of your teammates got to make a play...and you know that at some point in the future he will do the same for you.
So, no, I don't teach "Fly to the Ball," I teach DYJ. As coaches it's easy to shrug this all off as obvious, and maybe if we had 11 coaches on the field on Friday nights that would make sense.
But kids need to be effectively taught a conceptual commitment to DYJ, and team over self. It also has the happy side effect of seeing themselves as part of a community, rather than atomized individuals on their own. I can't think of a lesson more timely and important in our country today.
