Our youth football drills for outside linebacker blitzing are coordinated with our defensive ends. In most cases when we blitz our outside linebackers our defensive end will automatically assume the containment assignment that the OLB would usually have.
We blitz our OLB into two spots and each is labeled by the gap we want him to go through. Our “Babs” stunt sends him to the near B gap and “Buck” takes him to the C gap. In both situations the DE would have containment. “X” is another way we blitz our outside linebacker and he makes the decision to either hit the C gap or send his partner (DE) through the C gap.
We use blocking bags to simulate the offensive linemen, a manager to handle the center snap and another outside linebacker to fill in for the offense’s tailback.
This drill begins with proper alignment. We ask him to hold his stance as long as possible so to not give away his blitz intentions any sooner than necessary. He will blitz to the appropriate gap off the center’s snap.
The OLB will attack the designated gap and chase the ball after hitting the gap. He never has any type of pass coverage when involved in any of his stunts. If pass shows he becomes a full time pass rusher and we will cover his absence in the secondary coverage with other players.


Youth Football Drills for the Defensive Tackle when Practicing the Blitz
Our youth football drills for the defensive tackles are coordinated with our inside linebackers since the blitzing movements for both positions are paired up on either side of the ball. In almost all cases when we blitz our DTs our inside linebackers will automatically assume the responsibility of covering the gap (A or B) that the DT doesn’t blitz.
We blitz our DTs into four spots and each is labeled by the gap we want him to go through. Our “Tak” stunt sends him to the A gap, “Tab” takes him to the B gap, “Tack” slides him into the C gap and “Tex” crosses him to the A gap on the other side of the center. We also use an “X” stunt with our DTs and ILBs in which the ILB signals to the DT which way to go. Either one will take the A gap and the other man will take the B gap. We like to communicate the X stunt verbally and use a visible tapping signal as a decoy.
We use blocking bags to simulate the offensive linemen, a manager to handle the center snap and another defensive end linebacker to fill in for the offense’s tailback.
This drill begins with proper alignment. We have our defensive tackle begin his stunt on the center’s snap. The DT will attack the designated gap and chase the ball after hitting the gap. He will pursue at a proper angle if the ball goes away from him and will redirect as quickly as possible if the ball heads toward his sideline. If pass shows he becomes a full time pass rusher.