"Rules" for Mastering Zone Coverage in NFL Flag Football
What individual players can focus on to build a coherent defense
I often hear coaches tell players to “just stay in your zone” when it comes to teaching zone coverage to a newer athlete or one transitioning from man-to-man coverage. While this is a good starting point, especially when a player is new to the game or defaults to chasing the nearest receiver, it does present weaknesses that are exploitable by the offense.
How do we solve for this? My approach, based on what the current trends are at the college and pro level, is to have each player act based on a minimal set of rules. The simplifies things somewhat (although zone will always be a thinking player’s scheme). What those rules are can differ slightly by what type of zone you’re running, but it’s usually some variation of the following:
Any time a runner with the ball crosses the line of scrimmage, everyone leaves their zone (how you defend an active runner is something I’ll cover in another article). This rule supercedes all other rules.
If only one player enters your zone, cover them. Keep your eyes and hips forward, backpedaling or side stepping as they move through your zone.
Linebackers: If the player is leaving your zone, let them go.
Safeties: If a player is leaving their zone to get behind you, keep them in front of you. Turn and run with them if needed. No one gets behind you.If more than one player is in your zone, position yourself to be between them as effectively as possible.
You can tweak this a bit by adding a “if a second player leaves your zone, you are now man-to-man with that player” rule. You could even make this the third person to leave the zone, depending on what you are trying to accomplish. The goal is to keep it simple rather than depending on routes, directions, etc. that the offense may throw at a zone.
If no one is in your zone, and no one is in a position to enter your zone, leave your zone and help your teammates.