Line Slant Strong
The whole six-man front slants toward the strength to overload the play side.
Concept: Every lineman steps to his play-side gap on the snap, shifting the front one gap toward strength.
Grows with your players
Same play, more layers as they age up — teach it once and build on it every season for a consistent program.
- 12UIntroduce: Line up right and own your gap — win with alignment, pad level, and pursuit to the ball.
- 14UAdd pressure: Layer in the called blitz — one timed gap-shooter on the snap. Add the line stunt/twist to beat the offense's blocking rules. Teach the coverage drops behind the front and read run vs. pass. Combine front, pressure, and coverage — and disguise it pre-snap.
Every position's job
Slant one gap toward strength.
Slant one gap toward strength (backside — squeeze the cutback).
Wide tackle slants toward strength into the next gap over.
Wide tackle slants toward strength one gap over.
Defensive guard slants toward strength into the strong gap.
Defensive guard slants toward strength one gap over.
Flow over the top and fill the gap vacated toward strength.
Fill the backside gap vacated by the slant and protect the cutback.
Cover the strong receiver / deep and support the edge.
Cover the weak receiver / deep.
Play over the top and fill the alley.
How to teach it
- 1The whole front steps to its play-side (strong) gap on the snap, shifting one gap toward strength — drill the unified directional step.
- 2Backers flow over the top to fill the vacated gaps.
- 3Teach penetration into the new gap, not reading.
Common mistakes to fix
- !The backside is exposed to a cutback; fix by teaching the weak backer and edge to squeeze/fill.
- !Linemen slant late; fix by drilling the snap-timed step.
Build this into your call sheet.
Adopt this system in your coach portal, tag plays by situation, and print call sheets and player wristbands.