In the battle to control the trenches, the ability to fight the reach can make or break your defensive line's performance. This fundamental skill separates dominant D-linemen from the rest. It is not an easy skill to teach effectively.
In the video below, Jacori Greer (Defensive Line Coach at Louisiana Tech) shows practice film of his defensive linemen working the FTR Drill--Fight the Reach.
D-Line Daily Drills: Emphasis on Movements & Stunts is his full clinic that you can view on Glazier Drive. The clinic was created when he was coaching at Texas State.
FTR. It stands for "Fight the Reach."
It’s a push-pull motion that keeps defenders from getting reached but also gives them a way to fight back once they’re in those reach situations.
We know as coaches that kids are going to get reached, but what tools are you giving them to fight and get back into their gap once they’re reached?
Many guys play it from the backside — we will too, but that’s a last-case scenario. We’ve got good linebackers, they can make us right, and I’m good with all that. But the objective is for us not to get reached in the first place, This drill helps with that.
You can do this drill out of the chute or on the line.
On the snap, the DLineman is going to strike, pushing and pulling.
So many times, we just teach the push and forget the pull, but the pull is just as important because it gets those shoulders turned so you can fight and get yourself back into your gap control.
The next part of the drill — we’ll do it under the chute sometimes when I really want to work them. If we’re playing a really good outside zone team, I want them to have to run and get moving, so we’ll do it outside the chute or on a line.
Once I feel as a coach that he’s in his gap control and has control of the man, I give him the escape command, and he escapes. Once they get really good, I don’t say anything — I just say "feet" and blow the whistle, and they know the whole drill.
