Defensive Techniques
If you've been around football long enough, you've heard players referred to as "3-tech's," "5-tech's," or what have you. The "technique" of a defensive player tells him where to line up on the field. More specifically, these techniques tell a defender from the front-7 where to align relative to a specific offensive player (players in the secondary will align according to different rules). "Techniques" are labeled by number. Even numbered techniques mean that a defender is lined up heads-up over an offensive player (eye-to-eye, not shaded to one side or the other). Odd numbers mean that a player is shaded to the outside half of an offensive player (the outside half is the half away from the ball). These numbers work their way from the inside out. So, a 0-technique is someone who aligns heads-up on the center, a 2-technique aligns heads-up over a guard, etc. For shaded players, a 1-tech is aligned on the outside half of the center, a 3-tech is aligned on the outside half of the guard, and so on. If you want a player to align with an inside shade on an offensive blocker, you take the even number and add an "i" to it. So, a guy playing a "2i" is lined up with an inside shade on the guard. For players lined up over a TE the numbering is a little weird, and I haven't yet heard a good explanation for why. A player aligned heads up on a TE is a 6-tech as you'd expect, but if he's aligned inside that's a 7-tech, and outside is a 9-tech. Here's a diagram to illustrate all of this:
Within this numbering system you'll hear a few other terms related to the odd-numbered alignments. For example, a "heavy-5" means that the defender lines up with his inside foot splitting the crotch of the offensive tackle, while a "loose-5" means that the defender's inside foot is even with the outside foot of the offensive tackle. You can also hear terms like "ghost-9," which means that a defender lined up away from the TE lines up in a 9-technique, as if there were a TE on his side. Football is a game of inches, and these minor adjustments in alignment can make a big difference. This technique numbering system allows coaches to tell defenders exactly where they should line up on any given play.
Finally, if you want a player to align at the linebacker level, you add a "0" to the number called. So, for players in your front but off the line of scrimmage, a LB who is shaded outside of a guard is a "30-tech", a LB who is heads-up over a tackle is a "40-tech," etc.
Gap Assignments
Closely related to the "techniques" discussed above is the labeling of "gaps." In short, a "gap" is the space between two offensive players. This concept is important because runs will aim for specific gaps, and defenders will be responsible for plugging specific gaps. Unlike techniques, gaps are labeled by letters, once again working from the inside-out. So, the gap between the center and the guard is the "A-gap," the gap between the guard and tackle is the "B-gap," etc. Here's a diagram:
It's important to note here that technique and gap assignment are not the same thing. Usually if a player is shaded into a gap that's the gap he'll be responsible for. So, a 3-tech is naturally in a good position to defend the B-gap, but it doesn't have to be this way. For example, you could line a player up as a 3-tech and have him stunt to the A-gap, you could tell a LB or a safety to blitz the C-gap from whatever alignment, or whatever you can come up with. Technique is (for most coaches) about alignment pre-snap, while gap assignment is about what part of the field you're covering after the snap.
Labeling Receivers
If you're playing man coverage you might tell your DB's to cover specific receivers, but it might also be useful to tell them to cover receivers based on where they're lined up on the field. To talk about receiving threats, defenses will number them from the outside-in. So, the outside most receiving threat to one side of the field will be labeled the #1 receiver, the next receiving threat inside him will be labeled #2, etc. This happens on each side of the formation.
Labeling sides of the formation
As you've seen there can be a 1-tech on each side of the center, an A-gap on each side of the center, and a #1 receiver on each side of the center. If we want a player to line up on a specific side of the formation, if we want him to plug a specific B-gap, or if we want him to cover a specific #2 receiver, we need ways to designate that. "Left" and "right" are the simplest ways to designate this, but other labels are far more frequent. Here are the terms usually used to talk about different sides of the formation.
Strong vs. Weak
One way to label different sides of the formation is by calling one side the "strong" side and the other the "weak" side. The "strong" side of the formation is the side that has the most receiving threats. Here's an offensive formation to help us talk about this:
In this diagram we see a standard I-formation. Here there is one side with two receiving threats (the TE and WR on the right of the picture) and one side with one receiving threat (the single WR to the left of the diagram). The "strong" side of the formation is the side with more receiving threats, or the right side of the formation in this case. So, I could tell my four defensive linemen to line up with a 3- and 6-technique to the strong-side and a 1- and 5-technique to the weak-side. It doesn't matter if the two-receiver side is to the left or right, they'll line up based on where the most receivers are.
Tight vs. Split
If I'm thinking about the offensive formation in terms of the run game rather than in terms of the passing game, I might want to set my defense based on where the offense has more run blockers and not worry about how many receiving threats are to each side of the formation. If this is the case, I can set my defense based not on the number of receivers, but rather based on where the TE lines up. The side with the TE is called the "tight" side of the formation, while the side without the TE is called the "split" side of the formation (you might also hear these called the "closed" and "open" sides, respectively). Let's see how this would work against different offensive sets. Once again, here's the normal I-formation:
Against the normal I-formation, the "tight" side and the "strong" side are the same, because the TE is to the right, and the right is the side with more receiving threats. Against the twins formation, however, the "strong" side will be the left side because it has more receiving threats, while the "tight" will be to the right. A "tight" call can be the same as a "strong" call, but it doesn't have to be. The DC will choose one as opposed to the other depending on the call he wants to use and the play he's trying to take away.
Field vs. Short
Another way of setting the defense is to tell them to align either to the "field" side of the formation or to the "short" side of the formation. This system only applies when the ball isn't in the exact middle of the field. The "short" side is the side that has the least space to the sideline. In this picture, already seen above, the ball is on the right hash:
The offense is in white here. On this play there is more space between the ball and the sideline to the offense's left. The offense's left, then, would be the "field" side. The "short" side of the field is to the offense's right, where there is less space. You can also hear the "short" side called the "boundary" side. This system of labeling is important because some offenses prefer to run specific plays either to the short side or to the field side no matter what formation they're in. For example, if a team likes to run to the short side, the DC can align the best run-stopping part of his defense to the short side, meaning that they'll line up this way no matter what formation the offense comes out in.
Tilt vs. Numbers
For spread offenses you often won't have a TE in the game, and the receivers will often line up 2x2, making your "tight/split" and "strong/weak" calls moot. Against these formations, especially against shotgun sets, you might want to align based on where the RB lines up. Here's a typical spread formation:
In this formation there's no TE and there are 2 receiving threats to each side of the formation. The RB does give the formation a way of distinguishing between the two sides, however. We can call the side that the RB aligns to the "tilt" side, and the side away from his alignment the "numbers" side.
Putting it all together
These labels are useful because they tell a player what to do without any reference to his position. Depending on what an offense's tendencies are, a DC needs the ability to set his front and coverage in a variety of ways, and these labeling systems gives him a flexible way to do that. When you watch football you should be thinking this way too. For example, what plays does a team run when they set trips (3 receivers) into the boundary? Trips to the field? Do they like to run to the TE or away from the TE? Does a team usually blitz from the short side or the field side? These are the things coaches are looking for, and these are the terms that they're using to think through their strategy.
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