We would like to Thank Coach Simon Hatcher for this Great article on Force, Spill and Leverage
I hope I can help new coaches in understanding the basic concepts in defending the running game.
“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” Albert Einstein
Terminology I will use is common terminology in coaching:
Force – The outside Force player, it is this players job to make the tackle or force the ball-carrier to the inside.
Spill – The spill players are inside, and they make the tackle or push the ball-carrier to the next Spill player or to the Force player.
Leverage – Leverage is defined as the angle and approach tacklers take to the ball-carrier, considering their role within the defensive play call, location on the field and the blockers or obstructions encountered towards the ball-carrier.
BCR – This tags onto the set, which can be thought of as Force away from the initial direction of the offence (Boot – Counter – Reverse). However, the responsibilities are slightly different so I will cover this separately.
In the photo below the players with Red circle are the Force players, and the players with Blue arrows will likely be the Spill players. Different schemes dictate different responsibilities. I will endeavour to give you a basic overview and give the tactics and techniques for these responsibilities.
Please click here to read the full article
Also, a little added extra from Coach Maxwell Petitjean on Coach Hatchers Article.
Really good read & great resource
If it helps I have a folder here of clips where defenders either force or spill: