Normally, I wouldn't create a post about a single drill. However, this drill has been so deeply ingrained into my football know how that I have to share it and its effectiveness.
This is a drill i ran as a college player every single day in the beginning of practice. Needless to say, our defense became great at swarming to the ball, tooking great angels and we were in shape! We also earned a ranking in the top 10 defense in the nation for D-3 college football.
This is a drill i ran as a college player every single day in the beginning of practice. Needless to say, our defense became great at swarming to the ball, tooking great angels and we were in shape! We also earned a ranking in the top 10 defense in the nation for D-3 college football.
Allow Me to Explain Myself: 
Benefits of the Pursuit Drill
Since my freshman year in college, the pursuit drill became very familiar... very quickly. My defensive coordinator made sure this was something we did every single practice. The length in which we did this drill was reflected on our effort put forth during the drill. (We still hold the record... 2 hours! Just one of those days for Coach B I guess)
The concept of this drill is to improve our pursuit angels to the ball carrier: the faster you are, the flatter your angle will need to be. We also used this drill to enforce our stemming ability: during the cadence, we would constantly be on the move to cause confusion within the offensive line. Also, this drill forced us to have a voice. Not only were we required to voice our normal strength and responsiblity calls, but after passing in front of the "rabbit" the defense participating in the drill would meet at the number marker on the LOS (line of scrimmage) and scream while jumping up and down. Once every defender joined the huddle, we would "break it down," or end with a loud phrase (whatever we came up with as our theme for that practice). If Coach B was satisfied, we would rotate.
I'm not done yet... this drill also allowed us to run different defensive schemes testing our knowledge of the playbook: nickle package, dime package, blitz's, coverages, our defense against different offensive formations, etc.
OK, i suppose i can tell you how to run the drill now.
The concept of this drill is to improve our pursuit angels to the ball carrier: the faster you are, the flatter your angle will need to be. We also used this drill to enforce our stemming ability: during the cadence, we would constantly be on the move to cause confusion within the offensive line. Also, this drill forced us to have a voice. Not only were we required to voice our normal strength and responsiblity calls, but after passing in front of the "rabbit" the defense participating in the drill would meet at the number marker on the LOS (line of scrimmage) and scream while jumping up and down. Once every defender joined the huddle, we would "break it down," or end with a loud phrase (whatever we came up with as our theme for that practice). If Coach B was satisfied, we would rotate.
I'm not done yet... this drill also allowed us to run different defensive schemes testing our knowledge of the playbook: nickle package, dime package, blitz's, coverages, our defense against different offensive formations, etc.
OK, i suppose i can tell you how to run the drill now.
The Pursuit Drill 
Obviously, this is a defensive drill
First:
You will have your 1st team defense on the field lined up against 5 half rounds (dummies) in place of an offensive line and tight end (minus the center: actually have someone snap the ball so the d-line can get use to watching the ball vs listening to the cadence). As the coach, call out a specific play you want the defense to run.
Second:
Have 2 players as running backs (rabbits) on the offensive side of the ball, lined up 4-5 yards behind what would be the outside shoulder of each guard. The quarterback, the coach (you) could step in and play this role in the drill, will take the snap and toss the ball to one of the 2 rabbits. That rabbit will sprint as fast as he can to the hash mark on the field to his side (right or left) and then turn straight up the field AS FAST AS HE CAN. It is not the rabbits job to avoid the defenders. It is the rabbits job to run as fast as he can up the hash until, and ONLY until, every defender completes the drill.
Third:
The defense will have to run the play called by you, the coach, and pursue the rabbit. Each defender MUST pass IN FRONT of the rabbit to complete the drill. It doesn't matter if the rabbit has to run for 200 yards. The only defender not required to pursue the rabbit is your chase player: this is the player with outside contain to the non-play side. This player will recognize the play and chase the ball to the play side number marker and wait for the rest of his defense to complete the drill.
Fourth:
Once every single defender passes in front of the rabbit (WITHOUT TOUCHING OR TRIPPING the rabbit) they will sprint to the play side number marker on the LOS. While waiting for the rest of the players, each defender will jump up and down yelling "OOOOOOHHHHHH!" continuously. Once all of the defenders are there, a single player, usually a captain or the play caller that participated in the drill, will count "1,2,3" than everyone will yell the phrase for that day, your team name, that weeks opponent, etc. (be creative). The whole purpose of the yelling and break down is to practice being vocal, even when your players are tired. If the players in the drill are not being as vocal as you like, have them repeat the drill until you are satisfied.
Fifth:
If you, the coach, are satisfied with that group, players will quickly rotate and the rabbit that ran with the ball will be replaced. If you are not satisfied for any reason, you will instruct that group to do it again and the rabbit that was just pursued will be rotated. If any player passing behind the rabbit, touches the rabbit, isn't sprinting throughout the drill, someone isn't stemming, does not run the play correctly, etc... that group should repeat the drill.
You can run this drill until you are completely satisfied with the overall performance. This could be 10 minutes or 2 hours. Completely up to you.The more your players learn to take this drill seriously, the more they will benefit from it.
Side Note
You can also do this drill as a INT drill, or a pass coverage drill. Just eliminate the rabbits and have the defense drop into their pass drops and throw the ball into an area. Defenders will have to intercept the ball and sprint past the LOS. Defenders will have to drop to the ball as "blockers" and the break down will be the same.
This is a video lonk that shows the University of North Carolina running this INT pursuit drill:
