xandoadmin | X&O Labs

Variations of the Dart Scheme

Posted by xandoadmin | May 8, 2013 | Offense, Run Game, Gap Run Concepts | 0 |

By Dan Ellis

X&O Labs Columnist

Coach Ellis

Editor’s Note: Coach Dan Ellis is one of X&O Labs’ most popular monthly columnist. His columns focus on offensive schemes that just flat out move the ball. His previous post have been some of the most read and commented articles in X&O Labs’ history. Ellis is the former record-setting quarterback at Virginia and currently serves as the Head Football Coach at West Chester East High School (PA). And one of the best things about Coach Ellis is that he takes the time to answer any and all questions asked. So, if you have any questions after reading his column, just post it in the comments section below this report and Coach will respond shortly.

A play that we use, primarily as a QB counter, is tackle wrap. We view this play not as a finesse play, but as a downhill power/iso type of play that can be used as a 1 back run play and a QB counter. We try to get our guards help with the center at the point of attack to stop penetration. As our offensive line coach, Cody Loeffler, is famous for saying to our offensive line, “Our offense is like a mullet, business up front and party in the back”. Looks like a lot going on, but up front its basically downhill running game. Spoken like a true offensive line coach!

Here are the basic rules we use:

PST – Wall DE. Can NOT allow the defensive end to attack the B gap. Tackle takes hard inside step, depending on how tight the shade of the DE is
PSG – 3 Tech – Drive 3 tech. Keep out of A gap
- 1 Tech – Combo with C to BSILB
C – Combo A gap defender to BSILB
BSG – 3 Tech – Drive 3 tech. Keep out of A gap
BST – Pull to PSLB. 3 Tech (A gap), 1 Tech (B gap).

We teach skip pulling to all of our linemen and on this one we really encourage our Tackles to move quickly and get their eyes on their target. We communicate the frontside DT technique so the BST knows if he’s short pulling through the A gap or Long pulling into the B gap. His eyes are on the PSLB to pick him up in case he gets downhill immediately.

Key Coaching Point – The combo by the C and G never allows a blitzing LB to cross their face. If the PSLB blitzes the combo will pick him up and the pulling tackle will continue through the hole for the next LB.

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“Tagged Zone Pressures” in the Odd Front

Posted by xandoadmin | May 8, 2013 | Defense, Pressure, 3-Deep 3-Under Zone Pressures | 0 |

By the Kean University (NJ) Defensive Staff

Editor’s Note: X&O Labs Senior Research Manager Mike Kuchar spent time this spring at Kean University (NJ) talking with head coach Dan Garrett and the rest of his defensive staff about the Cougars 50 front zone pressures. The Cougars finished 2nd in the NJCA in total defensive in 2012 and qualified for the Division 3 playoffs in 2011, the first in program history.

The Pressure Process:

Much like many other successful coaches, one of Dan Garrett’s primary philosophies is that the process is more important than the result. This can be true in many elements of football, but perhaps none more so than when installing pressure packages. Too often players are so consumed with whom to blitz and where to blitz and losing sight of the entire concept of the blitz. While this process may not be new to some coaches, it’s inherently built in Garrett who does everything methodically when implementing his blitz patterns. According to him, this is a culmination of the schemes he learned current University of Miami head coach Al Golden when he was with the University of Virginia.

The key in any system is to play fast, so Kean uses a five-man pressure system with a three-deep, three under coverage system. According to Garrett, he’s tried other concepts such as the two-deep system Wagner College uses (add Wagner College piece link here) but he felt it was often too much for his players to handle. In either case there are main focus points he makes sure his players understand when implementing the zone pressure. They are below:

Something we felt Coach Garrett does with his staff is breakdown to his players the type of blitz angle they are on when they are sent. We’ve seen too many players not understand how to blitz, often taking themselves out of the play by the time the ball is snapped. In order to alleviate this, Coach Garrett gives his blitzers the following aiming points:

First level blitzer- Blitz to the heels of the offensive line, then react to ball movement.

Second level blitzer- Blitz to depth of QB post-snap and get home, reaction to ball movement might be later.

Third level blitzer- Blitz to up-field shoulder of deepest offensive player. This blitz Is usually responsible for turning the ball back into pursuit.

Three-Deep, Three- Under Coverage

The key to the coverage is the post-snap movement of defensive backs to get into position to play the ball. More specifically, Garrett teaches his Cornerbacks to key the “cradle” (carriage) of the QB, meaning the position that the ball is in during the QB’s drop. If the ball is still attached to the cradle the Cornerback can continue his footwork. Once the ball gets removed from the cradle, the Corner needs to be ready to break. Kean uses more of a slide-back technique rather than a pedal because it controls the body movement so the Corner an break in any direction. According to Garrett it’s essential that his Corners eyes do not stay in the backfield. He has them key the QB for his drop. For example, if the QB takes one big step, followed by a little step this would denote the possibility of a three-step drop, meaning the ball would come up high (in cradle) right now. In this case, the DB needs to be ready to break. Two big steps simultaneously would equal a five-step drop- where the DB would have a little more time. The specific techniques in which Garrett drills his Corners on are below:

While the Corners will usually be playing the number one receivers in Garrett’s system, time has to be spent defining the other coverage zones in the three-deep, three-under pressure concept. While all coaches, have their own definitions and verbiage of this coverage, Garrett’s terminology is below:

Controlling Your Blitz

Once Garrett and his staff teach the coverage zones of the pressure, he progresses into how he controls the blitz. Controlling the blitz simply means calling the pressure based on what tendencies you see from your opponent. Garrett will game plan his blitzes based on offensive tendencies and formations. According to Garrett one of the benefits of the odd front pressure scheme is that both sides are mirrored. This helps with any change of strength or motion. Whatever pressure you select, both sides of the defense need to be prepared to execute it- depending on the offensive formation. “Certain offensive coaches do certain things and now you can neutralize or attack those tendencies,” said Garrett. “A high percentage of the time you will be right- at least much more than you will be wrong. It takes proper homework on your opponent.”

The concept of the tag blitz puts the defensive coach in control of where the blitz is coming from. Kean University’s zone pressures attack four particular offensive elements:

“Closed” Blitzes attack the Tight End side of formations.

“Open” Blitzes attack the Split End side of formations.

“Strong” Blitzes attack the strength of the formation.

“Weak” Blitzes attack the weak side of formation.

These are all based off game plan and scouting. “If you have a tendency that a team is heavy TE run team than I would add a “Closed ‘tagged’ blitz that week. If you have a tendency that a team, out of twins or pro will always run to the 2 WR side I would use a Strong ‘tagged’ blitz that week.” Garrett will even tag his blitz to a running back side or what he calls the “Slap” the weakest player among the offensive line. “If you have a tendency that when they off set the full back weak in the ‘I’, you can come off the opposite side and beat a protection – the ‘tag’ that week may be running back.”

Mirrored Teaching

When Coach Garrett implements the pressure patterns, he uses the whole, part, whole methodology by just putting up X’s on the white board or having random players stand-in on the field during walk-through’s. He pairs the Open or Weak blitz with the Closed or Strong blitz so that players are mirroring each other. In the example below, Garrett is using a four strong (or weak) concept.

Once he feels if his players understand the concept, he’ll progress to adding defenders based on position into the pressure.

In the next example, Garrett now will progress to change-up the blitz to an alternate side pressure, where one outside linebacker will blitz with the opposite inside blitz. Again, this is done in a mirrored fashion with “X’s” so players understand the concept.

Once he feels as if his players understand the concept, he’ll progress to adding defenders based on position into the pressure.

Formation Adjustments

Like many other coaches, Garrett introduces his zone pressure concepts ag

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For Western Michigan Ball Security = More Wins

Posted by xandoadmin | May 3, 2013 | Defense, Fundamentals | 0 |

By Sam Nichols

Managing Editor

X&O Labs

Editor’s Note: This spring X&O Labs was invited out to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI to get an up close look at the changes that are taking place under 1st year head coach PJ Fleck. Western’s staff, to a man, thanked us for our work in helping coaches and allowed us full access to their practice and staff afterwards. The story that emerged was different than the one I expected to write, but it is one that we can all learn from and has lessons we can all use in our own coaching starting today.

What does a 32 year old, first time head coach choose to base his program on as he takes over an FBS program? Flashy offense? Blitzing Defense? Neither. Instead, PJ Fleck came into Western Michigan looking to find the root of the reason that recent teams had not lived up to their billing. After some research, he and his staff determined that the difference between winning and losing Western Michigan University is protecting the football.

The data tells the story. Over the past few years, WMU is 4 and 39 when they lose the turnover margin. Conversely, the Broncos are 43 and 24 when winning that margin. Coach Fleck decided to take this idea and run with it, focusing all energies of his new staff on convincing their new team that “The Ball is the Program.” This refrain can be heard and seen throughout their practice and facilities and was the obvious focal point of the team during the practice that I viewed on April 29th. The concept was present in every individual, group, and team segment of their 24 period practice.

Defining “The Ball is the Program” Mentality

Coach Fleck made it very clear… controlling the ball is more than not fumbling or throwing interceptions. It is a mentality that every player needs to take personally and apply within his own position. For offensive players, this means holding on to the football, moving the chains, and even being in the right position to jump on the ball should it pop out. Defensively, the coaches impress the disciplines of what they call “ball disruption.” The spend time working on stripping the ball, batting it down, and scooping and scoring when the opportunity presents itself.

In addition to the reasons already stated, WMU’s coaches also acknowledged that their decision was a practical one for a first year staff. They said that ball security and ball disruption is a skill that is mostly a learned skill. That is to say that any player, regardless of talent level, can be taught these skills in a short time. This is important since they did not recruit any of the players they were working with this spring and there are talent deficiencies on their roster that can’t be addressed until later in the program building process. They believe that they can address those deficiencies by ensuring every player they put on the field can execute their ball security / disruption skills at a high level.

To get a better idea of how the WMU staff is implementing these skills with their players, I interviewed Bronco Offensive Coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. Here is a transcript from that interview.

SN: Coach thanks for your willingness to share with us today. I love the concept of ball security / disruption I saw on the field today. Can you tell us where that all starts for you guys on the offensive side of the ball?

KC: Well the first thing for us is education. We need to educate the team on why it is so important. We talk to the guys about the connection of turnovers to wins. If I could look at only one stat to tell me who won a game, I would ask what the turnover margin was. We believe that it is the biggest predictor and the great thing is that it doesn’t have anything to do with ability level. We show them statistics to prove the concept and then impress it upon them that they have the ability to make an impact by focusing on ball security.

Once we have educated them on the concept as a whole, we can then move to teaching them the fundamentals. We teach the “chin” concept where the tip of the ball is tucked up under the runners chin. They also are expected to have 5 points of pressure on the ball at all times. 1 is the claw over the tip of the ball. 2 is the inside of the forearm. 3 is the tip of the ball under the bicep. 4 is pressing the ball against the peck and 5 is the elbow against the ribcage. We expect that at all times. It never leaves that position because the ball is the program.

Again this goes back to educating them. In our first team meeting, we show them how they are expected to carry the ball. From that moment on, all of our coaches will be on them to make it happen. We will chase them down the field to impress it on them. We are yelling “chin” all day long at our practices. Nothing else matters if we can’t take care of the ball.

SN: Yeah I heard that coach. It is obvious you guys really believe in the importance of this concept. What do you do in addition to yelling “chin” to teach the ball security basics?

KC: Well we certainly drill the concept. We have a ball security segment in every signel practice and we have a bunch of different drills we rotate through for players based on their positions. These range from fumble recovery to catching the ball and getting it to the chin position, to taking a handoff and getting it into the 5 points of pressure position. Again these change up every day and focus on different parts of the ball security concept. But really, it is about emphasis. We want to make it overwhelmingly clear that this is a priority for us and is essential if we are going to win games. We tell them it is the most important thing, so we have to show them that as well.

SN: So you have a variety of drills for each position that you use on a rotational basis I assume?

KC: Yes and of course we will change it up as needed to address problems. We are also willing to completely stop practice to address an issue in this area if it comes up. You saw that today. Coach Fleck saw a teaching moment with that fumble so he stopped the whole thing and impressed on the players the importance of holding on to the football and even scooping and scoring instead of jumping on the ball for the defense.

Coach Fleck tells us to forget about if a guy ran the route wrong, forget about his bad splits, and forget about his footwork on his handoff. If he doesn’t take care of the ball none of that other stuff matters. We cannot move on until we fix the ball security problems.

SN: Is this concept something you have done at your other stops at Rutgers or Delaware or is this something unique to what you guys are trying to do here at Western?

KC: Honestly it is something I have always focused on and something I am really proud of. Everywhere I have been we have made this a priority and we have seen success because of it. Conversely the teams that haven’t done well have not taken care of the ball. One year when I was at Delaware, we were 2-3 after 5 games because we weren’t taking care of the ball. We were able to turn it around and low and behold, we were protecting the ball better in the second half of that season. A lot of people talk about the importance of the big play or explosive plays on the outcome of the game, but we think that a lot of times that has to do with ability. Taking care of the ball, on the other hand, has nothing to do with talent or us calling the right play. It has everything to do with them respecting the ball and respecting the program. It was the same way when Coach Fleck and I were together at Rutgers.

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Protocols for a Defensive Identification System

Posted by xandoadmin | Apr 28, 2013 | Defense, Communication, Game Planning | 0 |

By Mike Kuchar

Senior Research Manager

X&O Labs

Introduction

It’s that time of the year when offenses are either being constructed or retooled, so we felt there was no better timing than now to release our latest study on defensive identifiers. The following information is based on a collection of surveys designed towards offensive coaches in an attempt to decipher the progressions used in three major defensive identifiers- front, second level players and coverage. While we realize all programs may have different methodologies in uncovering these structures, our goal was to find and provide a common denominator for each.

Case 1: Identifying Defensive Front

The first part of any identification systems seems to be recognizing the defensive front and more importantly which player makes the call to do so. Our research was split down the middle when deciding which player makes the front identification call. According to our research, 53.6 percent of coaches will have their Center make the call to recognize front while 22.6 percent will have their QB handle that responsibility. Rich O’Connor, the offensive coordinator at Montclair State University (NJ) has his Center’s make all the checks for two main reasons- he’s usually more versed in studying defensive fronts and it’s just another thing that QB’s don’t have to worry about. “Our QB is asked to do a lot in our system, so we just felt that this is something the Center can handle,” says O’Connor. On every snap, he’ll have his Center make three calls: identify the front, identify the Mike LB and then give the box count (the amount of players in the tackle box).

We also had a good faction of coaches split the responsibility between the Center and the QB. “The quarterback and center both have a role in identifying the front. The center is going to make an odd or even call, and identify the Mike,” said James Vint at Cornado High School (TX). “The QB is going to identify and communicate the “Q” player. The Q player is the defender the quarterback is responsible for in our option schemes.” Some coaches, particularly at the high school level, will even let their most experienced offensive lineman handle the call. Others will also have their running back make the call for the skill players. Regardless of the call, 82.1 percent of coaches surveyed will always identify the defensive front on every snap.

We’ve found that 29.9 percent of coaches use a combination of a numbering system and a name system to identify defensive fronts. A numbering system mainly refers to the technique of the first level defenders, which would read from left to right. So in an even front a 13 front would resemble a one-technique or shade to the left and a three-technique to the right. If the number were 31, than a three-technique would be to the left side while the shade or one technique would be to the right. Some coaches, particularly spread system coaches even use a color system to indicate where the three-technique is in an even front. For example, the “red” side may denote the side of the three technique, while the “white” side may be the shade side. One of the coaches who took our survey verbalized how he identifies an even front. “When we are facing an even front team the Center will ID the 3 tech with a “red” or “blue” call then he will ID the Mike linebacker twice. If the defense aligns with a two-technique, the C will make a DEUCE call, then ID the MIKE. If the defense aligns into an Over front the Tackle that has the ghost 9 tech will make an OSCAR call to the C, the C will repeat and ID the MIKE. When facing a 34 team the Center makes an OKIE call, then IDs the Mike. When facing a 33 Stack – the Center makes a “Stack: call, then IDs the Nose guard with a “Zero” technique call.

When we researched this further we did find that 87.5 percent of coaches don’t deviate from a shade and 3-technique side against four down fronts mainly due to the multiplicity that defenses present by pre-snap stems and post-snap movement. So what is the benchmark number of fronts that offenses should be identifying? What is too much? The base number seems to be three or less- 61.9 percent of coaches only use up to three identifications while 34.9 percent use between 4-7 identifications. Offenses are not trying to limit their verbiage in identifying fronts. Now, we’ve found that spread teams are simply identifying only the bubble (a gap not accounted for by a first level defender) for zone techniques. They will only use two names and cut the ball in half if either you have an open B gap or a closed B gap. ” Our Center ID’s front based on where A & B gap defensive linemen are aligned,” said Coach Hagebusch at Nowata High School (OK). “Next he ID’s the MLB or the LB most likely to blitz to help with pass pro.”

Coach Hopkins at Basehor-Linwood High School (KS) follows the same methodology. “We only say odd or even. We really don’t consider it “odd” unless there is a true zero-technique Nose guard and we don’t care if there are two or three linebackers,” said Hopkins. “Due to stemming by linebackers, we don’t focus on names such as Eagle, Bear, etc.” We did find coaches like Bryan Moore at Heidelberg College who will only identify the front if it is a Bear front-which denotes a zero technique Nose guard and two three-techniques. Rick Wimmers at Fishers High School (IN) believes in the same simple methodology. “The Center IDs all fronts as either 3 Down (1 defender in A & B gaps), 4 Down (2 defenders in A & B gaps), or 5 Down (3 defenders in A & B gaps),” says Wimmers. “The QB IDs the Point with the defender’s number (“51’s the Point!”).”

Some coaches like Thom McDaniels at Glen Oak High School (OH) ties the front into their cadence. “Our Center will make an Over (4-3), Under (Shade), Odd (3-4), or Even (4-4) call to identify the front,” says McDaniels. “Our QB identifies the coverage in his cadence. For example: Red 4, Red 4, Set, Hut declares the coverage as Cover 4; Blue 1, Blue 1, Set, Hut declares the coverage as Cover 1. The color is not significant to the front or coverage. Our OG’s will then make a Tim (inside) or Tom (on or outside) call to identify the location of the first defender to his side.”

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Inside Zone for Maximum Efficiency

Posted by xandoadmin | Apr 24, 2013 | Offense, Run Game, Tight Zone Run Concepts | 0 |

By Brent Morrison

Offensive Coordinator

Westerville Central High School (OH)

Editor’s Note: Brent Morrison is currently the offensive coordinator and QB’s coach at Westerville Central High school in the Columbus, Ohio area. He has been coaching at WCHS for 8 seasons and coached multiple positions. He has a total of 12 years high school coaching experience.

When our current Head Coach, John Magistro, took over our program four years ago he was determined that we would be a zone running team. This was a major transition for the kids and many of the coaches that were used to primarily gap blocking schemes. So our difficult journey began and we have evolved to a point where the Inside and Outside Zone are nearly 75% of our run game.

This was not an easy place to get to. We had all read the articles, gone to clinics and talked with other coaches that were knowledgeable about zone offense, and at first we felt like this was exactly the right thing for our program. Through camp, two-a-days and scrimmages we were looking great, but then we had some downfalls. Our zone became very inefficient, our QB was making poor decisions and our RB’s were making the wrong reads while carrying the ball. Basically, everything that we had worked towards was imploding. We as a staff sat down one Sunday night and had a real heart to heart about whether or not we should scrap the zone. After about an hour discussion we decided that it was something that we would continue to work on and build our offensive run game philosophy around.

I tell this story not to scare anyone from running the zone, but to give you a reality check that it is not a magical play that will come in and solve all of your offensive issues. We have devoted a lot of time and effort into creating the package that I am about to share. We are constantly evolving and growing so that we can become more sound and efficient as an offense. Some of the things we have actually added this offseason. In fact we always struggled with how to set our fullback while we were in the pistol. Thanks to Coach Schmitt from Atholton High School and his article “Pistol Two Back Zone Run Game” for giving us some tags that we felt solved many of our issues. You may notice some overlap from our articles, but I have found that overlap and redundancy is a common them when reading articles about the Inside Zone.

The last point I want to speak to before we get into the x’s and o’s is about the use of a no-huddle offense. We are exclusively a no-huddle team and have been for four years, but only in the last two have we been an up-tempo no-huddle team. I truly believe this has been the key to our IZ being effective. Inside Zone is all about taking advantages of defensive decision making and a very fast no huddle team focuses on confusing the defense and blurring their decision making. Combining the IZ with no-huddle is the best way to create maximum efficiency. Our tagging system has evolved and is continuing to, but hopefully our work can be of some value to you. Also, I am not using our real tags, since we try to protect our no-huddle language as much as possible, but I am sure your staff can come up with your own creative terms/signals for these schemes if you chose to employ them.

Inside Zone read vs. Veer Read

We run inside zone with our line in both our inside zone and our Veer series. Our Offensive Line has no idea what the difference is, because for them there isn’t. If we run IZ or Veer the difference is where the back will attack first. If we call Inside zone right read as pictured above, then the RB is attacking the zone side B gap. If it filled then he works his way back across the zone to play side A, and finally backside to the backside A gap. If we are running veer left read then it looks exactly like IZ right read, except QB and the RB change. The QB’s technique we teach is funnel the RB to the right hole. We went away from exact steps because when working from the gun, the snap often time will create different starting points for the QB. The RB is then told to run the toes of the QB. In the IZ series the RB starts on the opposite side and gets funneled to the B gap away from him. If we are using the veer series, then the QB will funnel the RB to the A gap on the same side. The QB’s read is not much faster and the RB will read veer side A to backside A. The Veer series is primarily used from our Pistol backfield, but can also be used in a traditional gun set. All of the veer plays will be drawn from the Pistol set throughout this presentation.

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Defending the Flexbone

Posted by xandoadmin | Apr 14, 2013 | Defense, Game Planning, Defending Specific Offensive Systems and Concepts | 0 |

By Jason Brown

Secondary Coach

Dutchtown High School (LA)

Editor’s Note: Jason Brown is the Secondary Coach at Dutchtown High School in Geismar, Louisiana. He has been coaching for 23 years with 18 of them serving as a Defensive Coordinator at various high classification schools in Louisiana. Dutchtown High School has a 31-5 record over the last three years and their defense has contributed greatly to this success. Some notable former players for Dutchtown High School include Eddie Lacy (RB Alabama), Eric Reid (DB LSU), and Landon Collins (DB Alabama).

It is an honor to represent the defensive staff at Dutchtown High School in presenting this article on Defending the Flexbone Offense. It is my goal to stimulate thought and to take you through the concepts that we have developed to try to combat this offense and its variations. The material encompasses all of the trial and error that all of our defensive coaches have gone through and continue to go through in defending this particular type of offensive scheme. Due to limited space I will not be able to go into great detail on each technique or scheme, but hopefully you will find some ideas on how to defend this type of offense. I will also concentrate mostly on the triple option and play action aspects of the offense. Though we know we don’t have all of the answers, I do feel like we have something worthwhile to share on a concept of which little information is available.

In developing our defensive strategy for the Flexbone offense, we have gone through a multitude of defenses before we settled on the concepts that we have today. In the beginning we started with a basic 4-2 scheme with 3 Robber coverage (Diag. 1). We put the tackles in double one techniques to expand the crease, and put the ends in tight five techniques. Within this scheme we also played crack and load concepts on the perimeter. The outside rotators and the free safety read the slot back and fit accordingly. If the slot load blocked, the outside rotator squeezed for the quarterback and the free safety fit opposite to the pitch (Diag. 2).

If the slot arc blocked, the outside rotator expanded to the pitch and the free safety fit opposite to the quarterback (Diag.3). In the beginning this seemed like it would be enough. We enjoyed great success against the offense, but the offenses started figuring out ways to counter what we were doing. With the advent of different blocking schemes on the perimeter to get to our single safety, we found out quickly that we could not stay in this scheme any longer. The single high safety was crack bait and if you didn’t have a war daddy in that spot the scheme just wasn’t as effective. This offensive attack confirmed some basic principles of defense that we had been exposed to for generations. Power offenses demanded 8 and 9 man fronts and option offenses demanded 7 man fronts. At he time we really like our four man front approach and modified it in order to defend from a 4-3 look with true quarter’s coverage (Cover8) (Diag. 4).

This scheme, with its adherence to our philosophy of playing a 7 man front to option football, allowed us a better comfort level in defending this offense. The Mike linebacker was the inside-point player (Dive-QB-Pitch) and the outside backers and safeties were on crack and load reads (Diag. 5). We had one change up that we really liked and it was called exchange. In an exchange call the End would take the QB, the outside backer would take the Dive (we told them to own the B gap) and the Mike linebacker deepened to 8 yards and tracked the ball sideways, to get an extra alley player (Diag. 6). Since offensive coaches figured out better ways to block the perimeter versus our Quarter scheme we saw that we needed to add more coverage variation to keep the offense guessing. We decided to stay with our split safety concept and add Cover 2 to our repertoire in option defense. Of course we already played the coverage so it wasn’t a big jump for us, but it did force us to spend more practice time because we were adding a concept to our defense. With only the Mike linebacker inside we found that the counter actions were tough on him, and sometimes the dive could cut back hard behind him because he didn’t have a buddy inside. We decided to start changing the front structure to more 3-4 looks. We didn’t think we had enough pressures within our scheme to create plays for ourselves against the Flexbone teams. Our goal was to out execute them, but as we all know sometimes you have to pressure to create negative plays. The 3-4 looks allowed us to pressure a bit more, give the Mike linebacker a buddy, and stay sound versus the option. We figured with all of these answers we would have a comprehensive scheme that would take care of any situation we would encounter. As you are reading this article you could possible come to the conclusion that a combination 3-4/4-3 defense with multiple split safety coverage, and certain perimeter reads to help protect yourself versus blocking schemes is perfect. In theory it might be so, but we found that the scheme became a monster. As the scheme grew we started having more mental errors and we found that our players were playing tentative. We had to really do some soul searching to figure out the things that we liked and toss out the rest.

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Creating Disruptive Underneath Coverages

Posted by xandoadmin | Apr 8, 2013 | Defense, Coverage | 0 |

By Steve Nelson

Head Coach

Fowler High School (CA)

Editor’s Note: Steve Nelson is the Head Football Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach at Fowler High School in Fowler, California. His 3-year record is 31-6, including 2 section championships and 3 league championships. He was selected league coach of the year 3 times in addition to being selected to coach local all-star games twice. During that span, Fowler defenses have held opponents to an average of 13 points per game. Prior to becoming the head coach at Fowler, he served at defensive coordinator at Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia, Calif. and at Selma High School in Selma, Calif. Nelson graduated from Fresno State University.

In our 3-4 defense we base in a 4 man pressure, quarters coverage scheme. Our underneath defenders play a big role in how effective we are and how loose or aggressive we need to be with our secondary. Unfortunately, we don’t have the kind of athletes that are division 1 college-type players that allow us to man cover or do more 1-on-1 type schemes. Instead we have taken the match-up zone concept from basketball and applied it to our defense. Our linebackers are asked to follow a specific progression that allows us to soundly match-up to any route combination.

To identify receiving threats we use the simple numbering system shown in diagram 1. The eligible receiver closest to the sideline is the #1, the next is #2, etc. This counting system applies to both sides of the ball, meaning there could be a number 1 or 2 on both sides of the ball. This counting system allows us to easily assign a coverage progression to each underneath defender. The outer-most defender follows a #2-#1 coverage progression, and the middle defender follows a #3-#2 progression. The idea is to initially cover the first receiver in the progression and then move to the other if the first receiver goes to another area.

We use the CMA responsibility concept to guide our underneath cover guys. CMA stands for Collision, Match, Alert. Our primary responsibility is to collision (Diagram 2) the first receiver in our progression if he presses vertically past 5 yards (our lb depth vs. detached #2). If the receiver stems to our inside shoulder, we collision violently, but do not follow. If the receiver stems to our outside shoulder, we collision and try to re-direct his route toward the numbers. We stay with this receiver until he reaches a depth of 10-12 yards before moving to the 2^nd receiver in the progression. If #2 is a TE we will align on the LOS, outside eye of TE and collision any release before progression to the #1 receiver. We view getting to #1 vs. an attached #2 secondary to physicality at the LOS on a TE. We make adjustments in our secondary play to allow our OLB to be more aggressive in the box.

If the receiver does not push vertically for 5 yards—meaning he runs a shallow crossing route or flat route—we are not going to chase, attack or cover him. We are going to match (Diagram 3) any out breaking short route by working to the inside hip of the next receiver in the progression. This gives us the outside leverage necessary not to get out flanked, but also takes away deeper passing lanes. (Note: if there is no #2 receiver, the LB will work immediately to the inside hip of the #1 receiver. Diagram 4.)

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Applying the Shallow Cross in Any Offense

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 31, 2013 | Offense, Pass Game, Intermediate Pass Concepts | 0 |

By Jon Klyne

Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator

Langley Rams Football

Editor’s Note: Coach Klyne shares how he applies the common shallow cross concept at multiple levels of play in Canadian, 12 man football. The same concepts apply well within the 11 man game played in the states.

You do not have to be an Air-raid purist to believe that the shallow cross is a staple in modern football. The logic is easy; your primary target is little more than 4 yards downfield, 12 yards away from your Quarterback and has virtually no one around him. This makes it a plausible dropback pass for nearly every level of passer. However the details of the play are often glossed over and, like many clinics or articles, offer the play versus ideal situations. Unfortunately if a play is successful for you, defenses will very quickly find ways to put you in ‘less-than-ideal’ circumstances. What I would like to introduce is the shallow cross run against defenses that have prepared to stop it.

The first problem with the shallow cross (SC) is that you always seen it drawn up against 2 safety defenses. The logic behind the play is simple then, in a 2-safety defense, you have only the Mac Linebacker in the box to defend the Shallow. However, more and more teams are reverting back to single safety defenses, in order to be more gap-sound and blitz-heavy. The first problem we see against a single safety is that we now have 2 linebackers (Mac and Sam). We also have to account for the weakside flat defender (Will LB).

Patterns:

X – Out. Prefered Outside release. Put inside foot in ground at 9. Head around by 12.
H – Hunt. Mandatory Outside release. Breaks at 8 and finds grass behind Will & Mac LBs
Y – Shallow. Cross through heels of DL and clear box as fast as possible. Attack far flats
Z – Out. Or Tagged
A – Check release to strong flats.
QB Progression – Out, Shallow, Hunt, Swing

What we immediately notice against in diagram 1 is that we have possibly 3 defenders (Sam, Mac, Will) all capable of defending our 2 primary routes (Shallow/Hunt). What we must first understand is that against this type of defense, we must isolate just the weakside of the field first. The Y receiver must understand that he is getting to the far side flats at all costs. Him and the X will stretch the weak fFlats.

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Exclusive Interview with Herb Hand

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 31, 2013 | 0 |

Editor’s Note: Herb Hand returns for a fourth year to the Commodore coaching staff as offensive line coach. This past season, the Commodores finished with a 9-4 record- one of the best in program history- including a bowl victory against NC State. Prior to accepting the Vanderbilt position, Hand worked three years at Tulsa, serving as assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and line coach. Hand helped guide Tulsa to consecutive GMAC Bowl appearances behind one of the NCAA’s most explosive spread offenses. Before joining Tulsa, Hand spent six successful years at West Virginia, serving as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator under Coach Rich Rodriquez. Hand helped the Mountaineers to three Big East Conference titles and five straight postseason bowl games during the span, including a 38-35 victory over Southeastern Conference champion Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl. X&O Labs Senior Research Manager Mike Kuchar spent some talking with Hand, who has been involved in spread systems since 1999.

MK: What has been one of the more productive formations you’ve used in the run game recently? What advantage does it give you offensively? What problems does it present to the defense?

HH: We have had a lot of success running the ball with formations that present the defense with broad blocking surfaces by using Tight Ends and H-backs. We feel that those personnel groupings give us the ability to create leverage advantages in alignments to run the ball with a variety of schemes (split zone, power, counter, sweep) while also forcing the defense to account for them in the passing game.

MK: Have you shifted your preference in personnel groupings? At West Virginia you were more of a 10 and 20-personnel team. Is talent level the priority in selecting the right personnel or is it more about presenting as many “different pictures” to the defense as possible?

HH: Here at Vanderbilt, we are a personnel driven pro style offense – what that means is we want to get our best players on the field and put them in position to make plays. We also want to be very multiple in how we use our personnel. We want to have the ability to present the defense with a nontraditional formations and alignments from traditional personnel groups. An example we use is lining up in an empty backfield with 22 personnel on the field. Our philosophy is to get our best 11 on the field and our offense is flexible enough to allow for the use of multiple personnel groupings based not only on production of the players but also on what formations might give the defense the most problems on any given week.

We’re constantly changing guys throughout the game and we use motions to create leverage advantages or matchup advantages. It is a lot more of a pro style offense than a spread offense. We do have some spread components, but we’ve been able to marry up a lot of those spread concepts with pro concepts. We want to recruit athletes and use those guys in a variety of different ways so that we can keep defenses on their heels.

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Efficiency of the Shield Punt

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 25, 2013 | Special Teams, Punt | 0 |

By Chris Fore

Former Head Coach

Capistrano Valley Christian High School (CA)

I love the shield punt! If you ask any of the kids who have ever played for me, or coaches on my staffs what my favorite Special Team is, they will surely tell you “punt!” I really believe that the punt team can have more of an effect on a game than any other Special Team. In the field position game, I don’t see that any of the other Special Teams have as dramatic of an impact as the punt team does.

In 2002, the Head Coach I was working for at Linfield Christian put me in charge of the Special Teams. In prepping for that job, I watched every single special teams play from the 2001 season. And this was back in the VCR days! Most of you know what that was like! Man, it was time consuming. Sitting there with the remote, fast-forwarding to every special team play, etc. That took me weeks! Now, with programs like DSV and Hudl, that job gets done much quicker.

Basically, I wasn’t thrilled with what I saw. The team was 5-5 in 2001. We had an average high school punter. We used the standard 5 linemen, 2 gunners, 2 wings, 1 personal protector and punter formation that you see in the NFL and many other places (Diagram 1).

I noticed a few things while reviewing our punt team:

Like what I’ve seen with a lot of high school football players and even college and NFL players, making the tackle in the open field on the punt team is a difficult thing to do. What I saw was that our kids were in position to make a tackle many times, but just didn’t. They would either get juked by the returner, or have poor fundamentals on breaking down and making the tackle.
The 5 linemen were pretty useless in covering punts. Why are we sending offensive linemen out on the punt team? Only one lineman of ours all season made a tackle on the punt team. Well, the main reason we use them is in protection. But still, is it a wise use of personnel?
We only had two guys getting off the ball and down the field, the gunners. The other 8 were focused on protection first, then covering the kick second. If those two gunners got held up, and weren’t able to fight through their blocks, we have to rely on the linemen and the wings to get downfield AFTER their protection responsibilities.
If the other team only put one guy on each gunner, and one returner deep, this meant they were able to bring 8 for the block. We would have 8 in for protection, but one of those players is having to first focus on snapping the ball. And the personal protector, was there to simply pick up anyone the front 7 missed. Therefore, I felt like we were outmanned. In fact, we had 3-4 punts blocked because of this during the year.
If we played a team faster than us, we gave up more punt return yards period. If their returner was faster than our gunners, we lost field position. There was no way around that.
The geometry and the angles of our coverage unit vs. their return unit made it difficult to keep them from gaining yards and field position. If a team used a sideline return, they had the advantage of setting that up, knowing where they were going, etc. We were then on the “defensive” against their return. I didn’t like that. Those sideline type returns were very popular ten years ago, and still are today. They split the field in half, so half of your guys are essentially useless against this type of return as far as making a tackle, etc. Especially one of your gunners; when they return opposite him, there isn’t much he can do on that play.

So, what do you do to combat these 6 flaws with the standard punt scheme we were using? How do I “fix” this?

I began a search for a new punt scheme. I went to all of the usual clinics and read a lot of articles and research online. I finally found an idea I really loved, and had never seen on the field before- which was about the Shield Punt. I loved it! It was totally different than anything I had seen before, which I knew might present some problems for the teams we played. A phrase I love to apply to Special Teams is “predictability breeds vulnerability.” This means that if you continue to always do the same thing, you can become vulnerable to attack. So, something new like this would be great to use!

As with most clinics and articles that I find and want to apply to my own program, I took out of it what I liked, and left what I didn’t like! So, below is what I came up with and have taught for the last 10 years regarding the shield punt!

Shield Punt Installation

I installed the shield punt! But the shield punt I use, is different than what you are seeing all over the college landscape the last two years. It’s become a bit of a fad on the college football scene lately. I started using the shield punt in 2002. Check the diagram below:

Why Use The Shield Punt

We get 7 players in the face of the returner pretty quick. We aren’t just relying on a few “gunners” to get down and make the tackle. This is an aggressive punt, where we are on the “offensive” more than the “defensive.”

We are using this punt to maximize our field position, while at the same time minimizing blocks and returns. By getting our players down the field quickly, the returner will have a tough time making a good, clean catch, and won’t have much room to run if we do this right. Lastly, the return team will not be able to set up a return because we get down the field so quickly.

Personnel

On the front line of 7, we want to use quick and fast linebacker/safety type football players. These guys need to be able to get down the field, while also having some size and strength to them for “blocking” their men. We don’t want slow offensive linemen on this unit in the front seven. The front seven need to be aggressive kids. They need to know how to make a tackle in the open field if needed, that is why I like to use defensive players in the front seven. The three players in the shield are your offensive linemen type guys. Here, we value size over speed. They have zero pursuit and tackling responsibility. Their main job is to create a shield about 7 yards in front of the punter, to block anyone who comes through the front line to block the punt. Therefore, big and strong offensive linemen types are the best for the shield.

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Unbalanced Shield Punt Scheme

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 25, 2013 | Special Teams, Punt | 0 |

By Jon Kyte

Special Teams Coordinator

University of Dubuque

Editor’s Note: Coach Kyte entered his first season on the University of Dubuque staff in 2011, directing the defensive line and coordinating the special teams. Prior to coming to Dubuque he spent a season on the Augsburg College (Minn.) staff, directing the linebackers, defensive line and special teams. He also served as video coordinator and assistant recruiting coordinator for the Auggies. Kyte served for two seasons (2008-2009) as an assistant coach (tight ends) at Division II Winona State University (MN), where he coached two all-conference NSIC tight ends.

Jon Kyte of Dubuque University (IA) details his version of the shield punt scheme, where he will overload a formation and meshes a rugby and directional style punt for maximum productivity. He shares all components of the scheme with XandOLabs.com.

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Cover Two Corner Techniques Based on Receiver Leverage

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 25, 2013 | Defending Pass Game | 0 |

By James “Mac” McCleary Defensive Coordinator, Notre Dame High School (LA)

Editor’s Note: Coach McCleary has coached for Notre Dame High School of Acadia Parish, Louisiana for the last 14 years and has been the defensive coordinator for the past 6 years. During his time as the coordinator, Notre Dame has amassed a record of 73-9. In his six years as defensive coordinator, Notre Dame has had the opportunity to compete in 3 state championship games.

In the first article, (click here to view) I discussed how we align ourselves in Cover Two by body position to take away the holes in the field based on the receivers spacing. In this article we will discuss the reads and techniques we use to accompany these body positions to execute the coverage in a successful way. With all of our coverage variations, we teach our corners 3 ways to cover; Man Coverage, Cover 2(flat to deep), and Deep (Quarters).

When calling a coverage, the numbers tell the corner what to do. Example: C-20, Strong Corner play C-2(flats) Weak Corner play C-0(man).

When playing Cover 2 in the middle of field the Corners look at the spacing of the #1 and #2 receivers and line themselves up in one of three body positions. The corners will press, play choke technique, or play shake technique.

Average Spacing of #1 and #2

If the #1 receiver’s spacing is splitting the numbers and the hash (average spacing), then the corner will press the receiver with outside leverage.

When pressing the receiver, the corners alignment will be 1 ½ to 2 yards off the receiver with inside shoulder on the receivers outside shoulder. The corner will have a balanced stance with his feet inside his frame. Any time our corners press we teach them to focus on the hip of the receiver. Pre snap we instruct the corner to look at the feet of the receiver to see if the inside foot is back or the outside foot is back. This gives the corner a pre-snap indicator of the receiver’s first step. With outside leverage, the corner will always take a back and outside step with his outside foot to protect the outside and deny an outside release. Remember the reason for pressing the receiver is to funnel him to the safety. We stress footwork first then hands. We are reading the release of the hips as we are moving back and outside. Once the receiver’s hips commit to the inside our outside, then we proceed to drive our eyes and outside hand to our target. Our target is the outside breast plate of the receiver. We want the corner to jam the receiver with his thumb up. We tell him to make a y with his hand. If the receiver outside releases, then we flatten him out and redirect him inside. If the receiver inside releases, then we drive him in a couple of steps and split the zone back out to the flats. Once we split the zone or deny the outside release and redirect him inside, then our eyes go to the #2 receiver. When the corner’s eyes go to #2, he looks for him to come outside. If he does the corner works him flat to deep (rail) by gaining width and depth. If #2 goes inside, then the corner sits looking for crossers or the back out the backfield. If #2 goes vertical, then the corner sinks deeper protecting the corner route.

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Advantages of Turn Protection

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 17, 2013 | Offense, Protections, Pass Game | 0 |

By: Justin Iske

Offensive Line Coach

Fort Hays State University

If you are a turn protection (half-man, half-slide) team like we are here at Fort Hays State, the number one job of your o-line coach is to figure out which way you want to slide your protection each week. The purpose of this article is to give you a few ideas that will help you make this determination without confusing your players.

What Is Turn Protection?

In the simplest terms, turn protection is a half-man, half-slide protection with the center, playside guard, and playside tackle responsible for a gap; and the backside guard and tackle manned up on a defensive lineman. (See Examples in Diagram 1, 2, and 3).

Diagram Notes:

We call the weakside gaps X, Y, and Z.
“Rush” is just our term for the weak side End. (End, Tackle, Nose, Rush)

Who Calls the Protection

Sideline – In some systems, the play-caller will determine the slide side of a protection. Some coaches are more comfortable playing the percentages based on film study to determine what a defense is going to do (which are detailed below) and call the protection in the play call. An obvious disadvantage to this is you do not get a chance to see the defense’s pre-snap alignment before determining the slide.

With no-huddle teams, oftentimes the o-line coach or running back coach will signal to the o-line or quarterback the protection call at the line of scrimmage. This gives the coach a chance to see pre-snap alignment, but adds a layer of communication to the process and slows the offense’s tempo down.

Quarterback – The best reason to give the slide responsibility to the quarterback is that he is the one who is going to pay the price if he sends the slide the wrong way. After he is hit by a free blitzer once or twice, they usually realize the importance of getting the protection correct. Another reason is that the QB has the best pre-snap view of the defense. One reason not to use your QB is that they already have enough on their plate in terms of reading coverages, making route adjustments, and other audibles that you don’t want them to be overwhelmed. This is especially true with an inexperienced QB. Sometimes taking some responsibility off their shoulders can help them be successful.

Center (or Guard) – In our system, our center calls out the defensive front every play. Against some opponents, he will also ID the Mike linebacker. Since he is the one that has to know what front we are facing, it makes sense that he be the one to call out the protection as well. However, there have been times when we have had a guard call the protection instead. For instance, if you have a three-year starter at left guard and a redshirt freshman center, then the left guard is going to handle things better than the center is. We have never had a tackle call out the protection simply because his angle is so much different that he can’t recognize what is happening on the other side of the line.

At the end of the day, any of these approaches can be successful. We have always designated either the quarterback or one of our interior o-linemen as the player to check protections. As the o-line coach, I prefer that it be one of our guys up front, but we will sit down as a staff before every season and evaluate that group of players before we make a decision as to who will have the responsibility of calling the protection. It is important to note that you need to call a slide every play (even on running plays or non-turn protection plays) so that the defense doesn’t have an extremely easy clue as to when you are passing the ball.

Five, Six, or Seven-Man Protection

One of the reasons we use turn protection is because we can incorporate five, six, and seven-man protections with the same rules for the offensive line. We can also run three-step, five-step, seven-step and even some play action concepts while using the same basic principles of protection. The less your guys up front have to think, the more aggressive and confident they will play. The QB and running backs are the ones that adjust.

Definitions of Protection

Five-Man Protection: Any blitzer to the man side is the QB’s responsibility
Six-Man Protection: RB or FB is responsible for blitzer to the man side.
Seven-Man Protection: Both backs will check to the man or slide side, depending on the call.

One thing that is extremely important, for shotgun teams especially. Do not always align your back to the man side of your protection pre-snap. The first thing most defensive coaches will look for when attacking protections is any pre-snap giveaway to which side you are sliding your protection. Realize that they watch film just as much as you do and if you align the back to the man side all the time, you are going to see every blitz ever invented to that side on a weekly basis. Going under center or in the pistol eliminates this issue. But so does simply having the back cross the QB’s face post-snap (with or without a flash fake).

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DB Article – Training the “Nub” Side Corner in the Run Game

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 17, 2013 | Defending Run Game, Position Groups, Cornerbacks | 0 |

By Mark Hendricks

Defensive Coordinator

Lenape High School (NJ)

Bio: Mark Hendricks is currently the defensive coordinator at Lenape High School in New Jersey. Prior to his time at Lenape, Hendricks was the cornerbacks coach at James Madison University from 2008-2012. He was also the defensive coordinator at Rowan University (NJ) for a season.

Editor’s Note: The following transcript was written and recorded by Mike Kuchar.

It’s clear that many offensive coordinators try their hardest to manipulate formations so that they get their tailback in a one on one situations with a Cornerback. This is typically done by having the strength of the formation away from the Tight End and having the Corner aligned on the same side of the Tight End (Diagram 1). And why wouldn’t they? Corners have traditionally been known as one of the weaker tacklers on the team. Well, there are ways to train your “nub side” corner to make plays in both the run and pass game- and Coach Hendricks details all of these methods in this report.

Nub Side Corner in Man Coverage

In most occasions, that backside Corner will be in a man to man situation with that backside Tight End. Hendricks will have his Corner at a 6×3 alignment (which is six yards deep, and three yards wide) but maintaining out side leverage. “He needs to show up against the run, but may not needed to contain the football.” According to Hendricks, he will often have a Defensive End or Linebacker to that side as the contain player. The reason is mainly due to zone read schemes that will arc the tight end. “The tight end release looks like a pass route,” says Hendricks. “North Carolina busted it against us two years ago because the tight end ran the boot off the inside zone play (Diagram 2).”

Hendricks will use what he calls a man-on-man key in these situations. “We read high and low hat of Tight End,” said Hendricks. “If the Tight End blocks, we come on hard vs. run. If the Tight End releases, we stay over the top and keep leverage on him, but we can’t stay stride for stride with him.” Many times when the Corner is alone on that Tight End, Hendricks will play a “I and O” (inside and outside coverage) with the remaining linebacker to his side against the Tight End and the back (Diagram 3). “What we prefer to do is what we call ‘Joe’ where the Corner will play tight end regardless and the linebacker plays the back (Diagram 4). “The Tight End could crack linebacker and they can swing the back (Diagram 5). You need to have both because of the crack scheme. If the Corner is manned up, he will not slide or shuffle. He has to chase any true crossing route to work though up field shoulder.”

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Defending the Spread with Quarters Coverage

Posted by xandoadmin | Mar 4, 2013 | Defense, Coverage, Two High Coverage Structures | 0 |

By Matt Puffenberger

Defensive Coordinator

Berkeley Springs (WV)

Editors Note: Matt Puffenberger has been an Assistant Football Coach at Berkeley Springs since 2001 and is currently the Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Back Coach. Berkeley Springs HS is an AA school located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. It had never played in a post-season game prior to 2002. In 2000, Angelo Luvara came to BSHS after being the head coach at Potomac State College in Keyser, WV for 22 years. During his tenure, BSHS has won their first playoff game in school history and advanced to the state quarterfinals.

Understanding Our Base Defense

We are a 4-3 base defense that plays primarily Quarter’s or “Split-Safety Robber” coverage (cover 8 in our terminology) the majority of the time. Our Quarter’s rules vs. Pro Formations:

Corner’s = base alignment is 7 yds off and 2 yds inside the WR (we have a divider rule that tells us to take outside leverage vs. short splits) (we will sometimes show press and bail at the snap)
- vs. run = secondary force/deep cut-off
- vs. pass = inside deep ¼ (NO POST!)
OLB’s = align based on backfield set
- vs. run = alley vs wide flow, gap alignment vs fast flow; opposite A-Gap away
- vs. pass = flat-wheel-#3 (OLB’s buzz flats, run with any wheel, then work to #3)
ILB = Align based on backfield set
- vs. run = fast flow to 1^st window (a-gap to c-gap strong/b-gap weak)
- vs. pass = work middle hole for depth, relate to #3, alert crossers
Safeties = Align no wider than the hashmark if into boundary, no less than 4 yds inside hash if to the field with heels at 10 yds
- vs. run = force/cutback
- vs. pass = man #2 if #2 vertical; rob #1 if #2 not vertical

Adjustments to 1 Back Formations

Our defense basically converts to a 4-2 Nickel-Type defense when facing 1 back formations. Depending on our personnel, we may sub in a 5^th defensive back or have a designated LB that will play the “nickel” position.

Nickel Alignment Rules:

The Corners take their normal alignments. If the Corner has a slot, but the Nickel is away from him, he aligns inside shoulder of #1 and inside of 5 yds.
The Nickel will align to the passing strength. He will align to the field vs. 2×2 4 WR formations. His base alignment is outside leverage, 5 yds off the line of scrimmage.
The OLB will align opposite the running strength and be responsible for the B-Gap vs the run. If the OLB has a 3 technique to his side, he will make a call that stunts the 3 tech tackle into the A-Gap.
The ILB aligns to the running strength and is responsible for the open gap based on front alignment vs. the run.
The Safety to the Nickel aligns half-way between #2 and #3, unless #2 is very wide, in which case he aligns closer to #2.
The other Safety takes his normal alignment, unless there is a slot receiver to his side, in which case he aligns inside shoulder of #2 at 8 yds deep.

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Variations of the Dart Scheme

“Tagged Zone Pressures” in the Odd Front

The Pressure Process:

Three-Deep, Three- Under Coverage

Controlling Your Blitz

Mirrored Teaching

For Western Michigan Ball Security = More Wins

Defining “The Ball is the Program” Mentality

Protocols for a Defensive Identification System

Introduction

Inside Zone for Maximum Efficiency

Defending the Flexbone

Creating Disruptive Underneath Coverages

Applying the Shallow Cross in Any Offense

Patterns:

Exclusive Interview with Herb Hand

Efficiency of the Shield Punt

Shield Punt Installation

Why Use The Shield Punt

Personnel

Unbalanced Shield Punt Scheme

Cover Two Corner Techniques Based on Receiver Leverage

Average Spacing of #1 and #2

Advantages of Turn Protection

Who Calls the Protection

Five, Six, or Seven-Man Protection

DB Article – Training the “Nub” Side Corner in the Run Game

Nub Side Corner in Man Coverage

Defending the Spread with Quarters Coverage

Understanding Our Base Defense

Adjustments to 1 Back Formations

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