Fourth Rusher Build-Ins From Odd Spacing

By Mike Kuchar with Chris Kappas
Head Coach
Louisville High School (OH)
Twitter: @CKappas

Some of the benefit of playing Odd defense is the ability to get eight defenders with eyes on the quarterback in passing situations. But if you can’t get home with three a decision has to be made on where you are bringing that fourth defender from. At Austin Peay University, Coach Kappas uses a different call for pure Drop 8. So, when he wants to get a fourth rusher, he’ll design his fourth rusher based on formation, back set or both. Which means this defender can be at the second level or third level.

Before getting into the fourth rusher protocols, it’s important to note that all three defensive linemen are given a two-way go while the adder can be any box defender. It’s based off Austin Peay’s cover six fit rules, but the tag of coverage changes things. “Week to week we will change who the fitter is,” said Coach Kappas. “We traditionally want the defensive end to the side of the back to have a two-way go. In these cases we will send the Nose opposite. And sometimes we will rush the defensive ends out and give the Nose a two-way go.”

In this report, we are going to take you through the protocols that Coach Kappas uses to design his fourth rusher against several different offensive formations.