Simulated Pressure System – Bonus Case: Installation Methods for the High School Level

Question and Answer with Kyle Cogan
Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach
Lexington High School (MO)
Twitter: @CoachCogan

While simulated pressures have been populating the NCAA domain for the last few years, we realize many high school programs will be implementing these concepts for the first time. As a result, we wanted perspective from a high school program with experience using these schemes, particularly a smaller program with lower numbers that needs to maximize time to get these established. Our source came from Lexington High School in Missouri, where defensive coordinator Kyle Cogan has been using them for the last couple of seasons. We conducted a Q and A with Coach Cogan below.

Question: What percentage of your pressure system is based on simulated pressure?

Kyle Cogan: Conceptually, it's one third of our pressure system. I separate everything into three categories: 

• Simulated pressures 
• 5 man pressures
• 6+ man blitzes. 

When we ran one of those three concepts we used simulated pressures about 30% of the time, 5 man pressures around 60%, and 6+ man blitzes roughly 10%.

Of total snaps on the season we used simulated pressures 7% of the time, 5 man pressures 24%, and 6+ man blitzes 2% of the time.

Depending on the offenses you see week in and week out the percentages could be completely different for another team. About half our schedule we are playing teams running split back veer, wing T, or single wing. Some of these teams will use 9 man protections or run trap on 3rd and long. We could go back-to-back weeks where we don't run a single simulated pressure and then the following week use them 30% of the entire game. 

Question: What summer installation model do you use for this concept? Do you spend one day teaching pressure patterns and another day teaching coverage? Do you tie them both together?

Kyle Cogan: In the summer I teach the two main pressure patterns we will use for the season on the same day. One is attacking the A gap, the other is attacking the B gap. This is after we have all our base fronts installed. By the time we get to our simulated pressure install we have most of our base coverage concepts in which for us is cover 3, man free, and 2 man variations. From there it's plug and play. Because we are only bringing four rushers I can pick and choose the coverage concept we want based on what coverage matches up well with what the offense likes to do. Or I can select what simulated pressure matches up well for the blocking protection the offense likes to use.