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Defending Heavy Personnel Concepts From 3-4 Spacing – Case 2: Defending Concepts from Unbalanced 1 and 2 Back Formations

Defending Heavy Personnel Concepts From 3-4 Spacing – Case 2: Defending Concepts from Unbalanced 1 and 2 Back Formations

Posted by | Apr 1, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Mike Kuchar
Senior Research Manager
X&O Labs
Twitter: @MikekKuchar

 

  

Editor’s Note: This research will be centered on defending the following personnel groupings:

  • 12 Personnel (one-back, two tight ends)
  • 13 Personnel (one-back, three tight ends)
  • 22 Personnel (two-backs, two tight ends)
  • 23 Personnel (two-back, three tight ends)

 

Quite simply, when the offense becomes unbalanced, the defense needs to become unbalanced. Defenses have a choice to become unbalanced in three different ways:

  1. Adjust gap integrity with the front seven defenders
  2. Adjust the coverage rotation with the back half defenders
  3. Adjust with pressure

 

According to our research, we have found that the majority of coaches, 73 percent will adjust with the front seven defenders, while nearly 22 percent will adjust coverage rotation. Only 6 percent will choose to pressure them. It seems that most Odd front coaches will stay in their base front and just move people over to account for the extra gaps presented by the offense.

We segment our research below into how 3-4, two-high defenses are fitting up the run game against the following formation structures.

 

Formation Adjustment Fit Patterns:

  • Three Surface Triple Width Unbalanced Formation Structure
  • Four Surface Double Width Unbalanced Formation Structure
  • Four Surface Nub Unbalanced Formation Structure
  • Four Surface X Off Unbalanced Formation Structure
  • Six Surface Nub Unbalanced Formation Structure

 

Three Surface Triple Width Unbalanced Formation Structure

Diagram 23

 

The first formation we will present our research on is the unbalanced triple width formation above. It’s a formation structure synonymous with perimeter run and pass concepts to the field side. It presents three eligible receivers and four possible gaps to the strong side of the formation. 

 

Best Practices

Since it’s purely a one-back formation, there isn’t a significant threat to the boundary side run game. For this reason, Illinois State University defensive coordinator Travis Niekmap treated this as an unbalanced look and stacked the linebackers to the trips side. He also will bump the front to declare a new Center.

Diagram 24

 

As evidenced in the clip below, Coach Niekamp will also slant the front to the heavy surface side. So, instead of lining up in their responsible gaps, the front seven will get there on the snap of the ball. The movement will usually cause problems for the zone run game synonymous with one-back formations.

The clip below best illustrates this coaching point:

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Defending Heavy Personnel Concepts From 3-4 Spacing – Case 3: Movement Strategies from 3-4 Spacing to Defend 1 and 2 Back Concepts

Defending Heavy Personnel Concepts From 3-4 Spacing – Case 3: Movement Strategies from 3-4 Spacing to Defend 1 and 2 Back Concepts

Posted by | Apr 1, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Jason Martinez
Defensive Coordinator
Grinnell College (IA)

 

  

Editor’s Note: The following research was written in the first person by Jason Martinez, the defensive coordinator at Grinnell College (IA)

 

When faced with 12/21 personnel sets we first try to determine the different formations and run game tendencies that we will see, so we can game plan how we want to attack the two and three-man surfaces out of these personnel groups. It is nothing earth shattering really, we just find ways to affect the run game while remaining gap sound. For example, we like to utilize stunts that attack the interior gaps vs an interior run game like inside zone, cutback, trap, etc. And utilizing stunts that attack outside gaps vs an outside run game like speed option, toss and outside zone. As well as finding ways to stunt in the B-gap to attack off-tackle run game like power and counter.

 

Defensive Buzz Words

Spark Step: This is a flat inside step performed down the line, 2nd  step is a gather coming to balance to explode thru the hips.

All of these movements will be utilized out of the following three fronts. Our defensive line understands that an individual stunt call always overrides the front alignment:

Base:
Diagram 33

 

Over:
Diagram 34

 

Under:
Diagram 35

 

The following below are just a few of the basic stunts and gap surge techniques that our OLBs and DEs will utilize in our base defense vs 11/12/21 personnel sets.

 

Eli Stunt—B/C Gap or B/D Gap stunt depending on 2-man or 3-Man surface:

 

Best Practice

We like utilizing these calls vs interior run game-Zone, Trap, Dive as well as Off Tackle, Power and Counter.

Diagram 36

 

  • DEs: are responsible for the B-gap in the run game.
    • We teach them to rip across the face of the OT into the B-gap utilizing a spark step inside to the B-gap getting vertical. His eyes and hands are to go to the outside shoulder (V of the Neck) of the OG. If he is to him, he will engage and drive the OG back and inside. If the OG is down or away, he is squeezing down the line looking for something coming back at him, spilling everything outside to his help or chasing down the heel line for play away.
  • OLBs: are contain defenders in this stunt. Depending upon the surface they will face it will be either thru the C or D-gap. We talk to them about 3 points-of-contact and exploding out of our hips by rolling off our front foot.
    • 2-Man Surface = C-gap. They are reading the OT’s outside V of the Neck. If he is to him, he will engage and drive the OT back and inside. If the OT is down or away, he is off the edge looking for something coming back at him, splattering everything back inside to his help or chasing down the heel line for play away.
    • 3-Man Surface = D-Gap. They are reading the TE’s/Wing’s outside V of the Neck. If he is to him, he will engage and drive the TE/Wing back and inside. If the TE/Wing is down or away, he is off the edge looking for something coming back at him, splattering everything back inside to his help or chasing down the heel line for play away.

 

In the clip below, the left side of the screen is running the Stunt. At the snap, you can see the DE does a good job of spark stepping inside and getting vertical thru the B-gap while reading the OG that is zone stepping away from him. This helps us keep the RB from cutting back and finding a crease backside since our front side of the play is doing an excellent job of getting vertical thru the gaps and clogging up any potential holes. Our OLB on the same side could be better with his positive shin angles and rolling off his front foot shoving his hips vs. stepping out of his stance. I think the worry of possible boot cause him to hesitate and be a little less aggressive vs. the run, but he still gets in on the TFL after checking for boot, counters, and reverse.

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Using a Numbering System to Communicate Pressures

Using a Numbering System to Communicate Pressures

Posted by | Mar 30, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Michael Bellacosa
Defense Coach
West Islip Public Schools (NY)

 

   

Play the call! That is the calling card of the defense we have been trying to build over the past several years.  Defense on our terms is what we preach.  From day one, we focus on set recognition with alignments and assignments for every possible formation we may see.  We follow as few rules to cover as possible, adjust to the offense as little as possible and use the very drastic hash marks of the high school football field as another defender.  This overall philosophy has allowed us to send 6 players, even 7, the majority of our snaps on defense.  In high school football, I have always believed that overwhelming the point of attack, putting as much pressure on the offense as possible will allow to dictate and control the flow of the game. 

Ironically, my love for pressure defense came from the mismatches and angles that can be created from a 3-4 defense.  But at the high school level that 3-4 scheme felt like an old school 50 due to the inability to stop inside zones and spread offense with a 3-2 box.   In studying the 4-3 we found that we had great angles to cover all underneath timing throws while maximizing our pressure and overloading the point of attack.  Since that time, we have implemented a multiple front, multiple pressure attack stemming from our 4-3 numbering system.  Since I implement a multiple front attack with movement between linebackers and defensive lineman on 80% of the snaps, a numbering system seems to be the easiest way to get calls into the defense.  Trying to keep things as easy as possible so I can relay the call to the players, numbering them can give them the most specific information in the fastest amount of time. Over the years this has worked extremely well for our players to process and play fast, without having to memorize more words.   So each defensive snap the players get signaled the front, which they must memorize, with the pressure.  A call can be a base 2 bingo 4 crush which is a 6 man pressure with movement or as simple as me making the signal for our combo front which is a 6 man line. Our blitzes are universal to all fronts, causing 6 blitzes to be executed 70 plus different ways.  This concept combined with our never changing coverage rules allows us to dictate to the offense and simply play the call every snap. 

Diagram 1

 

Personnel Job Descriptions

Numbering our safeties with a 1 and 5 stresses to them that we want them to play like a DB and think like a LB.  We look for a long lean player that can play in the box and bring pressure as well as be a visual obstacle for the QB in that alley between the detached receivers and the line. 

The 2 linebacker is the most physically stout of the LB’s especially against the run.  Most teams are right handed. 

The 3 has the most difficult job on the field.  First he must dominate between the tackles in run defense as well as cover tight ends and crossing receivers like a free safety in a 4-2-5 all while playing at 5 1/2 yards from the ball.  If we send pressure and hit are aiming points correctly his depth is fine because the QB will not have time to get the ball deep down the middle.  His long passes will be fades to the outside which sounds like a jump ball to me. 

The is our best edge rusher and most impactful LB on the team.  He plays on the edge and on the line in a variety of different fronts.  

Our linebackers play hand in hand with the 1 and 5.  At times the front can look like a 4-5.  In a pro set like you see in diagram 2, the 1 and 2 combo the coverage on the TE and any back coming out of the backfield.  If the TE releases into the flats like an arrow concept, the 1 is there.  If the TE has any vertical release, the 2 will cover him with the safety underneath.  A perfect throw can give the 2 a very hard time.  High School QB’s don’t always make the perfect throw and read.   Diagram 2 shows 9 men in the box without any blitzes called.

Corners in this defense are cover men and are put on an island quite a bit.  The main focus is to protect timing routes and have string edge and under coverage challenging the offense to go deep and complete long passes with defensive line movement and pressure right in the QB’s face.  the percentage of completion will not be very high and as long as the corner plays solid techniques and keeps the receiver in front of him, I will live with the yardage gained on low percentage plays.

Diagram 2

 

Diagram 2 also shows the 4 linebacker on a fire (a straight line blitz).  The call into the defensive huddle was a simple base, but our combo rules has the 4 on a fire because there is no eligible receiver for him to cover, Free to Fire.   The 3 has middle of the field because his rules states if Free drop Five.  The 5 will have the slant/swing lane.  Pressure, pressure, pressure. 

Once again the objective is to maximize the pressure while playing the call in the huddle and not adjusting our defensive scheme given an offensive formation.  We simply need to know who and how to cover on any given situation. 

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Generating Explosive Plays with the A-Back in the Pass Game

Generating Explosive Plays with the A-Back in the Pass Game

Posted by | Mar 24, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Chris Andreadis
Offensive Coordinator
Red Mountain High School (AZ)
Twitter: @the_real_andro

 

 

Obviously, when you are crafting your weekly game plan, you are going to script “touches” for your tailback.  Handoffs and tosses in the run game are the most basic way to get them the ball.  We do this quite a bit.  However, getting touches for your tailback in the pass game can get complicated.  So, we tried to design some simple ways to get the tailback in space with the football. 

We found some simple ways to get our TB involved in the pass game and our reasoning was as follows:

  • Instead of having the TB bang with a blitzing LB in pass protection – we released him out. This is especially important for “scat-back” types, who are quick and undersized.
  • We were able to get one of our best playmakers in space with the ball.
  • We did not have to install a new play (like a screen), we built it into existing pass combinations.
  • The protection for the O-Line did not change.
  • This gave us a “Hot” vs. blitz.
  • This was not a check down (the 3rd or 4th read), but the primary read progression (why do it otherwise?).

 

Here are some of the different ways we accomplished this.

 

Scat Y-Stick Concept:

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

 

We ran “Stick” quite a bit. It was our most common 3-step pass concept.  We had a very good TE that drew a lot of attention – so we figured we could get our back open often.  The physicality of the TE’s stick route also proved to be a “natural rub” on the flat defender/ OLB.

Traditionally, we ran stick from a trips formation – so running stick out of a 2×2 formation was a tendency – breaker for us.  We were able to put the Sam (strong side LB) in a bind, because he really couldn’t be right – if he ran to the flat, we threw to the TE. We chose to have the TB run an “Arrow” route instead of a swing, because it was easier to complete, and he was catching the ball already with positive yardage.  Oftentimes, our swing routes would be caught behind the line of scrimmage.  This fixed that problem. 

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An Instructional Leadership Plan for Quarterbacks

An Instructional Leadership Plan for Quarterbacks

Posted by | Mar 24, 2019 | , | 0 |

By Justin “Coach Mac” MacDonald
Authority Football

 

 

This report is about creating an intentional plan to develop your key leaders – quarterbacks – in more than their athletic and cognitive domains, but also in the area of their character. The outcome of a character development plan is twofold – having a positive impact on these individuals and the next generation of young men. But the more practical benefit of focusing on character development is that our programs benefit from leaders we trust are more likely to make the right choices in split-second moments they have to impact the team’s season.

 

Leadership is the cause – everything else the effect.

Leadership in and of itself is not inherently positive or negative. Leadership is simply influencing. And I know you can think of some very influential leaders who were the bad guys.

What makes Leadership positive is the character, and character is shaped by values – what behaviors a person or people group value as good and useful.

So, as you look to develop the general leadership in your program, are you being deliberate about the key leader and future leaders of your program – your quarterbacks? And are you being deliberate about revealing, developing, and shaping the character and values of those quarterbacks in your offseason? And are you shaping your future Quarterback in his most formative years as an underclassmen years before he’s the varsity signal caller?

Football can probably be boiled down to one thing: trust.

As a coach, nowhere is that trust more important than with your leaders and specifically your quarterbacks. You trust him to make good game time decisions in your system. You trust him to represent your program well in school and in the media. You trust him to make good off-field decisions with how he behaves and how he treats others. Ultimately, you trust him in one key thing: to make the best possible choice in all scenarios.

That’s a tall order for us all because we are dealing with a bunch of humans who are inherently flawed, ourselves included. But being flawed doesn’t mean we expect or allow those we lead to make poor, selfish choices that jeopardize the team mission. Forgive, coach, teach, redeem, absolutely, but this is not about being reactive, it’s about being proactive.

Ever had a player let you or the team down at the worst possible time in a game or a season? Poor choice. Pulled himself out of the game. Got himself ejected. Acted cowardly. Violated a policy. Just went straight up selfish?

Ever seen one player’s actions change an entire season?

Of course, you have. You could look up this story from this year with one of the country’s top players. You could find the same story any year all over the country. How many years, thousands of hours, sacrifices from players, parents, coaches, changed in a single decision? It’s like we’re building programs out of a house of cards that can fall with a thoughtless breeze of selfishness.

This is not about judgment. Mistakes are exactly how we learn. It’s why we look at game film. Life has game film too. The secret is to look at some of Life’s game film with our leaders before they must experience things themselves.

It’s about stepping into an integral role in the shaping of the next generation of men, the next generation of leaders. Coaches spend more time with players than their parents do. Like it or not, we’ve got an opportunity – I would say an obligation – to model and develop our players’ character.

There are no more important players to trust than your quarterbacks. They hold the keys to what you’re building.

We intentionally develop their ability to deliver the ball on a key 3rd down, doesn’t it make sense to be as intentional about how we develop their entire decision-making system – their character?

So, here’s a truth that can greatly shape the way we lead and develop our leaders:

People perform based on the way the world occurs to them.

Let that sink in for a second.

Every bone-headed, confusing, straight up wrong, or head-scratching thing you’ve ever seen someone does made perfect sense to that person based on how he or she saw the world at that moment.

Every disappointing choice or behavior you’ve had a player make was the result of a perfectly coordinated series of events begun months or years before that led to that outcome. It’s like a chain of dominoes set up a long time ago by all the experiences a person has had in life.

Your power as a coach is to change the default future of where those dominos lead.

So what shapes occurrence?

Occurrence arises in language… so what language are you using to shape your players’ occurrences? How the world and their place in it occur for them.

One occurrence is whether the character is a thing your program talks about, believes is fixed or changeable and is something it intentionally develops. “Does Coach work our muscles, minds, and mindsets?”

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LB Reads & Run Fits in the 4-3

LB Reads & Run Fits in the 4-3

Posted by | Mar 24, 2019 | , , | 0 |

 

By Joe Ginn – @CoachGinn

Defensive Front Coordinator

Choctaw High School (Choctaw, OK)

 

 

Editor’s Note:  Coach Ginn served as the LBs and Defensive Front Coordinator for the Yellow jackets this past year after spending 2 years as the Offensive Coordinator and Receivers Coach at Choctaw High School.  Prior to serving his role as Offensive Coordinator, Coach Ginn spent 3 seasons Coaching Receivers at Choctaw.  Before coming to Choctaw, Ginn spent four seasons (2004-2008) as Defensive Coordinator at Tecumseh High School (Tecumseh, OK.)  Joe worked as a Defensive Graduate Assistant for Choctaw High School (Choctaw, OK) in 2003 working with Linebackers.  Joe played 1 year of College Football at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS; and 3 years of Football at East Central University in Ada, OK.

 

Coaching Briggs 2In my opinion the key to great defense is proper fits and gap responsibility by a whole defense.  With that said, I also believe great fits by Linebackers and even safeties can cover up for the Down Linemen who may at times get out of gap integrity.  I’m constantly talking to my players about how they have to be the “proper piece of the puzzle.”  It seems the players understand puzzles and by making the analogy to it all fitting together like a puzzle helps them understand the team cohesion and fit cohesion we have to have to be a premier defense. 

We feature a multiple front 4-3 scheme which at times will look like a 4-2-5 and sometimes a 5-2.  For the sake of this article I’m going to focus on our Base look which we like to play the majority of the time for the answers and cohesion it gives us.  Our Base front will have a 7 technique or Inside Eye alignment on the TE from our Defensive End, when we get a TE, without a TE this DE slides down into a 5 Technique.  Our Strong Side Defensive Tackles is in a 3 Technique who we tell to put his inside foot on the crotch of the Guard.  We play a 2i technique with our Weakside Tackle.  We tell him to put his outside leg on the crotch of the Guard.  Lastly, we play a 5 Technique DE weak.  He is coached to have his inside foot on the outside toe of the Tackle or put his inside foot on the Crotch of the Guard depending on the type of player he is. 

As far as our LB alignment, I want these guys lined in our gaps.  I have our Sam LB put his Inside foot on the Outside foot of the TE, or he will apex without a TE based off #2, I tell him without a TE he is splitting the End Man and Number 2 and adjust him from there based on coverage. (that’s a completely different talk)  Our Mike LB is told to put his inside leg on the Football.  He is an A gap responsible player and I want him to line up in his gap as best as possible.  Our Will LB’s alignment is where we vary from a lot of 4-3 Defenses.  We feel like the Will has the ability to “Erase” the weak side, he also at times is asked to be the force player and we feel like putting him down inside the box puts him in a bad position for us to ask him to do this.  Therefore, his alignment is essentially stacked on our Weakside DE, I tell the Will vs. a pro set to put his inside foot on the Outside foot of the Tackle.  Willie will also have to apex vs. a split #2 receiver his side.  We also slide him back into the box vs. a trips set away, as well, again, I feel like those are different clinic talks.   

Our LB depth is always at 4& ½ yards.  I believe this gets them where they need to be to be able to read and react to be in proper position after the ball is snapped.  Alignment is the #1 thing we preach from day one with our defense, we feel like Alignment is CRITICAL to a defense.  I have diagrammed out our base alignment vs. a Pro, Doubles, and Trips set in Diagrams 1-3 to give you an idea of where we want to start from alignment wise. 

Slide1Slide2Slide3

Personnel Job Descriptions

When I am learning about a scheme, I always want to know what the coach is looking for in his linebackers to make the scheme work.  For us, our Mike Linebacker has to be a kid who can get off blocks.  If he can’t get off blocks, we have to cover the Center with a Shade Nose and that makes us far more susceptible.  Mike must be a kid who can Read without errors.  I get on to my Mike harder than I do the other 2 because with him a split second can be a touchdown if our safeties don’t bail us out.  Like I said he has to be able to get off blocks, he can’t stay blocked and definitely can’t go around them.  This is a position you can sacrifice a little speed for size & strength so long as he can read.  Our Willie can be a smaller faster guy.  I feel like we can take a slower Safety in there at Willie if he can read and will be aggressive when we need him to be.  This guy last year was my weakest LB, in terms of strength, but he made good reads, and got where I needed him to.  The Sam again, needs to be a Strong Safety type kid.  This guy needs to be stronger as he’s going to have to take on blocks of the TE.  Again, if you have a LB that can run a bit, but can’t read, put him at Sam.  Sam must be Physical and not afraid to hit.  Really I don’t want any of these guys afraid to hit.

 

Linebacker Keys

I feel like our LB keys are unique and give our kids an advantage on their reaction reads and how they get a jump start on where they’re going, you’ll see on some of the clips how our Mike LB’s keys put him to the spot the ball is going before the Linemen even could reach his pull on a few of the Counter plays.  So, I want to address a little on how we get to where we’re going before I talk about where we’re actually going. I begin every individual practice with a key read drill as I believe in the importance of proper reads in LB Play.  I still teach a 6 inch read step as an initial reaction to our read.  I tell the kids, “be slow to see it and quick to react once you’ve seen it.”  I also would like to take the time here to tell all of you if you are not filming your inside period each day from behind the defense and reviewing it with your players you are doing them an injustice in my opinion.  I feel like this is one of the things we do to put our kids at an advantage, because you can tell them 1000 times, but most of the time it just takes them seeing it one time before they understand what you’re saying. 

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The Frisco Quick Concept: A 57% Efficiency Rate

The Frisco Quick Concept: A 57% Efficiency Rate

Posted by | Mar 15, 2019 | , , , , | 0 |

Joel Mathews
Offensive Coordinator
Fort Osage High School (OH)
Twitter: @CoachMathews16

 

 

This past year our offensive staff installed what we call the Frisco concept. Our passing game is based on the system developed by Dan Gonzalez and this concept is similar to the one he utilizes in his offense. We use a combination of a number tree and words for our routes and Frisco is an acronym that identifies the routes for our kids. From the outside to inside it stands for five, slant, one. The diagram below shows the basic routes for Frisco from a Trips set.

Diagram 1

 

We also ran this from two back with either the F or T running the one (arrow) route from the backfield.

Diagram 2

 

Throughout the year this route proved to be a versatile concept that we used in any down and distance situation and anywhere on the field. This concept provides the quarterback with a quick throw to the slant versus blitz and a high-lo read on both the front side and backside of the play to take advantage of a defense that overplays the slant.

 

Protection:

We use a standard 6 man half-slide protection with this concept. The frontside blocks big on big and the slide starts with the first uncovered lineman. The back will insert himself on the playside and look to block the first threat from inside to outside. If no threat shows, then he releases and drags to the backside getting no deeper than 3 yards. We will call protection variations that place the slide side on the frontside of the play. This gives us an answer for teams that like to blitz from the field side and helps to avoid creating tendencies that are too obvious by moving the placement of the back in the backfield. Clip #1 shows our standard protection versus a 4 man front, while Clip #2 shows the same protection, but with the slide side on the frontside of the play.

 

QB Progression:

We take 95% of our snaps from shotgun so the majority of our QB’s drops will be 3 step drops. We also use Gonzalez’s idea of ACTS (Advantage, Concept, Third Fix, Scramble) to teach our quarterbacks their progression. In this concept, his advantage route is the slant. By the time his back foot hits on his third step he will know whether he is going to throw the slant or not. Even in a situation where the defense brings more than we can block, the quarterback can still stand in and deliver the ball to the slant before the blitz can get home. He’ll take a shot, but we have the opportunity for a big play as well. A key coaching point on the slant is that the quarterback has to throw this where the receiver won’t take a huge shot from a safety. We want the slant run aggressively and if the receiver is worried about taking a hit that doesn’t happen.

If the slant is covered, then the quarterback will hitch up after his third step and look to his concept, which is a hi-lo read on the alley defender to the slant side. This defender can not cover both the 1 route in front of him and the deeper 5 route behind him. Against man coverage, the QB will still progress from high to low and takes the best throw.

If both of those options are covered, the QB will hitch up again and look to his third fix which is the backside in and the check release from the running back. The combination of those two routes creates a hi-lo on the backside defender. Once the QB has gone through the progression and nothing is there, his last option is to scramble and make a play with his feet.

It is important for the quarterback to understand the concept of throwing through windows. On most throws the quarterback will be throwing through a window before the receiver gets there. It is vital that he have a clear understanding of how the different routes stress a defense. 

 

Coaching Points for Routes:

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Stick and Boot Screen SPOs (Screen/Pass Options)

Stick and Boot Screen SPOs (Screen/Pass Options)

Posted by | Mar 15, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Rich Alercio
Head Football Coach/Athletic Director
St. Johnsbury High School (VT)
Twitter: @OlSkills

 

 

Screen Pass Options (SPOs) provide your quarterback with a frontside pass option opposite the side of your screen.  Like RPOs, SPOs identify the conflict player.  The strongside inside linebacker (Sam) is the most difficult defender to account for in screen blocking.  We identify him as the conflict player.  If he hangs in the box to play screen, we throw the frontside pass.  If he expands to the frontside pass, he is no longer a threat to the screen.

Unlike RPOs, SPOs allow the QB up to 2 seconds to make a Post-Snap read.  Moreover, there are no concerns of a QB/RB exchange, no changes to the blocking scheme, concerns of an illegal man downfield or blitzes with man coverage.

Although RPOs are all the rage in offensive football at every level, we have been running SPOs long before the term conflict player was ever used.  In 2001, while I was the offensive coordinator at The College of New Jersey, we were faced with a 3rd & 6 at Midfield.  We called Trips Right Boot Screen Left with every intention of the quarterback booting to the right and throwing a screen pass to the back on the left.  For some reason, he threw to the Tight End on the frontside who got 9 yards and a first down.  After the series, I asked our quarterback, “Why did you throw the ball to the Tight End”.  He replied, “He was wide open.”  That was a V-8 moment.  From that point on, we always gave our quarterback a frontside pass option before throwing any screen.

On our drop-back SPO we run Stick, a pass we already have in our offense and a route combination most teams use for their RPOs.  We run it out of 3×1 Open and Tight.  We run our Boot SPOs out of 2×2 and 3×1 with a Tight End on the front-side.  All routes and protections are the same if we call Stick or the Stick SPO and Boot or the Boot SPO.  The only tag we will make is to have the screen-side WR Crack, if we do not want him to run the route associated with the pass or if we feel we need him to make a block at the point of attack. 

 

OL Protection:

Our SPOs are 2-Count 3-Man Screens.  In both our drop-back and boot screens, the offensive line will block the protection called for a 2-count.  We block slide protection on drop-back and man protection with a pulling guard on boot.  After the 2-count, 3 offensive linemen will depart down the line of scrimmage to the end of the box then go out, up and in.  In drop–back, it is the Guard, Center & Guard (see diagram 1).  Since the screen side guard is pulling to the boot-side on our boot protection, the 3 linemen going to the screen are the tackle, center, and guard (see diagram 2).  The other two linemen maintain their block.

 

Diagram 1:

Diagram 1

 

Diagram 2:

Diagram 2

 

It is imperative that the offensive linemen departing to the screen do not cross a defensive lineman’s face on the way out.  If blocking a front-side technique (See Diagram 3), that is not a concern.  The coaching point is to keep hips and shoulders square to the line of scrimmage and not turn them to the defender which would delay the departure.  It is a concern when blocking back to a backside technique (See Diagram 4).  The offensive lineman must allow the defender to rush outside of him and then depart behind him.  In this scenario, the offensive lineman can open his hips to the defender which will facilitate a quicker departure to the screen.  When the offensive lineman approaches the defender in space, we have them buzz their feet before contact, just as we teach defenders to breakdown in open-field tackling drills, to avoid them whiffing on the more athletic player in space. 

 

Diagram 3:

Diagram 3

 

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Building in Variations of the Bash (Counter Read) Concept

Building in Variations of the Bash (Counter Read) Concept

Posted by | Mar 10, 2019 | , , , , | 0 |

By Lou Chiccehitto
Offensive Coordinator/QBs
Liberty High School (VA)
Twitter: @Coach_Lou12

 

 

As the evolution of the Spread Offense continues, our staff has noticed teams stray away from the use of gap scheme in the run game. We’ve found, especially at the high school level, that you can create huge advantages with numbers, angles, and leverage utilizing gap scheme. Our staple run is Counter Trey, and we use Bash (back away sweep) and Triple Option as ways to stress a defense horizontally. We also get the Tight End involved running Counter, using RPO’s and play action with this to stress the 2nd and 3rd levels of defenses. These two runs get our more athletic Tight Ends and Tackles to the 2nd level, instead of a guard in Power.

We’ve found that whether teams read guards, backs, cross key the backfield, gap exchange, or simply double fill, we can have answers in the run game with these two Gap Scheme runs. It’s easy to create rules against blitz (we call “Down” vs. interior pressure, which eliminates combos), against Bear fronts (call “Down”), for who to ID (always first LB past the midline), against Bear 4i’s or Tite Fronts (cut the backside 4i and read the EMOL/Overhang), and helps hide a smaller or immobile Center. And most importantly, we have tags that can beat aggressive Safeties or LBs without changing anything up front.

 

Gap Scheme Overview

For all Gap Scheme runs, we start with basic rules for our OL. We teach the frontside “On-Gap Down-Backer” and always ID the first LB past the midline for the puller. We stress eyes up, not to chase movement, block your gap instead of a guy, and never block a blocked man. This helps tremendously with teams who blitz, reduce gaps or gap exchange. Against Bear Fronts or interior pressure, we call “Down” which eliminates combos and sends OL a gap down to LB.

 

Counter Trey

Playside Tackle (PST): Vs. Over, combo with PSG to first LB on or past the midline. Vs. Under, gap-down-backer. Vs. Odd Fronts, Rip/Rake rules (rip C-gap defender, rake B-gap defender). Against bear, “Down” to 3-tech or 4i.

Playside Guard (PSG): Vs. Over, combo with PST to first LB on or past the midline. Vs. Under, block back on A-gap defender. Vs. Odd Fronts, combo with C to first LB past midline. Against Bear, “Down” to the nose.

Center (C): Vs. Even Front, block back to first down lineman. Vs. Odd, combo with PSG to first LB past midline. Against Bear, “Down” to BS 3-Tech. Call “Down” vs. interior pressure or when in doubt

Backside Guard (BSG): Trap pull tight to OL for C-Gap Defender. Log spillers kick out squatters (easy terminology for our guys).

Backside Tackle (BST): Skip pull inside BSG for first LB past the midline. If BSG logs, insert outside.

Y: Tag will tell him. Can arc to secure box if backside, or down block /base block playside.

QB: Open with feet aimed at playside B gap. “Trim the hedges” with your mesh. Read BS EMOL.

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Whole Part Whole Method to Teaching Pressure Patterns

Whole Part Whole Method to Teaching Pressure Patterns

Posted by | Mar 10, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Zach Cunningham
Defensive Coordinator
Del Sol High School (NV)
Twitter: @CoachCunny

 

 

I want to thank X&O Labs for the opportunity to contribute to this amazing football coaching community. It truly is an honor to be a part of something so special for such a long time. Coaching defense is fun, exciting, and tough. One of the more interesting aspects of coaching defense is the blitz game. Just like how offensive guys get “giddy” about new pass concepts and blocking schemes, us defensive guys get just as excited for blitz packages. No matter how exotic the blitz packages you come up with are, you will get burned unless you have an effective system in place. Within this system, you need to have adjustments and have a validated reason for calling the blitz.

When installing blitz packages, or even a defense for that matter, you need to have a system. A sound system is one that can adjust to multiple formations, motions, etc. A sound system also must be simple enough for your players to be able to make the adjustment quickly.

Our teaching progression begins on the board. Note: by the time we start installing blitz packages, we have already taught the basics of our defense to the players: positions, gaps, techniques, etc. We will teach the run/pass rules of the blitz on the board. Then on the field, we will walk through the blitzes on trash cans to get a lot of stationary reps.

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12/21 Personnel OZ/Boot Package

12/21 Personnel OZ/Boot Package

Posted by | Mar 4, 2019 | , , , , | 0 |

By Brandon Maguire & Trevor Wikre
Running Backs Coach & Offensive Line Coach
University of Northern Colorado
Twitter: @Maguirebrandon & @Coach_Wikre

 

 

Introduction:

Illusionists are experts at leading an audience’s eyes to see and believe something that is not actually happening. That is exactly what we are trying to accomplish when we marry our 12/21P outside zone runs with our movement passes (Bootlegs). We want defenses set on stopping the run, causing them to vacate zones in coverage for explosives when they are too aggressive downhill. At UNC, we spend an incredible amount of time making sure our movements look identical to our outside zone schemes. In practice, this means scripting an outside zone immediately followed by a movement to compare pad level, sense of urgency, and body language.

When we decided that we were going to major in outside zone, we made the investment in our professional development, film study, and practice time to be great at it. We felt we must do three things:

  1. The offensive line will attack vertically, moving the defense against their will.
  2. The backs must be decisive and press the line of scrimmage.
  3. Wide receivers must be proactive within the blocking scheme.

 

We communicate to our player’s through two main points in our outside zone schemes:

  1. Physicality/Aggression
  2. Speed off the ball to aim points

 

This forces defenses to run sideline to sideline while trying to maintain gap integrity. Offensively, it helps us collect stunts and allows the offensive line to be aggressive. This aggressiveness comes from the comfort knowing the offensive linemen are in combination.

Abbreviations Used

PS = Playside

RT / LT= Right/Left Tackle

BS = Backside

RG / LG = Right/Left Guard

SL = Sideline

C = Center

OZ = Outside zone

QB = Quarterback

LOS = Line of Scrimmage

A = Running back

TE = Tight End

FB = Fullback

OC = Offensive Coordinator

WR = Wide Receiver (Also X & Z)

DE = Defensive End

NG = Nose Guard

DB = Defensive Back

LB = Linebacker

 

 

Outside Zone Concepts

Deuce Oregon (16-17): 1-Back. 12 personnel runs designed to attack the perimeter. Our balanced formation gives the offense a two way go, based on block leverage or support players. (Shown in Diagrams below)

I Duck (17-16 Wk): 2-Back. 21 personnel runs designed to attack the perimeter to the weak side. Full flow from the backs.  (Shown in diagrams below Deuce cut-ups)

QB: Open playside @ 45°. After handoff drive for 5 hard steps and snap head around selling keeper fake.**Check Oscar: away from support in normal splits. To support with reduced splits and 6i**

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Mixing Quarters Technique for Rip/Liz Match Pressure Coverage

Mixing Quarters Technique for Rip/Liz Match Pressure Coverage

Posted by | Mar 4, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Steve Erxleben
Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
Southern High School (MD)
Twitter: @CoachErxleben

 

 

The ability to utilize Fire Zone Blitz concepts on any down and distance allows a defense to be multiple and defend numerous Formations and blocking schemes without checking out of most calls. In our league, here in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, each of our opponents present diverse formations, motions, run schemes, pass protections, and pass combinations out of a variety of personnel packages and tempos. As a defensive staff, we feel being a heavy zone pressure team gives us an opportunity to dictate the game and concern ourselves more with what we are running versus having to have a litany of checks per formation, motion, personnel, etc.

As a 76% blitz team here at Southern High School, we primarily use a 3 under 3 deep coverage scheme behind our zone blitzes. We feel it is the most important part of our blitz scheme in that it allows us to blitz while focusing on eliminating big plays and dictating how the ball will be leveraged from the outside-in as well as creating turnovers to get the ball back to the offense.

Unfortunately, a 3 under/3 deep scheme is sometimes referred to as a “cheat” coverage because it is relatively unsound in the immediate flat areas, the deep seam, and in the middle of the field between 15 and 20 yards. Every year we do an efficiency report on our Defense looking at all passes over 10 and runs over 15 to determine why these plays happened. In over half of our completions over 10, Hitches and bubbles were the routes completed and either created a first down or a long gain.

To challenge these short throws without giving up our blitz identity, we have gone to incorporating some of our quarters techniques into a Rip/Liz match cover 1 scheme against 10/11 personnel and formations where #2 and/or #3 is removed.

Every year our defensive staff creates a report and cut-ups within HUDL of all our completions given up over 10 yards to determine why the Blitz didn’t get home, why the throw was a completion and was the completion caused by either a lack of technique, a lack of execution, or a lack of effort. Below is an example of the excel sheet we tabulate.

 

This report is the 21 passes over 10 yards we gave up as a Defense from 2015. In the 12th Column we tabulate what route or route combination each of these completions was and from the data collected, Hitch and Bubble were almost 1/3rd of all passes completed over 10 yards. Before this year we were primarily a 3 under 3 deep team using some match principles but giving up or “China” calling any non-threatening route by #1 (basically hitch) and coming off late and rallying to the bubble. Our goal was that the Blitz would get home and the QB would either get sacked, flushed, or that the pressure would cause an error in footwork or decision making that would lead to an incompletion or turnover.

We think in a “worst case scenario” frame of mind quite a bit as a staff and try to rep those situations as a defensive backfield when the blitz is either picked up or the pass is off, so we must play coverage. To alleviate the quick throws, our goal was to play more pressed coverage out of quarters/Read 2 principles. However, with no post safety vs 2×2, we were way more subject to the RPO game and 4 verticals, which becomes a match-up issue 4 on 4.

This past year, we experimented and successfully ran a match-up cover 1 (Rip and Liz verbiage) from a pressed alignment while keeping our blitz on and adjusting to 3×1. From a technical aspect, we relied on our pressed quarters’ technique and pressed quarters rules specifically for our Corners and coached our MOF safety in more of a “robber” technique to add him to the run fit.

 

BASE FRONT/SECONDARY CALLS

Even though this article is about Cover 1 and Fire Zone, it is warranted to first touch on our base verbiage and what the Blitz and non-pressure sides are doing. In our base defense, we will set our front either to the field or the boundary, to or away from the multiple receiver side, to or away from the TE, or to or away from the Back in the shotgun. Where we are setting the front is a weekly game plan decision. Every snap we make either a “Roger” or “Louie” call which dictates where the 4th rusher is coming from and if we are in a 3-deep situation, where safety support is spinning. Our Interior linemen always slant away from the front call (Roger/Louie) as the 4th rusher (our call side OLB) becomes the C gap player/5 technique call side. The reduction side call correlates with a coverage call to establish who the force player is to the reduction side as well as who the seam player will be. All our same-side ILB/OLB or “edge” blitzes correlate with a Roger or Louie call, which we feel makes it easier for our players to identify and gives them a chance to focus more on the disguise and triggering the blitz from a proper depth and angle. 

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Empty Run/Screen Package from Wing Alignments

Empty Run/Screen Package from Wing Alignments

Posted by | Mar 3, 2019 | , , , , | 0 |

By Nick Gehrts
Head Coach
Westview High School (AZ)
Twitter: @Coach_Gehrts

 

 

At Westview High School, the Delaware Wing T has been a staple for over a decade. Since 2011, we have won 8 consecutive region championships and are 46-0 in region play. We have also made the state playoffs the last 13 years. Although our success can be attributed to a multiple of factors, running the wing t has no doubt been a big part of that.

After taking over the program in 2016, I wanted to continue to run the wing t, but I also wanted to evolve the offense to be able to give us more options when teams stopped our run game or stacked 8-9 guys in the box. In 2017, we began running more shotgun formations, and this past season in 2018, we were in shotgun running our wing t concepts 98% of the time. By making the transition to shotgun this gave us the ability to run our QB much more and essentially put a 4th RB on the field. Being in shotgun still allowed us to run our base plays (Buck Sweep, Jet Sweep, Trap and Belly), but we could also do a lot more off of them.

Implementing a few wing t concepts to any offense can certainly help your offensive output and give defenses an added dimension to game plan for especially when preparing for a running QB. In this report, I am going to break down a couple of the plays that we had a lot of success with this past season with our QB

 

Buck Sweep

Diagram 1

 

Rules

TE – Gap/Down Backer

PST – Gap/Down Backer

PSG – Pull Kick #4

C – Gap/Down Backer

BSG – Pull Seal

BST- Base/Cutoff

Wing – Gap/Down Backer

 

Buck Sweep is the bread and butter of our offense. The key to a successful buck sweep is to prevent the linebackers from scrapping and coming under the blockers that could potentially prevent us from having a big gain. Since deciding to go exclusively shotgun wing-t we feel that the biggest advantage is being able to make those LBs play more honestly by having adjustments when they do start getting underneath our blockers.

Once the middle linebackers begin to fly down and scrape underneath our blockers we will tag our buck sweep call to tell our QB to read a defender. In the example above, we would tell our QB to read the BS end. If the end is squeezing down the QB will pull it and if he is getting upfield the QB will give it. If the BS end continues to get upfield and give our QB a give read we will tell the BST to arch block him and tell the QB to keep it no matter what. The great thing about the call is that only 2 people are changing what they are doing, the QB and the TB.

To study game film of this concept, click on the video below:

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Press Quarters Coverage

Press Quarters Coverage

Posted by | Mar 2, 2019 | , , | 0 |

 

 

By Andrew Strobel

Defensive Coordinator

Culver-Stockton College

 

This year we implemented press quarters and had huge success improving our pass defense. Here are a few statistics that we improved on.

Playing press quarters this past season help us have the most successful pass defense Culver has had in over 10 years

IMG 80992012 – 143.8 Yards passing per game 2011= 203 ypg

2012 – 12 INT’s   2011= 9 INT’s

2012 – 1,582 yards total passing/ 2011= 2,233yds

Improved Pass Defense Efficiency by 22 points

Why Press Quarters?

  1. Disguise Coverage
  2. Give Safeties more time to read run/pass and help in the run game
  3. Press makes the WR’s uncomfortable
  4. Takes away 3-step timing

In our press quarters our alignments are dictated off of formation and the number of receiving threats. We don’t count TE’s as a receiving threat unless he is their best player. Most of the TE’s we see are big slow blocking tight ends. So, if there is one threat the corners will play inside aligned and funnel the WR to the side line. This allows the safeties to get a better run/pass read. The safeties technique is called walk-out and they literally walk back slowly reading the EMLOS. If the safety gets run his way he will fit outside. Huge coaching point is not going passed the LOS, because it will widen the running lanes. If the run is away, safety will give ground to gain ground. He will open up at a 45 degree angle and track the backside hip of the ball carrier then run the alley. This helps eliminate bad angles.

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QB Generated Run/QB RPO Package – Case 1: Double Option Concepts and The Evolution of the Inverted Run Series

QB Generated Run/QB RPO Package – Case 1: Double Option Concepts and The Evolution of the Inverted Run Series

Posted by | Feb 25, 2019 | , , | 0 |

By Mike Kuchar
Senior Research Manager
X&O Labs
Twitter: @MikekKuchar

 

  

The initial inverted run concept was credited to Auburn University head coach Gus Malzahn and the success he accrued with former quarterback Cam Newton with his power read scheme. The concept took the SEC, and the nation, by storm as the Tigers rode the concept both literally and figurately to a 14-0 record and national championship in 2010—a season that saw Newton rush for over 1,400 yards. This concept was the catalysts for many coaches to start researching other ways to get quarterbacks designed runs. Flash forward eight football seasons later, coaches are still researching ways to get one of their top athletes, the quarterback, a significant amount of touches in the run game.

By definition an inverted run concept is a dual option read for the quarterback that combines an outside run element on a horizontal plain (such as a slot on jet sweep or in Auburn’s case an A back across the quarterback’s face) and an inside run element on a vertical plain (mainly a gap scheme) with the quarterback. In this case, we present our research on how coaches are designing these schemes with quarterback touches in mind.

It’s a process that is progressing each off-season in football meeting rooms across the country, where college coaches are tailoring their offense around the new model of quarterbacks they are recruiting. It’s the process that former Campbell University (NC) offensive coordinator Dave Marsh researched with his young athletic quarterback. He’s now doing the same thing at his new post at Texas Southern University. They may be slightly behind the curve compared to high school coaches who have already been using that blueprint of getting the ball in their quarterbacks’ hands for decades to win games.

“Any of our runs we can invert,” he told us. “We just change different mesh points for the backfield but have similar blocks for the line. Our wrap read and fold read are examples. You can invert it and read an end or second level defender. Or, you can have a quicker read like toss from the same side so it’s not coming from across the quarterback. If you have a true downhill running back, you may not want the inverted runs from across the quarterback. You want to get him perimeter touches on the same side of the quarterback. You want him wider and to be in the toss phase to take one step in direction of toss and he goes. If you have a true downhill A back that can make vertical cuts, then he could come from the same side of the quarterback. In our offense, we have three main inverted runs: base runs with the running back as the primary ball carrier, invert runs from a flat mesh and toss runs with the quarterback either throwing it to him outside or tossing it to him. We will do all three of these things from our QB run menu.”

With this inventory in mind, the process revolves around designing these concepts to fit the skill set of your quarterback. All of our sources for this study have a wide variety of quarterback run concepts but they can’t use them all during the course of the game, that would be too many touches and risk potential injury to the most important player in the offense. So, in this study we do the research for coaches by providing them with rationale as to why our sources use selective concepts for the quarterback run game. In this particular case, we present our research on dual option reads for the quarterback. Regardless of the particular scheme, these dual read concepts are effective in the following ways:

  • They are simple in design—coaches already have these blocking concepts in their offensive menu.
  • They cultivate quick decisions by the quarterback. It’s a “if the read defender does this, I do that,” mentality.
  • They combat loaded boxes—with the quarterback as a viable run threat, an offense may never be outnumbered. He has to make one defender miss for a big play.

 

The Significance of Flash Motion

What hasn’t changed in eight years is the defensive movement triggered by offenses showing flash motion in front of the quarterback. Regardless of whether the quarterback is reading anyone the manipulation of second level defenders is quite astounding, and coaches don’t need SEC level talent to attain this. Each of our contributors to this study detailed examples where using flash motion on run actions in front of box defenders open up seams in the tackle box leading to big gains for quarterback runs. This comes at a price, however. In order to keep defenses honest (at least at the collegiate level) the quarterback will need to get the ball to that motion man at certain times.

At the high school level, sometimes it’s not even necessary to give the outside element of the dual read to get sixteen year-olds to trigger. The pre-snap movement may be all that is needed. “Linebackers at our level are so heavily influenced by the running back all the time, they are like ball hawks to where he goes,” said Catholic High School (LA) run game coordinator Sanders Davis. “There are times we fake mesh with running back and run the QB and there aren’t even linebackers in the box. If we run quarterback power, we may have the pulling guard getting up to a near safety.”

So, when you have “dudes” running those perimeter elements as Ferris State University (MI) does those linebackers really flow out of there, leaving opening the quarterback on pulls. The Bulldogs relied on these dual read schemes to produce the Division 2 player of the year Harlon Hill winner Jayru Campbell who rushed for over 1,400 yards in 2018. As Ferris State University offensive line coach Sam Parker told us, “There is no better mesh than a jet sweep in football. It’s consistent, you can block a lot of different fronts up and they play action because it opens up in the pass game is insane.”

At Campbell University (NC) this past season, offensive coordinator Dave Marsh always used motion as a weapon. “We will use all of our invert series from our 11 personnel Empty formation,” he said. “If a defense is a heavy rotation or bump teams, we will have called quarterback power, quarterback iso or quarterback counter. In the example below from Ferris State, watch how both linebackers flow with jet motion, opening up a major cavity inside the box for the quarterback run. 

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