2 Read/Blue Coverage-Vs. Empty Sets



Empty is NOT good!

 Not as difficult to defend as the Trips formations, empty sets can cause some confusion in your defense if your players do not have a concrete set of adjustments for dealing with these formations.  This post is about aligning and covering the empty formations an offense can present.  I know a lot of defensive coordinators (DC's) who prefer to bring pressure to these sets, however I think you can be playing with fire if this is your automatic check to empty sets.  I think automatics should be passive, and can then be followed up by pressure packages, however that is just my philosophy on dealing with empty formations.  So, let's move on and look at how Blue coverage deals with the empty formation.




Automatics..."Say hello to my little friend!'


Types of Empty Formations
Obviously I can't discuss ALL the empty formations that could be presented, but I will try and discuss the most prominent one's I've seen in my coaching career.  The thing to look at with empty, is, are they 3X2, or 4X1?  After that you are really just looking at personnel issues.  I will list below the types and personnel of the one's I've seen over the years I've been coaching.  If you have a specific question, email me and we can talk!

Empty 3X2

The above formation utilizes 00 personnel (no backs and no tight ends).  This is the most common 3X2 formation I've seen in recent years.  Obviously there are TONS of variations of this look where Y is on, and F is off, and the same goes for the trips side, however this overall "setup" is very common among spread offenses of today.

This formation uses 01 personnel, positioning the Y as a tight end (TE).  I've seen spread teams use these to keep an extra blocker in for pass protection reasons (the Y).

Played a few teams that had good athletes at TE, and this is a formation they used quite a bit.  I classify it as 02 personnel, and though somewhat rare, I've seen somewhat of a resurgence of this formation here in the past few years.

Empty 4X1

Quads has become increasingly popular in the past few years, and this is one I saw 2 seasons ago.  The quarterback (QB) was a good runner, and they were attempting to get the secondary to over-rotate to the quads side, and run to the TE side.

This 4X1 set, is the most popular one I've seen.  It utilizes 00 personnel, and from my scouting data of 6 teams that I've faced that used this, most of the plays were screens to H and F, and then 1-on-1 routes to the Y. 

Saw this more times than I care to see it over the past three seasons.  The team we were playing was a spread/single wing hybrid and they used this look a lot.  This 4X1 set takes some careful adjustments in order not to get picked or rubbed, however the play selection was not that much different than that of the above 4X1 set.

Aligning/Defending 3X2-Set the Coverage

As with defending any offensive formation, the coverage should always set the front (thanks Brophy-if you want to know more behind Brophy, go to his website here, you WON'T be sorry).  I know this will sound crazy, but the front is not all that critical against these sets.  What I mean is, I have done a lot of different things in setting the front against empty teams.  I've set it to the field, to the multiple receivers, to the boundary, you name it, I've done it.  I think the critical thing here is that the front realizes, their job is to stop the draw and other QB runs. 

Let's just hope this isn't the guy running the QB draw!

Coverage-wise, I like to use a coverage called Special Blue.  The front checks into a front we call "hip", which puts both the Mike and Sam in what I call "hip" alignments (stacked behind the defensive end to their respective side).  The Mike and Sam are draw first players, then play the short wall of the inside-most receiver to their side.  To the read side of the coverage, we play the version of special I got from bigduke6 on the Huey Board (for more info go here).  The strong safety ($) is matched up man to man on #3 while the free safety (F) and corner (C) play Blue coverage to 1 and 2 to the read side.  To the away side, the weak safety (W) and the corner will also play Blue coverage. 



Special Blue



You could play Special exactly like TCU does it, and put the read side corner man on #1 with the $ and F playing Blue.  No matter how you do it, the most important aspect of the adjustment is the widening of the linebacker's (LB's) to be able to help leverage the inside-most receivers.  This alignment gives you the 4 on 3 match up to the trips side, and the 3 on 2 match up to the 2 receiver side you are looking for (for more info. go here to read some excellent articles on TCU's coverages).

Another variation is to play man on the away side.  Obviously this has it's drawbacks, but the LB is in perfect position to force, and you can stem from a Blue coverage look to man presnap and really throw a nice wrinkle to the offense.  This is a good change up coverage, that should be easily built into your Blue coverage adjustments.

Nothing changes if the #2 receiver to the away side is a TE either.  The LB to that side will still slide to a "hip" alignment, and is in better position to wall #2 in my opinion.  The W can also play in good position to force away-side runs by the QB. 

The two TE look, can give you the most problems in terms of coverage.  It is often difficult to play two versions of one coverage at the high school level, and to switch responsibilities with the $ and read side corner in special may take too much to do.  However, traditional Special is a good coverage vs. this look.  This puts the read side corner man on #1, with the F and $ playing blue coverage to 2 and 3.  If this wasn't your cup of tea, then put the $ man on #2 and have the F and corner play Blue to 1 and 3.  As you can see, there are a myriad of ways to skin this cat.  What you clearly see is that you must carefully game plan for empty teams! 

Empty 4X1

"Quads" formations (as I call them) are really not that different than 3X1 formations in my opinion.  Both offensive formations have a single receiver side, coupled with a multiple receiver side.  When playing 4X1 looks, I kick the front to the multiple receiver side in a front I call "Slide".  The LB to the Quads, will slide out of the box, and look to have inside leverage on #4.  This LB is the short wall of #4 and hook/curl player to the read side.  The other LB, will also slide, into a 00 alignment over the center.  This LB is now the only draw player you have and is solely responsible for mirroring the QB.  I will even delay rush this defender if the QB is not a rushing threat. 

I'm blitzing this guy...

The variations, once again, are limitless when facing these looks, by my first choice, and base rule is to play Special Solo coverage.  To the read side, the coverage is in Special, which puts the $ man to man on #3, with the corner and F playing Blue coverage to the #1 and #2 receivers.  The LB to the read side (Sam in the illustration) will be inside of #4 and play the short wall of #4.  He is also a hook/curl player.  The W is the long wall player of #4 and will force on runs to the away side of the coverage.  The away side corner is man to man on #1, just as in Solo. 

Front= "Slide" Coverage= Special Solo

If you don't want a man coverage defender on the read side, you can check into another coverage variation, called Roll Solo.  This puts Roll to the read side which as the read side corner, and F playing deep 1/4's zones on wide receiver's (WR's) 1-3, the $ is the curl/flat/swing deep of 3 player, and the LB to the read side remains a short wall player of #4.  The W is still all of #4 vertical and deep 1/2 player to that side.  The away side corner is still locked in man to man coverage. 

A game plan coverage you can also do, is to tag your Special Sky/Cloud coverage (we tag ours with a "backer" call) and put the read side LB in man coverage on the #4 receiver.  This is only recommended vs. spread teams that will align their running back in the #4 position, and you feel you have a good match up with your LB vs. their RB.  You can also do this with Roll coverage, and now you can play Sky or Cloud to the away side, keeping your away side corner in zone coverage instead of man. 



Special (Sky/Cloud) "Backer"



Most of the time, I see the 4X1 teams being screen heavy, so Special over to the read side is not a major issue.  The alignment of the corner, $, and LB to the read side, really discourages the screen game.  Solo is not a bad coverage on the away side because of the fact that you have the twelfth defender, the sideline, there to help.  Most 4X1 teams put the single receiver to the boundary anyway, so there is less room for him to maneuver, and so long as #4 does not go vertical, then the W can help the away side corner with the single receiver.

4X1-Defending the Diamond Formation



"Diamonds...that'll shut her up!"



The "Diamond" formation, as I call it, is one that you must use some of the bunch/banjo coverage rules.  For more information on banjo coverage, you can check out RUNCODHIT FOOTBALL, there's a good article there about covering bunch sets.  Against the Diamond look, I still like to use Special Solo, but I make one major change.  First we count, the deepest receiver as the # 2 receiver, the outside receiver is still #1, the receiver on the LOS is #3, and the inside-most receiver is #4.  I put the $ inside shade of the receiver that is on the line of scrimmage (LOS), which in the case of Diamond, is the #3 receiver.  The $ is in a press technique and will not allow a clean release off the LOS.  The read side LB will walk out and apex, still playing inside leverage on the #4 receiver.  The read side corner follows his Blue rules and reads as does the F, reading and playing Blue coverage to the #1 and #2 receivers.  The W, is still the long wall/all of #4 vertical defender and the away side corner is in man coverage on #1.



Count system vs. Diamond formation

Special Solo vs. Diamond Quads formation



Putting it all Together

Well, I've thrown a ton of stuff at you about empty formations and combo coverages, let's take a deep breath and go back and sort through some of this to show you where I'm coming from and what I'd do.  I'm not a Roll fan, so most of the coverages listed with "Roll" in them would be ones I wouldn't care to do.  I like Special Blue vs. 3X2 looks, as it is two coverages that should have been covered in fall camp, and should be ingrained in your kids minds.  The only way I would come out of this look is if the three receiver side had the #3 receiver as a tight slot or TE.  I would then play Roll Blue, or Roll Man (what I call Roll Zulu), preferably the latter (Roll Zulu). 



Roll Zulu



Against 4X1 looks, I really like Special Solo, as again, it should be two coverages that are installed early in practice and repped daily from there on.  Roll Solo is not bad, however pure zone coverages are not my favorite when facing good spread teams. 

Again, keep up the feedback, as I know spring football is drawing near, ask those questions, I'm here to help all I can.  Also, my blog is not the end all be all of TCU/Blue coverage stuff.  You can always go to the following:

Brophy's blog is the upper echelon of all blogs, you can find anything you want, and he has the best pics of the TCU cheerleaders!

RUNCODHIT FOOTBALL is a coverage-mecca about pattern reading and bracket coverages.  There are also awesome blitz and front aritcles there as well on the 4-2-5 and what TCU is doing.

Blitzology has very good TCU blitz articles if you're looking into TCU's 4-2-5 pressure package.

And as always, check out Coach Huey's board, there is a wealth of knowledge shared their daily!

Duece

2 Read/Blue Coverage-Vs. Trips



3's a crowd...ok, maybe not always!



Trips formations can present a headache for defenses, whether it be trips open or closed, 3 receiver's to a side has long been a "rough patch" for many defensive coordinators (DC's).  This is especially true of pattern reading Quarters or 2 Read/Blue coverage schemes, as these schemes are based on only 2 receiver's to a side.  What do you do when the offense has now added a third receiver to that side?  That's what this post is about.  I'm going to go through some of things I've done, and other things I would do if I were a DC headed into next season.  I'll start with the simplest first, and move on to the more complex.  So strap in, grab your favorite adult beverage, and let's get going!

Roll- 1/4, 1/4, 1/2
I don't call this coverage "Roll", it has always been Cover 8 for me, however TCU calls it Roll, so I will use their terminology.  Roll is very simply put, 1/4, 1/4, 1/2.  It can be used against trips open or closed.  The read side of the defense is in 1/4's zone coverage, while the away side of the defense is a deep 1/2's coverage with a "squat" corner.  TCU still uses pattern reading rules for their 1/4, 1/4, 1/2, however I do not.  Here are my rules for my version of Cover 8:


Roll-Read Side

• Corner- Deep outside 1/4, DGBD (Don't Get Beat Deep).
• Free Safety- Deep inside 1/4, DGBD.
• Strong Safety- Flat

Roll-Away Side

• Corner- Flat.
• Weak Safety- Deep 1/2.



Roll Coverage (1/4, 1/4, 1/2)


There you go!  Very simple, and easy to install.  I'm big on disguise, so my secondary looks just like it would in Blue coverage, even if we are playing Roll.  This is a very simple and easy adjustment to trips, however it does have its drawbacks.  To me, 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 is just another way of playing cover 3, and I'm not fond of Cover 3 (as most of you know).  Though simple, I wouldn't want to live in this adjustment as flood route concepts can easily exploit the read side, and the away side is typical cover 2, with it's weaknesses as well.  Roll is the easiest trips coverage I know, yet it's the one I would least prefer to use.

Solo
Solo is a good answer to trips, especially trey sets.  Solo frees up the read side of the coverage to be able to play Blue coverage to the 1 and 2 receiver's and still has an answer for when the #3 receiver in trips decides to go vertical.  The rules for solo are as follows:

Solo-Read Side

• Corner- Blue reads of 2, swing deep of 2.
• Free safety- Blue reads of 2, all of 2 vertical.
• Strong safety- Curl/Flat; swing deep of 3.

Solo- Away Side

• Corner- Man #1.
• Weak Safety- Deep 1/2, long wall of 3, all of 3 vertical.

*Blue reads were discussed in an early post.  Go here to see what they are if you haven't already.



Solo


Solo does have some glaring weaknesses though.  Most offensive teams try and put their best wide receiver (WR) to the single receiver side, thereby putting your corner 1-on-1 with him.  This may not affect you, but in a lot of cases it can be trouble.  Also, against standard trips sets, the weak safety (WS) has a long way to go to wall #3 or play him vertical.  The WS is also the force player to the away side, and this can lead to some openings in coverage, or lack of solid run support to the away side.  A majority of the time, the away side is set to the boundary, so being late to run support is not a major issue, however in the middle of the field (MOF) it can really hurt a defense.  Solo works very good when the #3 receiver is a tight end (TE) or a very tightly aligned slot receiver.  This keeps the WS from having so much distance to cover.



Weak Safety Responsibility in Solo Coverage


Solo, in my opinion, is very simple to teach.  One of the major coaching points, for me, is disguise, so the away side corner will stem late to an inside position on #1, and the WS will slide from 2 yards outside the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMOL) to in the away side B gap.  This keeps the opposing quarterback from getting a read on exactly what coverage you are using to defend their trips formation.

Special
There are two versions of TCU's coverage they call "Special".  I will discuss TCU's version, and a version I got from bigduke6 (thanks buddy) on the Huey board.  Both are very effective trips and trips closed solutions.  If I were coaching, Special would be my base coverage for how I defended trips formations.  The rules for Special are as follows:

Special-Read Side

• Corner- Man #1.
• Free Safety- Blue reads of 3, all of 3 vertical.
• Strong Safety- Blue reads of 3, swing deep of 3.

Special-Away Side

• Corner- Play the call (sky/cloud)
• Weak Safety- Play the call (sky/cloud)

I tag my Special coverages either Special "Sky" (safety force) or Special "Cloud" (corner force).  If it's trips open, I'd prefer to be in Special Cloud, where the corner is the flat/swing deep of 2 player and the safety is the deep 1/2, all of 1 vertical player.  Trips closed, to me, is a better situation for Special Sky, as I can invert my WS (who is used to coming up and forcing) and use him as the flat/swing deep of 2/force player to the nub side, thereby leaving the corner as the deep 1/2, all of #1 vertical player.  Either way is good, and there is not right or wrong way to do it.




My version of Special Sky vs. Trips closed


The major weakness in Special, to me, is the fact I now have to teach my strong safety (SS) the corner's Blue reads.  I don't particularly care for this, as in high school, many of us have limited time with our players and need to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of them we can.  So, I'll show you the rules introduced to me by bigduke6 on the Huey board.

Special (Duke)-Read Side

• Corner- Blue reads of 2, swing deep of 2.
• Free safety- Blue reads of 2, all of 2 vertical.
• Strong safety- man #3.

Special (Duke)- Away Side

• Corner- Play the call (sky/cloud).
• Weak Safety- Play the call (sky/cloud).



Special Cloud




Special Sky

 I honestly feel this is an easier way to teach the coverage.  The SS gets to stay in a low, inverted, alignment, and play man coverage (which he should be able to do).  The FS and the corner to the read side, are still simply playing Blue coverage.  Now nobody needs to change anything.  Where this becomes a problem is against trey sets or where a team employs a tight slot as the #3 receiver.  The SS does not have leverage on #3 in these sets.  This is why Solo is a good adjustment, when #3 is closely aligned to the formation.



Did someone say Solo?

At the very minimum, I think a DC should use both Solo and Special in his arsenal.  These coverages go hand-in-hand, and have the ability to make opposing offensive coaches pull their hair out attempting to figure out what coverage you are in.  By utilizing these coverages it allows your defense to stay in a pattern reading coverage, by eliminating the threat of the additional receiver to the read side. 

One more note, when the formation is set to the sideline (FSL), then I recommend automatically checking to cover 3.  How you do it is your choice, I again, am one for disguise, so I want my defense to look like a 2 high defense, and presnap I have my WS roll down and play the away side curl to flat zone.  All the other DB's play standard cover 3.  The idea here is that what can an offense really do into the boundary to hurt you with trips?  Not much to be honest.  This check is a very simple one, and gives your FS a means to put the defense into a solid coverage based on what he's seeing the offense align in.  It also allows you to triple team the single receiver side, with a deep MOF safety, a deep 1/3 corner, and an underneath player in your SS.  To each their own, but this was another idea shared to me from bigduke6 on the Huey board, and it keeps things very concise and simple.

Formation to the Sideline (FSL)

I hope these are helping, and please, keep commenting and emailing me letting me know what you need.  As these requests come in I will try and write about as much as I can on what you are asking in timely manner.  Again, bear with me, I know for many spring football is right around the corner.

Duece

2 Read/Blue Coverage-The Reads

The most important part of any pattern reading defensive scheme...is the reads!  I've heard and seen a myriad of ways to read/react in Quarters/2 Read etc.  However, I like to keep it as simple as possible when teaching to the players.  I think it becomes very easy to overburden the young high school mind, that quite frankly I've yet to figure out some of the things they are thinking about!  Keeping it simple has been a golden rule of football for years, but as with anything there's always a way to over complicate things.  I'm going to use this post to describe the reads, and the reactions I've taught my defensive backs (DB's) for years now.  I also know there are more than one way to skin a cat, so I'll also try and present some other ways of doing things.  Shall we?

Blue Coverage- The Cornerback's Reads and Responsibilities
The corner in 2 Read, or as most now call it, Blue coverage is always the widest defender on the football.  His reads will always keep him from becoming out leveraged.  Let's take a look at these reads and reactions and see how they work.  For those that downloaded my PowerPoint's I'll follow them to a "T" so you can see where the reads and reactions come from.  If you need to go here to download a copy of my Blue coverage for corners.

In Blue coverage, the #2 receiver dictates EVERYTHING!  This is very important, because both the safety and corner will get their respective reads from the #2 receiver.  The position of the #2 receiver does not matter, he can be in the backfield, a wing or slot, or a tight end (TE).  Also, for clarity's sake, I number the receiver's on either side from outside in, with the #1 receiver being the widest of all the receiver's then numbering increasing to the inside until you reach the center of the formation.  Anyhow, the #2 receiver will be our key for EVERY read and reaction we make in Blue coverage.

Corners Reads
I will first give you the reads EXACTLY how I teach the corner, then I will go into the "finer" details of the coaching of the techniques involved with each read.

1. 2 is outside- Man 2.
2. 2 is inside/under/vertical or stays- Man 1.

That's basically it!  I know, oversimplification can also be troublesome too, so that's why you have to dig more into the specifics.  The basis of the reads are simple, because basically the #2 receiver can only do 1 of 4 things, that's block (stay), go inside, under or vertical.  The wide receiver (WR) can also do these things, so the basis of "man 1" is a little false, however I did say that I would go into the finer details, and here they are! 

#2 releases outside- When the corner sees 2 to the outside, he's no longer concerned with 1, as he knows I'll have help from the safety.  Although, one thing I preach to corners from day 1, is expect to play #1 man to man, with no help.  This puts their mindset that they are on an island similar to man coverage.  I don't want corners thinking all the time "the safety should pick that up" as it lends itself to the releasing of receiver's and big plays, opposing band fight songs and so forth.  So, when the corner sees 2's release is to the outside, he will now be looking for the throw to 2.  However, he does not leave 1, and will still react to the movements by the #1 receiver.  The reactions are as follows:

1. 1 is inside- Squeeze 1, break on the throw (to 1 or 2).  Never let 2 out leverage you (ie. don't let 2 cross your face).  I teach the corners to squeeze 1's route, until 2 will no longer allow you to do so.  I also have the corners give an "in" call to let the safety know just what 1 is doing.
1. The reason you cannot allow 2 to out leverage you is because the corner in Blue coverage is the swing deep of 2 player, meaning he has any out or out and up (such as a wheel) route by #2.  The corner cannot effectively cover the wheel if he becomes out leveraged.
2. 1 is vertical- If #1 wants to stay vertical, Blue coverage simply becomes squat 1/2's coverage for the corner.  He HAS to carry and squeeze 1 to the safety.  This allows the safety to come off his read of 2 and get to 1.  By squeezing 1 to the inside it also reduces the amount of ground the safety has to cover to get to #1.  The corner will squeeze and "trail" this route, reading the #2 receiver and the QB.  I teach the corner to read the non-throwing shoulder of the QB and as soon as that shoulder crosses his face he's to settle his feet and be ready to break on the throw to 2.  This is a key coaching point in Blue coverage as if the corner jumps the out by 2, he's leaving the safety on an island with a huge void to cover with a receiver streaking down the sideline. 

That's basically it for it #2 is out, now let's move to the second part of the read, what to do when #2 is inside/under/vertical or stays in to block.

#2 Releases inside/under/vertical/or stays- The corner can now lock on to #1 man to man.  This read is very simple and frees the corner of any other responsibility other than man to man coverage on #1.  There are some specifics though that you must teach your corners when they get this read.

1. #1 and 2 run shallow crossing routes- The corner should gain depth and play off of the crossing route of #1 and think "post-corner".  I teach this because we want the corner to have leverage on the post corner route.  Teach your corners to beat the WR to the ball on this particular route.
2. #2 inside, 1 runs a post- The corner locks on to 1 here, and must "high shoulder" the post route.  The corner can NEVER come under an post route.  He does not know if he has safety help, and must work to maintain leverage on the upfield shoulder of the WR.  The same can be said of the dig route.
3. #2 is vertical, #1 is short- The corner should think smash immediately.  In years past I've even had them yell it out "smash-smash-smash".  The corner should be outside and over the top of 1, and outside and underneath of the route by 2.  Over the years, I've had a lot of corners come up with interceptions by undercutting the corner route by #2.  I tell the corners be prepared to rally to the throw to 1, but play off enough to help with the corner route.  Again, the corner is not jumping routes, he's relating to their distribution, and putting himself in position to either jump the throw, or force a bad throw.
4. #2 and 1 are vertical- Man 1.  Very simple.  I teach working to inside leverage and "wedging the fade".  You will be surprised to know it's actually a natural reaction for the corner to move to inside leverage on the fade route.  This is important as he has no inside help from the safety on this particular route combination.

So, that does it for the corners.  In a nutshell, teach the corners to read the routes and use their distribution to position themselves according to be able to react to the throw.  This does one of two things, it puts the corner in a position to break on throws instead of chasing routes, and it forces the QB to fit the football into tighter windows. 

Now that the corner's have been established, let's move on to the safeties.

Blue Coverage-The Safety's Reads and Responsibilities
The safety is the toughest position to play in Blue coverage.  This athlete must be able to cover ground, make checks, read opposing offenses, cover man-to-man, and tackle in open spaces.  This DB must not be afraid to "bloody his gums" against the run, and must have the finesse to run with WR's in space.  I highly urge defensive coaches to put some of their best overall athletes at these positions.  At the very least, put some of your best open-field tacklers here.

Safety Reads
Here is exactly how I teach my safeties their reads.

1. 2 is vertical- Man 2.
2. 2 is outside/inside/under or stays and blocks- Get to #1.

Yes, I know, oversimplification again, but you have to start with baby steps.  Remember the old adage "whole-part-whole".  Basically, both the initial reads you teach the corners and the safeties are the whole.  The specifics become the part, and the finishing touches become the final "whole"!  So, what are the specifics to coaching the safeties in Blue coverage?  Well here you go!  Follow along in the PowerPoint that can be found here and here for the safety reads.




Baby Steps!


2 Releases outside

1. 2 releases outside, 1 runs a slant- The safety's eyes should immediately go to 1, once he sees 1 breaking off his route and coming inside, the safety settles and then drives to the upfield shoulder of the WR.  Two things can happen here, either a huge collision, or an interception, both of which should have defensive coordinators (DC's) licking their chops!
2. 2 releases outside, 1 run a curl- Get to 1!  Simple as that.  The safety should work to stay inside and over the top of 1 and break on the throw to 1.
3. 2 releases outside, 1 is vertical- If #1 shows no intention of breaking off his route, the safety must turn and run to the inside shoulder of #1.  He must always think "I have no help" on this particular route combination.  This is the toughest route combination the safety will have to defense in Blue coverage.
1. As a side note, the way I've taught my safeties is that they are flat-footed reads, or buzzing their feet on the snap (I prefer to buzz).  Once they see what #2 is not a threat, the will actually turn and open to #1, as the first thought I put in their minds is "1 is vertical".  This way they are always prepared for the worst case scenario.
2. Also, if #1 breaks his route to the outside, the safety should drive for the deepest shoulder and squeeze the WR to the sideline.

2 Releases inside and underneath

1. 2 is inside and 1 runs a post- The safety should undercut the post.  I want to see the safety in the throwing lane on the deep post route.  The safety should man turn to this route, and be on the inside shoulder of the WR.  The same may be said of the dig route.

2 Releases vertical- This is obviously the simplest of the reads by the safety, however technique is very important in this case, at the coverage has basically converted itself to man coverage.

1. 2 is vertical and out- If the safety declares that 2 is vertical, yet 2 breaks outside, the safety must drive through the upfield shoulder of #2.  I also like to have the safety give an "out" call to the corner in case the offense is attempting to run a variation of a high-low route I call scissors.
1. In the case of scissors, we would "banjo" the routes, meaning he corner takes the outside route, and the safety takes the inside route.   This technique prevents pick and rub routes that offenses utilize when they see some form of man coverage.
2. 2 runs a post- This is a tough, one, but the safety should work to inside leverage on #2.  At the very least we want to see a high throw forced by the safety.

2 Stays in to block- For the purpose of this post, I mean pass block.  Later I will discuss run reads, but for simplicity's sake, I'm talking about passing situations and reads.  The reads here are identical to that of if 2 is out, or in.  The safety again, should get his eyes to #1's hips and decipher the route, all the while having the mindset that #1 is going vertical.


Safety/Corner Rules
Before all the above is established, you obviously have a playbook.  I call the reads listed above "Blue Reads".  So, in my playbook, the corners rules in 2 read are:

• Blue reads of 2, swing deep of 2. 
• This means the corner will read #2 according to the rules listed above, and he has the out and up of #2.

The safety's reads are the same, and listed as follows:

• Blue reads of 2, all of 2 vertical.

So, there you have it!  That's basically it.  To be honest, it takes three times as long to type the reads as it does to teach them.  Remember, teach whole-part-whole, and you'll be fine.  Start with the simple reads described above, and then break down the individual reactions to the various routes and route combinations that you will see.  Then put all these back together to formulate the answer to the simple reads! 

I'm trying to hurry as I know several people are asking me about the coverage and rules in preparation for spring football.  Bear with me, I'm going as fast as I can! 

Duece

2 Read/Blue Coverage

Over the years on the Huey board, I've had tons and tons of questions about the coverages I ran.  A lot of folks thought I was a Quarters guy (well, I am sort of), however I actually based out of 2 read, or what TCU calls "Blue" coverage.  I want to take a moment and share with you my version of 2 read, and later, talk about some of the adjustments that can be made with this coverage. 

Why 2 Read?
As with any story, history needs to be revisited in order to fully explain the "where I got this" aspect of why I base out of 2 Read.  First off, I was a huge Miami 4-3/Jimmy Johnson fan, as I think what he did to defensive football in the 1980's was unbelievable.  He, and some other brilliant football minds, changed the game of football forever.  UM ran a lot of the old cover 2 back in those days (squat 1/2's/corner force).  You always heard announcers talk about their secondary and how physical their corners were.  So, when given the chance to be a defensive coordinator, what do you think I ran????  Yep!  I ran the Miami 4-3 and based out of cover 2.  Now I ran some cover 3, and some cover 8 (1/4, 1/4, 1/2) as well as  man, but we based solely out of cover 2.  I learned very quickly that, despite being a good coverage, cover 2 has some glaring weaknesses that an offense can easily exploit, especially against the likes of a young DC such as myself (at the time). 

Early Problems
Some of our early problems were, since I did not get to go recruit my corners, I found that not just every kid out there that can run is also going to be physical on the line of scrimmage (LOS).  We had to really work at getting good at the press and trail technique required of a cover 2 corner.  This took a lot of time and energy and did not allow us to run other coverages very proficiently.

Also, teams saw that we based out of cover 2, and began widening their wide receiver (WR) splits, thereby removing our force player from his run responsibility.  This really put our safeties and outside linebackers (OLB's) in a bind, as the outside alley was larger due to the split.  Our force player was now having to defeat a block, and travel a great distance to get to his duty.

The safeties I had, though athletic, had a real tough time defending 2 deep routes in their deep 1/2 zone.  I think a lot of this led back to the first problem listed above, however we had a lot of trouble getting our safeties to get over the top of the #1 receiver if #2 also went vertical. 

So what to do?

Solution #1- Quarters
After a brutal first year as DC where we gave up an atrocious 118.5 yards a game passing in a league not known for passing teams, I knew I had to modify what I was doing.  So I looked around and came across some traditional Quarters stuff.  I liked the idea of being able to have my safeties involved in run support, and my corners with very simple rules as to who and how to cover.  So, the following spring we installed Quarters and based out of that for the next 3 seasons, with large returns on our investment. 

So why get out of Quarters?
I know what most are saying, why did you quit using Quarters?  Well, even though we got better, teams knew what we were doing, and they still did things to us in the passing game that could hurt us.  Most teams knew they had the flats all night.  We had basically ditched out old cover 2, and ran some roll cover 3 (sky/cloud) and some cover 8 was it.  We didn't really have a good answer for defending the flats.  We also didn't rough receivers up any more on the LOS, as in Quarters our corners were 8 yards off and 1 yard inside leverage of the #1 receiver.  I still felt like we needed some kind of squat 1/2's coverage, but cover 2 seemed to take a lot of receptions to master in practice.  Also, despite being easier, Quarters needs its reps as well.  So what to do?

Solution #2- 2 Read
Enter the Huey Board (what an invaluable tool, if you haven't become a member, please go here, it's well worth it), and a coach (who's name will remain anonymous) from a small junior college that happened to see some posts about me asking some cover 2 questions.  I was basically ranting about wanting the simplicity of Quarters, but being more sound in the flats.  He private messaged me, and later sent me PowerPoint presentation of the coverage they used where he was the DC.  I was hooked!  I figured I could use the same Quarters run fits as I had always done, and on top of that, use the 2 Read coverage instead of Quarters.  Like most others would say at this time, "so the rest is history".  But hold on a minute (FREEZE), I still had some refining to do to be able to simply "base" out of this coverage like I had been doing out of Quarters. 

Refining 2 Read
While 2 Read, is an awesome coverage, it still has some weaknesses of it's own.  Right now I know most Quarters guys are already saying "if #2 is a tight end (TE) and #1 is split wide you can't run 2 read!".  To some this would be true, but if you know this going in, there are things you can do about it.  The first year we added 2 Read into our playbook we still based out of Quarters, but used 2 Read as a check to 2 detached receivers (twins).  This was a great change up, and we also used it as an adjustment if teams were working #2 to the flat on us.  As time went on though, I found my players having to make more and more checks, especially with teams becoming so prolific in the utilization of the Trips formation.  By the time I was in my 8th year as a DC I had 8 checks built into our Quarters scheme!  I felt the whole package was becoming too bulky and was really causing our players to labor and think too much on the football field.

After my 8th season, I got a "gig" as a head coach (HC) at a small school, and a buddy of mine who was a defensive guru himself came there with me.  I used him as the DC, as he was a 4-3 guy too, and he ran the linebackers (LB's) and I ran the secondary.  My first job was going to be refining my playbook and minimizing the amount of checks we had to make during the course of a football game.  The first thing I did was get rid of Quarters (I know, don't hate me just yet)!  It was hard to do, but I felt the right thing to do was to base out of 2 Read.  I worked the entire offseason developing a playbook that was much simpler in the knowledge my players were going to have to retain to be able to align and properly defend our opponents. 

The first, and probably most major refinement was against a pro set and #1 takes a large split.  Our corners were going to play 3 to 5 yards off and in outside leverage of the #1 receiver, so they would have to honor this split.  The safety, with an attached #2 receiver could go no wider than 2 yards outside of this receiver, because he had to be able to play #2 vertical man to man (we'll go into reads later).  So what to do?  We used a technique for our corners called "catch-n-carry".  The toughest route combination you will see out of the pro look is #2 on a flat or arrow route and #1 goes vertical.  By rule, the corner is to come off 1 and play the out by 2.  Where I refined this was, the corner was not to break on the route, yet break on the throw to #2.  We wanted to force that throw, as we felt our corner was in perfect position to play this route with outside leverage on #2.  We told our corners if 2 is out, squeeze 1 (being physical, like a traditional cover 2 corner) and carry him vertical, until you see the throw to 2.  The corner's eyes had to be trained to see the QB's off shoulder, and when it crossed his face, he broke on that shoulder turning to throw the out to the #2 receiver.  Is it perfect, no, but it worked better than trying to get my OLB to run with that route (especially off playaction) and it put us in better position to make the tackle once the ball was caught (remember, the corner has outside leverage on the #2 receiver) and it put us in better position to defend the wheel route by #2.





#2 out, #1 vertical


Go here to see my corners manual for 2 read.

Go here and here to see my safeties manuals for 2 read!

Some of the other refinements I made were how we defended 3 back offenses, trips and trips open as well as empty sets and so forth.  I will save these refinements for later posts.  I just wanted to wet your appetite with some of my 2 read knowledge and see if everybody would be interested in more.  Feel free to comment!

So that's the history of how I came to see 2 read as an every down coverage, easily adaptable to the high school ranks.  In upcoming post I'm planning on expanding more on the run/pass reads as well as some things teams will try and do to beat your 2 read scheme.  I also plan on having a trips and empty session in there somewhere that explains some options you have when an offense gives you these sets.  Hopefully you will find some of it useful! 

For those of you that are lucky enough to have spring football, get ready, it's right around the corner!!!!  Good luck!

Duece

New Horizon's...possibly?!

Well, I've fully accepted that I will not be coaching next fall.  That will be the first football season since 1986 that I have not been a part of as either a player or a coach!  Amazing, to think every fall for 25 years I've been involved with organized football.  Anyhow, this has gotten me to thinking (as well as a conversation with Jgordon on the Huey board) about writing a book.  I've never done this, so I'm still thinking heavily about it.  I wanted some input on it, and so I decided to put up a poll on it and see if anyone would be interested in what I'd have to write.  I was thinking of writing a book on the Flexbone offense, basically building it from the ground up.  What do you think?  Check the poll question at the bottom of the page and answer honestly.  I respect every one's opinion, so go ahead let me have it!  We could call it the Roast of Coach Duece, although I highly doubt Comedy Central would give us any airtime! 

Anyhow, some other ramblings.  As for taking a year off, my situation may be more than a year, and could be permanent.  I don't know what the future holds, however I plan to keep my nose in books/DVD's and the Internet to keep up with this wonderful game of football.  I'm actually quite relieved to not be coaching next year.  I never thought I'd say that, but if you went through what I've been through the past 3 seasons, you'd know why.  Amassing a dismal 2-28 record can do that to even the best of us.  I remember hearing older coaches speaking about taking a year off, and I probably looked at them like they had an arm growing out of their ass!  Now, after having heavily approached burn-out, I need to devote some more time to my family, and only rightfully so, they have allowed me to pursue a wonderful dream of being a high school football coach. 

Some things to remember when you're out there this fall:

1. Make sure you're doing it for the right reasons, those kids you coach are young men, and will hopefully turn into great men, never forget that.
2. Always remember, there's something bigger out there than what you are doing.  With that being said, I won't dive into religion, but the old axiom, of Faith, Family, Football comes to mind.  Keep it real!
3. If you're in a bad situation, just remember, it's worse somewhere else.  I lived this, and believe me, it's true!
4. Do what you know.  Don't get too hooked on all the latest crazes and fads, if you know the Miami 4-3, then run it!  Do what you know, so you know how to fix it when it's broken.  Again, I lived this too, and I can tell you these words are still ringing in my ears.
5. "Dream as if you'll live forever...live as if you'll die today!"

Just thought I'd pass this on, if you need anything, email me at theduece02@yahoo.com I will help all I can.  Looking forward to some time off and doing some relaxing!  Go get em' guys!

Duece