Vertical Set Pass Protection (VSPP) is a pass protection scheme that has really taken hold in the spread community. Defenses were turned on their ear's a few years back when the spread exploded on the scene, and to combat this, the defenses have put speed on the field in places speed has never been! Most notable at defensive end (DE). The DE, in pass defense, is every bit as important as any defensive back you have. The DE can make or break any pass offense, and in some cases, depending on the player, can even take over the game! One way offenses have dealt with the DE is by putting him in conflict with his reads and reactions (for more on this conflict go here on Coach Hoover's site) to slow this defender down in his quest for the quarterback (QB). The poor offensive tackle (OT) who's job it is to deter this DE from attacking the QB is at a disadvantage due to lack of athleticism, and the fact the OT has to block this defender in the one thing offensive linemen (OL) hate...space! Introduce the concept of VSPP!
To the untrained eye, VSPP doesn't look all that much different from traditional pass protection, however upon a closer look you will see the subtle differences. In VSPP, the OL will retreat in a backpedal-style fashion, similar to the technique of a defensive back. The goal here is to lose as much ground, while staying square before making contact with the defender. All five OL, want to stay on the same vertical plane if possible. Most coaches teach an "inside-out" step system where the OL will step back first with their inside foot, followed by the outside foot. Most would look at this and think "uhh...bullrush...duh", but we're not finished yet, so be patient. Once the OL is at the depth their coach requires (I've heard 5 steps from some coaches and 4 steps from others, so I'm leaving that ambiguous), they take what some call a post step, or "anchor" technique. This is achieved by the OL dropping their butts and getting back in to your standard "flat back" pass protection posture. The largest benefit, by far, of VSPP, is the one most coaches miss, the lack of leverage by the defensive linemen (DL) once they reach the point of attack (POA). A DL in his crouched stance, can stay low and explosive when attacking traditional on the line of scrimmage (LOS) pass protection, however when their target retreats, the tendency is for the DL to run more upright, thereby losing all of their leverage and their "oomph" they had when coming off the LOS. So in effect, the offense has taken the explosiveness out of the DL by moving their target further away from them. The other benefit to VSPP, is the fact that stunts, and twists are relatively negated because the OL has time to see all of this happening in front of them as they retreat. The obvious goals of VSPP are to keep the OL on the same vertical plane, and eliminate gap openings by the OL turning their shoulders. Now, let's see what some of the experts have done to combat this new pass protection scheme.
One of the first people I talked to was on the Huey board (if you don't have an account, go here, and get one, you really are missing out if you don't have an account) was coachbdud (for more info. check out his blog here). He had some insight to VSPP as that is what he taught his OL. He's a firm believer in the scheme, but he did mention a few weaknesses and these are (and I quote):
Personnel: Take out your big run stuffers (unless they are also your best rushers), 300 lb kids just never make it to our OL and eventually stop rushing at all.
RB in protection: most are 6 man protection teams, RB has to fit in somewhere, you need to find out who he is responsible for in protection and attack him, he should be a weaker blocker than the 5 OL.
Get offs: Work your DL getting upfield all week, first thing is you have to get to us before you can defeat us. You can work get offs with you as the coach in front of them backpedaling and they have to beat you to a certain point, get them chasing up the field.
Stunts: When you work stunts/twists, practice them 4 yards or so up the field, most twist at the LOS and that's perfect for us because we can see it and sort it out. Get upfield first, then twist.
No, not this type of twist...
My take from talking to coachbdud is, work your DL getting off the ball and getting upfield. He did offer some more tips and these are:
Some kids have a problem vertical setting then dropping anchor, if they have a kid like this put your best guy on him and have him race to him and bull rush.
I think the most important thing to consider is that vertical sets end up being the same as in other protection in terms of assignment and technique once engaged, the only thing that is different is we try to establish a new LOS 4-5 yards deep into backfield. Do what you might normally do against a man pass pro, only now do it 4-5 yards deep. You have to mirror their retreat by getting upfield.
Were we talking about mirroring something?
This is great advice, and from what I would call the "horses mouth"! coachbdud is a very vocal advocate of VSPP on the Huey board, and rightly so, that's what he teaches his OL to do. Very good stuff!
Now let's look at attacking VSPP through the eyes of a defensive coach. I had talked with currier58 on the Huey board as well, as he had posted some very good looking video (that I will share) on his defense attacking VSPP. I basically have him an interview over the Internet, and here is a transcript of what we discussed:
1)Do you teach the DL any differently during game week when facing VSPP, or do you just remind them of the type of protection you are facing and go from there?
We do not completely change our approach vs a vertical set pass pro. We do emphasize how deep the OL will get in the backfield throughout our individual time. One drill that I think helped us was to have guys match up 1 on 1 with some space in between them. The DL reacts to a ball being snapped and the OL backpedals as fast as he can. The DL has to try to tag the OL as quickly as possible. This drill helps guys get the feel of closing the distance before they ever think about using a move.
2) What technique, if any, changes for the DL vs. VSPP?
We didn’t try to change our technique, but we did spend more practice time on the Pull-Slide Progression and IN-Out moves. The pull slide is a technique I got from Pete Jenkins (see video below) This pass rush technique is very effective vs vertical setters because they are taught to always try to keep their shoulders square to the LOS.
The In-Out moves are effective whenever the Tackles are man-to-man on the DEs. Most OL coaches pound it into their player’s heads not to get beat inside. It is especially important for vertical setters to attack inside moves because of the angle to the QB the rusher will have.
One of the biggest weaknesses to look for in vertical setting OL is dipping their head when taking on a bull rush or inside counter. When players do this, they are especially susceptible to In-Out moves.
3) What stunts do you use to attack VSPP, and why?
We did not change what stunts we ran against VSPP, but it is important to get the DL to understand that they need to penetrate the OL with their stunts. It doesn’t do any good to run stunts against VSPP if everything is happening in front of the OL.
My favorite stunt against VSPP is a 3 man twist. If we are running this stunt on the right side: the RDE gets vertical then counters into B gap, the R-DT attacks the Center as he would on a NT stunt and finishes on the opposite side of the center, the L-DT holds the guard on his side up for a second and then loops out to C gap on the right side. This stunt gives the OL the illusion of an inside twist, which will force the guard on the right side to set inside to stop penetration and pick up the looping DT. This opens up the B gap window for the countering DE.
Another thing we did was stand up our best pass rusher, and move him to the best matchup we found through film-study. In the clip (see video below) we wanted to attack their left guard. We went with a 3-4 look and had #54 1-on-1 pass rush their weakest link.
4) What blitzes do you use to attack VSPP, and why?
In both of the 3-4 blitzes we ran, we tried to get a penetrator and then a guy looping in behind. We tried to do this to get the OL to commit to the penetrator and then get the looper through the crease created when the O-lineman turns his shoulders. This concept was the most successful when we used the Nose as the penetrator. This made the center attack him on the LOS, which allowed us to get the Center/Guards on different levels. I have diagrammed both of those looks below.
Here is video of what currier58 is explaining in the interview above:
Very noteworthy information for all you defensive line coaches out there. To recap, basically, get your DL upfield. Work any stunts you want, but work them only after you have made contact with the OL. Prepare your DL for this new pass pro by having them work their stunts upfield and work on getting off the football. This is still the game of football, and VSPP is no "magic bullet", find matchups and exploit them, look for bad technique and attack it. Now, after talking with numerous other coaches and reading some publications on the subject, here's my take on things (oh boy, here we go).
Ok, so maybe these guys did have magic bullets!
My Take on Attacking VSPP
I'll give you my take on it, and most will probably think I'm nuts. Obviously this depends totally on game plan, what type of team you are facing, etc. For this article, we will talk about a team that is an obvious "pass first" team, and the threat of the run has been reduced to a myriad of screens and simple draws. My take is to fight fire with fire. I'm going to drop 8 and 9 defenders and force that QB to throw the ball in tight windows and be super accurate. I might even play a 3 deep man under concept as well. Again, I'm simply brainstorming here, but to me, pressure is going to come from me in a different element...mental, not physical. Most high school QB's are used to getting the ball out of their hands pretty quickly. The longer you make them hold it, the more nervous they get, so I would work the coverage end of the defense first. My base pass rush scheme would involve a 3 man rush, and probably using dime personnel, however it doesn't matter as long as the back 8 can play the pass. You can easily switch up which three are coming or can simply rush the 3 that are on the LOS, the possibilities are endless. I think there are some important factors to keep in mind here though, and these are:
Contain- No matter what you do, make sure you have defenders assigned to contain the QB. Some youngsters when flustered will scramble or roll out. No need to make your defense cover for a long time only to give up a big play because somebody left coverage, or all eyes weren't on the QB and he scrambles for a big gain. Best way to do this, in my opinion, rush and work your pass rush from the outside-in. Collapse whatever pocket they have from the outside-in, using whatever methods you so choose, but be sure to squeeze and constrict those inside running lanes all the while maintaining an outside arm free policy with contain rushers.
Spy a good running QB- You can do this rushing two, three, or four defenders, just have a way to dedicate which one is to spy for the QB. This defender should mirror the QB's actions, as well as being in the QB's vision at all times. This defender should always maintain inside leverage on the QB's position on the field, as the contain players will always maintain outside leverage. This defender should be one of your better open field tacklers. I've done this with DE's, linebackers (LB's) and even have used extra safeties to play this spy position. No matter, this cat needs to be fairly athletic to be able to play the "spy" position.
Mix things up- Every good DC knows this, but don't just constantly drop 7, 8, or 9 defenders, get after it and mix things up. Use the blitzes/stunts shown on here and then bluff and drop off 8 guys in coverage. Use a 3 man stunt, and drop 8 in coverage. The key here is not just attacking the pass protection, but attacking the entire scheme. This can be attacking the QB's thought process, route disruption, as well as attacking the pass protection.
Most DC's when they think of pressuring the passing game, they simply dial up blitzes and stunts, but I think you need to get inside the QB's head. Do it with blitzes, both zone and man (if possible) as well as bluffs. Both the OL and the QB will suffer from mixing things up, especially if you bring 6 one down, then drop 9! These sorts of "change-ups" will keep the offense off balance, and not allow them to gain rhythm in their attack.
Mix it up!
I hope this was informative, and by all means, check out coachbdud's blog, or get in touch with him on the Huey board. The same goes for currier58, these guys have a wealth of knowledge and are eager to help, hit em' up and see what you can find out.
Ok, I PROMISE, next post is my Scream and Splatter stuff!!!!
The one topic not talked about much is the 4-2 and the way it defends the flexbone. I have some insight into the way TCU does it, and some insight in to the way I did it this past season and at other places I've been. I want to share with you these methods, as it appears good ol' option football isn't going anywhere for a while!
TCU What I can gather from my research on TCU, is that they will remain in a 2 high look vs. flexbone teams, which purely makes sense, due to the fact that the offense presents 4 vertical threats out of the basic double slot formation. Georgia Tech. has shown the ability to have a very prolific passing game from their flexbone, so I do agree with Patterson's philosophy on keeping an even shell coverage. Let's see how they defend it and then move on to the way I would suggest you defend the offense at the high school level.
TCU, simply put, kicks the front to mirror the famous Over front of the Miami 4-3. The linebackers (LB's) will slide opposite of the read side (which is exactly what Patterson teaches vs. your standard 2x2 sets, you can go here to see more about how TCU handles 2x2 formations) giving them the traditional look of the Over front. This allows them to keep 7 in the box, while having a 2 high shell with safety support behind it. The free safety (FS) still aligns inside of the #2 receiver and plays traditional robber coverage (what TCU calls cover 2). The kicker here is the alignment of the FS, it allows him, on motion, to attack both sides of the offense, being what I call the "plus one" player. On motion by the slots, which simply turns a 2x2 set, to a 2x1 set, the FS will change the read side on the move. This is very important, as it allows you to have 2 players on the option QB, a MUST when playing against this type of option offense.
The read side is exactly the way it would be vs. a standard 2x2 set. To the read side, against your typical inside veer (ISV) play, the SS is the curl/flat/swing deep of 3 player, and will take pitch on option, as he's the force player. The FS will rob the #2 receiver, and will play quarterback (QB) to pitch. The read side LB, will play dive to inside 1/2 of QB, with the defensive end acting on his block down, step down (BDSD) rules. No big deal here right? Right! The other thing Patterson will do with the front is he will keep a 3 technique to the field most of the time. The B gap lineman makes life a little more difficult on triple option teams. Patterson will also play slant games with the line based on field and bench tendencies (which I will not go in to for this post).
2 Blue vs. Flexbone
The away side is in Blue coverage. Now, Patterson can also play a coverage he calls "25" (said two five) where the read side plays robber (their cover 2) and the away side plays 5 (squat 1/2's, corner force). Most of the time, they are going to play 2 blue, to keep safety force. Anyhow, the weak safety (WS) will align 10-12 off #2 and will play his normal blue reads of 2 (to see these reads go here). The WS is the force player to the away side and will play the pitch. The away side LB is playing outside 1/2 of QB to pitch, and the read side LB, on option flow to the away side, will play dive to inside 1/2 of QB (if this sounds familiar I already went over how the 4-3 defends the option here). That's basically it!
ISV Strong
ISV to the away side does not change much, the away side LB will take outside 1/2 of QB to pitch, the read side LB will go dive to inside 1/2 of QB, and the WS rolls down to take the pitch. The FS then rotates over and will execute his robber technique to the "new" read side, which changed because of the motion by the slot. The FS will play outside 1/2 of QB to pitch. The SS will slow play the cutback and look for counter iso, GT counter or counter option coming back his way.
ISV Weak
All of this information is great, but to be honest, how useful is it to convert to high school football? Some of the college schemes adapt very well to high school, and some do not. With that being said, I want to share with you another method of defending the flexbone offense from the 4-2-5. Please, I'm not knocking TCU, by all means, their success speaks for itself, I just wanted to post something I did last season that had good success against the flexbone. Background Several years back, we used to play a wishbone team that ran the triple option, and they ran it good. We were a 4-3 team, running Quarters coverage back then, and they used to get the best of us for some reason. Sadly, they didn't usually have better athletes than us, for some reason we struggled at making their QB indecisive (which is key when facing good triple option QB's). My defensive coordinator (DC) at the time, kept begging me to get into a 4-4 look and play robber coverage. Well, I was against, but after getting tagged 2 years in a row by the same team, I felt we needed a change. His front, moved the Sam and Mike in the 4-3 to 30 techniques over the guards. The Will LB moved to 3x3 outside the weak slot, and the SS did the exact same. The FS would play over the center of the formation, and would rotate based on action (he keyed the QB). The corners were essentially in man coverage, except if the #1 receiver went inside. Again, we were not facing flexbone, but wishbone. Anyhow, our base reads for the ISV were that the DE took the dive, the ILB would take dive to inside 1/2 of QB, and the outside linebackers (OLB's) would take pitch, while the FS filled the alley and played the outside 1/2 of the QB. The first way we switched things up, was to send the ILB straight to the dive, almost like an auto blitz. The DE sat for the QB and the OLB took the pitch. The second adjustment we made, was to send the DE directly up field for the pitch, the ILB still had the dive, and the OLB slammed down the line of scrimmage (LOS) for the QB.
In the game we played against them, we ran the first set of reads (our base reads) for the first quarter. We did very well however we did give up 1 big run by the QB that had them up by 6. In the second quarter, we switched to the second set of reads, and all hell broke loose! We force 2 turnovers on back to back possessions, and scored off both of them to take a 14-6 halftime lead! In the second half, we switched to the third set of reads, and blew their minds, we force 2 more turnovers and scored of both of those to lead 28-6! We ended up winning the game by the final of 42-6 and they had less than 150 yards of total offense. After that night, I swore I would always give my defense at least 2 sets of reads to defend the triple option.
8 Man Front Defends the Option So, how did I do this past season, facing 2 flexbone teams out of the 4-2-5? Well, here's what we did! For the most part, we set the front to the field, putting the 3 technique to the field, making ISV somewhat tougher to run. We utilized our "Ted" stunts along the line (for more about these stunts go here) to help discourage midline and QB follow. The LB's aligned the same as we had before, both in 30 techniques over the guards (I treat the Flexbone as a 2 back offense, because of the motion so I do not slide my LB's). The two outisde safeties (which are named Spur and Whip) aligned 3x3 off the near slot. We put our FS over the center 10 yards off the ball. The corners played 8x2-4 yards INSIDE the #1 receiver and were deep 1/2 players. That was our basic alignment to the offense.
"3 Robber"
The Base Reads The base reads did not change for our front. The DE's would still execute the "Ted" reads and play the dive on ISV. The LB's would play dive to inside 1/2 of QB. The outside safeties (OSS's) would slow play the pitch. It's very important that these players do not over commit to the pitch too early, as it will not allow enough time for the FS to get his reads. The FS, would key motion, and then slide over to inside leverage on the #2 receiver on the side that motion was GOING to. The reasoning for this, is that once this offense motions, it's basically a pro set. I know many critics will argue, but it is going to be very difficult for the slot that motioned to run down the seam, after he's motioned into the backfield (I've never seen it). So, we were basically back to a 4-4 robber concept. The FS keyed the #2 receiver and if he blocked down inside, he filled the alley and played outside 1/2 of QB to pitch. The safety away from the action was critical in defending the counter game employed by most flexbone teams in our area (GT counter and counter iso). He was to stack the DE to this side and look for boot/reverse/cutback (counter is included in his cutback reads). The crux of the defense is the FS's ability to get to either side of the offense, to allow your defense to be "plus one" against the triple option.
Vs. Inside Veer
The reasoning behind the coverage is simple, I liked the ability to switch up our front 8's responsibilities (which you will see later) and still have a middle of the field safety (MOF) that play the QB or pitch to either side of the formation. I also have not seen a high school flexbone team that could pass their way out of a wet paper bag, so the 4 vertical threat did not concern me. For those that it does, by all means, play 2 Blue, and have a great day, as it's a VERY sound method of playing the flexbone. However, if you look, 4 verticals out of the flexbone, is a slight misnomer, in that the 2 inside vertical threats are so close to the FS. Even if they work to the hash, they can be collisioned enough by the OSS's and LB's that their routes are altered. Most of the time this rerouting allows time for your pass rush to pressure an offensive line not used to pass blocking. All of these things add up to wins for the defense.
We call our coverage "3 Robber" as that is exactly what it is. In my defense, any coverage tagged with a number is a 1-high safety coverage, that is NOT split field. The reason we double name the coverage is that if the offense does not motion, then we play standard cover 3 (what some would call "country cover 3") which is basically all you need to defend the flexbone. If the offense motions, then we simply slide the FS over to the side motion is going to, and play robber coverage. My robber coverage is an automatic "sky" structure on the away side of the coverage. Since I called the coverage by number, both OSS's know they are in "low" (inverted) alignments. I will play the OSS's anywhere from 5x5 to 3x3 (the latter being more common) off the near slot. I do this differently than TCU for 2 major reasons. First, our run fits are consistent, no matter what, both OSS's are "fitting" identical to the other. During game week you are not going to have much time to work two different fits (even though they are similar), so these cuts down on some learning, AND this scheme means you can plug any OSS in at either position. Secondly, it is easier to play the "switch" game with option assignments from this look than from the way TCU does it.
3 Robber pass reads vs. motion
3 Robber vs. 4 Verticals
Switching Assignments When facing good option teams, it is critical that the defense be able to switch their assignments to keep the offense on it's toes. So introduce my three stunts against this offense, Switch, Sift, and Slice. Each of these three change which defender takes what assignment against the triple option. Now a word of caution, I have these in my arsenal, however I usually go into a game with a base way of defending the triple option, and one major chageup is all. Three are a bit much for high school kids, however I have gotten away with playing with two extra stunts in some cases. Let's take a closer look at these!
Switch Switch is exactly as the name implies, two defenders are "switching" assignments. In my defense it is the FS, and the OSS to the side the ball is being run to. All the other defenders react in the same manner, however the OSS to the side the ball is being run, will come down inside and play outside 1/2 of QB to pitch. The FS will overlap the OSS and rally to the pitch. This is a good stunt to run if your FS is having trouble getting to his normal assignment, or getting "cloudy" reads from the slot that is load blocking down inside. The OSS is taught "quick to the line of scrimmage (LOS), then settle and feather". This gives the QB the illusion of some sort of outside blitz, but allows the OSS to maintain leverage on both the QB and the pitch.
Switch
Sift Sift is a stunt that I commonly used against read option teams (to see how I run it vs. spread run teams, go here) with excellent success. Against the triple option, this involves the LB and the DE to the side the ball is being run. The DE, will mash the offensive tackle (OT) down inside on a veer release, however he will "squat" on the LOS once the OT is at his inside hip and play up field for the QB. The LB to the side of action will come hard down off the hip of the offensive guard (OG) and play the dive. The FS and OSS to the run action side will execute their base assignments vs. the triple option. This has been good to me against teams that like to run the point mesh method, or "no mesh, mesh" method of reading the triple option (for more information on this technique read these posts, or go here). This creates a "cloudy" read for the QB, which usually results in a pull read, leaving the QB running right into the hands of the DE.
Sift
Slice Slice is an aggressive stunt that is extremely effective against option teams that either do not pitch the ball much, or are not adept in the pitch phase of the triple option. This stunt involves the DE to the side the ball is being run, blowing up field after jamming the OT. The DE will disrupt the pitch after a quick shiver is applied to the OT. The LB to the action side, will still slam down off the hip of the OG to his side, just as he did in the "Sift" stunt. The OSS, however, will come screaming down the LOS in order to force a hard and quick pitch by the unsuspecting QB. The FS will overlap this stunt, and will take pitch all the way.
Slice
Now, I usually take two of these into a game with me on game week. Three, in my opinion, is too much for the high schooler to memorize in 1 week. I have even done this with just 1 stunt in my game plan. No matter, you need to be able to have a way to "switch up" the reads or an option team will eventually pick at your perimeter run support and find a way to outflank you.
Looks like 1 too many stunts...
Let's Review Whichever way you choose to play this offense, the key player is the "plus one" player. The defense must always have a sound way for getting the extra defender across the midline of the formation to help in playing the option. This is done in robber coverage with the FS. He has to be able to react to motion, and move to the new read side and play the QB. If you do not have 2 players on the QB, you will not have success against this offense. I hope this helps, and keep checking back here for more. Please, keep hitting me up on the emails and comments, let me know what you need and I'll keep digging to find it.
Ok, so I got bored and decided to post BEFORE Memorial Day. Actually...I ran outta beer! Enjoy!
Also, special thanks to those men and women who have served and are serving our country. Thanks for making this the best place on Earth to live and live free!
Reading a lot on the Huey board and finding that a lot of folks don't seem to understand the basics of defensive football. More particularly, the questions about what defense and why. I see on there, entirely too much, "Best Defense for Double Wing" or "Best Defense With no Defensive Linemen", "Best Coverage vs. Air Raid Concepts" etc. To which I roll my eyes and go, "Here we go again!". I'm really not trying to talk down to anyone, because I used to be the EXACT same way, until one day a light went off in my head, and that's really what I want to share with you. For those of you that are still adamant that the 3-3 stack is the best defense in football, or NOBODY can run on my 4-4 robber scheme, please, reserve reading this for when you've opened your minds a little more. For those that want to learn about the basics of defense, stick with me, I won't lead you astray!
I look like a trustworthy guy...right?
Basics- The Scheme If you are defensive coordinator (DC) the first thing you had to do, was pick what defense you wanted to run. To some this is an easy task, many pick up a defense they ran in college, or high school, or run what the former DC they learned under ran (which was my case). I took over for a guy who stepped down to just position coach after 25 years in the business; he had run the 50 Monster and the 4-3 (I called it the Stoops 4-3 because it came from the University of South Florida, when Leavitt was there and Leavitt and Stoops were cut from the same mold) and had very good success with both. He had moved to the 4-3 from the 50 after the infiltration of the spread, and because of the proximity of where he coached to the University of South Florida (a die hard 4-3 team back in those days). Well, I had coached defensive line (DL) and defensive backs (DB's) under him, and was named his successor, so I just ran what I knew, his 4-3. Anyway, enough with history, the basis here is that everyone has to pick a basic scheme to run. No matter where you get it, you have to pick a base. Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you to run the 4-3 because it's the most awesomest, gnarliest, bad-to-the-bone defense that every stepped on to a gridiron. No sir, that's not me, as I firmly believe that all defenses work. They have to, or else there wouldn't be so many different ones out there. The golden rule here is "There are no magic bullets". You WILL NOT install a defense that will make your 5'6" 165 pound defensive end (DE) play like Jevon Kearse. I'm sorry, I wish that were the case, but it just doesn't work that way. So where to start? Let's look at that. When starting out, I'd look at these key elements when picking a defense:
What do you know?- This is important, as you must be able to fix it when it's broken, and you must be able to not only teach it to your kids, but in some cases, you must be able to teach it to your assistant coaches. Going with what you know is a good first step in identifying what defense you would like to run. That being said, it is obviously not the only factor a good DC must weigh, when searching for "his" defense.
What "fits" your kids?- This is much tougher than number one, and will be addressed later on in this article. The key, to me, here is don't necessarily look at right now. If you were like me, and had been at one place long enough to see a broad picture of the average talent base, year in and year out, then consider yourself lucky. Most of us dont' get that opportunity, however all is not lost. You can do a couple of things to get an idea of what your average talent level is where you coach. These are:
Talk to any former coaches where you are. You'd be surprised how many still want to help, pick their brains and see what you get there. Remember, they were here before you, and you can learn a lot from history, as history often repeats itself.
Talk to long standing teachers or administration. Basically the same as number one, yet probably with less insight into actual talent. Still a viable resource though.
Youth Coaches. These are great, and they want to help so bad they can taste it. Some can be super arrogant, but most just want to help the program. See what they are seeing, as this is your window into the future.
PE Coaches, at Junior High and Elementary Level. These are the same as the youth coaches, but I think it's even better because they get a look at ALL the kids, not just the ones that play football. As some of you know, little Johnny's mom won't let him play when he's 7, but when he's an amped up adolescent, she may kick his butt out to the gridiron! These PE coaches get to see these kids daily, and should be able to tell you which ones are the good athletes or how each class should stack up, possibly giving you a window into what kind of talent base you have.
What "fits" your coaching staff? A very overlooked concept in my opinion. You don't want to "out coach" your coaches! Your assistants need to be able to, not only learn the system, but help you sell it as well. If they don't know what you are trying to install or don't understand it, then you may lose them. This is the first step in NOT selling the kids on the defense. The players must see all the coaches "all-in" on what's being installed or your efforts will be futile.
Once you've picked the scheme, you can organize the scheme and package it in a way that you can teach it to your players.
Organization/Packaging Once you have a scheme in place, you now have to develop it. You build a defense just like you do a house, from the ground up. To start with, an often overlooked concept in football (and life) is communication. Football players and coaches MUST be able to communicate. The players must understand the language you are speaking. Remember, just because you know what terms like "leverage" and "force" and "wrong-arm" mean, does not mean your kids will. In some cases you will be teaching a new vocabulary for the kids to learn. This will help both players and coaches with communication. What I do, in this part of the process, is begin with a scratch sheet of terms we plan to use, and then give them definitions. If I think we can call something different, so that the players can better understand, then we do so. For instance, at my last coaching gig, we were teaching the basics of the wrong-arm technique. I was assisting the DL coach, and overheard a player say "Why are they teaching us this stuff, if it's the wrong way to do it?". Funny to say the least, but hey, at least the kid was honest. So we changed the name of the technique from wrong-arm to "splatter" (yes we stole this from the Scream and Splatter). Anyhow, the kids understood that much better, and it also sounded better to them. Another funny instance was we were using the words TAN and NAT for our tackle and nose stunts. When I first started with this defense these worked as TAN meant the tackle slanted and nose looped, with NAT being the opposite (T before N, meant tackle before nose etc.). For some odd reason, the kids kept forgetting or getting confused, so my "ever so elaborate" DL coach, changed them to TITS and NUTS. Mothers didn't care for it, but the 16 year-old mind, ate it up! We did not have any problems remembering our assignments after that! Anyhow, the point here is, you have to base your defense around communication. Communication is the top breakdown in, not only football, but in any organizational endeavour you may be involved in. Without communication, your defense is just 11 bodies playing football as individuals. Do not negate this step in developing your defense.
Kinda gets your attention doesn't it?
Once I start my scratch sheet of terminology, I keep it with me as I develop the names of the players that will play for me. Some can be simple such as Nose, End Tackle etc. However you name this, give the name a meaning or purpose. Don't get too carried away with this concept either. All you need to be able to do is tell a kid to "go play mike" and that player know, "oh, that's the middle linebacker". These position names are usually one of the first items on my terminology list.
Once you've got the position names, you now need the position attributes. This can be a tough part, but it has to be done. This is no different than if you were to start your own business and you give out job descriptions for your employee. How can you possibly ask someone to be good at their job if YOU don't know what "it" is that you are asking them to do? No different in the game of football (remember the blog title is Football is Life!). You need to know what you are going to ask of each position. What is each positions job description? Don't tie these things down to player attributes, especially if you are in the high school game or even lower levels. You can't recruit, and you have to just accept what you get, so tying a position down to player attributes is senseless. I've been down this road before, and all it does is give you a headache when you find out over half of your players don't fit your physical criteria. Use this list you develop to search out and locate players that will have the potential to do what is being asked of them by the scheme. This is the first step in putting the square peg in the square hole.
You want to avoid this situation if possible.
Fronts
Once you've labeled the positions, and described their duties to the defense, now you can get down to the technical aspect of building your defense. Like I always say, start from the ground up. The first thing I look at is the fronts. More specifically, how am I going to call the front? "13" is much shorter than "Eagle Zipper Hero", and a whole heck of a lot easier to shout out in the final two minutes of that illustrious State Championship game we all want to coach in. Keep things as simple as possible. I have used both numbers and names over the years to call my fronts, and have been the happiest with numbers to set my front. Obviously whatever you call your fronts needs to be added to your terminology list as you go. In the background you need to be thinking "How can I signal/communicate this to my players?". It's all fine and dandy to sit at the dining room table and think, yeah Bear Foxtrot is a great name for this front and blitz, but how the hell are your going to signal that in, especially if you choose not to use wristbands? Keep these things in mind when deciding what to call your fronts. Again, all roads lead back to communication. As always the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) method applies here.
Wonder if they got the call right?
One other item in calling the front is "tags". Just like offensive coordinators (OC's) use route tags or blocking tags to change up an assignment, DC's can do the same. A "tight" call in our defense means that no matter what the offense comes out in, both our defensive ends (DE's) will be in 5 techniques. So the call "31 Tight" puts the front in a 3 weak, and 1 strong, with both DE's in 5 techniques. Tags should definitely be one word, and more importantly one syllable words. Again, you don't want to have to say "13 Rover Slide, when you could just say "13 Slide". Tags are a must though, as they help adjust and tweak your defense to be multiple (which will be discussed later).
So to summarize, keep front names, short, logical and easy to communicate. You do this and you are well on your way to developing a rock solid defense.
Coverages
Once your front has been establish, now it's time to put the roof on the house! The secondary is a vital important part of your defense, as it determines your front's alignment (thank you brophy, if you haven't checked out his site go here immediately after reading). Most coverages are called with a number, I prefer colors or tags to calling things as it lends itself to being more mysterious to figure out what we are doing for the offense. When you stand there on the sideline holding up the number 2, it isn't too hard to figure out what coverage you are going to be in. Again, just like the front, keep it simple and easy to communicate. Now I know what you are thinking "Duece how many coverages should I run?". Well, I can say this, I've run as little as 2, and as many as 6 in my years as a DC. It all depends on your situation, but over the years I've averaged probably 4 coverages per season. I feel, in the secondary, you need the following:
Man Coverage- I think you need some form of man coverage. I taught cover 0, for blitzing purposes. Man coverage is not hard to teach, man coverage adjustments can be tricky, but let's be honest, when your in man, it's street ball baby, go guard your dude!
Base Zone Coverage- Whatever coverage you decide to base out of, this is it. This needs to be a coverage you are comfortable teaching and know inside and out. It needs to be a coverage that has adjustments for just about every situation (and I DON'T mean checking to another coverage). For me, as most know, this is 2 read or Blue coverage (for more on Blue coverage go here to read up).
Alternate Zone Coverage- I think most of us agree, it's hard to sit in just one zone coverage all night and be totally sound. This second coverage for me has been a mix up between squat halves cover 2 and "country" cover 3 (vassdiddy's term), with the latter being my most popular choice. Whatever your second choice is, make sure it meshes well with your first coverage. Try to package these two coverages so that there is a lot of overlapping teaching and more importantly overlapping technique.
That's basically it, for picking your coverages. Now, let me add something here too. If you look at my playbook, you will see over 10 coverages in there. Holy cow! Now, I always look at a playbook like my tackle box when I'm fishing. I may have 10 lures in my tackle box, but on any given day, I only use two or three of these lures. However, I have those other lures there, for just in case that special situation comes up that I have to use it. You don't have to teach all these coverages, and if you hand out playbooks, don't put these additional items (this goes for fronts too) in there. Remember, there is no crime for planning ahead, and there is no problem with having too much in your playbook, so long as you know when and what you are teaching.
Goal line
Every good defense needs a goal line package. My advice here is, keep it as simple as possible so your kids can play to their full aggressiveness. I usually choose to reduce the front and walk up OLB's or safeties closer to the LOS. However you choose to do it, keep it very simple and easy to get into and out of. When selecting coverages, keep it simple here too. I've done both zone and man, and both have their merits. The key here is, minimize the adjustments, and keep your defense's ability to play fast at a premium.
Stunts
Now that a "base" has been established you can now look at how you plan on moving and attacking with your defense. I usually start with stunts, because stunts can be stand-alone items or coupled with blitzes. Stunts are no different than any other part of your defense. These need to have terminology that is "user-friendly" and can easily be coupled with the front call and maybe a blitz call to communicated the play at hand. You don't want to be stating "Stack TAN Atlanta Bullets Away", when you could easily call 13 Bullets A instead. The naming of the play is ever so critical in the communication process, that you need not overlook it when developing your defense. The "nuts and bolts" of both stunts and blitzes are tags and codewords that move players to either certain areas or gaps within the offense. How you choose to communicate this is vital to the success of your defense. When looking at stunts, figure out a couple of things before putting pen to paper:
Can my players do what I'm asking?- No need to develop a base defense around your players, only to turn around and have them be asked to run stunts that they simply cannot do. The longstick looks good on paper, however if your DE simply cannot execute this technique what do you do? Do your fire the DE for his backup? I think not. You need to couple the stunts with the same philosophy on why you chose your defense in the first place.
Will I actually use or need the stunt?- This is a serious dilemma, as in our minds at the desk in our office, sure we are going to feel the need for the stunt. When in actuality you may never use the darn thing. Again, there's nothing wrong with having it in the playbook, but you can save a ton of time and energy eliminating stunts you feel you will not need or use.
This is probably NOT a good stunt!
Blitzes
Blitzes are no different than stunts, basically speaking. You need a way to get certain players to attack certain gaps, and be able to communicate this effectively and in a timely manner. The rules for blitzes are the same, because to be honest, you can draw up a boat load of blitzes, to find you only use a handful of them in a single season. Again, no penalty for having them, but how many of us have the time to draw up 50 blitzes? A couple of items, in addition to the ones listed for stunts to consider are:
How will the blitz adjust to certain formations?- The worst thing you can do as DC, in my opinion, is have your defense check out of a blitz all together. If you can only run a blitz to certain formations, I say don't use it. You will need to build in some "fool-proof" adjustments so that your players can make these on the move, and then still bring aggressive pressure (remember the old adage, "paralysis, by analysis"). No need to have players moving and thinking too much, as this simply slows down your pressure package and plays right into the hands of what your opponent's offense is doing. I know I keep beating a dead horse here, but these adjustments must be able to be communicated quickly so that the defenders can adjust, realized their new or altered assignment and get back to what it is that you were intending to do...BRING PRESHA (stole that from brophy too, damn, I'm such a thief)! Don't use "Check Razor" when "switch" will do. Remember, in football, "less is more".
Build in a "bluff" system.- This is important to me, because I've found it's very difficult to get the high school and lower level kids to not show their blitz intentions. The other thing is if you don't show, sometimes your guys don't get to their intended target. The easiest thing to do is to "bluff" your look. You can do this numerous ways, and the way I do it, is simply call "show" before the blitz name. This means we are NOT blitzing, yet "showing" the blitz and backing out at the last minute. This is a very simple change up, and will keep opposing offenses on their toes, especially if you are a pressure based defense.
Blitz Coverage
When developing your pressure package, one item you need to look at is, how am I going to cover it? The traditional manner is play cover 0 or cover 1 (man) and get after it. Absolutely nothing wrong with this, and I even based out of this a year ago myself, however don't knock zone blitzing either. Zone blitzing is a great technique, that has numerous advantages over it's man-to-man counterpart. Taking a look at the pros and cons of each:
Man Coverage- Pros
Simple- Adjusts to everything, everybody has a clear cut assignment.
Works for every blitz- With simple adjustments man coverage works with just about any blitz you can draw up.
Can send more than 5- Zone blitzes are usually regulated to sending 5 and dropping 6, whereas you can send as many as you want so long as you can cover the eligibles you are good.
Man Coverage- Cons
Matchup issues- If you're not careful you can end up with serious matchup issues by having a LB covering a slot receiver, or simple matchup problems where their Jimmy is better than your Joe. Either way, man coverage is very limited to the matchups you can bring to the table. The more of these in your favor, the better off you are in man coverage.
Not all 11 eyes on the ball- DB's that are in coverage are not watching the football, thereby reducing the amount of eyes you have on the football. This is why screens and draws are effective methods of hurting man blitz schemes. Also, these schemes can be deadly if a run play breaks the second level of the defense, as the third level has its eyes on their man.
Motion/Shift Confusion- Offenses that find you in man coverage will test your defenses ability to adjust by motion or shifting. This can confuse man defenders and result in two defenders covering one receiver. Not hard to work on, but when it happens, it's usually six!
Not a good coverage vs. the option- The man-to-man defense is severely limited in attacking option schemes as run support can be reduced by simply having a slot receiver run a route, thereby running off the dedicated force player. For this reason, man coverage teams have a tough time pressuring the option schemes.
Zone Coverage- Pros
All 11 eyes on the football- Great at stopping both the run and the pass. Zone blitzing severely negates the draw and screen game offenses use to beat pressure schemes.
No Motion/Shift Confusion- As long as the underneath droppers can understand where they are supposed to be, and don't lose leverage on the formation, you are sound as a pound, and if one of them does bust an assignment, you still have three deep zone defenders behind them to cover up the mess. This is not the case in man coverage.
Sound against the option- With all 11 attacking the option, and still having two dedicated force players to either side of the offense, you can actually bring pressure against option attacks.
Zone coverage- Cons
Holes in the zones- It's still zone coverage, and as we all know, there are holes in it. Man coverage covers up these issues, however the good thing is in the zone coverage you have defenders there to make a tackle , that might not otherwise be there in man coverage.
Matchup issues- Some zone schemes involve dropping your DL as a middle dropper, or the #2 dropper into the boundary. This can pose certain matchup problems if this defender is not an adequate enough athlete to do so.
Adjustment issues- A good zone blitz scheme must be able to adjust to multiple formations. You don't want to get caught with a DE dropping to the field, or a nose as the #2 dropper, when he should be the #3 dropper. It is not impossible to create these adjustments, but it does take some practice, work and good communication to stay sound vs. the myriad of formations/motions/shifts you may see throughout and entire football season.
Practice time- In my experience, zone blitzing takes much more work and practice time to be effective. Not knocking it, as I love the zone blitz it involves more people that are not used to covering (DL) than man coverage does.
No matter how you choose to pressure the offense, keep it simple, clear and concise. Players cannot react and get after the offense if they are constantly having to think, or are in a state of confusion. The key here is "less is more". When you start devising these blitz and stunt schemes you will realize that the possibilities are endless. Well, endless, can lead to win less, especially if you try to install all of the potential blitzes and stunts you come up with. Think about blitzes and stunts that would work well in your league. Look at ways to draw up one blitz, but maybe draw it up four ways with a LB attacking a different gap on each blitz, but the DL stunting the same. This keeps teaching to a minimum, by only altering what one player is doing. I call this "multiplicity through simplicity" and it has worked well for me over the years (go here to see some of what I did with TCU's blitz package).
Special Defenses
No matter what league you play in, or what level, you are always going to need some "special" tweaks to your defense in order to handle certain things you will see throughout the course of a season. This may be no more than a nickel or dime package to handle end of the game situations or two-minute defensive situations, but these need to be planned for and located somewhere in your playbook. However you choose to do this, whether it be with base personnel, or if you decide to switch to nickel or dime, write out how you plan on doing this. Some things to ask are:
How am I going to get into this special defense?- Whether it's a personnel change or a major coverage change you need to be prepared. Think how you can communicate this in one of the most heated environments in all of football...the two minute drill.
If you go to nickel or dime personnel, how are you going to get into or out of it?- You need a clear cut defined system for getting into and out of personnel groupings. What do you do if during the two minute drill, the offense is faced with a third-and-one? Your defense needs a good system for getting players into the right places and in a timely manner. Plan this out in the off-season, so you are not scrambling with 1:22 left to go in the fourth quarter of a district or playoff game!
Why am I getting into this defense, and can I do without switching personnel?- This question should've been at the top of the list, as it is a very important one to ask. I based out of nickel personnel a year ago, and I had to ask myself in goal line situations, should I have another personnel package to handle that? I felt like I could get it done with the guys we had, so we did not switch, however in some cases we could have used this "heavy" or "jumbo" package to help us out. If you can do it without switching, you've simplified your defense in numerous ways, however most of us are not blessed with this kind of "every down" talent, and need to have adjustments. If you can eliminate this adjustment, you have less specialized teaching ahead of you, which makes for less "moving parts" in your defense.
Special/Additional Fronts/Coverages
Some offenses require that extra little tool or weapon you need to make their lives miserable. This could be anything from a 6-1 look to defend the Flexbone, to run the 4-3 Lightning vs. the Wing-T. Now I'm not saying you need these packages, but in some cases these additional items can be that extra bullet in the gun you need to attack your opponent's offense. When looking at these additional defensive packages, here are some thoughts you should weigh on before adding:
Will I use this package?- For years I had a stunt package that was in my defense for the Wing-T. We used twice in one year, and then did not use if for four years after that. If that's the case, save your paper and print that part of the playbook out when and if you ever decide to use that particular package. No need giving your players a bunch of stuff to look over they are not going to use, remember "less is more".
Add this package to YOUR playbook!- What I mean here is, if you have to convert terminology, do so. Don't add language or terms that may already be in your playbook. Unnecessary verbiage is the first step in the demise of the communication process in your defense.
Don't have multiple packages that do the same job.- Before I knew it, as a DC, I had three or four ways to defend the Flexbone. I also had a similar issue for the Wing-T and Double Wing. Find a package you like, and that fits your kids, and use that. Try to incorporate it from year to year, so there is less teaching time involved on a yearly basis. This allows this special package to become more of an adjustment than a special defense.
Don't use a completely different defense to do what your defense should be built to do.- This is key. Don't get into the 3-4 from the 4-4 because you heard it was the "best" front against the triple option. To be quite honest, there is no BEST front out there, they are all good defenses with their own set of strengths and weaknesses. Even the 46 can defend the option (as some people say it can't) just like cover 3 WILL work against the spread (if executed properly). Build things INTO your defense. As was once stated on the Huey board "play defense, not defenses".
Terminology
Remember that scratch list at the beginning of the article? Well, time to refine it. Once you have developed your terms, alphabetize them, and then review them (alphabetizing helps you find them easier when editing). Could you get away with less? Do you have terms that are similar in sound, but dissimilar in meaning? Do you have terms that are being used for basically the same thing? Try to trim your list down as much as possible. Once you have done this step, now look and see if you can find synonyms to the words you have chosen that might be shorter, or "fit" better than the original word you used. Also, see if you can find a word that's easier to communicate than your original word you came up with. "31" is a heap more simple to communicate than "Eagle" or "Under". Some may argue, but try finding a hand signal for eagle or under. Also, if using wristbands the number 31 obviously takes up less room than eagle or under as well.
I'm beginning to think this to be true...
Signals
If you are signaling in your defense with hand signals, make sure to make calls that will fit. This needs to be a tedious process, as you can find yourself in a world of trouble if you can't signal in your defense. You need to have signals that relate to what you are trying to communicate. Try to make these calls as dissimilar to each other as possible when developing these. This way there is no confusion as to what you are calling.
I've used wristbands, and this method of signalling has it's merits and drawbacks. Make sure the players can read the wristband underneath those Friday night lights. They DO look different in an outdoor setting compared to what they look like in the light of your home or office. Prepare for this, because the worst case is you not being able to signal to your defense what you need them to do. I also recommend NOT using numbers for coverages if you use numbers to delineate the calls on your wristband (yes, I actually did this one year, and it was a major cluster trying to check fronts and coverages). I recommend using names or colors for your coverages if this is how you plan on signalling in your defense.
However you decide to do the on the field communication, write down how you plan to do it. If you are going to do hand signals, then write them down, and describe them. If you use wristbands, write up a plan for creating and editing these wristbands.
A side note with wristbands, is to have a backup plan if the bands fail. If the kids can't read them, or they get left at home for an away game, have a backup plan so you can still effectively signal in your defense. Believe me, this CAN and WILL happen, and you NEED to be prepared for it!
"Eagle Zipper Hero"...my favorite!
Other Recommendations
Some simple things I've compiled that I recommend for every DC is as follows. This list is not an end-all-be-all, however I think it's a very good guide to go by, and that's why I'm sharing!
Whatever front you run, have a way to get into a different look. A defense that is multiple, is much better than one that is overly simple.
If you are an odd front, have a call that puts you in an even front look, and vice versa. Many offenses have rules based on odd and even fronts, or covered and uncovered linemen. By mixing this up, you test the offenses ability to adjust and adapt to what you are doing.
The same is true for coverages, have a way to go from middle of the field open (MOFO) coverages to middle of the field closed coverages (MOFC).
Even better, be able to disguise this look. However the basis here is, if you are a 2 high safety structure, have a way to play 1 high coverages and vice versa.
Don't add it if you don't need it. Many of us WANT to run certain fronts, stunts, and coverages, but you have to ask yourself do I really NEED it?
Don't run it if your player can't play it. Similar to the above, but even more defined. If your DB's struggle with zone coverage, more than likely man to man is not necessarily the answer. This is a tough one too, because often times, it doesn't matter what you run, your players are simply not athletic enough to run either. The main question then is, which of these CAN my players do best. Once you find the answer to that, then go from there.
The latter bullet, got me to thinking too, don't look at what you CAN'T do, look at what you CAN do. This is very important for more reasons than one. First, the human mind associates the word "can't" with negativity. As a coach, you can ill afford to have negativity brought into your defense. However if your mind is in the negative, your players will soon follow. Look at things in terms of that what your players can do. Secondly, every defense CAN do something well. Even if you have to list the "can's" and "cannots" of your players, do so. This will give you a glimpse into how you can blueprint a defense around your players strengths, thereby minimizing their weaknesses.
This article is not meant to "cookbook" defensive football. There is no standard recipe for success. What there is though are some very valid points to look over and address when installing your defense. I hope this has touched on these points and been helpful in some way. Keep the comments and the emails coming, and hopefully some of this stuff will lead to some success for you on the field.
