The Five Spoke Secondary Part III

In this segment on the Five Spoke Secondary Posts, I'll delve into the blitz strategy that one can institute using TCU's blitz scheme as a template.  Now, a lot of this IS NOT what TCU does, but IS some thing that myself and other coaches have done in the past when utilizing the 4-2-5 defense.

The Basics

To review the coverage aspects of TCU's blitz coverage scheme, simply known as Cover 0, we need to review the rules and the adaptations that TCU has in adapting their coverages to fit their blitz scheme.  The rules in TCU's Cover 0 are very simple and are as follows:

The scheme is completely based upon match ups.  Generally speaking, in college football, unless the tight end you are covering is Gronkowski, then there's no need to waste a corner here in that match up.  So, vs. closed sets (twins closed, or trips closed) then the corner to the nub side will simply "flip" over to the other side and cover the other "number one" receiver in the count.  An illustration of the count system is shown below.

Typical Count System

Count System vs. Twins Closed

Count System vs. Trips Closed

As you can see from the illustrations above, this count system is adapted to the Cover 0 scheme to keep corners covering receivers, and linebacker (LB)/safety types covering tight ends (TE's) and running backs (RB's).  One thing missing from the list of rules is the diagnosing of the position of the number two receiver.  In general, the Strong Safety (SS) and Weak Safety (WS) will have the number two receiver to their respective side, outside the tackles.  If no number two receiver outside the tackles, then they are deemed as "free".  The Free Safety (FS) will handle the number three receiver outside of the tackle box, and if there isn't a number three receiver outside the tackle box, then the FS is listed as "free".  The Read Side LB, will have the number three receiver inside the tackle box and the Away Side LB will have the number two receiver inside the tackle box to his side.

Now, as we know, somebody is blitzing, so there won't be seven defenders involved in coverage.  As is the case with  most six man pressures, there will be five guys in coverage.  The FS is generally the adjuster when it comes to blitzing in this scheme, however this isn't always the case.  There are also some calls when a defender, by alignment, does not have good leverage on who he is supposed to cover (as is the case when the SS is asked to cover an attached TE).  In this case, the SS and FS can "banjo" the TE, so long as the FS is not covering somewhere else for another blitzer (think Bullets vs. two back sets for instance).  The LB's also have some calls and rules that help them distinguish who is covering who, but for this post, I am just concerned with the fact that you know the basics.

Banjo concept

Blitz Coverage

Now that the basic rules have been established a quick review of some basic man blitzes from the 4-2-5 is listed below:

• Bullets- Both LB's blitzing.  This means all five defensive backs (DB's) will be involved in the coverage (although the coverage is not just limited to the DB's, the defensive line (DL) can also be involved by adding certain calls).
• Smokes/Lions- One or both of the outside safeties (OSS's) are blitzing.  In this case, the LB's, and the FS would be involved in coverage along with the Corners.  If tagged, a DL could also be involved.
• Dogs- An OSS and a LB are blitzing to one side of the formation.  Now, both Corners, the FS, a LB and the OSS not blitzing are part of the coverage.
• Bullets Thunder- This means an OSS, and both LB's are blitzing.  Now a DL must be added into the coverage mix along with the OSS not blitzing, the Corners and the FS.
• Mob- Here, both OSS's are blitzing (if they can by rule) and the LB's are blitzing.  The DL, the FS and the Corners are all now part of the coverage.

Again, this is just the basics.  I know TCU does this, and Boise State does that, etc., but this is just meant to be a review.  I strongly suggest going to Cripes! Get Back to Fundamentals or to Blitzology to get a better understanding of each individual blitz if you aren't familiar with them already.

For this post, I'm focusing mainly on the secondary and how it handles blitzing one of its own.  Bullets are not a major factor, because the five "cover guys" are doing just what they do best...cover.  What I'm more concerned with are when one, or both of the OSS's are involved in a blitz.  

To understand the blitz coverage, one needs to review the second post in this series about alignment.  Your blitz attack, should mirror your base defense against the offense you are facing.  To drastically alter your alignment just to blitz is to tip off exactly what you are trying to do to the offense.  When blitzing members of the secondary (mainly Dogs and Smokes) there are a variety of ways to tag the blitz as to know who and where the blitz is going to be coming from.  These tags are critical when matching the blitz up to base alignments.  Let's take a look at each series of blitzes involving a member of the secondary to  understand who this system works.

Smokes

As mentioned above, Smokes are a safety blitz, by either one or both of the OSS's.  Smokes can be tagged Wide, Short, Thunder or Lightning.  A wide call indicates that the safety to the wide side of the field will be blitzing.  A short call would be just the opposite.  Thunder indicates the safety to run strength will be blitzing, while Lightning is the opposite tag, meaning the safety away from run strength would blitz.  A Double Smoke call would indicate that both safeties are blitzing.

Coverage, when blitzing a DB has to be set up in a way that no man is left open.  One unique thing I noticed when learning this defense is that TCU rarely checks out of blitz.  If a cover guy is needed to cover instead of blitz, he covers and someone else will blitz for him.  For instance, if a Double Smoke is called vs. a 2x2 set, then one of the safeties, by rule, cannot blitz because you have a match up issue with an inside LB (ILB) covering a speedy wide receiver (WR).  This situation is where one of the safeties will make a "switch" call.  What switch does is put the DB in coverage and lets the ILB take the responsibility of blitzing.

Where the flexibility of the defense comes into play is clearly evident with the switch call.  I'll add to this even further.  I faced a very dangerous RB  in the past that was as deadly running the ball as he was catching it out of the backfield.  During that week, we changed the Smoke scheme up to where we ended up with the FS coming down into the box to cover the RB and both ILB's ran the Smoke, instead of the safeties.  This is illustrated below.

What this allowed us to do was keep a six man pressure on, and keep our best coverage options in place.  The reason we didn't simply call it Moe and Woe (in TCU terms this is Mike off Edge and Will off Edge, although I think TCU calls their ILB's Mike and Sam) was that sometimes they would line up said good RB as a slot receiver and bring in their backup.  In that case, we didn't want to switch both sides, only the side this player was on.  Again, you can see the flexibility of the defense.  Our guys were simply trained, that when this player (who wore jersey number 21) aligned in the slot, that safety covered and gave a switch call.  Everyone else simply ran Double Smoke.

If this would've been to the other side of the defense, we had our FS cover number 21, and ran the exact same look.  The reason for this is simple, despite the fact our SS is labeled as a safety is only in name.  This player, generally has been more LB than safety.  In the theme of keeping the best match ups possible, our FS was a better cover player than our SS, so we let the SS run the Smoke, and the FS would cover number 21.  My main point here is to not get caught up in what TCU does, but understand the basic concept and the dynamics of the scheme.

Dogs

As I discussed earlier, Dogs are both a Bullet and a Smoke to one side of the formation.  Dogs are similar to Smokes in that they can be called Wide and Short, as well as Strong and Weak.  One common problem with Dogs, is that of coverage.  The FS has to cover for the blitzing OSS, whereas the opposite OSS may be asked to come across the formation and handle a third receiving threat.  This was never more evident that when TCU faced Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl a few years back.  The play that sealed the game was a Dog blitz run into a Trips formation.  The problem with Dogs is if the WS doesn't get over in time to cover the number three receiver out of these formations.  I've alluded to this in other posts on TCU's blitz scheme.

In the above example, the "Frog" Dog is a Dog blitz run to the side of the offset RB (in this example it would be called Frog Dogs C in TCU terminology).  As we can see the blitz coverage rules hold up, with the FS covering for the blitzing SS and the WS handling the number two receiver outside the tackle box.  The away side LB would have the RB.  Now, the away side LB doesn't have very good leverage here, so the blitz would more than likely be tagged with something such as a "peel" call so that there would be flare control on the RB.  No matter, the basics are pretty much covered.  Against a trips set, things would shake out as follows:

Again, all of this is just the basics.  The FS covers for the blitzer, but must signal to the WS to cover the number three receiver to the read side.  The away side LB will take the RB.  Again, TCU utilizes some other calls that assist the LB that isn't blitzing in his coverage on the RB.

Where the flexibility comes into play is with something I encountered back in 2013.  I had two prototypical deep safeties.  Long, rangy, and both ball hawks.  Both were pretty good in coverage, and did a decent job of coming downhill and playing in the box when needed to.  My problem was my SS.  My SS was a young man, of tremendous heart and character, but extremely small stature, and minimal athletic ability to be labeled a "DB".  His coverage skills were poor, but he had a knack for getting to the football.  His 5'5" 165 pound frame didn't lend him well to playing inside the box, because as soon as an offensive lineman (OL), got his hands on him he was finished.  Where this young man really excelled was when we brought him off the edge, these same OL, couldn't block him.  His quickness and lateral change of direction speed in tight areas made him a nightmare to block.  To add to this, my WS was almost the complete opposite.  When he blitzed him, he was easily picked up, and quite simply put, didn't care anything at all about being blitzed.  Don't get me wrong, he was smart, and was a master at keeping the away side coverage aligned and in the proper call, but he just didn't have that knack for getting after a ball carrier, or QB when being blitzed.  What would end up happening to us, is we'd get into a blitz, and by alignment or motion, it would end up being the WS getting blitzed and not the SS.  This caused us some grief early on, until discussing the subject with a good friend, shed some light on the flexibility of the scheme.

This was pretty much my SS

What my friend and I came up with is what I later coined "Scottie" blitzes.  Since my SS's name was Scottie, I named it after him!  What a Scottie tag did was tell my SS no matter what the blitz was (Smoke or Dog) he was running the blitz.  For instance, if we wanted to bring a blitz from the boundary, the SS (Scottie) simply switched with our WS and ran the blitz.  The WS would become the safety away from the blitz and cover.  The FS would travel with Scottie and would cover the number two receiver to the side the blitz was being run to.  We had Scottie Dogs and Scottie Smokes, but all of them were consistent.  It was quite simple to teach, and even easier to execute as it actually gave the players less to  think about.  My FS, who could be absent-minded at times, simply had to follow Scottie, and cover the number two receiver outside of the tackles.  My WS, who was very intelligent simply covered the number two receiver outside the tackle box away from the blitz.  A good illustration in the differences between the two blitzes is shown below with a Frog Dog.  Normally, to a trips set with the RB set weak, the weak side LB and WS would blitz this formation and the SS and FS would cover number two and number three, respective, to the trips side.  Well, if we were running a Scottie Frog Dog, then our SS simply went to the side of the RB and blitzed, whereas the WS replaced him, covering the number two receiver into the trips side.

What this little tactic did to our blitz scheme was actually twofold.  First, it put our best blitzer doing what he did best, blitz.  It also kept him from being in coverage, where he was, quite simply put, a liability.  Secondly, this made blitzing our WS EVEN BETTER.  Yes, you read that right.  Teams would scheme us, and figure out who our blitz guy was and so we were seeing them adjust protection in the direction of "Scottie".  Well, we'd Dog or Smoke away from Scottie every now and then and those blitzes hit pay dirt over 95 percent of the time that season.  Even though we weren't sending our best blitzer, it's easy to blitz when a team doesn't think your blitzing!

Conclusion

Again, as with the other posts in this series, one can see you don't have to run the 4-2-5 verbatim to what they do in Fort Worth.  The general idea behind Gary Patterson's scheme is so much more than just being able to call "Field G Army Wide Dogs B Silver".  It's the ability to pigeon-hole your players into what fits them the best within the defense.  Had I just simply stuck to what TCU did in 2013, we wouldn't have been anywhere near as good of a defense.  If there is one thing that you should take away from these posts, it is the age-old football axiom of "Think Players, not Plays".  This used to be an offensive point of wisdom, passed from one offensive coordinator to the next, however it can also be adapted to the defensive side of the football.  Don't ask your players to be something they are not.  My Scottie, was not a DB, as he struggled with man-to-man coverage, despite us doing one-on-ones' on a daily basis.  What he could do, was be the most disruptive little "fly-in-the-ointment" when we blitzed him.  Flip that around and the same could be said for our WS.  He wasn't going to do well if we blitzed him, yet, he was very solid in coverage.  Again, adapting the scheme to fit your players is the common theme or thread that needs to be taken away from these posts.  Hopefully I was able get you to understand that in just three posts!

Duece

A Safer Way to Play Quarters Coverage Part II

Well after the first installation on this topic, I'll talk now about some of the adjustments that can be made to defend the weaknesses of Quarters coverage.  This is not going to be a long post, as most of my stuff has been pirated from the likes of Jerry Gordon, as well as some of what Gary Patterson is doing at TCU.  However, failure to mention some of this stuff would inevitably flood my inbox with questions, so I figured why not go ahead and write a post about it?

If you don't own this book, stop reading and go buy it NOW!

The Weaknesses of Quarters Coverage
Typically the first thing you hear people say when asked why they don't run Quarters coverage, or what is the weakness of Quarters coverage is that the flats are weak.  This is so very true, there is not denying this simple fact.  However, let's look at the issue and see why coaches still employ this coverage despite this glaring weakness.

Any coverage that has the flats defended from inside-out is going to be weaker in that area.  The reason being is that a displaced receiver has a yardage advantage over the defender covering him.  Now, move the defender out over the number one receiver and the defense gains a tactical advantage, somewhat.  The flat defender, generally is responsible for forcing the ball back inside on run plays.  Remove this player from the core of the defense, and the offense now gains the tactical advantage on the run.  So, the idea here is to be able to do both.  Of course the way to do both, is in-game adjustments and from scouting, but also from having built-in answers to your coverage issue.  Enter in Cover Two Read.  Some call it a soft Cover Two or a Sink Cover Two, but no matter, it's a way of getting the best out of Quarters and Cover Two, otherwise known as halves coverage.  Again, none of this has no been talked about before, and all of the calls I'm mentioning can be found in Jerry Gordon's book "Coaching the Under Front Defense".

Alert Coverage
Alert Coverage is a tag added to Quarters, that changes the assignment of the corner and the outside linebacker (OLB).  Alert is the way Quarters morphs into Two Read.  Alert is not a good call against a large displacement by the two receivers, nor is it a very good call against a single receiver side.  Alert Coverage is meant to be called to two detached receivers.  Here are the rules:

Corner
Alignment: Corner will still align in traditional alignment of seven yards off and in outside shade.  Corner can also use a press and bail technique.

Assignment: The corner will still play man-to-man on the number one receiver on anything but shallow routes.  Against a wheel call (an out by the number two receiver, called by the safety), the corner will now funnel the number one receiver into the safety and get eyes to the number two receiver.  As the corner sinks, and funnels, he is awaiting to break on the throw to the number two receiver.  The corner only comes off of the number one receiver once the ball is thrown to this receiver.  The corner is also responsible for the wheel by the number two receiver.

Safety
Alignment: The safety, in Alert Coverage must align deeper than he would in traditional Quarters Coverage.  The safety should align 10 to 12 yards deep and be two yards inside the number two receiver.

Assignment: The safety will still play flat-footed, buzz or shuffle on the snap.  All reads are the same as Quarters, except if the number two receiver goes out.  If the number two receiver goes out (usually under the depth of eight yards), then the safety makes the "wheel" call alerting the corner that he now has a route coming at him.  The safety will now pedal and get eyes to the number one receiver.  The safety, on a "wheel" call is now responsible for the number one receiver vertical.

OLB
Alignment: The OLB no longer has to walk out as far against two detached receivers.  The linebacker (LB) can play closer to the box, but should walk out a minimum of five yards from the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMOL).  Into the boundary the OLB need not walk out at all.

Assignment: The OLB is a wall player.  He will wall all crossing routes, and will get hands on any vertical stem by the number two receiver.  The OLB will play the curl zone, and pass crossers off to the middle linebacker (MLB).  The OLB is responsible for the wheel of the number three receiver, should one present itself.

MLB
Alignment: Based on formation.

Assignment: The MLB's assignment is the same in Alert Coverage as it is in Quarters Coverage.

Alert is a great Quarters check for those teams running a lot of quick game against you.  It is still safe against four verticals as the corner is still really playing a deep quarter of the field with his technique if the number two receiver doesn't go out.  Alert is not a good check to a wide displacement by the number one and number two receivers.  If this distance is large, the safety cannot get over the top of the number one receiver, or must cheat his alignment to the point of losing leverage on the number two receiver running vertical.

How the run is defended out of this look is still a matter of debate.  Since I based out of Quarters, and my safeties were my run fit guys, I left it the same in this coverage.  I've had some die-hard Two Read guys tell me I was wrong, but in my opinion, this is just a check, or adaptation to Quarters.  I'm not looking to major in Quarters with a minor in Cover Two.  I just need a check that can help with the quick game against two displaced receivers.  No need to change up everything I'm doing with my base coverage.  I recommend keeping the safety as the force player, but to each their own.

Jump Call
Jump is a more aggressive version of the Alert Coverage shown above.  Jump would be what some refer to as hard Cover Two, or a squat Cover Two look.  Here the corner will reroute the number one receiver, but will not carry him, if he gets a "wheel" call from the safety.  The corner can align the same as always, but with the Jump call, he will actually jump the out by number two rather than the throw to the number two receiver.  For the safety, he will need to align a bit deeper, and possible wider, depending on the split taken by the number one receiver, however he should never align wider than the inside eye of the number two receiver.  With the jump call, the safety must pedal at the snap.  He will not be guaranteed any help if the number two receiver is out, coupled with a vertical stem by number one.  The OLB and MLB play things the exact same way as they do in Alert Coverage.

Might as well...

Jump is when, by game plan, you have the bead on the OC trying to throw the bubble or the arrow routes.  Jump is a very good call to mix in as it will show you have the ability to play some hard Cover Two, even though you are a base Quarters team.  Jump is not a good call when expecting a vertical by the number one receiver, because you aren't guaranteed that the traditional "hole" in Cover Two will be helped by the corner as it would be in Alert Coverage.  Think of the two coverages this way, Alert is safe, Jump is a bit more risky.

Bronco
Bronco is a coverage that TCU has made famous over the past few seasons.  The rules are simple, and in the end it's basically off man.  You can play Bronco Coverage with a banjo concept, or hard and fast man-only-deep (MOD) rules.  However you choose to play it, the coverage is very good against the "spread-to-run" offenses many of us are seeing these days.  The rules for Bronco Coverage are as follows:

Corner
Alignment: The alignment depends on how aggressive you want to be.  I start out teaching a no-switch off man principle, so I play my corners pressed (see diagram below).  The corner is a man-everywhere-he-goes (MEG) defender in Bronco.  Now, if you play a banjo concept, you will want the corner to play deeper, and my recommendation would be to play him at his traditional depth of seven yards, shaded inside the receiver, however.  Neither way is wrong, nor is it better than the other, and I will explain the rules of the two concepts later in this post.

Assignment: When I first teach this, I teach it to the corners as a MEG concept.  For our corners, this coverage is no different than Cover Zero (pure man).  Now if I'm teaching the banjo concept, then the corner has a similar rule to his standard rule in Quarters with one simple change.  In Quarters, the corner will take the number one receiver man, unless he's shallow (routes breaking under eight yards).  In Bronco, I do two things, I reduce the depth to five yards to declare vertical, and I add the words "out".  So, in Bronco, utilizing a banjo concept, I tell my corner he has the number one receiver vertical and out.

Safety
Alignment: The safety will align six yards off and one yard inside a detached number two receiver.  This changes to one yard outside an attached receiver (with five yards of the core of the formation).

Assignment: The safety will have the same rules as the corner in both the basic version of Bronco and the banjo version.  The safety is responsible for the number two receiver vertical and out.  Again, as with the corner, the depth of what I tell them "vertical" is, will be reduced to five yards.  Against inside cuts by the number two receiver, the safety has the choice of calling "push" if he feels the route isn't vertical.  This tells the OLB to let the running back (RB) go, and the safety will now take him.  If the safety feels this route is vertical, of course he would not give the OLB a call and would run with this route man-to-man.  If the safety does give a "push" call, then he will now rob the curl to post of the number one receiver (as he would in Quarters Coverage).

OLB
Alignment: The OLB can take his base alignment as if there was not a detached number two receiver.  In other words, he can remain in the box.  He will even remain in the box against trips formations.  This coverage is designed to free up the LB's to remain in the box and is more focused on them stopping the run than the pass.

Assignment: The OLB, as with Alert and Jump tags, is a wall player and will handle all crossing routes in this coverage.  Crossing routes are passed off between the OLB's and the MLB.  The major difference in Bronco Coverage, when talking to LB's is that they are not dropping off of a numbered receiver.  The OLB's as well as the MLB are responsible for the RB.  The OLB's will take the wheel of the RB, unless given a "push" call by the safety.  

MLB
The MLB's assignment is the same as he would in Quarters.  He is the middle hole dropper and assigned to cover the number RB vertical.

Bronco with no banjo concept

Bronco with the banjo concept

The sole purpose behind Bronco Coverage is to be able to keep the OLB's in the box to defend the run.  I've heard some folks call this "Box Coverage".  Whatever you call it, the coverage is a great adaptation for those posing spread folks that try to play a seven on five or six game in the box by spreading you out with receivers.  No need to get the defense bent out of shape if your opponent doesn't throw the ball out to the receivers very much, or those receivers are no threat to your defense.  The coverage is still safety force, but the OLB's are in a position to handle some of this responsibility as well.  I teach Bronco with a catch-man philosophy, and it does take a bit of getting used to.  The edges of the defense can be soft at times if the wide receivers (WR's) are good at making their stalk blocks look like routes.

Bronco is better served, being played to one side of the field, preferably the short side of the field as shown below.  In the illustration you can see that the OLB is allowed to stay in his home alignment because the coverage to his side is Bronco.  This allows this player to focus more on stopping the run, and less on having to get out to a pass zone.  To the field side you can play whatever you like, in my example, I'm playing Quarters to the field.

Bronco can even be played into three-by-one formations.  It's aggressive, but it is a good coverage if you have the cats to run it.  The only adaptation that needs to be made, is that the single side corner will now have to man up, as he is all alone due to the weak safety being moved over to the trips side of the coverage.  The weak side is played just like Solo coverage.

Bronco into trips

In conclusion, with a few calls and adaptations you can set up Quarters Coverage to work versus many of the common formations and route concepts in the game today.  Now, if you have the time, I recommend installing all of these adjustments.  In the past, I've been able to get Quarters in and perhaps one or two other calls (usually Bronco and Alert).  One year, I ran only Quarters and Bronco and it worked out just fine for the young group I had.  No matter what you do, there will need to be adjustments that you make, as every coverage has a weakness to it, and Quarters Coverage is no exception.

Duece

A Safer Way to Play Quarters Coverage

In all my years coaching this coverage, the number one question that arises is "How is my OLB going to run with a wheel route?".  It happens a lot where I coach at, because the post/wheel route concept is the single most popular concept around.  It was made legendary around here in the early 80's when a local team made several playoff and state championship appearances, with the post/wheel concept being their top concept from a twins formation.  Anyhow, around here, you need to have an answer for this question, or you're going to be in some serious trouble.

Originally, my adjustment was to play 2 read to two detached quick receivers.  This was a great solution, and I've written in length about 2 read, and using it as an adjustment to Quarters coverage.  However, at my last the talent pool was as dry as I've ever coached in.  I still wanted to play a pattern match coverage, but the boss man detested the OLB running with the wheel.  I also didn't have a lot of time to deal with to install multiple coverages and checks to various formations.  What I needed was a coverage that would defend well over 90 percent of what we were going to see.  Well, here's what I came up with, and I'll share with you the differences between standard Quarters, and my version.

General Rules
For the safeties, my Quarters was the standard stuff.  Everything in this coverage was based off what the number two receiver did.  Also, the safety and the corner worked in tandem, not by reading number two, but by communicating what they were seeing their respective receiver doing.  I figured, most of our guys were coming out of youth football where they had played man-to-man coverage, so their eyes were used to being on their man (or in poor cases, the backfield).

What did number two do?  In this case...had a drink!

I taught that the number two receiver could do one of four things, and they are listed below.  One unique thing I taught, was our safeties eyes would follow the number two receiver to his next threat.  I got this from talking with a college coach at a clinic a couple of seasons ago and I really liked it, because it naturally makes sense.  Here are the four reads and reactions we taught our safeties:

1. Go vertical.  If number two goes vertical (depth based on game plan), then the safety would lock on man-to-man.  Standard, 100 percent Quarters stuff right there.
2. Go out.  This was the only route the safety had to make a call on.  The safety would make a "wheel" call to the corner and the OLB to announce that number two was not vertical and was now threatening the flat area.  When number two was out, the safety got his eyes to number one, and was purely a robber player.  I told them this "Eyes to one, rob curl to post".  That simple.  As you can see, the safeties eyes follow the number two receiver to his next threat.  The number two receiver is out, so the safety's eyes follow him to number one.  At this point the safety is in a good position to break on a route coming into the curl area, or work underneath a post route.
3. Go in.  If the number two receiver worked inside off the snap, the safety would follow him with his eyes to the next threat, which in this case is the QB.  The safety would now slow pedal, reading the eyes of the QB.  Usually when the number two receiver drags inside, or slants inside, you're getting a high-low concept, such as post/drag, mesh etc., or you're getting double slants.  Again, the safety is in good position to play these routes by reading the eyes of the QB.  The corner will alert the safety as to what route he's getting so the safety will know how to react by either speed pedaling to work under a post, or driving up on a slant cut.  I'll discuss the corner technique at length later.
4. Block.  I won't discuss run blocking at the moment, because to be honest that horse has been beaten to death on this site (lol).  I'm talking about pass blocking.  In the case of spread offenses this may be a TE or H-back that's been left in to block, rather than run a route.  In this case, the safety's eyes go to his nearest threat, which again, is the QB.  The reactions when the number two receiver block are the same as when number two is inside.

Safety reads vs. #2 out

Safety reads vs. #2 in

Now, depth of these routes are all based on game plan.  In some cases, I've had the safety jump that drag route with a call.  These are just the general rules of our coverage.  Nothing really ground breaking here, except for the teaching of the safety's eyes.  I had never really heard anyone discuss where the safety should put his eyes if number two didn't threaten him vertically.  Now on to the corners.

The corners reads are the biggest change in my version of Quarters with the old standard way of doing things.  Most coaches teach the corner in Quarters that he has the number one receiver man-to-man on anything but a shallow crossing route.  I was no different, and my teaching still starts out this way, but with a few added twists.  Again, I teach a numbers game and teach the corners that the number one receiver can only do one of four possible things.  The reads and reactions are shown below:

1. Go inside.  If the number one receiver goes inside, then the corner will give an "in" call to alert the OLB and safety that the number one receiver is attacking the inside of the flats to the curl area.  He will stay over the top of number one and play for the double move (think sluggo).  The only call that switches this reaction, is if the corner hears a "wheel" call from the safety.  Now the corner knows, he must become a pure zone player has he may have another route entering his zone.  This is where my coverage takes a different turn than traditional Quarters.  It's not as aggressive as say, Michigan State's, but for high school football, it works just fine.  Later I'll go over route concepts so that you, the reader, can see exactly how these reactions work out.
2. Go outside.  Any route that doesn't threaten the corner vertically, gets a call (see above where the corner calls "in").  Here, the corner will call "out" to alert the OLB that the flats have been threatened immediately.  The corner will stay over the top of this route and work for depth, looking for two things.  First, he always plays the double move, which in this case would be the out-and-up.  Second, the corner will get depth to help the safety play any deep out cut by the number two receiver on concepts such as smash.  The corner, in the case of smash, is really a free player.  He can rally to the out (or hitch, some folks run it both ways) and assist on the tackle, or he can bait the QB into throwing the corner route and come outside and under and play the ball.  Either way, the corner's main job is to make the QB hold the ball by playing in between these two routes.
3. Stop short of vertical.  In other words, run a hitch.  In this case, the reaction is the same.  The corner calls "China" to alert the OLB that the flats are being threatened from the outside.  The corner plays the exact same technique as when the number one receiver runs a shallow out cut.
4. Goes vertical.  For most Quarters coaches, this is where "it's on" and the corner locks on man-to-man.  For me it is the same, to a point.  If the corner does not hear any call from the safety, it's man.  However, if the corner hears the "wheel" call, he is now a zone player, NOT a man player.  This simple adjustment in technique is the key to the coverage.  The corner, on a wheel call, will now play a zone technique and would squeeze the post to the safety.  Now, if there is no actual "wheel" route, the corner ends up playing the high shoulder of the post as he would in old-school Quarters.  If the number two receiver actually does run the wheel route, the corner will squeeze the post to the safety and come off late on the wheel route.  The key to making this coverage work vs. this in-out switch stuff offenses are running nowadays lies in how the OLB reacts to all of the above.

Corner's calls

The OLB is an important piece of making my version of Quarters work.  The thing most coaches will note, is the fact that I do not change a thing from the way regular Quarters teaches it's flat players to how I teach it.  The only difference is, I give the OLB a safety net with the corner helping late over the top on a wheel route.  The OLB is called a "match 2" player in pretty much any Quarters schemes I've ever taught, and this one is no different.  The OLB will look to match the number two receiver to the flats.  Let's look at how the OLB fits into the system with his reactions to the number two receiver.

1. Number two goes out.  This one's simple.  If number two is out, the coverage becomes man for the OLB.  The OLB will now run with the number two receiver wherever he goes, this INCLUDES running with him on a wheel route.  The good  news is, he has help over the top in the zone corner (due to the safety giving a wheel call-see the safety section for clarification).  
2. Number two goes in.  The OLB will still drop to the flats, but is now completely trusting the corner with what the number one receiver is doing.  If the OLB hears "in", then he settles his feet, eyeing the QB and sits in the slant window.  If the OLB hears "out" or "China", he must, as I put it, "get on his horse" and get out to the flats to play inside and underneath these cuts.  If the OLB doesn't hear anything, but ends up having a three two switch (where the number two and number three receivers cross), then the OLB will play the new number two with the same reactions as he would if this receiver were originally the number two receiver.  
3. Number two goes vertical.  Here, the reaction is exactly the same as if the number two receiver goes inside.  One coaching point, and it's a major disagreement I have with the way Michigan State teaches their Quarters, versus mine, is that the OLB should NOT reroute the number two receiver if he's going vertical.  I do not want my OLB "muddying" up the read for the my safety.  MSU teaches the OLB to knock this receiver down, I don't want this.  Number one, it's another technique I have to teach my LB, and number two, it messes up the safety's read on this receiver.  I simply have the OLB drop to the flats.  He does not reroute.  This is VERY important because if the OLB reroutes he may be late to his intended drop target and is doing exactly what the offense is wanting him to do (think pick or rub routes here).  

Ok, now that we have the rules in place, let's look at how all this shakes out vs. some of the various concepts many of us see.

Route Combos
The first combo is slant/arrow.  Against this combination, the safety, seeing number two expand gives a "wheel" call.  This alerts the OLB he's got a flat threat and the corner that he's now a zone player.  The corner will shuffle or pedal out for the three step drop, then upon hearing "wheel" knows he needs to bail into his quarter.  As the corner sees the slant, he calls "in" to alert the safety that the curl is now being threatened.  The safety, shuffles laterally to match the number two receiver's release until hearing the "in" call, at which time he drives on the slant.  These are some of the best collisions in all of football.  My safeties love driving on the slant because they are coming from depth and can adjust on the fly, as well as the fact most receivers are unsuspecting of the safety playing this route.  The OLB, cares nothing of the "in" call because he's heard the "wheel" call which overrides anything the corner says.  The OLB is expanding and trying to "top" the arrow route.  The corner, is over the top of all of this protecting against the double move (sluggo).

Slant/Arrow

Sluggo/Arrow

Now let's move on to the slant/wheel combination route.  This is where the coverage takes better shape and you can see the subtle differences between traditional Quarters coverage and my version.

Slant/Wheel

Here we see the safety driving on the slant, due to the "in" call by the corner.  The safety would have also given a "wheel" call which alerted the corner, he's a zone player now, and also alerted the OLB he HAS to run with the number two receiver now.  What the modification in coverage does, is allow for the corner to play a double move by number one (sluggo), and play off and help the OLB with the wheel route.  The OLB's play, helps the corner squeeze the slant to the safety.

A better example of this is shown below, and that is how the coverage adapts to handling the post/wheel combination.  The safety gives the wheel call and gets eyes to number one.  As one climbs vertical the safety will open to him and must expect the post or dig routes.  Once the receiver's hips sink, the safety can now turn into the post.  I tell my safeties to "run the post for the receiver".  In other words, run the same route the receiver is running.  The corner, will hear the "wheel" call and knows now, he is a zone player.  The corner squeezes the post to the safety, but will do so, keeping leverage on the wheel.  The corner can squeeze down inside on the post, because of the play of the OLB.  With the OLB carrying the wheel, it gives the corner time to help pass the post off to the safety as well as get back over the top of the wheel.  Through repetitions, what I was finding was that the corner was able to drop off and read the QB versus this combination and was breaking more on the throw, rather than the route.  This gives the defense, the old "plus one" advantage we are always looking for.

Post/Wheel

The next combination, is the curl/arrow and curl/wheel.  This is one of the toughest to defend because the curl is so enticing for the corner to jump.  From the illustrations you can see that the safety would give the "wheel" call, this alerts the corner he's a zone player, and the OLB that he must now run with the number two receiver man-to-man.  The corner will high shoulder the curl, and is in perfect position to leverage the number two receiver if this route turns in to the wheel route.  The safety, will continue to expand with number two, because he has not gotten a call from the corner.  Again, the OLB's technique is what makes the coverage work.  The OLB by expanding works into the curl window, long enough to buy the safety time to work to the curl.  If the arrow turns into the wheel route, the OLB buys the corner some time to adjust off the curl and take over the wheel route.

Curl/Arrow

Curl/Wheel

As you can see, the coverage is not all that unlike traditional Quarters coverage.  The only difference is that the OLB is not forced into running with the wheel route by the number two receiver alone.  He has help over the top in the form of a pure zone cornerback.  Yes, this coverage is not as aggressive as traditional Quarters coverage, but remember, it's built for lesser athletes.  Sometimes being overly aggressive with lesser talent can lead to trouble.  What this coverage DOES DO, is still gives you a means of pattern matching that allows defenders to cover receivers and not grass, while having some built-in help for the lesser skilled coverage player (the OLB).

What routes are you seeing?  Send me an email to footballislifeblog@yahoo.com and I'll feature it in the new Mailbag posts.  In the next post, I'll focus on some of the problem routes, and the calls and adjustments used to help the defense defend these adaptations.

Duece

Some General Thoughts on Defending Spread Tempo Offenses

Well, now that the bowl season is finally over, and I have almost completely overdosed on watching games, I must say I do have some thoughts on what I have seen defensively.  Now mind you, this is purely observational, and not stitch of what I'm talking about or illustrating has been confirmed with film, so basically this post is me bullshitting with you over a couple of beers at the local pub.  Now that we got that out of the way, let's look at my thoughts on what I viewed over the bowl season.

1. There is no, and will never be any, substitute for fundamentals.  The teams that did the best job on defense not only tackled well, but tackled well in space.  They fought off blocks, reacted well to schemes, made reads and utilized very good footwork and technique.  The biggest skills by far is coverage footwork and transition and tackling.  
1. Tackling- The spread schemes have an inordinate amount of ways to get players out-leveraged, out-flanked, and just generally in a bad position to defend whatever play is being run at them.  The packaged plays concept, along with multiple formations, reads and options being utilized has made many a great athlete look silly whiffing at air.  Good teams tackle, but great teams tackle with a purpose...EVEN IN JANUARY.  I don't give a damn what time of year it is, you must tackle.  I do tackling drills everyday during the season up until about games five or six, then I taper off, but even if I'm in the playoffs we are tackling once a week and still doing form/fit drills everyday.  The hardest thing to recreate as a defensive coach is open field tackling, but it MUST be done if facing these types of offenses on a regular basis.
2. Coverage footwork- The good teams have not just had spectacular athletes in the secondary, they've had great technicians in the secondary.  A DB has got to be a master at his craft.  This was no more evident in the BCS National Championship Game where Chris Davis in the beginning of the game used poor footwork on underneath routes to allow a couple of easy first downs.  Later, Davis (yes, I'm being critical of him) made huge error in the way he played the ball, receiver and the route on the pass interference call that led to him making the most critical error of the game (which had nothing to do with fundamentals).  On the goal line, playing in man coverage Davis aligns head up, yes HEAD UP on Kelvin Benjamin and allowed the big 6'5" receiver to body him up on a slant route in the end zone for the game winning touchdown.  Facing spread attacks requires that DB's have meticulous footwork and they must be able to play the ball in the air well.  This was never more evident than vs. one of the best defensive back coaches in the country than Nick Saban himself.  Saban's DB's time and time again found themselves in poor position because of poor technique.  Now, I will agree, there were some mismatches.  As one person put it, some teams just don't match up well against others.  May not mean one is better than the other, but the end result is the same.  The match up issues led to technique breakdown, and well, you see what you got.  The same could be said of Texas A&M's DB's or Baylor's.  
2. Schematically, I honestly feel man to man coverage HAS to make a major return to college football.  I know "living" in man, is not for the faint of heart, but even the match up zone coverage gurus are going the way of pure man on even their zone pressures.  Three-by-three zone blitzes are going back to the old grass roots man free blitzes of yesteryear, but with better eye control and leverage setup in the general attack of the blitz itself (blitzes must really be option centered now or spread option offenses can seriously gash your defense).  Man free and Cover Two Man have to make a comeback, at least until the time being.  I mean, hell, let's be honest, even Saban's version of Cover 3 (Rip/Liz) is basically man free.  Man to man cuts down on the amount of open grass receivers are allowed to attack, and not going pure cover zero all-out man allows you to have a match up problem with help over the top or trailing help underneath.  
3. Zone coverage is not dead however, but must be disguised, which leads me to my next point that the defenses intentions MUST be disguised.  From blitzes to stunts, to coverages, EVERYTHING must not appear as it seems.  The QB is not the only cat you have to fool either, the offensive lineman are the keys you must really fool.  I'm really surprised at the lack of amount of stemming you see defenses doing these days.  Stemming is easy and can be added to any call.  Regardless of tempo, most offenses at least take a second to look over the defense pre-snap, this is when you shift, then shift again.  Build in good hard fast rules too for when caught in a shift.  I always tell my guys when caught, keep working to your gap, don't stop and smell the roses and more importantly DON'T PANIC!!!  Disguise is a must because offenses have become so successful at reading a defenses' intentions and then changing the play, gashing the defense, aligning quickly and doing it again.  This disguise can help slow down the up-tempo schemes of today by making the offense have to reset or "re-audible".  

That moment when you realize this was a poor disguise...

1. More to elaborate on disguise, one thing I liked was how Missouri would show 1 high coverage, then rotate pre-snap to 2 deep, or even, rotate the deep safety down and down safety deep.  I was amazed watching a defender, aligned 5-6 yards off the ball, bailing before the snap to become the MOF defender.  Some of the coverages looked like zone, but some were also man free as well.  I thought the idea very ingenious because you rarely see one high, MOFC coverages morphing to two high, or better yet, rotating much in the way a four-spoke secondary would.  These types of adjustments must be made.  In other words, make the unordianry, ordinary.
1. Obviously pressure must be a consideration when facing these types of offenses.  I think pressure for pressure's sake is not a good mantra however.  I think you have to the standard stuff of evaluating protection schemes, QB strengths when pressured versus when not pressured, run pressures versus both gap and zone schemes etc.  The no huddle presents some issues with pressures in that they must be simple, so they can be signaled in quickly.  These pressure packages must be dynamic so they can adapt to the myriad of formations, shifts and motions that your players may see.  Making your pressure packages multiple, but simple is key.  A backside twist added to a field dog blitz is an easy adjustment, but must be communicated and taught as such.  I think being able to "tweak" a pressure with such nuances is very important in being able to give an offense multiple pressure looks throughout the course of the game.
2. Anti-pressure is another schematic theme that I think defensive coordinators, especially at the high school level should embrace.  Several years back I was facing a very good running QB, with some highly talented receivers (one is entering this year's NFL draft).  We had no answer in our base 4-3 package.  I stole an idea from good ol' Gus Malzahn and utilized a three man front where I simply changed out our 3 technique for another linebacker and played my traditional Mike linebacker about 8 yards deep so he could drop down the middle in a Tampa 2 look.  We went into that game with 4 pressures, 3 zone and 1 man.  We were a 24 point underdog and only lost by 11, confusing the hell out of our opponent with this look.  Now we ended up down by 21 at the half, because as the score got further out of hand, I kept bringing more and more pressure, which led to mistakes, and our players feeling like they needed to press.  In the second half, I called a man blitz, our safety slipped covering a dig route and we were down by 28.  After that I simply quit blitzing and dropped eight into coverage.  On the first possession they threw a pick that led to us scoring.  Second possession we forced the first punt of the night.  The less we pressured, the worse their QB played.  What was happening was we were reducing the size and number of windows this young man had to throw through.  What he began to do then was tuck and run when he got nervous about throwing a pick.  So we quit rushing our Nose, and let him and the stacked Tackle spy the QB.  This made things more and more frustrating leading to two more second half turnovers.  My point is this, don't always think you have to put the pressure on the QB by rushing him.  Sometimes it's better to put the pressure in front of him with coverage and a minimal rush.  I've actually done this more than once, and had it work quite well on more than one occasion.  I think DC's don't need to get caught up in drawing up these wide arrays of blitzes that send safeties and drop tackles etc. just for the sake of trying to sack the QB.  If you are having trouble getting to him, my answer would be, then make him have trouble finding anyone who is open.  What bigger waste of a player than having five offensive linemen blocking two or three defensive linemen, while the other eight or nine players are in coverage, confusing the QB?  I know it's contrarian, but think about it, once I made the leap, the dropping eight or nine has been a part of my spread defense package ever since.

3 man front 4-3 personnel Tampa 2 coverage

1. Also to note, this past season, because we had kids that were so new to doing what I was asking them to do, I kept it quite simple.  If we added a "drop" call to any coverage call, that told the tackle (three technique) to drop on passing plays to the low hole zone.  Allowed us to play coverage with our Mike linebacker a bit different, and also allowed us to play our quarters scheme with an extra underneath zone defender allowing the outside linebackers to get to the flats quicker.  Again, just thoughts on paper, but knowing some body's tried them and had success with them sure helps.  

Drop call given to 3 technique

1. Brophy had mentioned this before, but developing simple defensive concepts that can be communicated effectively and quickly are going to become more and more the norm in at least college football.  I think high school coaches have a bit of time on their side before we see the tempo of the college game, but it looms in the very near future.  None of this was more evident than when Alabama played Oklahoma.  Oklahoma, who throughout the year had done some tempo, wasn't anywhere near the Oregon's or Texas A&M's in terms of playing speed or number of plays, however with the break, and what Stoops knew about Saban's defense, they obviously worked on it and exploited it.  I may make a bold prediction here, but Saban's days may be numbered due to his inability to adapt.  He's had two years now of dealing with both Texas A&M and Ole Miss, both of which operate at high speeds and he's had trouble with these.  That's because Saban, like all of us, likes to be right.  Many a master craftsman wants his hands in everything, and it takes those of us who pride on using our minds to stop our opponent to a dark place when we have to rely only on fundamentals.  However, that is where the game is headed.  Fundamentals, who at some point in the collegiate game had taken a back seat to scheme, will now prevail (as it should).  If Saban doesn't adapt, as other college coaches, it could get ugly for them and ugly in a hurry (no pun intended).  Saban himself, along with Will Muschamp have already talked about scrapping their time eating offenses for the more glamorous no huddle, speed-in-space, up-tempo offenses.  
1. Where this takes defenses is they are going to have to educate the signal callers on the field even more so than before.  The signal callers are going to have to work in a way that they are essentially the coordinator on the field and get the defense in the right front and coverage in a very short amount of time.  The problem with this, as with defensive football in general is that it is reactive, where the offense is proactive.  Sure they have to snap the ball, but even if they aren't right all the time, a short throw to a great athlete that's well covered can still turn into six points.  The defense has this to worry about, and then having said short throw (could be a run, just using the short throw as an example), NOT be covered due to a bad pre-snap read, and it also turns into six.  This is where the teaching responsibility lies with the coordinators and their ability to put their scheme inside the head of a 20 year old.  In the case of high school, sometimes that guy may only be 15!  

What I drew on a napkin from Missouri game, no DVR, so may not be 100% accurate, but you get the gist.  

These are just some of my general notes I've basically jotted down in my phone, or on a napkin as bowl season unraveled before our eyes this season.  I think we could easily be five to six years off before defenses really "catch up", and I use that term lightly because defensive football is behind the eight ball already as the game is designed to be entertaining, and a nine to seven ballgame isn't really appealing to the average fan.  I also agree with Brophy on his new standards of measuring what a good defensive outing will be in the near future.  I think the time is gone where you see shutouts, or very low scoring affairs.  For those of us who are "defensive minded" this may be an issue, but it's like anything else, you either adapt, or you die.  

I'm thinking very seriously about working on a collaborative effort to look at this more closely.  I have contacted a couple of other bloggers about this, as I think it was our readers would want, and could greatly use.  If you have any suggestions or comments, shoot me an email or hit me up on Twitter @FootballIsLifeBlog.  Hope everyone had a great holiday, and is ready to hit the off-season in full stride!

Duece

Today's the Big Day

Today's the big day!  I step back into high school football after a two year hiatus.  I can tell you this, I look forward to it with great anticipation, yet I'm very nervous.  A lot has changed since I worked where I'm at now, so I'm having to adapt to that, but hey, change is a good thing.  I'm looking forward to getting to work with some great young men, and having a chance to show my stuff again.

You've got to love spring football.  For those of you in states that do not allow it, it really is a shame.  We get 20 practices here, which even includes a game.  We will play an inter squad scrimmage and a full game against an opponent from around the area.  It is very good work, and allows you to evaluate your talent going into the fall.  To be honest, I've never put much stock in the game itself, but the game can be a big stepping stone when growing a program.  Winning that game is a good spring board going into the summer workouts, conditioning and camp.  I use it simply for an evaluation tool of where we are at as a team or as a unit (offense/defense/DL/OL etc.).

I'm back coaching the position I love, which is the secondary, and coordinating defense.  We'll see how this goes!  Here's a couple of motivational videos to get you going this morning.  Don't sit, get up, don't walk, run, don't wait, seize the moment!  Just thought I'd share this with you, and for those that are starting up spring ball around the country, good luck and GATA!!!!

Duece