What, as a Defensive Coach, Gives You the Most Trouble?

Coaching football is simple in theory - score touchdowns, and stop the opposition from scoring touchdowns. Too bad theory isn’t reality. Every football coach in the world understands that there is a lot more to it than that. Defensively, you are charged with stopping an entire offense in a few short days of practice and game planning. Each coach has their own way of going about stopping each team. Over the years, you develop your defense to suit your team and stop the opposition, yet for each of us, there is always that thorn in our sides. That is, one thing we couldn’t stop – either a formation or an individual play. It haunts us. We lay awake at night scribbling new ideas, wasting napkin after napkin trying to stop the bleeding.

AFM interviewed nine different defensive coaches about what gives them the most trouble and what they do to counter it. The responses were divided by the type of defense each coach runs – 3-3-5 or 3-5-3 stack, 4-3, 3-4, and 4-2-5.

3-3-5/3-5-3 Stack Defense

Chris Miller - Chris Miller recently completed his fifth season as the head coach of Byrnes High School (SC). His record is 67-8. He has led the Byrnes program to the state championship five times, winning four titles.

Coach Miller: Like a lot of defenses, something we struggle with is formations and offenses that we don’t see week in and week out. Double tight ends, Wing-T, and Flexbone offenses like Georgia Tech. We see a lot of spread teams here and when we get different schemes, it can challenge us a bit. A specific play that gives us trouble would be the Counter Criss-Cross.

AFM: In your experience, what’s the best way you have found to stop Counter Criss-Cross.

Coach Miller:  We have had to be creative with that. Since we are a stack defense, we do a lot of slanting, and when a Wing-T team motions, we like to slant to that motion a lot of time because the majority of their plays go to that motion. This obviously hurts us on the Counter Criss-Cross. One thing we can do to stop this play is to really instill to our outside linebacker that he must stay home until the ball is past the LOS. This keeps us in a prime position to stop this comeback play. Also, we have found that having the safety creep up to the LOS and attack off the backside edge away from the motion is very successful for us (See Diagram 1).

Diagram 1.

Evan Breisblatt - Coach Breisblatt has been a defensive coordinator for 15 years at the high school level in Pennsylvania. He is now the head coach at Pequea Valley High School in Kinzers.

Coach Breisblatt: What gives me the most trouble as a defensive coach is the Wing-T. More specifically, the buck sweep to the boundary vs. our 3-3-5 cover 3 stack. In the stack, we would line up in our base alignment if we didn’t make any adjustments. That put us in a bind coverage-wise because we had to balance the 2 x 2 formations and we were susceptible to the buck sweep on the edges. Basically, we had no alley player. We were also at a disadvantage at the point of attack because the Y and T could double team to the Mike linebacker. The Z would then down block on the Sam linebacker. The Spur would be kicked out by the lead guard. We were dead at that point.

AFM: How do you stop the buck sweep?

Coach Breisblatt: We move into a 3-4 under cover 2 look (See Diagram 2). Here is how our three levels line-up:

Diagram 2.

Defensive Line: The front shifts from a 3-man front to an under front. The Spur is up on the LOS in a 9 technique and coming down the line wrong - arming the frontside pulling guard. This causes the play to spill outside where the safety and corner are waiting. The tackle to the strength call aligns in a 7 technique, on the inside eye of the Y. The nose aligns in a 2i technique on the inside eye of the guard. The backside tackle aligns in a 3 technique or on the outside eye of the guard. The Will is now the backside DE.

Inside Linebackers: The Mike linebacker and the Sam linebacker both align over the top of the guards.

Secondary: The free safety aligns by splitting #1 (Z) and the Y to the strong side. He is now freed up to run the alley when the play is run to his side. The Bandit handles the other side of the field. The corner is aligned 5 x 1 and has outside support.

Steve Specht - Steve Specht is the head football coach at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. Specht specializes in an attacking defense and has won two state titles, in 2005 and 2007.

Coach Specht: We try not to get into the “he who has the chalk last wins” discussion. We look at ourselves and have the belief in our defense and our players and believe that we are going to play sound, fundamental football that is going to help us win games. Now what does pose a problem for us is the cyclical nature of the game and how different offenses come up sometimes once a season or every couple of years that are hard to defend because you simply don’t see them often. Right now, it’s the hurry-up, no-huddle type of offense. We don’t see that on our schedule very often so it’s something we have to be cognizant about. Four or five years ago, I would have said the triple option because not many teams ran it around us.

AFM: How do you combat that problem?

Coach Specht: We make it a priority long before that week in practice. The opponent’s offense is hoping that we forget about them until it’s game week with them. We don’t believe in that and think that sets us up for failure. We spend 10 minutes a week on those offenses. Even if we don’t see them that week, we are practicing weekly to defend that offense. This gives our kids a sense of confidence that they have seen it already and can stop it because we have stopped it in practice.

4-3 Defenses

Paul Rhoads - Paul Rhoads is the Head Coach at Iowa State. He has been there for three seasons and has had signature victories over Iowa, Oklahoma State, Texas and Nebraska. The Cyclones have been to two bowl games during his tenure.

Coach Rhoads: Honestly, the zone read gives us fits. Especially now that more people are running it and tweaking and adding subtle changes to it. You not only have to account for a gap to the action of the zone, some teams are now pulling a guard so you have to account for that gap as well. Plus, don’t forget the quarterback’s role. He can pull the ball and run. You have to defend the sweep to the outside, the inside run and the guards. What it does is create an extra gap for the defense to account for (See Diagram 3).

Diagram 3.

AFM: How do you go about stopping that zone read with a pulling guard?

Coach Rhoads: I’d put a 12th player on the field if I could. In all seriousness, essentially what you have to do is pull someone off of their regular assignment and stick them into the box and create a 7 or 8-man box. We don’t want to get out of our 4-3 because that’s what we do but at the same time we need to account for the QB as well. There are two philosophies of how to combat this threat. First, bring a safety down and roll back to a cover 3 look (See Diagram 4).

Diagram 4.

The other option is to utilize a man-free type of concept in which we are telling our outside defenders you are on your own to allow or give the safeties freedom to stop the run. Either works – it’s just a preference of the coordinator and defensive philosophies. We like working to the cover 3 concepts because it allows us to be surer in our pass defense. In the man-free situation, we are limited coverage-wise and can open some big holes in the passing game as well.

Ted Roof - Ted Roof is the defensive coordinator at Penn State University. He was Auburn’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2009-11, helping the Tigers capture the 2010 BCS National Championship. Roof also was head coach of Duke, 2004-2007.

AFM: Based on your 4-3 scheme, what presents the biggest challenge to your athletes?

Coach Roof: When teams can keep the same 11 on the field and do multiple things out of it, that can be troublesome. That is always more difficult than if you can pick up a tendency based on personnel or even certain playmakers. Then the offense has to change personnel to create a potential mismatch or they have to substitute to get to an unconventional formation out of a particular grouping. If that’s the case, then you can move your kids into and out of the game easily, similar to the offense. When they don’t have to bring guys in and out you have to be able to make adjustments on the fly during the game. If an offense keeps the same personnel on the field, it now becomes a matchup contest, seeing if they can maneuver their offense to get the best possible matchup.

AFM: Any tips that can help make this an advantage for the defense as opposed to the offense?

Coach Roof: Actually, in a way, it simplifies the game plan for the players. The very first day we meet with our players, we install a few calls that we carry in our game plan every week that allows us to adjust to anything we see. We talk to our players often about having a place to call ‘home’ or a call that we can always align to and adjust to whatever the offense throws at us. These calls give our players confidence in their ability to align, communicate and play fast. As coaches, we understand that these alignments may not be the perfect call, but we would rather execute our defense than give the opponent an advantage because of a defensive mistake.

Timothy Lucci - Tim Lucci has been the defensive coordinator at Coatesville Senior High (PA) for three years. Prior to that, Coach Lucci was the DC at Sherando High School (VA) where his team played one year in the state title game.

Coach Lucci: There are three things that really challenge us as a defense. They are double tight ends, outnumbering us on perimeter runs, and shifting and motioning. The biggest problems are the perimeter runs with an offense outnumbering us at the point of attack. 4-3 defenses must adjust when the offense attempts to outnumber the defense at the point of attack on strong side perimeter runs. If it is becoming too easy for the offense to pin and pull to get numbers on the edge, we have to make an adjustment.

AFM: How do you defend against this numbers advantage by the offense?

Coach Lucci: We widen our alignments to the tight end side and adjust our coverage for the perimeter run game. Against a tight end/wing set, our defensive end moves from a 7 technique to head up on the wing. The Sam LB moves to a 60 technique. The DE becomes a D gap player, with the Sam LB exchanging and now becoming a C gap player. The defensive tackle will widen from a 3 technique to a 4i (inside eye of the tackle), and the Mike LB will move out to a 30 technique (See Diagram 5).

Diagram 5.

These adjusted alignments on the front side will allow us to set the edge quicker vs. the perimeter run game, and will also make it harder for the offense to climb to second-level blocks on the front side. Because our defensive tackle is shading the center on the weak side, it allows our Will LB to scrape into the front side A gap clean if there is flow away. Because of this, we are still sound and can maintain gap integrity. Several different coverage variations can be used with this adjusted front. A hard version of cover 2 can be used if it is a 2-back/TE wing formation. Man coverage can be used, or a very aggressive version of quarters may be used to get your safeties in the box.
3-4 DEFENSES

William Goodman - This will be Goodman’s 31st year of coaching. Thirteen were spent at Sherwood High School (two state titles), 10 at Seneca Valley (three state titles), and the past eight at Good Counsel High School in Olney, MD (three WCAC championships).

Coach Goodman: In our league, we tend to see a little bit of everything – from the spread to smash mouth and everything in between. I wouldn’t necessarily say there is one specific play or formation that is difficult for us. But I would say it’s one team that has a new offense or something you haven’t seen before. It seems now that the spread offense is the norm. Everyone runs it or some facet of it. Now, if we see teams that will line up with double tight ends and two backs (22 personnel) and have the intention of smashing the ball down your throat cave-man style, that can give us some problems. This is a situation in which we must adapt and man up and play defense. Also, you have to honor those tight ends in the passing game as well. Tight ends today aren’t just big extra linemen, but big athletic players that can catch as well. That can pose some problems for us in that situation.

AFM: What would you do to adapt to a smash mouth offense you might only see once in a while?

Coach Goodman: Basically, we would move from a 3-4 front to a 5-2. It’s still our base defense but we are bringing another two defenders up on the line of scrimmage to help with the power running game. It also helps get those tight ends off their paths initially with contact. What we do is bring the outside linebackers up on the line of scrimmage. They are the contain players with D gap responsibility and also have the responsibility of making contact with the tight ends off the snap of the ball. This allows us to bring more guys into the box and stop the run while also being secure in the passing game (See Diagram 6).

Diagram 6.

Andy Cerco - Coach Cerco recently became the Head Coach at Salisbury High School (PA). He previously was a defensive coordinator at a number of high schools including four seasons at Parkland High School (PA).

Coach Cerco: Any time an offense gives you another gap to be concerned with, it is always an issue. Teams can accomplish this in different ways but most teams simply add a tight end or two to the line. That can cause some major problems when they run power or off tackle plays because we have no one to account for C or D gaps at the point of attack. We lose gap integrity to that side and that can spell trouble for any defense.

AFM: What do you do to create gap integrity with that extra tight end in the game on those off tackle plays?

Coach Cerco: We want to create pressure at the point of attack. We combat this in a couple of ways. First, we run what we call a “SOC” stunt. It stands for Safety Or Corner off the edge. We determine who comes off that edge by the offensive formation. If there is a standup receiver or slot to that side, the safety is the one coming off the edge. If there is a tight end only or a “nub” tight end, it is the corner coming hard off that edge trying to funnel everything back inside to the rest of the defense. The DE to the pressure side sticks into the playside A gap. The OLB to the pressure side attacks through the neck of the TE and the safety or corner is off the edge, as a cage player, playing it firm and free.

We also like to employ a “LOAD” stunt. This is a line and linebacker exchange stunt in which we move both the defensive line and the linebackers into different gaps to not only confuse the offensive line but also disrupt them at the point of attack. First, our nose tackle slants into the weak A gap trying to disrupt the pulling guard and the centers block. Next, our defensive end to the strength side, long sticks into the playside A gap traveling through the neck of the guard. Also, the ILB adjusts and blitzes the C gap to the playside off the path of the DE. Finally, our outside linebacker to that side comes off the edge, playing through the neck of the TE, attempting to keep his outside free and forcing everything back inside to the defense. Behind this pressure, we use our 3-under 3-deep coverage concept to get an eighth man in the box to support the run to the TE side. We will drop our SS down to the side of the pressure to make the OLB to that side right. If the OLB spills the play, our SS is there to clean it up. If he maintains leverage and jams the play back inside, the SS fits to flow (See Diagram 7).

Diagram 7.

4-2-5 Defenses

Brian Cochran - A former All-American defensive lineman, Brian Cochran will begin his fifth year this fall at his alma mater, John Carroll, as the defensive coordinator. Cochran was head coach at Heidelberg College from 2003-2006.

Coach Cochran: When teams try to run a form of the zone read with a bubble attached to it, that gives us difficulties. A team will align in a 3 x 1 set and read out the Mike linebacker. This happens a lot on running downs like first and second down or choice downs. This gives the offense a two-way go. If our Mike is in the box, they will throw the bubble, but if he aligns out of the box to stop the bubble, they will run the ball. Now we are in a precarious position because of the distance and ground our Mike is forced to cover.

AFM: How do you scheme to stop this zone read bubble play?

Coach Cochran: What we like to do is not get out of our base. Our kids are confident in it and we believe play it well. Our solution is to roll the coverage down to our trips. This creates the same defensive look for us but our responsibilities are different now. No longer are we in a cover 3 zone across the field but we will roll the coverage down to the trips side.

Our responsibilities are as follows:

Defensive End: He is all quarterback.

Defensive Tackle (3 Technique): We will set him to the field, if possible. This helps move our Mike out slightly.

Corner: He will align inside seven yards off of the #1 receiver. If he sees bubble, he attacks the bubble without hesitation.

Streak (Safety): He now is responsible for the deep third to that side.

Sam: He covers the curl/intermediate flat area over the top of # 1 receiver at a depth of about 10 yards.

Mike: He is playing the hook area. This allows our Mike to not have to play so wide that they read him and run the ball. He can also get to the bubble a little bit later because we have the corner on the bubble immediately.

Will: He plays loose underneath #1 receiver to the backside.

Now, if they throw that bubble or run it on the zone read, we are covered in all areas and ball carriers (See Diagram 8).

Diagram 8.