Point-Counterpoint VEER Option vs. the 4-4

by: David Purdum
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TALE OF THE TAPE
JOHN CURTIS CHRISTIAN HS PATRIOTS	SCHOOL	C.W. POST COLLEGE PIONEERS
J.T. CURTIS	COACH	BRYAN COLLINS
417-47-6	RECORD	63-14 (7 SEASONS)
SPLIT-BACK VEER OFFENSE	SCHEME	4-4 DEFENSE
AVERAGED 6.5 YPC IN 2004	POWER STAT	D-II TOP RUSHING DEFENSE IN 5 OF HIS 7 YRS.
AVERAGED 270 YDS. RPG IN 2004	POWER STAT II	LIMITED OPPONENTS TO 47 YDS. RPG IN 2004
19 STATE TITLES	KNOCKOUT BLOW	OPPONENTS AVE. 1.2 YDS. PER ATTEMPT IN 2004

JT Curtis is considered a master of the Veer Option offense-Bryan Collins is considered the architect of the 4-4 defense... what happens if they go head-to-head?

In 1974, John Curtis Christian High School Head Coach J.T. Curtis scrapped his offensive philosophy – which just the year before had helped him reach the state quarterfinals – in favor of the split-back veer attack. Nineteen Louisiana State Championships later, the Patriots, apparently, have become pretty good at running the old option.

C.W. Post’s 4-4 defense is pretty good at stopping it. In head coach Bryan Collins’ seven seasons, the Pioneers have led Division II in rushing defense five times, including last season when Post held opponents to only 42 yards on the ground per game, which is an incredible 25 yards less than Division II’s second ranked rush defense (Shaw). In the first seven games of 2001, Collins’ aggressive defense scored more points by itself than it allowed.

Here’s how two of the best at what they do would do it when facing one of the best at what they do – it’s John Curtis’s split-back veer against C.W. Post’s 4-4 defense.

When facing the 4-4, the first and primary read for Curtis’ offense is the strong-side defensive end’s alignment. “If he’s playing head up,” explains Curtis’ son and Patriot Quarterback/Running Backs coach Jeff Curtis, “we’re going to run the inside veer play to it and make the defensive end close all the way down and take dive, which is a long way for him to go.”

Collins counters by having his defensive ends line up ‘a little heavier.’ “The reason being,” he explains, “many times these option teams like to get reads down onto the linebackers, tackles down to the linebackers and run a wide veer. If you’re an end and you have a wide-five alignment, No. 1, it allows the (offensive) tackle to get an inside release and block down on the inside linebacker easier; No. 2, it gets you further away from the mesh point.”

“We usually get guys that play about inside eye,” said Curtis. “They’ll pinch, slant or bullet to try and take the inside veer away.” When that happens, the Patriots will block down on the end with the tight end and run the outside veer. “We’ll take our running back and just slide off our tight end’s butt on his movement,” Curtis added. The Patriots also often utilize a two-tight end set to try to balance the defense. Then, they will pick and choose which tight end has the biggest advantage over either defensive end.

“When we go into our two-tight end set, we try to find a match-up, basically, of who we can block better,” said Curtis. “We’ll try to match-up our better tight end against a weaker defensive end or against somebody that’s not used to taking a down block on from the

tight end because he’s to that weak side, especially when you get guys that play strong-side end and weak-side end.”

When Collins sees his D-line getting beat, first he rubs his eyes in disbelief, then he adjusts, usually with a blitz. “If our people up front are getting beat, obviously we have to start blitzing out of it,” he says, noting that he doesn’t call many line stunts. “You need to have two or three sound blitzes to take the action to the offense. We like to have balanced blitzes, which is another reason the eight-man front is pretty good. You can bring two from the outside or two from the inside. With those two types of blitzes, you can really can go get it at that time. We don’t want to bring four from a side and they run option weak and get caught in a tough situation. If we’re just seeing one tackle that’s a little more flexed because they want to get that veer going, then we’ll have a bungy call between our inside linebacker and our ends that just exchanges their responsibilities. So, if we give a bungy call, regardless if it’s a base block, that end is going to come underneath and take dive, and that linebacker now knows he has quarterback.”

If the veer is sputtering and the 4-4 defense smothering, it’s a good bet the troublesome defensive end is causing havoc. “If we’re having trouble moving the ball, we’re probably having trouble controlling the defensive end,” said Jeff Curtis, who played quarterback for his father. “There are couple things we can do if we’re facing a defensive end that our tight end simply can’t block. We can turn our tackle out on him and bring our tight end under, then run an outside veer cut-back play to use our angles against him.

“We also try to run something to the outside, where we’ll run speed option for example and try to control the defensive end with the quarterback. We’ll put the end down to the linebacker and arc release our lead back on the support guy and try to get our quarterback to try to pitch off that big, strong defensive end and let our other halfback try to get the corner.”

J.T. Curtis says it’s these kind of adjustments and how the defense reacts to it that is the real chess match. “If the defense cannot adjust, they won’t be able to stop the option,” he said.

“Good option teams will see how you’re playing your base defense, and they’ll make adjustments in their blocking schemes,” Collins says. “When you prepare for an option team, No. 1, you have to be very sound in your base defense and your schemes.

At some point during a game, there is going to be something that you could not have prepared for in practice,” Collins says. “Good option teams utilize a great scheme of cut-blocking and that’s hard to simulate in practice without getting your guys hurt. We’ve got to be able to stay on our feet and not get caught playing with our hands.”

When defenders are on their butts, the veer is rolling and big plays are about to make an appearance. This is why alignment is ever more critical than usual when facing an option team, Collins says. “Every half-step counts verses the option. It’s the difference from being blocked or chipped.” Against a split-back formation, Post’s linebackers are positioned head-up on the outside eye of the split-back at 4 1/2 yards deep. The free safety is lines up 10 yards off the ball.


Veer option vs. 4-4 defense

Play Action: Veer vs. 4-4

Defending the option can wear on a team, physically and mentally. And when that mental fatigue starts to set in, the Patriots dial-up a little play action. “We set the play action up off of our inside veer,” said Curtis. “We’ll arch release our tight end on the strong safety, who will be coming up hard for support. The free safety will be squatting looking for robber coverage. He’ll be thinking it’s inside veer, then all of a sudden our tight end will swim support and be in the secondary.”

“Our free safety’s read is playing a robber scheme,” said Collins, “and his read is No. 2 strong. If he reads No. 2 blocking, if it’s a run read, his aiming point is quarterback-over to pitch. If No. 2 gets a vertical release, then (the free safety) is going to take him man-to-man. If No. 2 takes a outside release, then he’s going to hook up on No. 1 and try to rob No. 1.

“Our corners are looking for play-action pass,” said Collins. “They are getting depth and inside leverage on the No. 1 receivers and they are playing as half-the-field defenders. Their run responsibility occurs when there is a crack block by the receiver. If they are getting cracked by a No. 1 receiver, then they are going to replace for pitch. That figures into how we play with our outside linebackers. We really want them to be aggressive and try to beat (the block), because if they’re passive it really clouds the safety’s and corners’ reads. We want to make sure if (the receiver) is going to block that outside linebacker, he’s really got to come down the line of scrimmage fast, which allows our corner to get a quick run release and replace him for pitch. That’s why we’re aggressive up front with our outside linebackers.”

To take away some of the corners aggressiveness, Curtis will eliminate them by sending their wide receivers deep.

“We’ll just run them deep every play. We’ll cycle our receivers in and eventually (the corners) will get tired of covering us. If we get 60 snaps, we’re going to have 45 run plays. They’ll be chasing us 45 times a game. Hopefully, we’ll get (a cornerback) that gets a little lazy, slacks off a little bit and starts peeking inside.”

Both JT Curtis and Bryan Collins have put their knowledge and experience in their respective specialties into videos. This summer, when J.T. Curtis looked back on his 35 years as head coach at the school his late father founded – John Curtis Christian High School in River Ridge, La., – the longtime co-host of ABC 26’s “Friday Night Football” felt the need to give something back to the game he loves.

“So many people have been willing to share information with me not just about the option, but about football in general,” says Curtis. “So I felt like it would be a good time for me to give back.”

“I had a coach in Hazelhurst, Miss., call me,” said Curtis. “He had seen the videos and was impressed with the detail that was in them. He said, ‘Coach, why are you giving away all your information?’ I said, ‘It’s not really giving information away; it’s a matter of sharing, and I think that’s what’s good for football.’ That’s why we agreed to do it and hopefully it will be helpful to coaches to help their kids become successful. That was the reason we made the videos.

“I certainly recognize that opponents can pick up the videos, but if they’ll study the film they’re going to get they’ll get the same thing. I just don’t know that there are that many secrets in football.” Who needs secrets when you have 19 gold footballs in the entry way of your school?

Questions? If you have any questions, you can email either coach at: jtcurtis@americanfootballmonthly.com or bryancollins@americanfootballmonthly.com.

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