Matching Leverage with Leverage Against the Spread Offense

Teaching outside linebackers in the 4-3 to play in the \'walked position\'
by: Mike Kuchar
Senior Writer, American Football Monthly
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To the average football fan who turns on the television every weekend during the fall to watch their favorite team play, it may seem pretty obvious that there are a lot more skill positions on the field. They may recognize three and four wide receiver sets, the absence of a tight end and the QB lined up in a shotgun formation. If they are even somewhat studied in their knowledge of the game, they may even start to formulate conclusions on why these teams are getting more skill players on the field – to develop speed and create spacing, right? While that might all be true, as defensive coaches we must dig a little deeper to determine why spread offensive teams are doing what they are doing, and more importantly, what we can do to combat them.

Perhaps no other position on the defensive side of the ball requires more responsibility against the spread scheme than the outside linebackers. Reason is simply because those are the players that spread offenses want to manipulate. Ask any spread coach out there, and they are growing by the bushels. They’ll tell you that they want their 4.5/4.6 slot receivers out in space against your 4.8/4.9 outside linebackers.

Like any other entity, football is a game of cause and effect. Right now, unfortunately for defensive coaches, offense is dictating the pace of the game. You can thank the innovative offensive minds of Rich Rodriguez and Urban Meyer for that. But without trying to insult anyone’s intelligence, there is a reason why we’re seeing more odd fronts like the odd stack and the resurgence of the 50 defense. It is because by running those three man fronts you’re eliminating those big and brawny defensive linemen and replacing them with speedier, more agile linebacker/safety types. Seems like a natural fit, right?

But what if we didn’t want to adjust our personnel to the offense? We’re all coaches, so we’re stubborn by nature, so why change what we’re doing? Let’s be the cat and not the mouse, as Ty Nix, the new defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, would say. We’ll focus more on who we are and get better at what we do – the essence of good coaching. Without switching personnel, we’ll start by getting those outside LBs better at making their reads in the 4-3 against the spread and we’ll start to form our concepts on how to stop it. We talked to two very prominent coaches at different levels to give us their insight on the scheme: Wally Burnham, the defensive coordinator and LBs coach at the University of South Florida and Bill Maczko, the former co-defensive coordinator at state champion Cheraw High School in South Carolina (Maczko recently became head coach at Southern Lee High School in NC). Both coaches focused on letting their outside LBs play and make adjustments.

Personnel and Alignments

Depending on what teams you see, some spread packages can be determined by personnel while some can’t. The key as a defensive coach is to figure out if the team is a legitimate spread team with three and four wide receiver sets, or do they just line up in those sets to spread defenses out? “For us, any time we see one back in the offense we call it spread,” said Maczko, who sees up to seven spread teams a year. “The way we see it is asking ourselves what type of spread scheme we will see. Are they a run or a pass team? We try to personnel it by watching if they have a tight end in the game or not. For the most part teams are either tight end oriented or not. We only have three days to prepare for it, so we don’t want to do too much. Ideally we base everything off tendency.” Although some coaches’ terminology differs, generally a spread formation requires one back, and some form of double width alignment – where two wide receivers are located in the same side of the field. The most common form of a spread scheme is ten personnel, or one back, no tight end formation with the QB in a shotgun alignment (Diagram 1).

Diagram 1: Spread Offense -10 Personnel

The ‘Walked’ Position

In order to accurately defend the width of those two wide receivers, the outside linebacker to that side must align in what is known as a midpoint position (Diagram 2). There he must split the difference in area between the number two receiver and the end man on the line of scrimmage. In most 4-3 schemes, his vertical alignment will remain at linebacker depth--which is usually five yards--but his horizontal width will depend on down and distance. In typical run downs, he will be aligned closer to the tackle box with his inside foot directly in line with the outside foot of the defensive end to his side. In passing situations, he will align closer to the number two receiver to his side to make sure he is able to play his coverage responsibilities. Whatever the situation, it’s imperative that the Sam or Will LB, whichever one is ‘walked,’ makes some sort of call to the remaining LBs, letting them know that he is no longer in a stacked position.

Diagram 2: ‘Walked Position’- 4-3 Defense

Maczko will sometimes determine his outside linebacker’s alignment on field position as well. Some spread teams will align the strength of their formation to the wide side of the field; it creates more room for offenses to throw and run and provides better spacing between receivers. The Sam and Will LB alignment will depend on that element. “If the outside linebacker is on the hash, generally I would have him closer to the offensive tackle (Diagram 3) because there is less room to run the ball,” said Maczko. This is particularly the case in high school, where those hash marks are a lot wider than in college. “As the ball gets wider towards the middle of the field, he has to get wider. We just term it ‘ability alignment.’ You have to find out if the kid is good in space. Figure out what the kid can do and go with it.”

Diagram 3: ‘Walked Alignment’- Ball on Hash

While Maczko has a more personal approach to aligning those outside LBs, Wally Burnham of South Florida will base his alignment on the location of the running back. Since most spread teams operate with one running back, it’s imperative to identify where he is lined up. “If the back is lined up to my side, for the most part I don’t have that immediate threat of a run game to my side, so I can widen a little bit on the number two receiver,” says Burnham. “But if that back is lined up away, now I need to be cautious of any run scheme coming at me right now. My alignment must cheat closer towards the tackle box for that initial threat of run.”

Defending the Run from the ‘Walked’ position

It’s essential to make your kids understand that just because they are in the walked position, and somewhat removed from the tackle box, they can no longer play the run game. If you don’t concede to this fact, you are playing in the hands of the offense. Like mentioned before, by lining up in the spread formation, offenses are trying to force you to defend the entire width of the field. Although for leverage purposes you must account for their width, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be allowed to handle the run game. Sure, there are countless schemes in the run game that an offense can utilize out of a one back: trap, speed option, inside zone, outside zone. But for all intents and purposes we’ll focus on the spread offenses’ favorite run scheme – the zone read.

Along with many other coaches, both Burnham and Maczko teach their outside LBs to read the EMLOS for a run or pass key before diagnosing the play. Since they can be too far removed from the tackle box to read the offensive backfield, usually the hip of the play side offensive tackle becomes the read on the snap. “Basically we teach the concept of reading hips, just like a basketball player would do when defending someone one on one” said Maczko. “A guy cannot go anywhere without moving his hips.” Burnham teaches his players to read the hat or helmet level of the tackle. If his hat is low, and he is firing out, the play is a run. The linebacker should be coming up right away to support the run.

Against the zone read, the LB will be getting a low hat read by the offensive tackle. Once he sees this, he should be coming hard down the line of scrimmage, play either the QB or pitch, depending on the coverage. In most 4-3, cover four schemes, the linebacker will play the QB with the safety to his side playing the pitch (Diagram 4). “He must make sure that the slot receiver does not get inside of him by shooting down the line of scrimmage on the snap and take the QB,” said Burnham. “He can’t feather it by being passive; he needs to attack the outside shoulder.” Maczko agreed with this concept. “That backer needs to go blow up the zone read right now and force the pitch. Like any other option scheme, you have to limit space between the defender and the ball carrier. They are trying to create space; you are trying to limit it. The QB cannot have choices; make him commit to the running back.”

Diagram 4: Zone Read

Defending the pass from the ‘Walked’ position

The cardinal rule for outside linebackers in the walked position is to make sure nobody releases inside you. Regardless of the coverage, whether it is two, three or four, that slot receiver cannot release freely down the middle of the field and get in the face of your safety. “We teach to get hands on against any vertical release,” said Maczko. “We’ll always jam any type of vertical. Again we read the hip of that offensive tackle. If the hip of that tackle comes at him and shows pass, our eyes go right to the number two receiver.” Whatever the coverage, Maczko teaches his outside linebackers three simple coverage progressions: hook, curl to flat. “We want to take away the easiest throw. The QB has all day to throw the curl, so we’ll take that away,” said Maczko. “Let’s make him throw the out. We have to anticipate that if someone goes out like the number two receiver, someone is going to come in.”

A lot of times what Burnham will do when he sees double width is play what he calls a read principle. This is especially used when the back is to the Sam or Will’s side. If quarters coverage is called in the huddle and the back comes out to the side of the double width, two read will automatically be played. “We’ll first cheat the corner inside to take away the quick out. Once the backer reads high hat level, denoting pass, he will widen with number two while reading through number one,” said Burnham. “If number one stops for what we call a China route, he’ll leave number two and get under number one (Diagram 5). The other outside linebacker must be alert for any type of crossing route that occurs from the opposite side. The crossing route will always come from the slot that is closest to the EMLOS. It’s just another key we look for when playing a spread team. How far is the split with that number two receiver?”

Diagram 5: Read Principle (USF) vs. Cross

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