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Defending the Power Game with the Stack Defense – The stack defense allows players to be aggressive and limit adjustments against either a spread or a power offense.

by: Matt McCarty
Defensive Coordinator, Northwestern College (IA)
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One of the primary benefits of the stack defense is its ability to line up against any style of offense and be very effective. With the emergence of the spread offense, the stack gives defenses a great opportunity to not only match up with the spread but also attack it. While this is a great benefit, the primary strength of the stack defense is its ability to stop the run. Throughout the course of a season, we will defend shotgun-spread offenses mainly running out of 10 and 11 personnel as well as double-tight end 12 personnel offenses.

The stack, especially the 3-5 version that we run, is a great defense against the power running game. There are several reasons we run the stack the way we do (Diagram 1):



•  Head-up alignment by ends and nose allows them to play either B or C gap effectively while creating uncertainty for the offense.

•  Stacked LBs create tough angles for
O-linemen.
•  You can use a wide variety of stunt and blitz combos.

•  Overhang dogs (corners) are difficult to block in space and can be very aggressive in the run game.

•  Ability to add a FS to the run game and gain a ninth man in the box.

Playing solid defensive football is less about scheme and more about having your players execute the scheme precisely. We spend countless practice hours on visual key reads and proper fits in not only our blitz game but also in shutting down the run game. When it comes to stopping the power run game, defensive fits are vital to the success of the defense. We have used several different options in defending the power, usually depending on our personnel or the tendencies and personnel of our opponent. We will take a look at these different options as well as how we implement and practice some of the key components of each.

One way to defend a 2 RB – 1 TE power offense is to play a walked-up 44 front out of the 3-5 stack (Diagram 2).

We simply make a call to adjust our front and our LB on the strong side of the offense lines up in a two point stance, inside eye to the TE’s outside eye, over the TE. His visual key is the tight end’s V of his neck. Our other two inside LBs will adjust their stacked alignment to an alignment over the guards. We still have our dogs in an overhang position of 3 x 5 yards of the end man on the line of scrimmage. 

We can still slant our DL strong or weak from their head-up alignment as well as blitz any of our five linebackers. In our basic 44 alignment, the walked-up LB is key to defending the strong side power. If he sees a down block from the TE, he must get his hands on the TE’s shoulder and force him down the line of scrimmage while at the same time come tight off his back side and stay square to the line of scrimmage. This will enable him to meet as tight as possible any pulling lineman or running back attempting to kick him out. We do not teach a wrong arm, but preach the importance of staying square to the line of scrimmage and fitting as tight as possible. If the RB bounces, we want our LB to be able to redirect down the line of scrimmage and get involved in the play. If his fit is correct, it should force the ball to bounce to our dog aligned in an overhang position. Our inside LBs scrapping over the top of blocks to the ball, will be in a great inside-out position on the ball carrier.

If the TE attempts to base block our LB out and our DE are going inside to the B gap, our LB will come under the block into the C gap. If our DE is going to the C gap, then our DE is responsible to take on the pulling offensive player and force the ball carrier to bounce. Again, we are hoping to make the power spill to the outside to our Dog, scrapping LBs and our FS running the inside-out alley.  If the power is run to the weak side, our C-gap defender, either the DE or the Dog, is responsible for fitting tight and making the RB run lateral. We allow our Dog a lot of freedom with his alignment on the back side, usually depending on the tendencies we see from an offense.

Another option we have used against double tight power offenses is playing one LB in an over alignment and pressing a Dog on the back side, creating a 5-2 look (Diagram 3).


We will usually play cover 2 or 4 out of this alignment. We also can blitz both the LB and Dog, either one of them, or neither of them. Plus, we still have flexibility with our DL slanting one way or another to vary the looks for the offense. Both the Dog and the walked-up LB will read and play the TE in a similar fashion to the walked up LB in our 44 look.

We will also continue to run our base 3-5 stack defense to defend the power. Solid Dog play is a must in defending the power out of a stack defense. We spend countless hours of film study and practice time with our Dogs repping visual key reads and fits off of the TE. The Dog must attack when reading a down block from a TE almost like he is blitzing (Diagram 4).


We have been fortunate enough to have some very intelligent and aggressive football players at our Dog positions over the years, which has helped us in defending the power run game.

The Dog attacking the puller and forcing the ball to bounce or stay inside (depending on the style of running back we are defending) is important in defending the power, but how the inside LBs play off of blocks and fit is just as important. The inside LBs must understand the game plan and trust the Dog to defend the power and work off his block accordingly. If the Dog can force the ball to bounce, our LBs must attack their blocker so they do not give ground and shed the block over the top as tight as possible. We feel if we can force the ball to be run laterally, our team speed on defense will win the play. If the Dog’s responsibility is to turn the ball back inside, then our LBs must attack downhill and shed the block and maintain their gap control.

Backside LB play is important, too. Although the 3-5 stack defense is a gap defense, as soon as the ball is snapped and the offense dictates the play, the LBs responsibility will adjust accordingly. As shown in diagram 4, although the Ram may be a B or C-gap player, his gap responsibility vs. power away may be opposite A and the backside Dog, although a backside D gap player may fit inside to backside B. We teach our LBs to be very aggressive and to attack through any seam they see just as if they were playing running back and hitting the hole.

Having a sound game plan to defend the power run game is an important starting point but preparing well throughout the week in practice is what helps your team execute the plan successfully on game days. One of the best practice segments we have added over the years is a five minute run fit walk through on Tuesdays and Fridays. This is against our scout offense and allows us to see our proper reads and fits at a slow speed before we crank it up and get physical in practice. We have found this is a great way to test our guys understanding of the game plan but also a great way for them to build confidence in their own preparation and their teammates’ execution of the game plan. The slow speed helps our players see their proper fits and how they fit in the big picture of defending the run. We run this segment before we go to our team segment vs. scouts on Tuesdays and also as a review segment during our Friday practice.

A few other practice drills we have used effectively are the walked up LB technique along with the Dog’s visual key reads which are done with garbage cans. We will line our LBs up in their correct alignment and place a TE on offense and also replace a garbage can with the first puller (Diagram 5). We will work with our walked up LB on getting hands on and being physical with the down block of the TE and also staying square, fitting tightly and taking on the puller. We can also work the inside reads, fits and block defeats of our two inside LBs during the same drill sequence if needed. We can focus solely on the power play or add in a TE base block or other zone schemes we may see as well.

We will utilize a similar drill set-up to practice our Dog’s visual key reads and fits. We will give our Dog different TE block looks and work on his visual key read and proper fit. With the down block, we want our Dog to attack and fit as tight as possible. The Dog needs to be very aggressive and play on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage. We have found through many practice reps and solid preparation our Dogs are able to do this very effectively from their 3 x 3 or 3 x 5 yard alignment. We can also make this a double TE look and work a backside cutback check with our other Dog. These drills are simple yet effective at giving our players the reps they need to prepare in defending the power run game.

We are a 3-5 stack defense because we feel it fits who we are and what we want to be as a team. It allows us to play aggressive defensive football and not have to make large scale adjustments whether we are facing a spread or power offense. The 3-5 stack defense allows our players to line up and play fast. Being able to stop the run is always a top priority of ours. Doing so allows for being aggressive in long yardage situations as well as taking full advantage of blitz opportunities.

About the Author: Matt McCarty just completed his 8th season as Defensive Coordinator and first as Assistant Head Coach at Northwestern College. A former Honorable Mention as an All-American Defensive Back at Northwestern, McCarty also serves as an instructor in the Kinesiology Department and is the team’s Recruiting Coordinator.


Coach McCarty answers your questions on
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Want More articles on this subject?

Disrupting the Spread with the 3-5 Defense – July, 2012
The 30 Stack Pressure Defense – January, 2009
Point-counterpoint: The Spread Offense vs. the 3-3 Stack Defense – December, 2006







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