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Lufkin\'s Okie Blitz Package

108 Different Pressures
by: David Purdum
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Extremely versatile and aggressive, the Okie blitz package confuses offenses with up to 108 different pressures. Sound a little bit overwhelming? If your players have a hard enough time learning your base blitzes, where are you going to find the time to install 108, right?

Don’t worry: Lufkin (Texas) High School Defensive Coordinator Todd Quick, an Okie blitz disciple, has simplified things. In 1986, Quick, along with Lufkin head coach John Outlaw, learned the Okie blitz from current Ole Miss defensive coordinator John Thompson. In their 24 years together, Quick and Outlaw have condensed the number of blitzes in the package to fit the time constraints of a high school team. The reduction hasn’t taken away from the scheme, which is most effective with four speedy linebackers, adaptable defensive ends and tough corners who are not afraid to play tight, press man-to-man coverage.

The Okie package provides the ability to bring pressure from a combination of the will, mike, sam or bandit linebackers, who can line-up with their hand down on the line of scrimmage or off. Lufkin is multiple-look defense, based out of a 4-2-5. The Panthers can shift into the Okie package out of any of their personnel groupings without having to substitute. Lufkin blitzes at least 65 percent of the time, says Quick.

“Being able to go from a 4-2-5 to a 4-3 to this Okie package, without changing personnel, is big,” Quick pointed out. Disguising the movement from one front to another is a huge benefit and one of the Okie package’s main objectives. In order to create the most confusion on the offensive line, Quick rapidly moves his defense around before the snap.

“We stem with our front people and prow with our back people,” said Quick. “Basically, we’re not lining up in what we’re going to do. It’s the ability to show different looks then move to what we’re going to get into. Without having to change personnel, we’ll show a four-man front, then before the snap, we’ll move [the end] out. It becomes a three-man front, changes all blocking schemes and now we’re in our Okie look.

“Once you’ve confused the offensive line, it forces them to zone block everything,” he added. “Not saying it’s easier to defeat a zone block, but if you know who’s going to block you, it makes it a lot whole lot simpler.” Quick doesn’t hesitate to jump into Okie with any of his personnel groupings on the field. He can jump into it from his nickel and dime or “Gator” packages, and even in goal-line situations.

Teaching the Okie Blitz Package

While not having to change personnel is a benefit of the Okie, it does, however, force players to learn the responsibilities of more than one position. But the Okie play calling system simplifies the process dramatically. It keeps players from having to think about their responsibilities instead of just reacting.

“You don’t want them to be caught trying to think what they’re supposed to do,” said Quick, “because they become passive and don’t move as fast.”

Okie blitz calls begin and end with letters representing which two of the will, mike, sam and bandit linebackers will be stunting into which gap. They also include numbers indicating the gaps (See Diagram 1). The strong side gaps are even numbers 2, 4, 6 and 8, while the weak-side gaps are odd numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7.

Diagram 1: Okie Blitz Package

For example, in Bow 87, the letter “B” represents the bandit linebacker. Since he is the first letter in the play call, the first number will signal what gap he is responsible for. In this case, he would be in gap 8, attacking outside of the tight end (See Diagram 2).

Diagram 2: Bow 87

To further the example, the will linebacker would be the other blitzer in Bow 87, as signaled by the letter “W.” He would come off the weak-side edge.

The two remaining linebackers, in this case the mike and sam, drop into coverage.

“Depending on week-to-week, we’ll pull or add a number depending on who we want to attack offensively or the part of the field we want to attack,” added Quick. “It just depends on who we’re playing and what type of offense they’re playing.”

With defensive backs and linemen having to shift into one of the four blitzing linebacker spots on a regular basis, every Lufkin defender is taught the Okie calls. Quick says once the players are taught the play-calling system, there is usually no need for a review. Instead, he focuses on making sure the defenders are taking the right paths and matching up correctly in the secondary.

“We’re a field declare defense,” he said. “The bandit and the sam work together and the mike and will work together. So the bandit and sam go to declare and the mike and the will go away from declare. With the 3-down linemen that we have, the blood end goes to declare and then the end goes away. When we first started that, we didn’t move our front. We just double taught them; they had to know if they had to go to declare or away from declare. Now, the only thing the blood has to know is that he’s always on the even numbered side. So the blood, the sam and the bandit all work together; the mike, the will and the end all work together.

“The even numbers that are to the declare side always go to declare. It doesn’t matter if it’s a right declare or a left declare, that’s always the even numbered side. A, B, C and D are 2, 4, 6 and 8. The away from declare are always odd numbers, 1, 3, 5, 7. All they have to know is which side is the strong side of our defense.

“For instance,” he explained, “if you go BAM 82 (See Diagram 3), the mike is away from declare on the odd side. His letter has the second number, which is a two, so he knows he’s going to cross the center’s face. So you could work them to the declare side or the strong side.”

Diagram 3: Bam 82

Okie Blitzing the Spread

Against a spread offense on a third and five, Quick would take into consideration whether the opponent is wide-side oriented or left-handed or right-handed.

“Most of the time, if the ball’s on the hash, then we’d like a stunt coming from the wide side of the field as well as someone coming from the inside,” he said. “For instance, a Bam 82.”

In the Bam 82, the bandit would attack the eight gap on the declare side of the field, while the mike would cross the center’s face into the two gap. The nose guard goes opposite into the one gap, occupying the center and forcing him to block man-on. The guard will be forced to make a decision because the blood end is going to take an inside brush inside the tackle. If the tackle doesn’t help inside with the blood end, he’ll be forced to fan outside on the bandit, who, again, is stunting to the 8 gap.

“You’re going to get an opening there no matter how they do it,” Quick said. “If [the tackle] blocks down on the blood end, then it’s going to put us one-on-one with a running back. That puts them in a bind.”

Behind the blitz, the safety rolls down and picks up the No. 2 receiver to the stunt side. The backside safety or rover will roll to the middle and become the free safety with no man-to-man responsibilities.

If Quick determines that the offense is fanning to the wide side of the field, he’ll try a Saw 17, which is exactly the same stunt as the Bam 82, except that it’s coming from the backside.

“We’ll get on the hash and throw it weak, because they know you’ve rolled to the strong or wide side,” Quick added. Hard-nosed corners really become important in this situation, Quick said.

“We play them up in their face. We tell them to take away the stop, take away the stop-and-go; you’re going to force something deep, which is a harder throw and he’s going to have to throw it quickly because people are going to be in his face. You can eliminate a lot of the routes just by playing up on them, but you also have two guys out there who are willing to say, ‘I’m by myself and I’m going to make the play.’”

Okie Blitzing the Wing-T

Lufkin’s versatile personnel become increasingly important against a Wing-T offense, Quick said. Because a Wing-T team uses so many bootlegs and misdirection plays, Quick will often get in a 50 look out of the Okie package by moving the bandit and will up on the line of scrimmage or by eagling down on the backside.

“Our outside LBs are bigger people who can run,” he said, “but they’re also people we can solid up and play at the line of scrimmage.”

The free safety can roll down to the tight end after the bandit has moved onto the line. The rover rolls over to the middle and becomes the free cover guy.

“That’s the thing about being able to be a multiple front,” Quick emphasized. “You don’t get locked in. If they know where you’re going to be, they’re going to block you. We can go Okie 55 Shade, and shade our nose to the tight end side, so he’s not in a zero anymore.” Quick doesn’t rule out blitzing against a Wing-T offense.

“The Bow 87 is very good against the Wing-T,” he said, “because you’re coming from both sides. You’re taking away the sprint-out pass and you’re also taking away the bootleg pass because you have an outside stunt coming from both. You just have to make sure the inside linebackers pick up the flood route because you’re always going to get that fullback in the flat and that type of thing.”

Okie Blitzing the Option

Against an option team, especially one that is tight end-oriented, Quick prefers the Bass 68, bringing the bandit and sam to the 6 and 8 gaps, respectively. The nose guard goes into the two hole and takes care of the fullback dive. The blood end comes underneath and takes either the veer or the fullback, putting two defenders on the fullback. The bandit hits the six hole, going directly off of the tight end’s rear on a quarterback stunt. The sam, on flow, becomes responsible for the pitch man.

“You’ve got two on the fullback, one on the quarterback and one on the pitch,” Quick explained. “The safety to that side is reading the tight end. If the tight end down blocks, he comes to the quarterback.”

The sam linebacker only goes when he reads flow to his side, making it more of a delayed stunt. If the offense counters and runs the option to the opposite side, the sam linebacker becomes the backside linebacker.






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