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Fixed Front: Defending trips to the field and in the boundary with a stable pre-snap look

by: Kyle Langhoff
Defensive Coordinator, MacMurray College
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With more and more offenses going to spread type schemes, we are seeing more trip formations. Not only do we want to be able to stop or control the trip formations but we need to be multiple and not be one-dimensional in our call options. To give you a quick idea of our defense, we do everything off field and boundary. Breaking down film, we found that around 80% of our plays last season were on a hash. That is a huge statistic and something that we feel we need to play against. In our defense, we align our players based off field and boundary, not strength of receivers or strength of formation.

We are a defense that shows the same look pre-snap for the majority of the game. As a defense, we want to give the offense a “vanilla” look every time and not tip our hand. At the snap, we get to our zones or objectives. Our linebackers spot drop or landmark drop and get to 10 yards depth from the LOS and make their breaks off the QB with his hand off the ball. Our defense puts an emphasis on giving up the flat and underneath passes and rallying to the ball for tackles.

Our first coverage is a concept in which we simply get four defenders over three receivers in a box formation. We call this coverage “Blue.” We tag this coverage either field or boundary, simply off where the trips are. We see the majority of the trips into the field, so the first one we install is Blue Field (Diagram 1).


Diagram 1: Blue Field = Will #3 and #2 and takes #3 if both go vertical

Remembering that we do not move our players, the Raider and Sam are always to the field and the Bandit and Will are always to the boundary. We have to be able to run the same coverage with different people. In Blue Field, it is a quarter-quarter-half premise with a spy. Our Field Corner and Free Safety are the quarter players to the trip side. The Raider and the Sam are our under players to the trip side, with the Raider covering the 7-10 yard out route and the Sam getting into the Hook/Curl passing lane. On the boundary side, we have the corner play soft and drop into half type coverage, knowing that in anything vertical past 8-10 yards, he is man-to-man. Our Bandit will “rob” underneath or sit to help with short routes to the one receiver side. The biggest key to this look is the Will. Many offenses, when they see this look, try to spread us out with four verticals on the landmarks of Numbers-Hash-Hash-Numbers. The Will linebacker will read the #3 and #2 receivers. If they both run vertical, the Will Linebacker will run with and have #3 man to man. That frees up our Free Safety to take #2 man to man.

Our one variation of Blue Field is called Navy Field (Diagram 2). Navy Field is exactly the same on the field side with the same players; the change is on the back side. We man up the Boundary Corner with #1 and now have the Bandit take the Will’s job in reading #3 and #2 and taking #3 if they both go vertical. This also frees up our Will a little bit more if we are having run/pass read conflicts. The Will linebacker drops off the QB’s eyes and settles at ten yards from the LOS, ready to rally up for underneath routes. Navy Field also gives him a break on having to run with verticals, or it is not a good matchup with their receivers and our linebacker.


Diagram 2: Navy Field = Boundary corner is man #1, Bandit reads #2 and #3 and takes #3 if both go vertical

Our defense does encounter some trips into the boundary. We still like running our Blue concept into the Boundary (Diagram 3). The boundary corner and the Free Safety have deep quarters to the boundary side (where the trips are); the free safety has to come from a distance this time. The Bandit will “rob” under the boundary corner and take the 7-10 yard out area. The Will linebacker will drop into the hook/curl passing lane. The Sam linebacker will drop off the QB’s eyes and sink to 10 yards, ready to break. The field corner sinks to half the field to the field side and will take #1 man to man when he gets 8-10 yards downfield. The field concept has the Will linebacker spying the WRs and, in the boundary concept, it is the raider.


Diagram 3: Blue Boundary = Raider reads #2 and #3 and takes #3 if both go vertical

Again, we do not like moving our players pre-snap or changing our alignments, so our players need to know the individual job that the coverage is having them do. The raider will read #3 and #2 receiver and, if they both go vertical, will pick up #3 man to man.  Again, this is to help defend the 4-vertical look that has the landmarks of numbers-hash-hash-numbers.

Another concept that our defense has adopted was a 3-cloud coverage that we would run against trips. Most offenses look for you to be firm with the corner to the trips side, but we feel that using the one receiver side corner in the same capacity is also very useful.

We call our 3-cloud look, White (Diagram 4), and we will call White to and away from the trips side by tagging field or boundary to it. At first, it was pretty nerve racking having 4 vertical threats against a 3-deep shell, but if the collision and reroute is solid, it will take a lot of pressure off of the 3-deep coverage. The corner will be firm and collision the #1 receiver to the trips side and reroute him to the inside and not let him get to the sidelines. That corner will then sink to 7-10 yards based on the eyes of the QB. The corresponding high safety to the sitting corner, bandit or free, will then take that outside third for the Corner. The opposite high safety will take the middle of the field for his third of the coverage. The backside corner will have his usual outer third cover 3 responsibility. What we do with our three linebackers is simply use them as spot droppers off of the quarterback’s eyes. We will from time to time give them more of a landmark drop depending on what we see in the game plan. All in all, the coverage will end with a 4-under/3-deep coverage versus trips.


Diagram 4: White Field/Boundary to the trips - Trips in Boundary = Raider reads #3 - #2
Trips in Field =Will reads #3 - #2

When we feel we are becoming vulnerable or getting hurt on that one receiver side, we call White to that side and have the corner sit to his side and not drop (Diagram 5). We feel that we can get a quarterback to get a bit relaxed and perhaps throw an easy interception. All of the movement is the same from when we call White to the


Diagram 5: White Field/Boundary to the one receiver side in Trips - Trips in the Field =
Will reads #3 - #2 - Trips in the Boundary = Raider reads #3 - #2

Having this coverage added to our Blue and Navy calls has been a huge boost to our defensive portfolio. Being able to show multiple zone coverage looks against trips, no matter to the field or in the boundary, really helps us combat an offense. Add to that, we have a down and distance game plan on when to use or not use certain coverages. Using the coverages described and still using cover 0 with and without blitzes have made us more dimensional against offenses. p
 
About the Author: Kyle Langhoff enters his second season as defensive coordinator this fall at MacMurray College. He previously served as both the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Briar Cliff University for four years. Langhoff also coached at Central Methodist University. He was a four-year letterman as an offensive lineman at Lake Forest College.

More article like this:

•  Slowing Down the Spread - August/September, 2012
 
•  Zone Blitzing the Spread Offense - December, 2011
 
•  Adjust Your Defensive Backs - April, 2011






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