Virgina tech + Blitzes

The old va tech would play Cv1 (man to man) whenever they put on a full blitz. Arrow/Silver stunts.
C's= have #1
FS= has #2 to the passing strength
R=(SS) has #2
W= OSB has #3

Hey Coach Pierson,

What did he say was their reason for doing that?

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

Coach Foster did not go into specific blitzes...just they did more zone blitzes than all out m2m stuff. COach Easton their basic reasoning was they liked it better against spread offenses that they are seeing more and more of. They still go m2m and max blitz but just not as often as in the past.

Coach Easton, they do not exclusively zone blitz but do more than they used to. Have for the past two years and their defense has done fairly well to say the least. They still max pressure and m2m just not as much...some of that besides the offenses they face is they have gone more to a 2 deep shell and less of their famed robber coverage also due to the spread offenses they see more and more of.

We have played around with the Zone Blitzes. We would send an Outside Backer and drop an End to replace his coverage. It worked pretty well for us a couple of years ago. The past 2 years we have had some very good rush ends so it was pointless to drop them into coverage. For us, this has been a personel decision.

CORRECTION, THE TYPE 0 SHOULD READ "YOUR" EXPLANATION NOT "OUR" EXPLANATION.

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

In response to OldBlu we will bring any one of the 4 linebackers 1 at a time and vacate a zone. We will take our chances and turn it into a guessing game giving up a flat or curl zone. We are playing Robber with a 3 deep zone behind it. We would never ask our linebackers to cover a vertical from #3 or any vertical route.(Actually our Inside Guys are more focused on Draw, Screen and QB Scrambles than pass drops) We are playing zone and have 3 deep players ranging and covering deep 1/3rds. Also, I like the blitz more so in run situations. Game planning, tendencies and pure guessing; hoping to blitz right into the point of attack. Some of the offensvie Guru's may tell you they can pick it up but my 27 years of experience tells me a blitz into the point of attack wins most of the time.

For the reasons you mentioned I do like the individual blitzes from the Inside Backers better than the Outside Backers. In my opinion it is much easier to come at the two back teams with a myriad of blitzes. If we are playing spread-no back teams then Robber is out the window and we are playing primarily man, man under and 2 deep zone.

Also, my 27 years of coaching tells me there are a lot of ways to get it done. I believe you must believe in what you do and have an answer for they do within your philosophy.

Coach Easton,

I agree with you 100% if we are playing a spread team. We will play man under 2 deep zone and man free and blitz. I like to have cover 2 ready vs. the spread teams but vs. the true spread teams we never use it. We will stick with tight man. As stated in an earlier post we used to play the in your face bump and run man but have gone to a tight man playing 3 yards off with the same concept of denying the inside and disrupting routes. We also will sub cover guys for our Outside Backers. I know your response was that you will complete a slant against this type of coverage. My feeling is if you want to throw a slant for a 3 yard gain go ahead. In our league teams will not consistently complete this route against tight man from 3 yards off.

At the H.S. level we will face a myriad of offenses. Last year we played only 2 spread teams and we played only man vs. these teams. However, one week we might face Pro I, the next week a Veer Team, the next week a Jet Sweep/Xbuck series team and the next week the Wing T. One of the best teams on our schedule will use only 2 formations(Pro and Twin). They will run Iso, Counter, Belly, Toss, mix in some play action and run the quick game with efficiencty. The key for them is they block better than anyone else in our conference.

For us, stopping the run comes first. In general play zone vs. the run and man vs. the pass or Zone in 3rd and Long passing situations. Also, it is very difficult to stop the option when you are playing man.

I agree Coach Easton. The key words there are "skilled corner play". If you have a corner who can lock up with a reciever and still have a sense of what is going on behind the offensive LOS, then you can defend anything. I think, and tell me if you disagree, that many coaches use zone to protect young, inexperienced corners--which I feel is ligitimate. I know that even my most talented sophomore will struggle in trying to "multitask" as a corner.

Coach Easton,

Thanks for your response, this forum is a lot of fun and very informative. After 42 years you obviously still have a great passion for the game.

I coached O Line and worked on the offensive side of the ball for 15 years before becoming a defensive coordinator. I love the X and O and on field coaching part of the game but never wanted to deal with the responsibilites of head coaching. Any offense I have been associated with we used the option just for that reason to keep teams from playing a steady diet of man. When playing man you have to focus on the man and not the backfield. Receivers can run off the man cover guys. Then the combination of the play action pass off of the option run makes the cover guys honor the run off. Even if you crack with your wideout the man cover guy has to come back inside. Yes, we teach communication and crack replace but it is easier said than done.

I am sure you know exactly what you are doing and how to cover option from your scheme. When you say you will put the DE on the QB and the SS on the pitch I would think the SS is a deep 1/2 player and you are playing man under. In this case the SS will be late on the pitch and you have lost your over the top help vs. play action or a pitch pass. Option wise if you put the DE on the QB you will never tackle the dive back on the Outside Veer. Inside Linebacker will get sealed at that angle. We train our DE to close and tackle the dive back, then we can rip by the Tackles down block to take the QB with our inside linebacker and put our Outside Backer on the pitch. At least for us in our scheme, our outside backer has #2 when we play man that way we can keep the FS in the middle of the field. When playing zone the FS plays the Dive Pass 1st and then is a bonus guy playing Dive to QB to Pitch. When playing man, if we get a twin set and the Outside Backer is man on #2 he can not cover #2 man and play the Pitch.

As far as the discussion goes that teams play man due to inferior corner skills, I disagree. We play zone when we want to play bend but don't break defense. However, we like to mix it up and get after the offense also. To make my point, in my observation of today's pro game, most teams are playing the Tampa 2 or a 3 deep zone off of that. They make offenses dink you in the hook, curl and dig zones and do not give up the big play.

A question for you coach, you stated you like to stay in man as much as possible and will go to zone when forced to do so. What will force you into zone?

In Robber Coverage vs a 21,11 Twins Set how do you guys align the Outside backer on the #2 receiver?
1. I’ve heard align him inside shade on #2, head up on #2 and outside shade on #2 so he can drop to the numbers and run with the Wheel route.
thanks,
harry73

Coach Easton,

Thanks for the diagram. It answered some of my questions already. We are very similar in our 4-4. We try to find a SS type to play Outside Backer. Be able to cover reasonably but still be able to play the run. In our leauge stopping the run comes first. They have the same basic responsibilites as your Tiger Backs. As I have stated earlier we will sub them out in situations when we play man. If they are man on a back out or TE I am comfortable with that. If they are playing man on a slot receiver or we can not get a good match up we will sub them out. If we play a spread team they may not see the field that night.

Some other questions for you when you get a chance.

What is your base alignment with the Tiger Backs? 3 x 3 from EOL, On the LOS?

Who covers #2 in your man scheme? Is your FS always free in MOF or does he have a man rule?

Who is man on the TE vs. Pro I?

Do you consistently play 3 techs to both sides?(3 Tech to the Weakside is the answer to the Dive in OSV)
-We stem and slant our front quite a bit? Our base is a 3 and a 1
Do you think you are better off playing two 3 Techs? Do you move your front much?
Everybody we play traps; a consistent look of two 3's could make it difficult to stop trap.

Do you have trouble stopping off tackle plays with the DE in a 9?

FURTHER ANSWER'S:

We never take our TB's out of the game as they are without a doubt, unlike a conventional defense the CB's are usually called the best and most athletic, the best player's in my defense. When we go to our dime package, we replace a LB with a true DB who can also tackle in the event they run on an obvious passing down.

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

In reponse to Harry73 vs. a Twin Set we will generally split the difference from the EOL to the #2 slot receiver. Once again, the emphasis on stopping the run 1st. The wider the slot gets the wider we will move but we will always stay at least 3 yards inside of the slot receiver taking away the blocking angle. If you move him head up to outside I would run weak until the cows come home. General rule is to play close enough to take away the quick screen but be in positon to play normal run responsibilities.

This can get you in trouble on the Quick Screen but vs. a Quick Screen Outside Backer will attack Inside Out and Corner will attack Outside In. This is the only time when playing Robber Cover 3 we will attack a short route with the Corner with 2 receivers to a side. VS. Twin you will have a FS cheated to the Twin Side. In case of the Quick Screen with the Corner leaving his deep 1/3rd the FS will then play over the top for the double pass.

As far as covering a Wheel Route, our Outside Backer will stay in the flat and we have 2 deep players in the Corner and the FS to play the Wheel Route.

Our other answer to Twin is to check to Cover 2. Roll up the Outside Backer on #1, FS play the Outside Backer/Nickel back and follow the same rule vs. Twin as the Outside Backer in Cover 3. Corner plays deep 1/2.