Cov 3 & 2 Pattern Read

Let me start this off by saying in 2007 as a team we had 27 INT's in 12 games, 23 where in Cov.2 if its so simple how does that happen?

Cover 2 is under used in high school and I am very adiment about this. I have discussed the coverage at length with many college coaches and have come to the consense that cov.2 is player wrong.

Now keep in mind both these coverages (2 and 3) are very reliable and can stone offenses when played properly with the right kids in the right positions and with great technique it all comes back to technique. Ive noticed that alot of people on these boards are big quarters, man and man free guys, and most tend to treat cov. 2 and 3 like they are stone age coverages. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you need proof then just look no further then the NFL and College. What is the most prevelant zone coverage in the NFL? Pre Inverted cov.3

Why do you think Zone blitz is all the rage now a days in the NFL and College? It gives teams a safe way to pressure without risking giving up the big play in man, as well as keeping all 11 eyes on the ball for run purposes. Of course the two types of zone pressure are 3 deep 3 under or 2 deep 4 under. Just plain cov. 2 and 3 with one less player.

Why not quarters? Ive heard many a college coach explain quarters this way. All it is, is 0 blitz coverage, with a four man pass rush, and only 7.5 in the box. So whats the advantage.

If you think about this it is all true. After 10 yards all quarters becomes is man coverage without the ability of knowing if you will have help over the top.

You cant count it as an 8 man surface because ur fource defender is 10 yards deep.

Now I will explain how ive been taught cov.2 and why it is a great coverage. This is just a very basic overview. Im going to explain it out of the 3-4 and we are dropping 8. I know you are saying dropping 8 who does that? Well many 3-4 teams drop all 8 in cov. 2. We feel we can do it because we bring zone pressure so much that its good balance for our defense.

You can do this out of other fronts the only differance is you drop 7 the only people it changes are the LB's

First off our corners are our force defenders. Coaches in college and the NFL refer to this as "Cleo" force we know it as hammer. Show run at all to his side our corner is coming, It should look like a corner blitz. I will rationalize how this is effective later when I go over his pass coverage.

Our Safeties, we refer to them as halves are pre snap lined up at 13, these guys are ball hawkers they are secondary run guys there first job is pass. Show run they will check #1 for toss pass or any other gadget pass. If #1 is clearly blocking the halve will now fir for run. If it is outside run he will overlap with the corner incase the ball does make it around the corner which it shouldnt the halve will stop it for no more then a 3 yard gain counting on him no missing his tackle.

Vs. Pass The half safety is keying number two all the way. His stance is outside foot back inside foot up. On the snap of the ball he will slide back for 2 steps then peddle out.

In his mind #1 is always running vertical. If one runs anything else it doesnt matter.

If the #2 snaps his route off anywhere before 10 yards, the half will over play one vertical. If #2 pushes past ten the half will stay just ontop and outside #2. This is possible because a throw to number 1 is a longer throw the QB has to put more air under it, number 2 vert is more a straight line shot. This is also why the halves outside foot is back so he can open and run to #1 vert.

Thats a real quick rendition of the half.

The corner we call him the under player is alligned 5 yards off the ball and outside of #1. His outside foot is up inside footback and his hips are pointed at the LOS. Show run at him at all he is flying at the ball carrier like a corner blitz. Receivers dont know how to block that its a beautiful thing.

If the corner gets QB off the line for pass he will square up and jam #1 as he jams #1 he brings his eyes back to the QB. If 1 trys to run an in breaking route the corner will ride him until he gets a threat back outside.

If #1 sits down or continues to work vertical, the corner will flip his hips always to the qb and sift back to the "hole" (18 yards deep 2 yards in bounds, you know the place you think you will throw smash on us" if the ball is checked down the corner will side plant and rally up late.

Again just a quick rendition.

The OLB: Their are two ways to do this:

1. He is a pure spot dropper. He drops "Slot" Which is inbetween the #1 and #2 receivers, he reads the shoulder and intentions of the QB. There are alot of coaching points for this player I wont get into them if your interested leave your email. Its some good stuff.

2. You can match up or pattern read the OLB: Vs. Drop back pass he is hunting up the #1. If #1 sits down the olb will break underneath him basically just matches the #1. Again alot of coaching points email if interested.

The ILB's: Are pure match up underneath, they are pattern reading 2 to 1. If 2 runs any inside breaking route or up the ILB will take him. This is what makes this coverage great. Any deep route attempted to be thrown to #2 must have air under the ball or it will hit the ILB in the helmet, and when air is forced under the ball our half safety is sitting back there to pic it to easy.

If 2 breaks out we are hunting 1 coming back in. if #1 runs any slant dig or curl we are breaking on it right now.

Vs. trips the strong ILB reads 2 to 1, the weak ILB reads 3 to first crosser.

As a side note we ussually stem our front in cov.2

We also have a zone pressure out of cov.2 that I can send playbook stuff of from differnt colleges if interested, however I doubt anyone made it this far.

I would like to hear more about C2. What is your e-mail?

What we have found is its very hard to run cover 2 out of the stack and be sound against the run and have your players in a position to get to where they need to get to vs pass. Now this could just be our own lack of imagination but when we want to play cov.2 we get into our even front and it becomes more of a 4-2-5/4-3 look and of course our Mike would have to play a tampa high hole tech matching #3. Im not saying its the best way to do it but thats how we do it. Of course we still run our zone pressures out of the even front and disguise it as much as we can with a two high shell to keep offenses honest.

My email is ptoney36@gmail.com if anyone wants some cov.2 stuff.

I would also highly recomend you check out Kyle Williams of the FCPGA his cov.2 stuff is a combination of the best stuff from around the country. www.billwilliamsfcpga.com