Installing Today’s Hybrid Pistol Offense Run & Pass from Top to Bottom
This manual provides you with the full offensive line, receiver, and quarterback mechanics for installing each offensive play presented. Coach Campbell has left no stone unturned for implementing today’s Pistol Offense into your program.
I have been preparing a defensive play book for sometime now on my defense of choice: the 3-4. I want to bring at least four rushers on every play unless we are in a prevent, or odd call, and drop eight. I want to stem and slant the front on every play as well (that is unless I have some TNT/nose tackles that can two gap). What coverages do you feel i should begin with that best suit the 3-4? If anyone has suggestions on implementation or just general comments on the topic, I'd appreciate your help. We play a lot of spread teams so I would like to include some combo coverages (cover 6). Philosophies on secondary play on the goal line? ILB reads - guards, backs, or flow to psg? Subs? Nickel package? Wristbands?
To answer your first question, I think cover 4 is a good place to start. If that is your "base" coverage, you can add from there. I greatly prefer cover 4 to cover 2. It is much easier to teach. I would then go to cover 3 (sky/cloud). Man coverage would be next (which is easy conceptually). Now you have "cover six", simply man on one side and zone on the other.
That is a lot for high school. If you are coaching at the college level, or your kids play only one way, you might consider cover 2. In my experience, the time commitment necessary to achieve the requisite level of competence for cover 2 does not justify the benefits. I am sure some will disagree, and I welcome their input.
Never taught cover 4, but I am interested in learning the basics. I have spoken with some coaches about diff coverages out of the 3-4. We run cov. O, cloud and sky, although I am not sold on how we run cloud. We give up too many big plays, especially against twins with #1 going vertical and#2 going skinny. Just seems like our cb is always chasing from behind. From what I have learned, I like qtr/qtr/half as a change up to trips. How do u feel about cov. 3 versus 2 back? How many cov. Is too many cov. For h.s. players? Scott, u mentioned cover 3 as sky and/or cloud, but we don't run those coverages in anyway that resembles cov 3. In our cloud cov, our cloud corner redirects from 6-8, but our safeties and backside cb never roll ( unless its rollout). Is this correct? I was under the impression that you always rolled, weak or strong depending on call. In our sky cov, which we play to trips, our ss lines up head up over #2, buzzes his feet, fight outside #2 vs run, opens up to 2nd level vs pass. Cb and fs have middle and outside 3rd. Backside cb is man. This seems sound versus what we see offensively. For some reason, no one ever throws backside to the isolated wr. Any comments?
Sky or cloud, to us, are just cover 3, with the safety or CB having flat, and the remaining secondary men playing the 3 deep zones. We never show it per-snap, we would rotate to it on the snap. We do not use quarter-quarter-half. I feel, to do it right, you should know cover 2. Our kids don't , so that is out. We could play cloud and tell the backside to cheat away from the cloud side. I guess that would be as close as we get. If playing cloud vs 2 detached receivers, And both release vertical, cb should collision #1 idiom outside in and squeeze him towards the post. Backside safety should be coming to the deep middle to help on the post too. Vs trips, we may stay in 4, or rotate to 3 (sky/cloud). In sky, safety comes from deep alignment aiming point=inside number of #2. A lb will wall off #3 so as to prevent good distribution on 4 verts. Your idea of playing zone to trips and man backside is good, I have heard this called cover 6. You still must be aware of 4 verticals though. They can out number you deep if they get to their landmarks. As noted in the original post. I like to play a lot of cover 4 against open sets. I want to stop the deep ball and the run. If we yield a first down here or there to a hitch or bubble, I can live with that. As far as how many coverages, our DBs should know how to play flat, off man, press man, deep 1/3, deep 1/4. That is plenty for us (too much?). If I added something, it would be "robber" (as described elsewhere on this board by coach Mountjoy and others). Cover 3 is ok against two backs. The other front we feature is 46, so we would often be in that against 2 backs.
Ok. Next question. Installation in August. How many fronts do you introduce on day one? Do you keep it simple and introduce your base fronts (44, 54) and base coverages (cloud, sky,) versus 3x1, 2x2 (we see a lot of those form.) on day 1 and review day 2 and progress from there? I am big on situational tackling, not just mirror everyday. I feel that we have to tackle everyday in individual. When you do walk-thrus, are all position coaches talking or just the DC? I know I am asking a lot, but I am a big detail guy. I like to have everything in detail down to the minute so that there is no doubt what every person involved in the defense is doing. Do you have a nickel package? I would like to have one, simply subbing our olb's with safety type players(unless he is a great pash rusher).