Pursuit

We use a drop end and a rush end. The drop end is more agile - ideally he can cover a tight end or a receiver with some help over the top, but he must be able to play curl to flat, as well as playing the traditional DE on the line when necessary. I think the 50 gives you a lot of different looks if you do it this way. I can't think of a coverage you can't play. So I like the 50, just my opinion and it's probably because it is what I know. The 3-3 or 3-5 sounds like it is very diverse - still learning about that.

We use a combination of rush/drop DE-OLB. When we face double TE (that includes OT/Wing) teams then use them as rush DE. If teams run double slot then they become drop - contain ends. If we face a pro set (TE - SE) then we have a rush DE and drop DE. We usually tell the Weakside DT to Eagle down to outside shade of OG, and the drop end to eagle down to outside shade of OT. We train both our ends to be OLB and DE, that way if you face a team that likes to Trade TE then you don't have to swap the DE's.

Coach K,

I could not disagree more with the coaches that you have spoken with. Let's tackle each of the points you mentioned in your first post and then some of the other suggestions made.

Pursuit
Any defense, regardless of front or coverage, will not be great at pursuit unless it is stressed by you the coach. If it is not talked about, drilled, and hammered in daily, it will not be relevent to the players. As for specifics with angles, you the coach designate the pursuit lanes and angles. There are a variety of drills and methods to do this but the most basic would be to line the defense up and show them, either by cones or lines on the field, where exactly they are to go should the ball be run/thrown to either the left, right, or middle.

Pass Coverage
There is not a coverage run that can't be run out of the odd front. The question you need to determine is who is going to drop and who is going to rush. If you employ two OLB's, you can designate one or the other. Either the strong side is the Drop LB or the open side is the Drop LB. In either case, you can run anycoverage you want. The SS would go align away from your Drop LB. You could also drop both of the OLB's while keeping a cover 2 shell and sending one of the ILB's as your fourth pass rusher. Another option would be to rush only 3 and drop 8. Again, the possibilities are endless; it's just a matter of you determining what coverges you would like to run.

Rush/Drop End
We run the Pro 3-4 and with that, we will use two OLB type players. We do not flip them. This cuts down significantly on alignment issues. We never have to worry about a player misaligning, especially against multiple formation, motion, shifting teams. One player plays to the right, the other plays to the left. Sometimes, if one is better than the other, we will allow the better of the two to play on the favorite run/pass side if the offense. Each will learn how to play the position and all that it encompasses. By doing this, we cut down on teaching time and what fundametals need to be taught. We will, as mentioned by Root 66, reduce down on the weakside versus two back sets. If we were facing a team that ran this offense exclusively, we could put a lineman in for the weakside OLB position and play him in a 5 tech on the OT. If the team were to shift the TE from one side to the other, the strongside OLB would just come over with him. If the team began to motion the TE like an H-back, would then bring our other OLB back in the game.

Hope this helps.

speed kills.
you may even look at going to a 3-3-5 look, so you can get 8 or 9 guys in the box against 2 back teams. a 3 man front is very versatile because it allows you to blitz both run and pass, from many different angles and you can play max coverage when not blitzing.
you would just need to drill the kids on blitzing both the run and the pass and what the expecations are. good luck to you!

The 3-4 is how I decided to go. It will be a fifty, but will be played more like the 3-4 Alabama ran back in the mid to late 80s when Derrick Thomas and Corneilus Bennet was there. We will be atacking from every angle known to man. I am excited bout it and so are the coaches. I know the players will be. Thanks for all the advice.