Automatic Coverage Check (ACC)

Playing off of an old article by Brophy about having an Automatic Front Check (AFC), I'm looking more at the automatic coverage check.  I think any defensive coordinator (DC) worth his salt will teach his players a base way to handle various receiving structures that they will face throughout the course of a ball game.  How many times have you gone into a game knowing you were going to see 21 or 20 personnel and the next thing you know the opponent comes out in 10 personnel and starts throwing the ball all over the place?  It's happened enough to me, that I developed an Automatic Coverage Check (ACC) for things we had not practiced on that week.  When I switched to the 4-2 and split field coverage, this idea did not change.  I'm not saying you do this against every opponent, as careful scouting by your opponent will lend you to be out schemed, however by teaching a base method to alignment and assignment vs. various passing sets this will allow your kids a "fail-safe" way of getting into the right coverage for that "odd situation"( as mentioned above). 

The split field secondary makes the ACC just that much less complicated as you are only dealing with half of the offensive formation.  I will talk in TCU terms, as we all know, I'm a TCU buff (if you are interested in some good 4-2 links, go here).  Anyhow, looking at the split field concept, with the ball in the MOF, the read side, or strong side of the secondary can only see the following:

1. Nub (single TE)
2. Single (single WR)
3. Pro (TE and flanker)
4. Twins (2 receivers)
5. Trips (3 receivers)
6. Quads (4 receivers)

To add to that, the away side, or weak side of the coverage will only see the following:

1. Nub
2. Single
3. Pro
4. Twins



Nub sides



3 backs open-"single" to both sides







Away side reads


So, now that we know what we are going to see to each side, let's see how the free safety (FS) and the weak safety (WS) will set the coverage to their respective sides.

Read Side
To the read side, if the ball is in the MOF, and the FS gets a nub side, then he knows, there are three backs.  In this case, the defense checks into cover 0 Power.  Power is also the front.  The defensive tackles move to 2I's and the DE's move to 5 techniques while the OSS's move into "up" alignments on the LOS and the LB's move their toes to the heels of the DL in their respective B gaps.  The corners take the number one receiver to either side, the OSS's peel blitz the near shoulder of the near back and the FS takes the final number three receiver.  This is my automatic check to any three back offense.  This allows your defense to get plenty of players around the football and still be in sound coverage.  This check also works if the FS sees a single side as well.

If the FS gets a pro side, then he plays "Blue" coverage to that side, however the SS makes a "me" call and this puts the FS inside the number two receiver and we are playing traditional "robber" coverage.  Robber is very simple and to the read side the rules are as follows:

SS- Curl/flat/swing deep of 2.
FS- All of 2 vertical, 2 not vertical rob curl to post of 1.
Corner- Deep 1/2, all of 1 vertical.

Very simple, and we've been over a lot of this before.  The "me" call allows the FS to stay inside the tackle box and fill the alley on outside runs, and play cutback on inside runs.  I speak a lot about the "plus one" player on defense, and this is the player who is not accounted for in the offenses' blocking scheme.  With the FS in the box, yet deep, he is not accounted for in most blocking schemes, so he is free to attack the ball, so long as he does not read pass.  Again, a simple system to put your guys in the right coverage for what they are seeing.

Now, twins is very easy, I tell my guys, no matter the side, we play blue to all twins sets.  Now we will game plan some Bronco coverage in to the away side, and will usually check bronco on the away side when the ball is in the MOF, but to the read side, we are going to play Blue.  There's not much out there that hurts Blue coverage, so this is a very sound check to all twins sets.  Go here to read more about TCU's Blue coverage.




What about twins????


Ok, so now the read side gets three receivers to a side.  Does not matter if it's trips or trey or trio, the FS does not care, all he knows is he has three to his side.  As a base rule, my guys are going to check into Special on the read side.  This puts the corner, man to man on the number one receiver with the SS and FS playing blue to the number two and number three receivers.  Again, this is just a "base" rule, we can game plan for anything, but if we do not expect trips, and we get them, we now have a way for our guys to line up and play, without being confused.




Solo is also another option vs. trips, just not the "base" rule...


The odd "quads" front does pop up every now and then, although, to be honest I see it less and less each year.  Does not matter, you need to prepare you guys for being able to handle this four receiver look.  The idea here though is simple, the read side will play Special to the numbers one, two and three receivers with the WS taking the number four receiver in Solo coverage (away side coverage checks are next). 

There, that's all the read side will see!  As you can see, reducing the field down to only half, allows the defense to set the coverage quicker and get lined up rather than one DB trying to grasp the whole picture of what the offense is doing.  This is one huge benefit to the split field concept.

Away Side
To the away side, things are just as simple.  The WS only has one other job than that of the FS, and that is, he must look at the backfield to determine what he is going to see, and how he is going to set the coverage.  The reason for this is any formation to the sideline (FSL) checks must come through the WS, so he needs to know if the formation is in to the boundary or not, and the backfield will give this away.  Again, for the purpose of this discussion, I'm talking about the ball in the MOF.




Cloud to a nub side


If the WS sees three backs in the backfield, he knows he can see only one of two things, a nub side, or a single side.  Both of these as a base check would be checked into "Sky" coverage, which has the WS as the curl/flat/swing deep of 2 defender and the away side corner as the deep 1/2/all of one vertical player.

To a nub side, the WS checks "flop" and he and the corner will switch assignments.  I do this as a base rule because most of the time my safeties are better tacklers and more aggressive than my corners.  If this is not the case in your defense, then you can leave your corner low and play "Cloud" coverage to that side. 

If the WS gets a pro set to his side, he must play Blue.  This is one area where the read side and away side differ and it's simply because without the SS there is no way that the WS could be inside the number two receiver.  The WS must force, so he has to have outside leverage on the number two receiver.  The automatic check here is to play Blue coverage to any pro set to the away side.

If the WS sees twins to his side, he knows his twins rule states he play Blue coverage.  Again, if the ball is in the MOF and we expect twins to the away side we are probably going to play Bronco, but as a base rule when facing twins, we want the WS to check us into Blue coverage.

Again, these checks can easily be altered with a game plan adjustment.  If a team is coming out in trips and doing something to you that solo would handle better, then simply make that adjustment during a timeout, or at halftime.  Don't let your rules and adjustments handcuff you, build in automatics, and then build your game plan rules to break those automatics.  The automatic checks give your players a fail-safe way to get in the best coverage for the situation that's being presented to them at that particular moment.  This will allow you to still be sound why you and your staff are figuring adjustments on the sideline.

To those that won themselves a district, region, or state championship, I say congratulations!  I'm still searching for that elusive ring, but as they always say, it's not whether you get knocked down, it's what you do when you get back up...




"C'mon kid...get back up and get in that ring!"


Happy Holidays coaches,

Duece

4-3 Lightning Cover 0

A common post on the Huey board about the time season starts is the one about the 4-3 Lightning, Cover 0.  A very popular defensive scheme used to thwart wing-t, double wing and single wing attacks with the good ol' over front.  I'm going to pass along some information that was shared with me by friends over the years with this scheme and then I'm going to tell you what I've come to find out when using this scheme. 

The Lightning is basically a blitz scheme used to attack the wing-t.  It has since been developed to attack other offenses, but the basic premise was the attacking and stopping of the wing-t.  The 4-3 has one major flaw when defending the power run game vs. two or three backs...it has three distinct bubbles that OC's just love to attack.  The three bubbles are obviously the linebacker bubbles.  Now if you have three slobberknockers at LB, willing to bloody their gums every play, you can probably just sit in the Over front and play ball, however most of us has a Jimmie, that ain't no better than your Joe, and before long he becomes exposed.  When this happens, yardage racks up, and against the wing-t it can be a hellaciosly long night.  Moving on now, let's talk about alignments.

Alignments (Pardon the crudeness, these were clinic notes I copied, sorry for any mispellings and all of the shorthand)

SAM = Line up in gap between Wing & TE. On the movement of the ball - shoot inside off hip of TE & then flat down the LOS behind the heels of the O-Line. D Gap responsibility. Wrong shoulder any inside/out block. NOTE: If Wing motions away – contain rush (no wrong shoulder) - QB on waggle.

DE (Wing Side) = 6 technique head up on TE. On the movement of the ball - shoot off hip of OT & then flat down the line behind the heels of the O-Line. C Gap responsibility. Wrong shoulder any inside/out block.

DT (Wing Side) = Conventional 3 technique – outside shoulder of OG. B Gap responsibility. Wrong shoulder traps.

DT (SE Side) = Conventional 1 technique – inside shoulder of OG. A Gap responsibility.

DE (Split End side) = 4 technique head up on OT. On the movement of the ball – shoot off hip of OG & then flat down the line behind the heels of the O-Line. B gap responsibility. Wrong shoulder any inside/out block.

WILL = line up on outside shoulder of TB (on the LOS). Go through outside shoulder of TB. Contain technique (QB on waggle). C Gap responsibility.

Strong Safety = line up on Wing at a depth of 3-4 yds. Squeeze-Contain if Wing blocks Rover. Cover Wing M/M on all passes UNLESS he motions away – then you have the FB M/M.

Mike = Line up 3 yds deep straddling Center’s leg to Wing/TE side. You have strongside A gap on plays to you (stay at home if you lose sight of the ball through mis-direction). If the play goes away – cautious inside/out pursuit. Cover FB M/M on show pass (you may tackle him on his fake on waggle pass).

Corners = line up 7 yds deep on inside shoulder of TE & SE. Cover him M/M. NOTE: Corner on TE side fills vs. run if TE blocks.

Free Safety = Line up 7 yds deep on inside shoulder of TB. Cover him M/M UNLESS he goes to opposite side – then you have the FB M/M. NOTE: Fill vs. run if TB blocks.



Base Alignments vs. 100/900 formation



Now, let's look at these alignments against several common wing formations:

Strong 100/900

Red/Blue



Trips

 

 Trey

End over unbalanced

Flexbone



Can use motion to slant the 1 and 3 technique, or set them based on field or tendencies.

 

Double Wing

 

As you can see, the front and coverage provide the defense with adequate numbers to defend the offense.  As we all know, alignments are only part of defending an offense, the technique that is applied is the key element in attacking an offense. 

Coaching Points

Sam = The key with the Sam is whether he's spilling or forcing.  This is simple though, if the Sam has a wing to his side, he spills, if there is no wing, he forces, and contain rushes against the pass.  The main coaching point for the Sam is getting off the ball, and getting flat down the LOS.  The Sam should be a very disruptive presence on most strong side runs.

Will = The Will LB has basically the same job as the Sam, except he's ALWAYS a force/contain player.  Again, he has to remember to keep that outside arm free when attacking the offense.  The Will LB is the guy that absolutely destroys the waggle.  In the 7 years I've run this, nobody has effectively run the waggle on my defense (not bragging, just stating the facts).

Mike = The Mike is where I've had some trouble, I've actually had to move mine back from the three yards to five yards.  It depends on the ability of the LB to read and decipher the play.  If you have a kid that has a nose for the football, put him at three yards and let him play.  If you don't, move him back to keep him free of the clutter and allow him more time to read the play, while staying clear of some of the wash.  The Mike should have a field day in this defense no matter where he lines up as he remains relatively unblocked.

DE's = The DE's main concern is slanting and staying flat down the LOS.  The biggest issue I've had with DE's is them getting washed, but this is what the Mike LB is for.  One added coaching point we came up with is that if the DE felt he was being washed, we wanted him to hard post the blocker and rip upfield.  The most important role of the DE is to attempt to pick off pullers.  You will find when run correctly, the DE's can destroy Buck Sweep by executing the slant and getting into the pull path of the pulling guards.  This frees up defenders behind them (such as the Mike LB) to run to the football.

DT's = The one and the three technique execute their normal block down step down technique and play football.  Biggest concern is that your three technique can play the trap.  Other than that, everything else is standard 4-3 DL play for the interior guys.

Safeties = The SS plays closer to the LOS as he is generally the force player to the strong side.  On runs to him, he plays the spill by the Sam and the strong side DE.  The FS will play slightly deeper, but will follow the same rules as the SS.   Biggest coaching points with the safeties is to not lose sight of their key when their original key motions away.  On any motion, the safeties will take the FB man to man.  This all but eliminates one key element of the wing-t passing game...the FB in the flat on waggle.  With a contain defender right in his face immediately and a defender in great leverage to jump the flat route by the FB, the QB finds himself in a miserable predicament when running the waggle play.

Corners = Corners have a pretty simple night, play man on an end.  I have found, in years where I played little to no man, coaching the corners eyes became a major factor to them not getting beat deep.  I have been blessed with decent enough corners that even if there was a misread, we didn't get beat deep.  If you play a lot of man in your scheme already, you won't find that this is an issue.

Dealing with motion

Motion is handled easily in the defense, as assignments simply "bump" from player to player based on motion.  Take a look at the standard Red/Blue formation.  When the wing motions away from the SS, then he takes the FB man to man, as he's the next back inside now that the wing has motioned.  The Sam/Will on the side that motion is coming to will peel blitz to the motion.  This ensures their is a man on the FB on waggle and that the motion man is accounted for on the frontside of motion plays.  This also ensures you don't have players "chasing" motion all over the place against these type "quick motion" offenses.



Lightning vs. Motion

 My Experience With Lightning

Where I have found the Lightning blitz to be the most successful is when used as just that, a blitz.  When I first ran this defense I ran it coupled with my under front and we slid into it and used it as a changeup blitz.  I had a lot of success early on, and so we ran it more and more, until I finally stayed in it.  However, this past season, we faced a mediocre wing-t team and we played the Lightning and gave up 346 yards on the ground and took a 34-7 ass whoopin'.  Biggest problem was DE's being washed as well as the Sam backer and the Mike getting caught up in the wash on misdirection runs.  We got out of it in the second half and basically played a 4-4 look with robber behind, but the flood gates had already been opened. 

Like I said, played as blitz call, it's flat awesome.  I usually called it when I thought we were going to get the following:

• Buck Sweep- The pinching DL usually got one, if not both, guards and left the RB standing there with one to two unblocked defenders. 


• Waggle- As I mentioned before, if you're Will is a hitter, he's going to love the Lightning vs. waggle.  The QB comes off the playaction and turns right into an unblocked rusher.  The guard simply cannot get there in time to block him.


• Keep pass- I saw an AWFUL lot of belly the past three years and the team we faced ran it to the nub TE side.  Again, the Sam comes clean off the outside as does the Will and you are just sending too many for them to block. 

Weakside Belly gave the defense some fits, as did weakside buck sweep if you couldn't get the guards.  A nasty split by #1 to the weakside also made life miserable, because if forced you to do one of two things:

1. Play the corner in the run game.  The corner now had to read the block of the end, and if he blocked down on the Will, he came up and forced.  Good wing-t teams make the waggle route to this player look JUST like this block.  The team I recently went against did this to perfection.  The end would come down and put his hands on the Will, then sprint upfield and to the corner before we could recover.  This makes life miserable to the weakside for both the corner and the Will.


2. Move the Will outside the nasty split.  This works good in theory, but you are creating a natural running lane by removing him outside of #1.  This leaves the DE very exposed to being washed and you having a big hole in the C gap area. 



Lightning vs. Nasty Split

 Again, this is why I say use the Lightning as a blitz in certain situations, instead of just sitting in it all game long.  I'm sure some guys who've had success with the defense may chime in that I'm an idiot or something, and that may very well be true, however I've run the defense for seven consecutive years and for the most part the good outweighs the bad.  I just don't think it's the "magic bullet" everyone thinks it is.  One thing us as DC's need to remember is that no amount of scheme will ever replace sound fundamental football. 

Well, to those in the full swing of things, hopefully everything is going great.  Our numbers continue to climb and we are having very productive and fun practices.  We will be hitting here soon, looking forward to our first day in pads.   Good luck as the season progresses!

Duece

Great to be on the Gridiron Again!!!

Well, after a few days of practice, things are going awesome!  I can honestly say junior high ball is not what I remembered and to be quite honest I'm tickled pink just to be out on the field again.  This makes my 27th consecutive year I've been involved with football, and I honestly think, I love it more and more each day.  I think the thing we, as coaches, need to ask of ourselves when we are coaching and feeling in a rut is "Can I go on without being a part of the game?".  I honestly believe I would have struggled taking a year off.  Part of me felt relieved I wasn't coaching, but a much larger part of me was bothered by not being around the game, and most notably the young men's whose lives you impact. 

Today was especially great, as our numbers have increased into the fifties!  This is a school that finished with just 24 on the roster last season.  There's a certain excitement in the air, that you just love to see on a football field.  The kids are excellent, I've never been told "yes sir" and "thank you sir" so many times in my life!  We also have a little bit of talent too, and good chemistry, despite not having much experience.  Anyhow, the only negative thing looming ahead of us is that we only have uniforms for about forty kids, so we are going to have to have cuts, which sucks, but such is life!

I just wanted to share this little tidbit of information with you guys, especially those that may be down in the dumps or worn down a bit.  Can you function without the game?  Ask this of yourself, and see what the answer is.  I know I could, but I wouldn't be happy, was my answer.  Now, I'm so happy you couldn't beat the smile off my face!




Try gettin' that smile off!

Some good links to look at, a lot of bloggers have been busy here lately.  Smart Football has been loaded with everything from Tom Moore's new job, to the Run and Shoot's Go package and here lately the good ol' speed option.  Check em' out over there, some very good reading on all different aspects of the game.

Brophy, or the "Godfather" of football blogging as I choose to call him, has some very good stuff over at his blog on Noel Mazzone and the one-back offense.  His latest post has EXCELLENT video clips on Alex Gibbs and the stretch run game.  Good stuff brutha!

Becoming a Man For All Seasons has a very intricate view into defensive game planning.  For most of us, that is happening at a rapid pace right now, and even though in-season research is tough, this is a good read on the number one topic a DC should be looking in to right now.

Coach Hoover has a great post on ball security.  We worked some of his drills today with our running backs and I can tell you, we have a LONG way to go in terms of teaching ball security.  This is a much overlooked concept in teaching young running backs, but this is where the foundation must be set.  Check out the post, as usual Coach, you've done a great job explaining the foundation for which all running back's should be coached upon.




Doh!

A couple of new places I've found is DumCoach.com and Understanding the Trickeration.  Both seem like very good sites, worthy of looking at.  DumCoach is a forum geared toward youth coaches and schemes where Understanding the Trickeration is a good all around site with excellent explanations on offense, defense and special teams.  There are also some very good technical diagrams on that site to take advantage of.  Good job to both sites! 

Well, I'm off to plan tomorrow's practice, and thanking my lucky stars I have that opportunity.  Again, ask yourself the question I posed above and see just where you fit.  GATA!!!!

Duece

Paul Johnson's "If-Then" methodology to Triple Option Football



"Tell me what did the pitch key do?"


A lot has been made over the past few years about Paul Johnson's triple option offense.  However not much has been made about "the process" in which the man calls plays and attacks defenses.  For years Coach Johnson has made fools of even the best defensive minds, including, but not limited to, Mickey Andrews, Bud Foster, and Randy Shannon.  Exactly how does Johnson go about attacking opponent's defenses?  There is a method to this man's madness, and it is simply known as his "if-then" sheet.  This post will elaborate on the thinking behind the triple option gurus like Johnson, Niumataolo, and Stowers to say the least.  Let's look at the actual sheet, and from there I'll break down the different scenarios bit by bit.

Follow the link here to my version of the "if-then" sheet and follow along and I'll explain the reasoning behind each decision.  Please note, Johnson's version is much shorter, and obviously uses his terminology, so I will elaborate on my terminology as we go, so bear with me.  So, let's move on with this and dig deeper into the  mind of a triple option offensive coordinator (OC)!



Fear the Veer, or midline, or Rocket, or...


• IF-Defense in 8 man front
• Then- Run over (ends unbalanced).
• Reason- To gain a 1/2 man advantage.
• Explanation- 8 man fronts, have to get a little creative when adjusting to end over formations.  This can leave them vulnerable to triple option to either side.  To go even further into damaging an 8 man front, run twins over, with a slot on the LOS (shown below) to keep both receivers eligible.  When running ends over, look for the free safety's declaration, and run opposite.

Ends Over

Ends over formation, both ends eligible

• IF- Force players on the line of scrimmage (LOS).
• Then- Run Tight (Nasty split double slot).
• Reason- You gain blocking leverage by bringing in the wideouts. 
• Explanation- The wideouts can now effectively crack block your force players, thereby out leveraging the defense and getting to the perimeter.



"Nasty" Split


• IF- Facing odd stack (5-3 look).
• Then- Run tackles over unbalanced (Heavy).
• Reason- Unbalanced looks give odd stack teams trouble.
• Explanation- Odd stack fronts have some trouble adjusting to unbalanced sets that are unbalanced with a 3 man surface.  Similar to the ends over example (8 man front), look for FS declaration and run opposite.  Also, if you can outflank the DE/invert, run outside with crack blocking to that side until a DB becomes "nosey" attempting to stop the run.  Run veer pass when this DB has become a problem.

Heavy

• IF- 2 or 3 technique playside.
• Then- Run midline.
• Reason- A gap bubble.
• Explanation- A gap is open, with B gap defender to read.  No need to run triple at a 3 technique when you can run midline.  Force the defense to get into 2I's, so you can run triple again (B gap bubble).
• IF- No 2 or 3 technique playside.
• Then- Run triple.
• Reason- B gap bubble (same reason as above).
• Explanation- Triple is what we are here to do, if the defense gives us a soft B gap, we are going to attack it with the triple.
• IF- Handoff key turns shoulders ("sitter"/squat technique).
• Then- Run zone dive.
• Reason- Cloudy read.
• Explanation- When a read key is giving your QB fits, block him.  Remember "Easy to read = hard to block, hard to read = easy to block.  Since a squat technique is hard to read, he's easy to block.  You can also run load or toad (tackle load) option at him (basically triple but fullback or tackle blocks handoff key).

Zone Dive
• IF- Pitch Key turns shoulders (squat or sitter technique).
• Then- Run Rocket.
• Reason- Force player has lost leverage by turning.
• Explanation- If the pitch key is turning and squatting, he will not be aggressive enough to force the Rocket toss, thereby allowing us to outflank him.

• IF- Secondary rotates with motion.
• Then- Run counter iso/option.
• Reason- No backside force player.
• Explanation.  Teams that jump motion, often put themselves in a poor position in that they lose their backside force player.  This is a gamble by the DC, make him pay for it, by catching him a man short at the point of attack (POA).
Counter Iso

• IF- Secondary rotates with motion (2).
• Then- Run triple pass or waggle (off Rocket action).
• Reason- No seam player (triple pass); Curl/flat player out leveraged (Waggle).
• Explanation- Triple pass catches them with the seam player coming at the LOS and waggle catches them with the curl/flat player caught inside off run action.



Veer pass (Vertical or Whip Route)



Waggle off Rocket Action

 
• IF- 4I's.
• Then- Run midline.
• Reason- Handoff key too far removed from POA.
• Explanation- Midline at a 4I is dangerous.  Even better is midline triple.  The 4I is simply too far removed from the action to be effective against the fullback (FB).
• IF- Double Eagle (TNT) look.
• Then- Run Rocket.
• Reason- Numbers advantage on the perimeter.
• Explanation- Double eagle puts too many people in the box to run between the tackles, so test the flank.  If they over load to force they are weak on playaction.

Rocket vs. Double Eagle

• IF- Triangle (3 in box outside the B gap).
• Then- Run zone dive.
• Reason- Numbers advantage inside.
• Explanation- Teams that attempt to put players on the edge of the box are weak in the middle, run zone dive to exploit this weakness.



Triangle


• IF- Force players on the LOS.
• Then- Run Rocket with switch blocking.
• Reason- Blocking leverage.
• Explanation- By cracking the force player you now have leverage on the perimeter.
• IF- Defense is blitzing.
• Then- Run Rocket.
• Reason- Soft flank.
• Explanation- Defenses that blitz the triple, find themselves with weakened flanks and poor pursuit angles on quick hitting plays such as the rocket (and we don't have to block anything from a 5 technique back, which includes your blitzers).
• IF- Stunting.
• Then- Run zone dive.
• Reason- Cutback run.
• Explanation- Same reason teams run inside zone, to eliminate the effectiveness of stunts, zone dive does the same thing.
• IF- Middle of the field closed (MOFC).
• Then- Run 4 verticals.
• Reason- Attacks the seams and FS with 2 defenders in his zone.
• Explanation- Now I know all the haters out there will say 4 verticals are not a problem, but you got to try it vs. 1 high teams at least once a game to show the opponent you DO have the balls to attempt it.  Very important for slots to run down the hashes and the receivers to run down the field outside the numbers.  Also very good from a trips look to, as most teams will overplay their FS to trips.



4 Verticals from trips look


• IF- Linebackers overpursue.
• Then- Run zone dive, counter iso/option.
• Reason- Numbers advantage away from action.
• Explanation- Counter iso was our bread and butter, as it makes teams pay for overpursuit, and it doesn't tip off overpursuing defenders by pulling linemen.  Make the defense pay for trying to cheat and get guys across the midline!
• IF- Taking away FB.
• Then- Run zone dive or speed option.
• Reason- Keeps the ball in FB's hands.
• Explanation- The FB is 1 of your best runners, you need to find a way to keep the ball in his hands even if the defense is doing a good job taking him away from you on triple and midline. 



Speed Option


• IF- Stunting A gap.
• Then- Run triple.
• Reason- B gap bubble.
• Explanation- We want to run triple to a soft B gap, so let them stunt to the A.
• IF- Stunting A and B gaps.
• Then- Run zone dive.
• Reason- Zone blocking/cutback run.
• Explanation- Again, let them stunt, zone blocking was made for this, and it keeps your best runner with the football in his hands.
• IF- Stunting A, B, and C gaps.
• Then- Run Rocket.
• Reason- Soft flank.
• Explanation- Anytime the middle is mass confusion, run outside.  Stunting and blitzing can be controlled by the old adage "Run where they ain't".  Rocket does this, and does it by not blocking any "box" player playside, thereby getting more offensive bodies to the perimeter to block and already weakened flank.
• IF- Odd front with 4I's.
• Then- Run Loop scheme.
• Reason- Read 4I, put him on island.
• Explanation- A lot of odd front teams are going to this look, running loop scheme can still keep the triple option a viable part of your offense, just watch the beating your FB will take due to the proximity of the handoff key.  Keep the 4I even more confused by running loop trap and midline at him.



Loop Scheme


• IF- All inside gaps occupied (Bear look).
• Then- Run Rocket.
• Reason- Outnumbered on the perimeter.
• Explanation- Teams that load the middle, leave the perimeter soft, make them pay by running the quickest hitting outside run in all of football.

There's a lot here I've added through the years, but the original "if-then" sheet is there.  A lot of it is repetitious, but I did this b/c in the heat of battle you don't want to be searching for your answer, so I felt like repetition was a good thing. 




Now that's repetitious!


The basis is simple, Paul Johnson wants to run the triple, whatever you do to take that away, he's going to make you get back to being honest with every other play in his playbook.  That's the beauty of his spread option offense.  It's not a myriad of plays with no rhyme or reason, there is clear focus and goal in mind...run the triple option.  If the defense takes that away, then they are vulnerable elsewhere, attack their weakness.  The "if-then" sheet will help the triple option OC, find his answer quickly when his team is having problems.  It allows the OC to have an immediate answer that is built into the offense.  This is why you see early in games, defenses seem to have an advantage against Johnson, but after a series or 2, or at the very least after halftime, he's found his answer, and begins to make defenses pay. 




Say Uncle...


The simplicity of the system is the beauty.  You can run this offense with little to no game planning.  After running it for 2 years, I quit watching game film of our opponents because we were seeing the "defense of the week" and what I was seeing on film really didn't matter.  The "if-then" sheet gave me immediate answers to this "defense of the week" mentality and allowed us to adjust on the run.




Did someone say "simply beauty"?


I hope this was helpful, and if you have your own "if-then" sheet please share it with us, always looking for more ideas!  Ok, Vassdiddy from the Huey board has gotten my interest peaked on writing a peice about the University of Florida's Nickle Tracer (Auburn fans will know this as their Heat blitz).  So I'm digging through boxes of clinic notes trying to find some stuff.  If you have any suggestions hit me up, will discuss and see what I can come up with.




Sit down sucka!!!!


On the job note, I may be going to a local junior high to be the defensive coordinator.  Nothing is set in stone, but it does look promising.  Haven't coached that age group in a coon's age, but hey it's coaching right?  Looking to run the 46 Nickle as they are in spread to run league, and I had hella fun with that defense last season.  Plus if my gut keeps getting any bigger, I will look like a shorter version of Rex Ryan!  Hope everybody had a happy 4th, season is right around the corner!!!!

GET SOME!

Duece