Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

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Stopping the Run
With a 7:6 Advantage
JIMMYJOHNSON
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In setting up a defbnsivo scheme, you first need
to analyze what you need to stop offensively.
Against most t€ams, and in most conferences, the
first thing vou n€ed to stop is the mnning 8a!re.
Our defense is set up to stop the running tsane
and force the opposing offense to throw the football.
We do this with wbat we call the "hit-man
pdnciple."We developed this type of delense from
coaching at various univ€rsities through the
years. I'd like to give you a litUe background on
how we go about it.
I was fortunate enough to work with somo ourstanding
athletes at the University ofOktahoma
during 1970 to 1973. We had players such as the
Selmon brothers, Sugar Bear Hamilton, and
Roderick Shoate, so we could be highly successfu)
by being very basic and takingfull advantage
ofthe talent w€ had.
In 1973,I wenl to the Univcrsity ofArkansas,
wheie we didn't have the same type oftalont and
we hadtocome tlp with something to support our
defen"e. For )pars, I had l"r.ned ro.ffen.ive
coaches talk about how th€y wanted to eet a 3:2
ratio with their option offense; in other words,
they wantad isolation on the come! where the
quafterback could rcad pitch or keep, depending
on the reaction ofthe defensive end and secondary
lun support. Various blocking sch€mes were
set up to veer evertthine to the inside, with the
exception ofthe defensive end and the secondary
run support. They felt that any timc they got the
3:2 ratio, they had the advantage.
Seven-on-Six Advantage
We're lookingfora sjmilar advantag€ with our
hit-man principle. When applied successfutly, we
ppi a 76 rario vprsus rhe rLn nrnB gam. ln FiB
ure 1 you can see that in oor 50 defenso we tre
arp r situdrion qrt\ si\ olTan"i\p blockpr., "ix
defende$, and one hit man. Therefore, 1\,e get our
7:6 ratio and hit-man principle.
FIOURE I
In dll oluur "chemFs. $herhpr il be the 5-2,
the,l-3, or the 6-1, protecting the hit man rs a
priority. In ord€r to do this we must play basically
head-up alignments and must avoid stunting
or running around blocks.
The hit man's only rule is that he operates up
and do"'n the line ofscdmmage. He must not be
committed toward the lin€ of scrimmage until h€
sees the football. He must be aware that ro ole
will blockhimbecause he's protected andhe is to
make the tackle. Sometimes, as shown in Figurc
2, our designated hit man is the weakside lin€-
We feel that the hil,-man principle encompasse:
aI the various blocking schemes (veer, zone, hap
and equalizes the offensive option ratio back to
3:3. Ir atso gives th€ defense an cxtra man ver
sus the basic running attack. This type ofpdn-
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