Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

EMPHASIS ON DEFENSE 135
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Simple Goverages Velsus
Gomplex Passing Games
DICK SHERIDAN wlTtt BUDDY GREEN
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On€ of the most important attributes in a defensiveunitistobe
aggressive. To be aggressive, our
defensive players must be confident and sure of
their alignment, technique, and responsibi]ities.
To achieve that confidence and aggressiveness
and robesoundasa un ri, it s crr| ical rhar $csim
plily and reduce to a minimum what we teach
each position. And it's impemtive that we elimi
ratc confusion and indecrsion, yer includc in our
packdgc Ihc tools Lhat we need Iobe effFctive.
W€'ve tried to simplify our teaching process,
particularly with our defensive package. For
many years, our package has included
. a weakside shad€ 50 defense with 3-deep
. a strongside shade 50 defense with eith€r 2
deep coverage or a weakside roll; and
. a nickel package witb an easily adjusted even
front with 2-deep zone, 2-deep man/robber
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FIGURE I1 ",*"
FIGURE 2
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Six years ago, we added a stack alignment for
our linebackeru without changing th€ alignment
and responsibilities of o1ll defensive line. Our
stack defense, which we call Slide, has been effective
vemus the running game. Vercus the pass
ing game it was OK as far as angles, alignment,
and lev€rage, but certain s€ts-especially on€'
back sets took us out of o11I base coverages.
In stack alignment or Slid€ defense, our down
linemen slide (shade) away from the call
lstrength), and our three stack linebackers slide
lshade) tothe call. We played two base coverages
with this ftont. Both cov€rages had a double call.
The first call was our base call, and the second
number gave our perimeter people their automatic
check ve$us shifts, one-back sets, and
motjon. Figue 1 shows our alignm€nt in cov€r
21, which is a 2-de€p coverage with ihe flexibility
to check to 3-deep.
Figure 2 shows our alignment in cover 91,
rvhich is a man/robber on one side and zore or
the back side. Again, the flexibility to check to 3'
deep is built into the call. All adjustments arc
the same as 21.
Certain pressurc calls $'ith man coveragcwerc
built into this package. Formation recognition
In order to stay with a 2 deep perimeter ( cover
2)or a man/robber perimeter(cover 9), w€ would
use our Split (nickel) ftont. Our Split package was
called 5, which signaled five under with 2 deep
(e.g., Figure 3).
We also had a pressure package with man cov'
erage from tbis front. Gaps and alignments var
ied from our slide front. When we €valuated this