Defending The Run With The Odd Stack Defense

James Vint [email protected]

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Topics We Will Cover

Defensive Absolutes Personnel in the 30 Stack Alignment Rules Versus Formations Fronts Stunts Blitzes Defending Specific Concepts Defending Personnel Groups

Defensive Absolutes
1. We will stop the run! 2. We will control the pass! 3. We will be the best tackling team in our conference! 4. We will have great pursuit and get 11 defenders to the football using proper angles! 5. We will create takeaways!

Why The 30 Stack

Puts Your Athletes On The Field Linebackers Are Harder To Block Than Down Guys Allows You Multiple Stunts and Fronts Linebackers Work From Attack Mode LBs Read Less and Play Downhill Attack and Redirect rather than Read and React Great Change-Up To Your Base Front

Looking At The Stats (Columbus High School)

Gave up just 2.2 ypc, Created 39 takeaways, including 8 defensive touchdowns 98 Tackles For Loss, 36 Sacks, 31 Hurries 208 Drop Backs: 66-154-16, only 3 TD Passes 5 Shutouts Held two opponents without a first down Opponents were 23 percent on 3rd Down Opponents were 6 of 17 in the red zone with 4 TDs. Gave up only 46 yards rushing and 98 total yards per game

Personnel
Nose: Your nose must be quick, strong like a bull, and force double teams Ends: Your ends must be able to take on a double team from the tight end and tackle and must be strong enough to not get blown out or down on a slant call. Your ends do not need to be big, but the must be strong and athletic. Ideally we want them strong and long

Personnel
Mike: Your Mike backer is the strongest of your three backers, but he doesnt need to be huge. He must be able to redirect and we like a guy with speed. He has to be our quarterback of the box. Rob/Lou: Our Rob and Lou are speed guys who may be smaller than traditional inside backers. We would like them to be safety types with a little bit of size. They have to be able to blitz well, and must be disciplined enough to stay home while still aggressively pursuing the football. Rob and Lou must be good tacklers as they will get most of your tackles

Personnel
Stud/Hero: These are your strong safeties/Dogs and we did not flip flop them ninety percent of the time. These are athletic kids who can run and tackle. These are where your smart, quick, good tackling athletes play. You want guys who can play force, take on a fullback, yet still drop into pass coverage and chase down the football. We put tough kids here that can run.

Personnel
Free Safety: This is our perhaps best athlete in an ideal situation. We look for a kid with some size, some speed, and a lot of football smarts to quarterback our secondary. He adjusts more than any other player, so he must be dependable to get lined up. He makes all of our coverage calls and checks, and must be able to read quarterback intentions.

Personnel
Corners: Our corners are guys who can play man coverage in space. We play a lot of cover 3 from this defense, but we use man principals. We want to have guys with good feet who can break on routes. Our corners must stop the deep ball and keep the six yard routes at six, and the ten yard routes at ten.

Basic Run Concepts

We play an attacking Gap Control Concept Each Box Defender is responsible for 1 Gap We attack the gap shoulder of our run key We will be aggressive and get down hill Maintain Gap Integrity We will pursue to the football through our gap and into our proper pursuit lanes Everyone must be relentless in pursuit

Our Base Alignment

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Vs. 2x2

Base Front

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ALIGN NOSE TE OE M L R S H O TECH 4 TECH 4 TECH STACK AT 5 50 TECH 50 TECH Split at 5 Split at 5 GAP BS A GAP C GAP C GAP FS A GAP B GAP B GAP D GAP D GAP

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TECH GAP CONT GAP CONT GAP CONT GAP ATT GAP ATT GAP ATT Pat feet Pat feet

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RUN TO COLLAPSE ATTACK ATTACK COLLAPSE ATTACK ATTACK Force/Fold Force/Fold COLLAPSE CHASE CHASE COLLAPSE CHASE CHASE CHASE CHASE

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RUN AWAY PASS 2 WAY GO RUSH CONT. RUSH CONT. LOW HOLE HASH DROP HASH DROP #'S DROP #'2 DROP

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SPRINT HIP POCKET ATTACK ATTACK TRAIL DEPTH CHECK/GO CHECK/GO FLAT CHECK FLAT CHECK

Determining Strength
We will make a tight and a strength call. We want to determine where are greatest threat is located. We call out personnel and make a tight call as the offense breaks the huddle. We use the alignment of the backs, receivers, and tight ends to determine strength. We will make a personnel call.

Understanding Pursuit Rules

Force- Frontside player who will attack the play at the POA. Traditionally this will be our Stud and Hero. Attack- Frontside 1st and 2nd level players who will attack the flow of the football. Collapse- Frontside or Middle 1st and 2nd level players who will pursue through the immediate cutback lanes. Chase: Backside players who must secure the backside versus counter, trap, reverse, and boot.

Understand Pursuit Rules

The frontside backer and DE are the attack players. The Nose and Mac play Collapse The Backside Backer and End are the chase players. We practice pursuit 10 minutes each day with no exceptions We work sweep pursuit, power pursuit, and draw pursuit Never run into or follow a player with your colored jersey!

Pursuit Rules Illustrated

Attack Chase Contain Collapse Force

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2nd level Chase

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Collapse

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Attack

LChase

This Illustration gives you a look at the angles for a sweep/edge run.

Team Sweep Pursuit

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Pursuit Rules Illustrated

Defending Popular Two Back Concepts

Lead/Iso Power/Toss Inside Zone Outside Zone Option Responsibilities

Defending The Lead/Iso

The playside backer must wreck and spill the play We teach our backer to spill the play to help. Our Mike must take on the Iso block with his outside shoulder. Our Lou and Rob take on the Iso block with their inside shoulder. TAKE ON ISO BLOCKS AT LOS! We want to create a triangle to the football. Our dogs must play force/fold, staying home for the bounce, then folding inside to help on the tackle.

Defending the Isolation Play

We are creating a triangle around the football.

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The playside end must not get turned out He must restrict the space. The Lou must attack FB at LOS

Defending The Power

We must restrict the kick out block. Our defensive end must play tough against down block and double team. He must not get driven more than 1 yard off the ball. We must wreck the FB and turn the play inside. Our Dog will most likely be taking on the kickout. He must take it on with his IS at the LOS. Our linebackers must flow and be ready for the ball to be turned back inside. We must be consistent up front so we can be sound versus play action. We must defend the boot and counter.

Defending the Power

Our Playside End must get BIG in his gap.

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Our open side invert makes an Im Here call.

Defending the IS/OS Zone

We must read and control our gap shoulder. DL cant get reached and pinned on outside zone. Constrict your gap shoulder. LBs must make a quick read and track gap shoulder. Find the window Do Not over pursue! Backside Boot player must stay home! Take away the cutback by staying in your pursuit lanes. Work down the line without getting too much penetration.

Defending The Option Game

Must have clear option assignments Have a change-up on your assignments Teach kids about different option plays Must take away their best element Remain Fundamentally Sound! Alter the Mesh Point Dont try to emulate the option game Teach kids to control the big play

Defending IS Veer

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A and B gap players play dive C Gap player has QB D Gap player has pitch Alley player has QB to pitch

Defending IS Veer (Lilly Call)

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Mike and our End have Dive. Rob has QB. D Gap player has pitch Alley player has QB to pitch

Lilly Switch

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Switch alerts our Dog he will play QB. Our LB will play pitch. This is a great change-up

OS Veer

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Our Dog to the TE must be alert to feather Our End must be strong against a double team. Our Rob and Mike must read gap to flow Our Hero will be alert to feather!

Rocket Call to TE for OS Veer

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We tell our Hero if the QB still has the ball, feather. Give us time to rally. Be in a position to tackle the QB if he turns upfield. When you have a TE to your side, be alert for OS Veer.

Defending Spread Sets

We will discourage the bubble by alignment. We will not get in a bad coverage match-up. We will always have a quarterback player if they are an option team. We will game plan to eliminate their best running threat. We must understand which concepts they are running. When in doubt, be aggressive in your base.

Defending Spread Sets

Understand down and distance! Teach your players how to be aggressive against the run and still get a good pass drop. Drill your players on the high/hat low/hat concept. Understand their will be no lead play without motion. Who will the read player be? What are their formation tendencies?

Our Base Alignment vs. Ace

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Key: The tight side end must be able to restrict the C gap. Our Stud will be the Force Player on any outside run to his side. We have no Im here call

Our Base Alignment vs. Spread

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We will defend bubble by alignment. Our 6 run players must be aggressive and understand down and distance.

Our backers will deepen up.

Our Base look vs. Spread

Defending Zone Read and Speed Option

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We must have a pitch and QB player to the side of the back for speed option. We must have a QB player for Zone Read. In this case, our C gap player has QB. Our D gap player has pitch on speed option.

Lunatic Check Cover 3

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Key: The End to the backs side must play the B gap. The Lou will be our QB player! We want to entice a pull read. Out end must not let himself get washed down.

Uzzi Check Cover 3

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Key: The Lou and the Stud will come off the edge. We will play man behind this. The FS will creep pre-snap. We run this to take away zone read and ZR option.

Front Adjustments in The Odd Stack

Demon- Stack Defense with Cover 2 Shell Eagle- Open side DE plays in a loose 3 Philly- Tight Side End Plays in a loose 3 Double Eagle- Both Ends Play in loose 3 techniques Up Linebacker to the Tight End Plays in a 6 Tech. Wyoming- Rob and Lou line up 2 yards outside the EMOL

Hammer Technique

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Hammer alerts our defensive end to the tight end they will slam the B gap shoulder of the guard. To run this stunt away from our tight or strength call we would call Drill. To both sides, we would make a build call.

Demon Front

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Our Hero or Nickel will become the 2nd safety

Our Gap assignments remain the same Our Hero is still the force player unless we change our coverage call Very good front versus 2x1 and 3x1 formations

Demon Front vs. Trips

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Our Hero or Nickel will become the 2nd safety

The Stud follows his trips alignment rules Our Hero Rolls back to the play the open side safety. We can either roll our free safety down, or hammer the trips side end.

Double Eagle Front

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Our Ends will now play B gap unless we make an adjustment Our Rob and Lou now play C Gap Ends must take the B Gap Away

Double Eagle Front vs. 2x2

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Our Ends will now play B gap unless we make an adjustment Our Rob and Lou now play C Gap Ends must take the B Gap Away

Up Front

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LB to the TE will play in a 6 tech- He must control TE Tight Side End must control the tackle Mike and Rob will bump over gap Mike favors the A gap but must help on the B gap.

Taking Away The Tight End Side Run

Front Adjustments Stunts Blitzes Smoke Wide Stud Blitz MOB Mike Strongside B Gap MAC Mike Strongside C Gap Blitz Coverage Options

30 Philly Up (Stem From Bama)

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Nose-Backside 1 Tech A Gap Strong End-3 Tech, Squeeze B Weak End-4 Tech Squeeze C MAC-10 Frontside, Frontside A Gap Lou-6 On TE-Squeeze C Gap Rob-Inside Leg of End, Attack B

Stud-D Gap Force on Sweep Hero-LB Depth, Split Distance, C Gap Force Corners-5 to 7 Yards, Head UP, C-3 Free-B Gap TE Side, C-3

30 Philly Up Hammer MAC

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Nose-Backside 1 Tech A Gap Strong End-3 Tech Slam A Gap Weak End-4 Tech Squeeze C MAC-10 Work B to C (First Daylight) Lou-6 On TE- Slide to B gap Rob-Inside Leg of End, Attack B

Stud-D Gap Force on Sweep Hero-LB Depth, Split Distance, C Gap Force Corners-5 to 7 Yards, Head UP, C-3 Free-B Gap TE Side, C-3

30 Philly Up Hammer MOB Smoke

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Nose-Backside 1 Tech A Gap Strong End-3 Tech Slam A Gap Weak End-4 Tech Squeeze C MAC-10 Blitz B off Ends Butt (See Flow) Lou-6 On TE- Squeeze C to B Rob-Inside Leg of End, Attack B

Stud- Pre Snap Creep- Blitz D Hero-LB Depth, Split Distance, C Gap Force Corners-5 to 7 Yards, Head UP, C-3 Free-B Gap TE Side, C-3

30 Philly Up Hammer MOB Slice

Slice alerts our Stud to blitz through the C Gap

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Nose-Backside 1 Tech A Gap Strong End-3 Tech Slam A Gap Weak End-4 Tech Squeeze C MAC-10 Blitz B off Ends Butt (See Flow) Lou-6 On TE- Squeeze C to B Rob-Inside Leg of End, Attack B

Stud- Pre Snap Creep- Blitz C Hero-LB Depth, Split Distance, C Gap Force Corners-5 to 7 Yards, Head UP, C-3 Free-B Gap TE Side, C-3

Bama Laser Smoke (Rocket Laser Check)

Laser or Rocket puts us on a full slant

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Nose-Frontside A Gap Strong End-4 Tech C Gap Weak End-4 Tech Hammer B Mike- 5 Yards stacked Attack FS B Lou-50 Tech, Read Flow Rob-Stacked, attack A gap

Stud- Pre Snap Creep- Blitz D Hero-Split Distance, Creep, close Backside Corners-5 to 7 Yards, Head UP, C-3 or 1 Free-B Gap TE Side, C-3 or C-1

Dangers of Blitzing
When you blitz, you expose weaknesses Be sure you prepare for worst case scenario

Make sure you account for each gap

Drill your kids on blitz reaction Drill your kids on which zones are voided and where we are weak.

Defending Personnel Groups

Defending The Wing-T Defending 31 and 32 Personnel Defending 21 and 22 Personnel Defending the 1 back run game

Larry/Lilly
Larry Alerts our defensive line they will go to the gap to their right. Lilly alerts out defensive line they will go to the gap to their left. Our linebackers our responsible for the gap opposite the defensive lineman. You must practice this during your option and pursuit periods.

Defending The Wing-T

Create Chaos with aggressive linebacker play STOP THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER Keep your defensive integrity Keep your keys in-tact Be aggressive and attack with your front 6 Dont get outflanked Force player must keep outside arm free. As a general rule we want 4 players from the tackle out to the wing side, and 3 players from the tackle out to the open side.

Base vs. Wing T

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Strong End must be aggressive and control C gap shoulder of OT. (We can adjust him to a 5 tech) The Lou must read his gap key as he attacks. The Mike must read guard to flow. Your Stud must be able to spill a pulling guard.

Alignment vs. Wing-T

Base Front

Larry vs. Wing T

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The End hammers the B gap hard. The End will spill any trap play. The Mike will key the block on the nose as he attacks. The Lou has C Gap

Defending Jet Sweep

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We will have a Lilly Call. The End will work to spin the shoulder. The Mike will key the block on the nose as he attacks. The Lou has C Gap

Larry vs. Wing T

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Lou keys TE (Cant Get Down Blocked) The ends must beat up their gap shoulder. The Hero and Rob must play Counter X. The Hero is our Waggle Player The Nose, Rob, and Mike Play Trap

Up Front vs. Wing T

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LB to the TE will play in a 9 tech- He must not get down blocked! The end now has to squeeze the C. The backers must line up in 30 techniques. Mike must be a beast!

Up Front Illustrated

Defending 31 and 32 Personnel

Stop their best athlete! Keep your backers at their proper depth.
Backers have a tendency to creep too close to the line versus 3 back sets.
Be aggressive with your force player, but dont let him cross the LOS by more than 1 yard. Your players must understand leverage Your C gap players must control the C Gap. We frequently adjusted our Dogs to 2x2 or 3x3 alignment

Our Base Alignment vs. Wishbone

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Key: The tight side end must be able to restrict the C gap. Our Stud and Hero will be the Force Players. They will fold inside on Iso

Our Base Alignment vs. I Tight

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Key: The tight side end must be able to restrict the C gap. Our Stud and Hero will be the Force Players. They must not get too far up field!

Base Front vs. 32 Personnel

Defending 21 Personnel Sets

21 Personnel: 2 Backs 1 TE We will line up in our base front. By alignment we should be in great shape to the open side. We will play cover 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. We will always have an Im Here Player.

Our Base Alignment vs. Twins Closed

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Key: The tight side end must be able to restrict the C gap. Our Stud will be the Force Player on any outside run to his side. He will play fold on Iso.

Our Base Alignment vs. Twins Open

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Key: This can become a trips concept. We can make a hammer call to the fullbacks side.

Hammer Call vs. Twins Open

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Key: Our Rob must take on the lead block on OS Lead or Toss.

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