Building a championship football team

The principle of the 5-spoke pass defense and the 4-spoke pass defense is basically the same with the exception you have only four spokes or four men in the outer perimeter of your secondary. The spokes run from an imaginary center with a defender placed on the end of each spoke, as illustrated in Figure 62.

These spokes can all be lengthened or shortened, as was explained previously for the 5-spoke defense. They must move as a unit or team, however, or there will be vulnerable areas in the secondary. We run an imaginary line from defender to defender, considering the lines as a rubber band, as illustrated in Figure 63. The rubber band can stretch, but it should not break.

In Figure 63 the spokes have lengthened, the rubber band has stretched, and the defense is still sound. The defenders, although they are farther apart, have all kept their proper spacing with each other. Although they are farther apart, the time that is required for the ball to travel the extra distance will permit the defenders to cover the space between them.

In Figure 64 the defensive right halfback has taken the wrong route, causing a large gap in the secondary and we are extremely vulnerable should a pass be thrown into the area where the rubber band has broken.

The 4-Spoke Alignment

Figure 65 illustrates the depth and width of the secondary defenders in the 4-spoke defensive alignment when the ball is in the middle of the field between the hash marks. The defensive corner man will line up about four yards wide and about two and one-half yards deep. They key or read the offensive halfback closest to them, and the nearest end. The reaction of the corner man will be determined by his keys (offensive end and near halfback). He will “read” the following situations:

The deep backs or twin safeties line up on the inside shoulder of the offensive ends about seven and one-half yards deep. They should keep a relative position to each other. The safeties should look through the offensive tackles to the halfbacks. The flow of the offensive backs will determine largely the direction the defensive safeties should go, who must react on the snap of the ball. The twin safeties should react to the following situations:

4-Spoke Pass Coverage Versus Straight Drop Back Pass

Versus the straight drop back pass, as illustrated in Figure 66, the linebackers, corner men and twin safeties will react as follows:

Defensive Left Corner Man—On the snap of the ball the defensive corner man is in a position to observe both the end and the halfback nearest to him. If the end releases and the halfback is coming toward him, the corner man must turn to his outside and sprint to a position eight yards deep. He sets up in a good football position and covers his short one-quarter area. He never takes his eyes off the passer, and should the ball be thrown into his area he intercepts the pass.

Defensive Left Halfback (Safety)—After he lines up in his proper position, the defensive halfback upon recognizing a straight drop back pass developing, immediately looks to see which side has two eligible receivers. He then starts to his outside and goes deep, unless he receives an oral signal from his corner man releasing him from his deep one-third area. As shown in Figure 66, the defensive left halfback covers the deep one-third area to his side of the field.

Defensive Right Halfback (Safety)—After lining up in his proper position and stance, the defensive right halfback, upon recognizing the drop back pass, covers the deep one-third zone. Should he receive an oral signal from his corner man, he is released from covering the deep one-third to his side and he now covers the deep middle one-third. He should receive the signal on his third or fourth step, if the corner man gives it. The safety then plants his foot and turns to the inside, always facing the passer, while he sprints to the middle one-third if he is released from his other responsibility by his corner man.

Defensive Right Corner Man—On the snap of the ball, when the defensive corner man observes the drop back pass developing, and the end and halfback release to his side, he starts to his outside in order to cover his short one-quarter area. If the near halfback stays in and blocks, and only the end releases, the corner man gives an oral signal to his safety, the defensive right halfback, who covers the middle one-third, and the corner man covers the deep one-third area on his side.

Defensive Linebackers—The defensive linebackers play exactly like the linebackers on a 5-spoke defense, which I explained previously. The only difference is the area which they line up in (see Figure 55 and Figure 66). On the 4-spoke pass defense the linebackers play the straight drop back pass and the action pass exactly as they do on a 5-spoke defense, which I explained previously.

4-Spoke Pass Defense Versus the Action Pass

Versus the action pass, as illustrated in Figure 67, the 4-spoke defenders react as follows:

Defensive Right Corner Man—He lines up in his regular position and observes the type of play developing. When he sees the offensive end to his side releasing downfield and the action is coming toward his side, he is alert for a pass. He then turns to his outside and sprints to his short one-quarter area, which is about eight yards deep. He should be in a good football position so that he can cover his zone properly. He must try to stay wider than the widest man in his area, unless he is closer than six yards to the sideline.

Defensive Right Halfback—After lining up in his proper position, when the action starts toward his side, he sprints to his outside getting depth and tries to get into a position so that he can cover the deep one-third area, as illustrated in Figure 67. He should be as deep as the deepest man in his area, and when the ball is thrown, he plays the football and not the receiver.

Defensive Left Halfback—When he sees the flow going away from him, upon receiving an oral signal he will turn to his inside and start for an angle of pursuit through where the safety man would have lined up if it were a 3-deep defense. On his third or fourth step he should see a pass developing, and then he must start for the deep middle one-third of the football field.

Defensive Left Corner Man—On the snap of the football as the defensive left corner man sees the flow of the backs going away from him, he immediately knows only one man can come to his side as a receiver. Therefore, he must sprint back to cover the deep one-third area, usually covered by his defensive left halfback in a normal situation. He gives an oral signal to his halfback, which releases him from his normal responsibility.

Defensive Linebackers—The defensive linebackers play the action pass on the 4-spoke defense exactly as they do on the 5-spoke defense, which was explained previously.

4-Spoke Pass Defense Versus the Roll-Out Pass

Figure 68 illustrates the 4-spoke pass defense versus the roll-out pass. The box-wing defenders must react as follows:

Defensive Right Corner Man—When the defensive right corner man observes the near offensive end release and the flow starts toward him, he sprints back to his area eight yards deep. When he sees the quarterback roll away from him, as illustrated in Figure 68, he turns to his inside and gets into a position so he can cover the deep one-third of the field to his side. He must react quickly as his responsibility changes from a short one-quarter to a deep one-third pass coverage when the play starts toward him and then the quarterback rolls away from his position.

Defensive Right Halfback—On the snap of the ball if the defensive right halfback sees an action pass coming in his direction, he starts back and out to a position where he can cover the deep one-third area to his side of the field. On about his eighth or ninth step, he should be able to recognize a change in the offense’s direction and the flow is going away from him. He immediately turns to his inside and still watching the passer he sprints to the deep middle one-third of the field. He, too, must react very quickly and sprint in order to cover the deep middle area. The time it takes him to react and change his direction will be an important factor in determining whether or not he breaks up the pass.

Defensive Left Halfback—When the defensive left halfback sees the flow going away from him, he should receive an oral signal from his corner man releasing him from his deep off-one-third responsibility. After he hears his signal, he will sprint to a position where he can cover the middle one-third area. As he is running to his area, he observes that the quarterback is now rolling out to his side. Therefore, the halfback must plant, pivot and try to get into a position to cover the deep one-third area on his side of the field. If he sees he can cover this area satisfactorily, he will give an oral signal to his corner man which tells the latter to go up and cover the short one-quarter area. If he sees that he cannot get into a good football position to cover his area, the defensive halfback will not give a signal. Then we will have two men covering the deep one-third area, and the short one-quarter area will not be covered in such a situation.

Defensive Left Corner Man—By reading the offensive backs, the defensive corner man observes the flow going away from him. He immediately turns to his inside and yells an oral signal to his defensive halfback, which tells the latter the corner man will cover the deep off-one-third area. As he is sprinting toward his area, he observes the quarterback reversing his action, and the play is now coming toward him. He turns to his outside and stays in a position to cover the deep left one-third (Figure 68) until he hears an oral signal from his halfback releasing him from his deep responsibility. If he does not hear a signal, he will continue to go back and cover the deep one-third zone. If he hears a signal, he is released from his deep responsibility, which is now assumed by the halfback, and the corner man covers his short one-quarter area. If the offense is going to complete the pass, we want them to catch it in the short area rather than in the deep zone. Therefore, the deep one-third coverage has preference over the short one-quarter zone. At times we might end up with two defenders in the same deep zone, but we would rather do this than leave the deep zone uncovered. If this were the case, then our defense would not be sound. Once again our first objective of defensive football is to eliminate the “easy” or “cheap” touchdown pass.

4-Spoke Coverage Versus a Flanker Set

Figure 69 illustrates a 4-spoke coverage versus a straight drop back pass from a flanker set. As you can observe, the entire perimeter of the defensive secondary is revolved to the left. If the offense were strong to their left, our secondary would revolve to our right versus a flanker set left.

In Figure 69 the left corner man goes up on the line of scrimmage, and from his new position he carries out the same assignment he would if he lined up in his normal position of two and one-half yards deep and four yards wide. In his new position he can contain a running play very quickly. If a straight drop back pass developed, he would turn to his outside and still cover his short one-quarter area.

The defensive left halfback carries out the same assignment by covering the deep one-third of the field to his side, but he lines up outside of the flanker instead of on the inside shoulder of the offensive end.

The defensive right halfback moves over and plays the safety position. When the straight drop back pass develops, he covers the deep middle one-third of the field. As he goes back to cover his area, he faces toward the strong side of the offense.

The defensive right corner man revolves from his regular corner position back to a defensive halfback. He lines up about three yards outside of his offensive end, and when the pass develops, he covers the deep one-third of the field that he has lined up in.

The linebackers play their regular technique, sprinting to their usual spots to play their regular pass defense.

Action Pass With a Flanker

Figure 70 illustrates 4-spoke coverage versus the action pass from a flanker set.

The defensive secondary again revolves to the strong side of the offense, as illustrated in Figure 70. If we do not have a stunt on in our secondary, which I shall cover later in this chapter, our secondary would play it exactly as we do the straight back pass, explained above. The left corner man reads his keys and goes back to cover his spot. He must be ready to come up if the passer chooses to run with the football. The left halfback covers the deep one-third to his side. The right halfback, who has revolved to the middle, plays and covers the deep middle one-third. The right corner man, who has also revolved back to the defensive halfback position, covers the deep one-third to his side of the field.

4-Spoke Coverage Versus a Floater

Figure 71 illustrates 4-spoke coverage versus the straight back pass from a floater set.

When the offense lines up in a floater set, illustrated in Figure 71, our secondary does not revolve but merely loosens up a little. The defensive corner man to the side that the back is flanked (our right) lines up a little wider and a little deeper. On the snap of the ball, if a back-up pass develops, he drops off to eight yards depth, and covers his one-quarter zone. The defensive right halfback lines up wider and he still covers the deep one-third area to his side. The defensive left halfback lines up in approximately his regular position because he must be able to cover the deep one-third zone to his side of the field. On this particular play as he sees a back-up pass develop, and only one receiver is out to his left, he anticipates receiving a quick release signal from his corner man. Should this occur, he now covers the deep middle one-third of the field. Otherwise he covers his deep side zone, as indicated above. The left corner man lines up in his regular position and sprints into a position to cover the deep one-third area on his side of the field when he sees his nearest offensive back blocking and only one receiver is coming out to his side. He gives the defensive halfback a quick release signal on about his second or third step.

Action Pass With a Floater

Figure 72 illustrates 4-spoke coverage versus the action pass from a floater set. The entire secondary plays the action pass exactly the same as a drop back pass if the action is toward the back who is flanked. It would be played in a slightly different manner if the action is away from the back who is flanked, as illustrated in Figure 72. In such a situation the left corner man would sprint to a position eight yards deep and set up immediately to cover the short one-quarter zone. The left halfback sprints to a position back and out so he can cover the deep one-third of the field to his side. The right halfback plants, turns to his inside, and sprints to a position to cover the deep middle one-third of the field. The right corner man turns to his inside, sprints back and out, and gets in a position to cover the deep one-third of the field when the action starts away from him.

PREDETERMINED ROTATION

When identifying our different defenses, we decided to number all of our 4-spoke defenses in the 40 series as far as the secondary was concerned. I mentioned in a previous chapter that we have a defensive signal caller for the secondary, as well as for the defensive line. We decided that 4-spoke and 40 had something in common (the 4’s), and would be easy for our players to remember. Consequently a 4-spoke defense is in the 40 series.

In addition, we gave our right and left corner men numbers. Our objective was to eliminate indecision as the second digit, when called, gave the corner man a definite responsibility, as will be illustrated shortly. Therefore, it was possible for the secondary to do a good job of rotation merely by watching the flow of the offensive backs.

As an example, let’s assume our defensive signal caller says, “40,” which is our regular 4-spoke defense. Therefore, our secondary will revolve according to the flow of the offensive backs, and the corner men will read the end and halfback nearest to them in order to ascertain whether they go up or drop back.

However, we will do more than play a straight 40 defense. By numbering our corner men, we can predetermine the rotation. Our right corner man is given the even numbers 4 and 8, and the left corner man the odd numbers 5 and 9. Therefore, we can call 44, 45, 48 and 49 defenses from the 4-spoke alignment. Now 44 and 48 mean two different things, as does 45 and 49. However, 44 and 45 are the same, only to opposite sides of the line, and the same holds true for 48 and 49.

Defensive Calls 44-45 for Secondary Rotation

When our defensive signal caller calls, “44,” our secondary will have a predetermined rotation to our right, unless the flow of the offensive backs is to our left. Then we will play regular and disregard the predetermined call. Let’s assume 44 was called and the flow of the offensive backs was to our right. We have already predetermined our rotation. Regardless of whether it is a pass or a run, our defensive right corner man must come across the line of scrimmage and contain the passer quickly, as illustrated in Figure 73. Our defensive right inside linebacker knows the corner will contain quickly, so he is now responsible for the short one-quarter area the corner man usually covers on a flow pass toward him (Figure 73). If the corner man was hesitant before, he need not be under these conditions as he knows he will contain without fail on a 44 predetermined call when the flow is toward him.

If the flow was away from him on a 44 call, as illustrated in Figure 75, the predetermined call is “off,” and he revolves back and covers his regular position. Both situations would be reversed if the call was “45.”

Defensive call 44 is also good versus a straight back pass, as illustrated in Figure 74. The same is true of defense 45. The only thing that erases the predetermined call is when the flow is away from the second digit called, i.e., away from 4 or 5.

Defensive Calls 48-49 for Secondary Rotation

We use the call 48 and 49 when we want a sure rotation, say, to the wide side of the field. When our right corner man hears “8” and the left corner man hears “9,” he knows he must go across the line of scrimmage regardless of the flow of the play. If the flow of the play is away from him, as illustrated in Figure 76, he will trail the play. If the play is a straight back pass, as illustrated in Figure 77, he will rush the passer hard. Figure 78 illustrates the flow of the play coming toward the right corner man. His job is to contain the play then. The remaining three backs know they are going to go to a 3-deep secondary regardlessly.

We ordinarily will use such a stunt only toward the wide (right) side of the field (Figure 76-78). The element of surprise is very good, and it eliminates indecision on the part of the secondary.

Defensive Calls 38-39 for Secondary Rotation

Another predetermined rotation is 38 and 39, and is similar to 48 and 49, respectively, as one corner man rushes regardless of the situation. We use 38 or 39 when we do not wish to call 48 or 49. If the offense sets a flanker to one side, and we want our secondary to revolve toward the flanker and the corner man who is now up on the line of scrimmage to rush regardlessly, we would call 38 or 39. The first digit, “3,” tells our secondary to revolve to a 3-deep toward the flanker. The second digit, “8” or “9,” indicates the right or left corner man, respectively, is going to fire into the offensive backfield. Figures 79-80 illustrate call, “38,” versus a running play and a straight drop back pass, respectively.

STUNTING IN THE DEFENSIVE SECONDARY

A team must be sound in its defensive secondary in order to be a good football team. All of us use certain basic principles, but we must be careful we do not “type” ourselves as this could be very costly if the opponents pick up our maneuvers while scouting our team.

One of the basic principles we try to teach our quarterback when we are discussing different phases of the passing game is where not to throw the football. While we might not complete the pass, as long as the opposition does not intercept it, we are not in too bad a position. Everyone knows the effect an interception can have on both the offensive and defensive teams.

In order to do an intelligent job of telling our quarterbacks where not to throw the ball, we must know the maneuvers of the opponent’s defensive secondary on action passes and on drop back passes. However, we always give our opponents credit for being as smart or smarter than we are. They, too, teach their quarterbacks where not to throw the ball. Consequently we try to make their job even more difficult by using some stunts in our secondary.

After we started to experiment, we found these stunts were actually serving a two-fold purpose. Not only was it confusing the opponents but it was also helping us to eliminate some problems of indecision that our corner men were having on certain occasions. By giving each man a specific assignment and by letting his assignment be determined by the flow of the offensive back and not by keying different positions, this greatly reduced our mistakes.

When we are using a particular stunt in our secondary, we never want to weaken our coverage at any point. To the contrary, we think we are strengthening it when we stunt. We have used four stunts successfully from time to time. We call our stunts “Thunder,” “Robber,” “Gangster,” and “Lightning.” After carefully analyzing these stunts, we came to the conclusion we were usually having two or three men exchange assignments, having defenders come from different angles, but still covering all the regular areas.

“Thunder”

“Thunder” is the name we have given to a stunt that will be between our defensive right halfback and right corner man, which will constitute one team, and our defensive left halfback and left corner man which will constitute a second team. Each team will be completely independent of the other team. What the stunt really amounts to is that the halfback and corner man will exchange assignments completely unless the flow goes away from them. For example, let’s say the offense runs an action pass to their right side. With an action pass of this type, our left corner man would ordinarily drop back eight yards deep and cover the short flat area. With “Thunder” called, however, he will turn to his outside and sprint back and cover the deep one-third of the field to his side. The left defensive halfback, who ordinarily would cover the deep area on this particular type pass, will come forward and outside and cover the short area the corner man would ordinarily cover. Not only have we given the quarterback an entirely new picture to look at, but we have strengthened our coverage by having our halfback come forward through the hook zone, going to the flat area. “Thunder” is illustrated in Figure 81.

I mentioned earlier that one of the advantages of these stunts was that it takes away any point of indecision for our corner men. When we are using our regular coverage and the flow goes away from our corner man, he will sprint to his outside and cover the deep one-third area, but when the flow comes toward him he has to key the offensive end and determine if he is blocking, slamming, going down field to block or to catch a pass. The action our corner man takes will largely depend upon the action the offensive end takes. When we have “Thunder” called, the corner man knows on the snap of the ball, regardless of what kind of play the offense will run, he will sprint back and cover the deep area to his side of the field. (Figure 81.)

The signal caller in our secondary can call “Thunder” for our right side only, left side only or both sides at the same time. If he calls it for both sides at the same time, then the direction in which the offense operates will determine which side of our defensive secondary will play “Thunder.”

“Robber”

“Robber” is another of our stunts that serves a two-fold purpose of eliminating indecision and is an element of surprise.

Our “Robber” will be someone playing defensive right or left halfback, depending upon our game plans. However, we will never have “Robber” called on both sides at the same time.

For example, let’s say our defensive left halfback will be our “Robber,” as illustrated in Figure 82. On the snap of ball, regardless of the flow, our left corner man will sprint back and cover the deep third of the field to his side, our defensive right halfback will cover the deep middle of the field, and our right corner man will cover the deep one-third to his side of the field. On the snap of the ball, our “Robber” can go anywhere he thinks the opponents will run. This is a very good element of surprise because we will get an additional defender at the point of attack and he can be very reckless due to the fact that he does not have any designated responsibility. We expect our “Robber” to try to second-guess the opponent’s quarterback. When a pass play develops, he is in a very good position to break up the short passes.

We do not use this as a steady diet, but we gain considerably by having the “Robber” pursue the ball recklessly.

“Gangster”

“Gangster” is a stunt we particularly like with a 4-5 defense or any 9-man front defense where our linebackers will line up a little wider than ordinarily.

This stunt will be performed by three men—a corner man, linebacker, and halfback. For example, we will use our defensive left side, as illustrated in Figure 83. On the snap of the ball, regardless of the flow, our left corner man will sprint back and cover the deep third area to his side of the field (the halfback ordinarily covers this area). The left linebacker will cover the short flat to his side of the field (the corner man ordinarily covers this area). The left halfback will come forward and cover the hook spot (the linebacker ordinarily covers this area). The remaining backs will cover their regular area.

The main advantage of this stunt is that by having our halfback come forward we are in a good position to stop all short passes in the hook zone. He is going forward and covering the same area our linebacker usually covers. Our linebacker has to key, sprint back, and set up, before he can get ready to go forward. You can see that we have definitely strengthened our coverage at this point and it is equally sound in the other area. We will only call “Gangster” to one side at a time.

“Lightning”

“Lightning” is a stunt between our linebacker and corner man only, and is illustrated in Figure 84. We first started using this stunt for the sole reason of eliminating any point of indecision for our corner man. It is a very simple stunt. As an example, if the flow goes toward the side on which we have called “Lightning,” the corner man will come across the line of scrimmage very fast and contain the ball carrier. He does not have any pass responsibility at all if the action comes toward him. The linebacker to his side will cover the short flat area if a running pass develops. Our corner man is coached to contain the passer so fast that a receiver does not have time to get very wide and our linebacker does not have any trouble covering the short flat area. The remaining backs will cover their regular areas. The call, “Lightning,” will be off if the flow goes away from the side we have called it on, or if a straight drop back pass develops.

We can call “Lightning” on both sides at the same time.

We do not use a stunt on every play, but with our regular coverage and using a stunt occasionally we can give the opposition’s quarterback a number of problems. He is looking at a number of different “pictures” when we employ these defensive tactics. Secondly, we feel it helps us because any indecision our corner men might have is eliminated when we stunt.

CONCLUSION

The basic principles of pass defense are: when the ball is in the air, your secondary men must sprint for the football, play through the receiver for the ball and not around him, and play the football at the highest point possible. If your defenders will apply these basic principles along with an aggressive attitude that the ball belongs to the defenders when it is in the air, you will have a good defensive secondary.

In a later chapter I shall explain and illustrate our drills for the defensive secondary.