It was an honor to be asked by theA F C Ato contribute to the 2000 S u m m e rM a n u a l. On behalf of our head coach BobDeBesse, we appreciate the opportunity. Iam very fortunate to coach with great pro-fessionals and dear friends Mike Hudson,Jim Dawson, Chad Glasgow and RobertCrivellari, who make up our defensives t a ff. The defensive package we installedis not mine. We have taken ideas from allof our stops and incorporated what wefeel is a simple, but multiple package tocombat the complexity of the off e n s i v eschemes we face.

Our defensive meetings are lively, wehave some guys with great personalityand defensive minds. We tried in greatdetail when we started, to all be on thesame page. We went through and exam-ined each formation, blocking scheme,run and pass route, discussed field zonephilosophy and then we established ourBobcat defensive language. It requirednew learning for all coaches, but stream-lined the installation and meeting time forthe defense. Utilizing the knowledgeacquired from the staffs different coach-ing stops, we established an extremelywordy defense. Each of the 11 defensivepositions were given a name. Every align-ment was given a name. We packagedblitzes by name with the alignment termi-nology within the blitz package. Webelieved that if we told the players whereto align or where to blitz, each snap wewould eliminate assignment and align-ment confusion and give our players theconfidence to play fast and furious.

While we initially taught hard align-ment rules, our defensive goal was togain knowledge so our players couldalign for success. We will teach diff e r-ent alignments according to down anddistance and offensive formations. Upfront, we will play right or left side. Wewill not flip the defensive line as we wantthose guys to excel at playing one side oftheir body. We will flip the linebackers;the Sam will be to the call or Eagle sideand the Mike will be to the away orBubble side. Our secondary will align tothe passing strength. The strong safetywill always go to the tight end side or tothe field in a balanced formation and theKat will go to the open side. The freesafety will set the strength and the safetyaway and put us in the best coverageaccording to down and distance ando ffensive formation.

Tite 4 Check- Two Back A l i g n m e n t s

Tite 4 Check- One Back A l i g n m e n t s Tite linebacker will make a right or

left call to the run strength. Four Check, the free safety will make

a Linda or Rhonda call to the passings t r e n g t h .

At the beginning of our installation,each defensive position had a list ofvocabulary words they had to learn. Eachof these words were unique and hot totheir position. The player must listen in thehuddle for a hot word that will change theiralignment or assignment. If a player doesnot hear a hot word, they will play theirbase technique.

Blitz PackageAlong with the wordy alignment and

AFCA Summer Manual 2000

Diagram 1: Tite 4 Check vs. I

Diagram 2: Tite 4 Check vs. Near

Diagram 3: Tite 4 Check

Diagram 4: Tite 4 Check

David Bailiff

Defensive Coordinator

Southwest Texas StateUniversity

San Marcos, Tex.

Align for SuccessInstalling the Eight Man

Blitz Package

assignment calls, we have developed ourblitz package using the same thoughtprocess. Each blitz has its own name forimmediate huddle and formation recogni-tion. We are going to pin our ears backand blitz. We want to keep an off e n s eguessing and off balance, at times we willshow and not blitz and other times wewill bring a blitz from depth. We want theelement of surprise on our side and we

want the threat of the blitz to be somethingan offense must prepare for.

B u l l e t sIf we blitz one linebacker, our huddle

call will be Sam Aor B or Mike Aor B. T h e Aor B tells the linebacker which gap toblitz and alerts the defensive line of anygap exchange. If we blitz both lineback-ers, we call it bullets.

Tite aligns the front to the tight end. Bullets Atells the defensive line and

linebackers what gap is being blitzed. 0 coverage man no help. Silver defensive end hot word to alert

him to take the runningback on a flare.

S m o k e sWe call our safety blitzes smokes. We

dictate which safety we want to blitz by

using wide and short, these will give us ablitz from the field or boundary. If we wantto bring the safety from the tight end side,our call will be strong smoke. As a f e t yblitz from the open side is called katsmoke. We will bring both safeties off theedge with a double smoke call. If we wantto slant the line and bring a smoke at thesame time, we may call boundary armyshort smoke.

C r o s sCross is another safety blitz. A cross

blitz is simply a gap exchange between thesafety and the defensive end to that side.The safety will blitz the B gap. His key willbe the offensive tackle. If the tackle zonesat him, he will immediately take his eyes tothe adjacent guard. If the guard is also zon-ing, he will get up the field in the B gap. Hewill come under any fan block by the offen-sive tackle. If the safety is getting zoneaway, we want him to run flat at the heelline of the offense line and be there tomake the play when the ball is pulled up orwhen the running back cuts back. We stillmay run wide, short, strong and kat cross-es. We want the cross blitz to be a littleslower, as this will open up the gap anddefine the hole for the blitzing safety.

AFCA Summer Manual 2000

Diagram 5: Tite Outlaw 4 Check

Diagram 6: Tite Fist Blast 4 Check

Diagram 7: Split Solid 4 Check

Diagram 8: Tite Sam B 4 Check

Diagram 10: Tite Strong Smoke 4Check

Diagram 9: Tite Bullets A O Silver Diagram 11: Cross vs. Zone To

DE DT LBs Safeties CornersTite Tite Tite Solid WacoSplit Split Split Smoke BailField Field Field Cross PressBoundary Boundary Boundary Bobcat CoyoteUnder G Double Stack Waco CutTake Go Sam Cut KongTank Outlaw Mike Kong SkyArmy Aim Bullets Blast OTSilver Toro Bobcat Dog CloudCop Tank Dog Coyote RobDrop Pinch Glue OT RollVoid Okie Bang RobFire Tex Coyote RollBlast ExLoose FistTwist Loose

TwistOverStab

Diagram 12: Cross vs. Zone Away

D o gWe call our four-to-a-side blitz package

a dog. We get four men from a side bybringing the linebacker and safety to thatside. We may blitz the linebacker andsafety in any gap. We will again use wide,short, strong and kat to determine wherewe want the dog coming from.

If we get drop back pass, the defensiveend will rip under the offensive tackle toshorten the blitz line for the safety. We willuse this teaching point anytime a safety isinvolved in a perimeter blitz.

B o b c a tThe last blitz we will carry into every

game is an eight man read-blitz we callBobcat. Abobcat blitz is read-blitz thatinvolves both linebackers and safeties.We will have a four-way spy on the run-ningback in a one back situation. If he ison an inside path, the linebacker on hisside will be responsible for covering him. Ifthe runningback flares or releases wide,the safety to that side will cover him. Wecan use different exchange coverages toadd an element of surprise.

Tite will set our eagle to the tight ends i d e .

Bobcat is the buzz word for the line-backers and safeties.

B tells the linebacker and defensiveline what gap the linebackers are blitzing.

0 tells we are playing man coverwith no help.

Silver is a word for the defensiveend and it tells him to cover the back ona flare, if for some reason the safety tohis side is not able to blitz according tof o r m a t i o n .

Cop is another buzz word for thedefensive ends and it tells them if there isa tight end to their side and they havehim man.

Double StackDouble stack is our way of getting into

a double eagle defense. We achieve thisby adding the words outlaw and doublestack to the tite call. Outlaw will move thenose to a three technique and doublestack will move the Mike linebacker downas a nose guard and the Sam linebackerwill stack behind the Mike. We may stilluse all of our base blitzes in double stack.

C o b r aIn addition to our blitz and base pack-

ages we will play cobra. Cobra is our dimepackage and we try to get as much speedon the field as possible. The defensivetackles come out and we send in two moredefensive backs. We will move the defen-sive ends inside and one linebacker anddefensive back will become the newdefensive ends. We will utilize our cobrapackage in second or third and long situa-tions or when we want to match up with athree or four wide receiver set by theo ffense. This package is about attitude.Our players take a great deal of pride incobra and they expect great things to hap-pen when cobra is called. This packageallows us to get over the top help versusthe pass. We will play halves coverage orman under in base cobra. The defensiveline works independently, by this we meaneach side of the line may call its own twist.We tell the defensive line that they haveno run responsibility and to get up thef i e l d .

We still have the ability to run any ofour blitz package when we are in cobra.The terminology and the teachingpoints remain constant, so we do nothave to spend a lot of extra time tryingto find a time to practice cobra. When

AFCA Summer Manual 2000

Diagram 14: Tite Kat Cross 4 Check

Diagram 15: Tite Kat Dog O

Diagram 16: Tite Okie Kat Dog A

Diagram 17: Tite Okie Kat Dog ACross

Diagram 19: Bobcat Cop O Silver

Diagram 20: Tite Outlaw DoubleStack I

Diagram 21: Tite Outlaw DoubleStack Kat Smoke ODiagram 18: Bobcat vs. Two Back

Diagram 13: Cross vs. Fan

we make a cobra call, we will just usethe word cobra at the beginning.

Cobra Vi p e rCobra Viper is the next blitz package we

will use with our dime personnel. The linewill shift prior to the snap to a three downlineman and two linebacker. We can tight-en our safeties to be in a 50 front or keepthem loose in coverage. From our viperlook, the entire blitz package is availablefor use. Bullets, Smokes, Dogs and Bobcat.

The installation may at first seem con-fusing, but our players understand theirhot words. Their knowledge of the pack-

age and great communication allows us toadd hot words on a weekly basis as need-ed by game plan. We are able to be thiswordy defense due to the fact that weoperate off wristbands. The wristband isdivided into categories of possible calls forthe week. Each call will be numberedunder the category. We signal in the cate-gory we want with the number. The line-backer will refer to the category and makethe call to the defense. The players andcoaches believe in what we do. The play-ers believe we are on the cutting edge ondefense. We sell our defense to our play-ers by calling it high tech and we are goingto make sure they have fun. Our playersknow we care about them and trust inthem on and off the field. We will not beafraid to make a call no matter the situa-tion and our players know it.

Therefore, they take pride in their per-formance and look forward to the chal-lenge when their number is called. In con-clusion, I would be remiss if I did not takethis opportunity to thank the individualswho have taken their time to share theirknowledge and passion for this greatgame. They include John O'Hara, DennisFranchione, Bob DeBesse, MickeyMatthews, Jim Bob Helduser, Fred Bleil,and Gary Patterson. I will always be intheir debt. Thank you.

AFCA Summer Manual 2000

Diagram 22: Cobra

Diagram 23: Cobra

Diagram 24: Cobra Short Smoke 2Void

Diagram 25: Cobra Viper 2

Diagram 26: Cobra Viper Bobcat O

NCAA Position on Gambling

The NCAAopposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering. Sports wagering hasthe potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfareof student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community. Sports wageringdemeans the competition and competitors alike by a message that is contrary to thepurposes and meaning of sport.Sports competition should be appreciated for theinherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches and institutionsin fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.

For those reasons, the NCAAmembership has adopted specific rules prohibiting ath-letics department staff members and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activ-ities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional sporting events.