Tuesday, December 22, 20094-2-5 Away Side Run Support 4-2-5 Run Support

One of the biggest questions coaches unfamiliar with the 4-2-5 defense is playing the run. The idea of stopping the run with one less linebacker is scary to some. This is an easy misconception to dispel. The 4-2-5 can be as effective as any other scheme at stopping the run out of standard sets.(Double tight three back sets can call for different personnel if size/strength is an issue.)

First, it is important to note that the 4-2-5 vs 2 back 1 TE sets (21 personnel) acts as a 9 in the box defense versus the run. See Diagram below.

Versus the standard pro-I run strong, the run fits are similar to traditional split-6 cover-3 run fits. There is a major difference, in the 4-2-5 the safeties remain flat footed and do not move until they have a run pass read. It is not unusual to see the safeties making tackles right up on the LOS. The aggressive play from the safeties allows the linebackers to play the run fast because there is a safety covering the cutback.

The aggressive play of the safeties also affects the way you can use your front. In this scheme you can (and should) have your linemen wrong-arm blocks and spill the ball outside. This is advantageous because you have fast-flow linebackers and safeties that can quickly get to run plays that spill outside. Look at the diagram below and see how the outside support can get there quickly.

The linebackers and FS are pursuing the ball inside-out while the WS is forcing the ball back to them. If the ball carrier happens to cutback, the SS is folding to the cutback. However, it is important for the pursuit and alley players not to over-run the ball. It is not sound to put the SS on cutback without any help.AWAY SIDE RUN SUPPORT VS SPREAD

One of the things that makes the 4-2-5 unique is the run support games and run techniques it utilizes to the away side. The first thing to understand is the positioning of the away side linebacker in respect to the away side coverage and formations it faces.

In this example the away side is in cover blue. The WS is aligned 8-10 yards deep and the C is 4-6 yards deep. It is difficult for players at this depth to play the run quickly while maintain good pass responsibility on the WR's. (If you put either the WS or corner on force/pitch in Cover Blue vs a twins set, you will be short handed.) The away-side linebacker, the Mike (M) in this example, stacks behind the DE to assist here. There are two advantages with his alignment. #1 he is in better pass alignment for pass coverage whether or not he needs to slice under #1, man the back, or drop and cover the middle hole. #2 On weak-side runs that attack outside, he can take the pitch on option and funnel runs back to the other linebacker and FS.

If the away side is in man, he needs to align here as well to cover the back and force the ball inside. Away side man looks like this

On weak-side runs, it is hard to count on the WS or corner to help out on the run, when there are locked up in man. The one thing you can do is teach your WS to read the WR for run/pass. The coaching point here is teaching the WS to read the WR's eyes. If the WR looks at you, it is probably a run, take a step inside to check. If the WR follows your step, get around him and play the run. On the other hand, if the WR is not looking at you, he is most likely running a pass route, because he is looking for his aiming point to catch or break off from his route. Teaching this takes times, and good teams will run your WS off on run plays so, on runs weak the linebacker is needed to force the ball.

AWAY SIDE ZONE

The linebackers alignment can change depending on the zone coverage you use on the away-side. For example, if the call puts the Safety on pass-first and the corner playing the flat/force (squat-halves coverage) the backer may need to play closer to the slot receiver. This allows the backer to wall the slot easier and prevent the slot from catching quick throws. (This is not a necessity but can be a great scheme that throws off the offense.)

This alignment at first glance looks like 5 in the box. For the standard spread team, this appears as an ideal run situation. However, on run plays, the box quickly turns into 7 people. The flat-footed FS and away-side linebacker can quickly fall in. The important thing for the linebacker is that he fall into the B-gap. In this front the nose is to the away-side, so the linebacker is assigned the B-Gap. But, what happens when the Tackle (3-tech) in the B-gap is aligned to the away-side? This can be a problem, but the scheme can answer this. Will Muschamp at the University of Texas (a 4-3 base team) handles this situation by stunting the tackle into the A-Gap, allowing the linebacker less ground to cover on run plays.

Muschamp calls this a "SPIKE" technique (TCU calls this a TAG). The idea here versus the spread is to push the ball to the B-gaps. In split safety coverage this allows the secondary to play the run easier. In MOF (Middle of the Field) coverage, you do not need to do this.

Strong run support and weak run support look as follows with the TAG (Spike) technique. (The Read side is Cover 2 (Robber).)

In weak-side runs it is important for the FS to check the B-gap before pursuing play side. This gives the SS time to pursue to the cutback.

3x1 AWAY SIDE FORCE

In 3x1 sets the WS usually has force. For example, if the trips call is SOLO, the WS aligns 1x6 off the offensive tackle and is responsible for force/pitch. on run read plays his job is to turn the ball back to pursuit. Also, the linebacker can move back into the box over the B-gap, because of the WS alignment.

In this scheme it is important to have good communication between the safeties and linebackers. Even more important on the away-side. The WS needs to let the backer know what the coverage is so he (linebacker) knows where to align and play on the run. Versus spread teams it helps to put the linebacker in similar positions.

I am planning to cover box run play in the 4-2-5, linebacker reads, and squat/halves and blue coverage more in depth in future posts

4-2-5 Split Field Coverage I have read enough of these post and found them helpful and enjoyable. I thought I would try to contribute to the cause. Here is my first post.

You can find the TCU 1999 playbook here. There is not a whole lot of detail on the coverages but you can get a good idea for what they are trying to do. I have never visited with the coaches at TCU, only talked with others who run similar 4-2-5 defenses, so the terminology and alignments will not be exact, but within the general idea. I am going to discuss how to utilize a split safety coverage system versus spread offenses (2x2 and 3x1). These will be called out of 4-2-5 personnel. These will be different for a 4-3, because the COS is difficult.

In defense it helps to begin with the ordering of a coverage call. In this scheme the front call is irrelevant to the coverage the secondary is given. The call I will be discussing is 2-BLUE SOLO & 2-BLUE SPECIAL

The "2" Refers to the read side coverage. The read side is the side of the passing strength, and is the side that the SS and FS go to. The read side safeties will relay the coverage to the read corner and linebacker. The "BLUE" call is the away side coverage. This is the side away from the passing strength. The WS will let the away corner and linebacker know what the coverage is. The Diagram below shows it.

COVER 2

Cover 2 in this scheme is not the typical squat/halves (cloud) coverage that is quite common. Cover 2 is a robber scheme. There is a post about Virgina Tech's Robber coverage here. TCU's and Virgina Tech's are very similar.

To summarize robber. The FS will align o/s shade of the OT and 10 yards deep reading the linemen. On the snap of the ball the FS will remain flat footed until he get his read, on a run read he pursues the ball inside out. If he reads pass, his eyes flash to the #2 WR to the read side.

If #2 releases vertical past 8 yards the FS will yell "Push, "Push" and takes the WR man to man. If #2 releases out or in within 8 yards the FS will rob under #1 looking curl, post, dig.

The SS is responsible for the out cuts by #2 and if he gets a "push" call from the FS he will move to get under #1. The read corner aligns at 7-8 yards off LOS and bails playing a 1/2's technique over # 1.

BLUE

On the away side the WS and away corner are playing cover "BLUE". This is a type of combo man between the two of them. Both are reading the # 2 WR.

If the # 2 WR pushes vertical past 8 yards the WS takes him man to man and the corner locks up on #1.

If #2 releases outside within 8 yards the WS will make a "wheel" call to the corner. On a wheel call the corner Comes off and takes #2 man to man, and the WS locks up on #1 with over the top leverage.

If #2 releases inside the WS will yell "IN" "IN" to the linebacker and then double #1 with the corner.

The read and away sides respond differently to outside cuts by the #2 WR's. The picture below shows how each side will respond to the curl/flat combination.

SOLO

The final word of the call is SOLO. This is the trips coverage. This alerts the secondary that on any 3x1 formation the away side will check into SOLO.

SOLO is a trips check aimed at defending the trips side at the expense of putting the Corner on the single receiver side on an island man to man. The Read side continues to play Cover 2 on #1 and #2. The handeling of the #3 WR is done by the read side backer and WS. The WS has force/ pitch to his side. On pass, the WS sprints toward the middle of the field hunting for the # 3 WR. He has him Man to man. The read side linebacker's job is to wall #3, re-routing him and preventing a quick throw.

Versus a split play the coverage looks like this.

On the read side the FS makes a "Push" call and takes #2. The SS gets under #1, and the WS sprints across the field and takes #3. Below is another example.

This is an example where running 2-Solo is perfect. The play is designed to attack the trips side. The FS sees #2 release o/s and then robs the curl of #1. The SS drops to the flat and picks up #3, and the corner is deep to handle the wheel route by #2. If the QB is reading the corner and SS he will throw to the curl not realizing the FS is getting underneath it.

CHANGE OF STRENGTH (COS)

COS deals with motions that change the read side. This is one of the most troublesome things to deal with in this system. However, the presence of a third safety makes adjustments easier. Thats why this system is more difficult to run out of a 4-3 or 3-4. If the read side changes the FS moves to the other side, and the SS and WS swap responsibilities.

The read side flips to the right. The FS and WS play cover 2 and the SS checks his side into SOLO. After the motion the secondary is aligned like this.

The beauty of this is the adjustments were made by the secondary. The linebackers don't really have to move, only change responsibilities.

ANOTHER TRIPS COVERAGE "SPECIAL"

SOLO is designed to Load up on the trips side. You can run multiple coverages to the trips side with SOLO on the away side. You can put your read side into squat/halves, man, and BLUE. SOLO allows for flexibility in coverages to the trips side.

However, you might not always want to lock up on the single receiver side. You need a coverage call that allows for flexibility to that side too. That is where "Special" comes in. If the coverage is 2-BLUE- SPECIAL, your secondary checks into special with any 3x1 set.

Special puts the read side corner man to man on # 1. The SS and FS play #2 and #3 with BLUE coverage (Treating them like #1 and #2). The SS acts like the corner does in Blue and the FS acts like the WS. The other players disregard the #1 WR the corner has man to man. (This is an X-out concept. You could use a similar adjustment VS TE trips (trey) You can lock the SS on the TE and have the FS and corner play blue on #1 and #2.) This locks down that side and allows you to play games with your WS and away corner on the single receiver side. You have many options here. You can run different brackets, play squat/halves, Spy the QB with WS, or even send him on a blitz off the edge.

You can add a 4th tag to the call to let the WS and Corner know what to do vs trips, or have the WS look to the play caller for a call when he gets trips. It helps to have a base call for the away side in special. A simple bracket call works best for starters.

Special is also the call of choice versus an empty (3x2) set. Versus empty the FS checks Special to the trips side and the WS gets the away side into blue. This is a good coverage it provides great run support for draws and get all the WR's covered.

With 2, blue, solo, and special you can present a number of looks to the offense,have a plan to deal with the trips side and open side in 3x1 sets, and even cover empty (3x2) sets. The ability to play with 5 players in the secondary makes adjustments and communication simple. 3x1 Formations- Defending the Open Side In my original post on Split-Safety coverage I outlined a simple system in the 4-2-5 for handling trips formations. The base adjustment is solo. This coverage locks the away side into solo coverage and allows the read side to defend the trips with a variety of options. This is the preferred way to defending the trips side of the formation. However, like any coverage, if you sit in it too long the offense will eventually attack the open side. Solo coverage is most vulnerable to the single receiver side. That is where special coverage comes into play.

Special is designed to create games and options on the single WR side. In this post, I will cover some of the coverage options that can be used have to defend routes to the single WR.

BRACKET

The first and most basic coverage to the open side would be "bracket." This coverage allows the WS to be in a position to aggressively force the ball on the run and take away the quick and intermediate routes of the #1 WR on pass plays.

The corner is man to man soft over #1. His rule is DGBD...Don't get beat deep. He has #1 and he needs to be able to defend the fade, post, corner, and skinny. The WS upon reading pass needs to work into a trail position on the WR. From this position he is man to man on any inside, outside, or stopping route by the WR. The linebacker will have the back man to man.

During the release phase the WS must work into a trail position. Versus a comeback route the WS should be in the proper position to take this route away.

Also, Versus a post, the WS and corner should have the WR on a high-low with no place for the QB to put the football.

TRAIL

Trail Coverage is the reverse of bracket. The corner will align outside and deny any outside releases by the WR. After the initial release the corner will work in a trail position, and is responsible for any quick, intermediate inside/outside cut bt the WR. The WS is soft man over #1 with DGBD responsibility.

This is a great change up and can easily be mistaken for solo coverage. This will be confusing to quarterbacks. Trail coverage on the dig route looks like this.

1/2's

The final option I will discuss will be simple 1/2's coverage. 1/2's coverages is a great change up on the open side. It changes up the run force to that side, allows the corner to sit and have interception chances, and keeps the backer from having to run with the running back to the flat. The only situation where the the backer would have the back man to man is on a deep release. I am not going to go into too much detail here, there is plenty of discussion and videos on playing halves coverage. Brophy especially has some good resources on running this coverage versus, multiple sets.