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Defensive Coaching Clinic

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Old 08-08-2017, 08:41 PM   #1
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Defensive Coaching Clinic

I have been on this forum for a while now and I have yet to see a thread about defense. So here it is. I want to know what do you guys like to do on defense: formations, personnel sets, how do you recruit for your defense , what makes your defense click, what are the schematic principles of your defense etc. As the old saying goes: offense wins games defense wins championships
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Old 08-09-2017, 10:11 AM   #2
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Re: Defensive Coaching Clinic

Quote:
Originally Posted by dgarrett92
I have been on this forum for a while now and I have yet to see a thread about defense. So here it is. I want to know what do you guys like to do on defense: formations, personnel sets, how do you recruit for your defense , what makes your defense click, what are the schematic principles of your defense etc. As the old saying goes: offense wins games defense wins championships


This is a pretty cool idea, so I'm gonna contribute. I play a predominantly sim style, so I'm gonna take your questions one at a time. Defensively, I run a 3-4 base. I treat it similar to the offense, I pick 1 of the 3 coach pick plays. I like to do this because it doesn't allow me to sit in defensive money plays and just blitz like crazy...but it offers situational play calls, based on their personnel packages (2 TE's 2 WR) then i'll pick the play with a 4 man line, (3 WR 1 TE) probably pick a 3 man front...if its 2nd & 1 i'll pick a run blitz type play, 3rd and 15, probably more coverage based, or whatever I feel like calling out of those 3. I like to recruit size (height) for CB's and Safeties, a mixture of coverage and pass rush for OLB and run stoppers for DE and DT. I use some house rules for recruiting though, but that's the prototypical player I go for. The house rules are pretty cool, cuz sometimes you end up with your second or 3rd choice at a position and end up with a guy that's 65 instead of your 1st choice that was a 74, and can't just stack the roster. Like I said, I'm a sim guy...so winning every game 63-7 isn't fun for me...and yeah you have to dumb it down some and not allow yourself to stick to money plays and shut everyone out...but for me its more fun in the long run.
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Old 08-09-2017, 10:47 AM   #3
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Re: Defensive Coaching Clinic

I run a 4-3 over defense. i run a man press defense. usually cover 0 but if i get beat deep a time or 2 i might add a safety over top. i try to send atleast one lb everytime unless its a 3rd and long and i just want to prevent a deep pass. i recruit starting with the dline. it all revolves around them. i get pass rushing ends and run stopping tackles. i look for acc over speed with lbs. man coverage and press are my main features i look for in corners. for safeties i look for good all around coverage. i might even recruit a corner that has good coverage but not press to move him to safety.
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Old 08-11-2017, 06:12 AM   #4
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Re: Defensive Coaching Clinic

I play a base 3-3-5 with 3-3-5 Nickel and 3-2-6 Dollar as my sub-packages. My base is 3-3-5 Stack but I also make use of the other 3-3-5 formations (3-3-5 Okie is basically a 3-4 alignment with 3-3-5 personnel, 3-3-5 Split is a 4-2-5 alignment with 3-3-5 personnel).

Recruiting requirements:

DE: They need to be good pass rushers and run stoppers. Pure speed rushers won't do, as they get washed away in the run game. Think Richard Seymour...

DT: Starter needs to be an old-fashioned Nose Tackle - as big as possible with strength and blockshed as the most important attributes. I usually have a backup DT or DE who gets subbed in for the Dollar formation in clear passing situations. Damon Harrison would be a good example from the NFL for the starter role.

LOLB: More of a 2-down player, as he leaves the field in sub-packages. Should be a run-stopper and pass rusher. Terrell Suggs comes to mind.

MLB: Run stopping and coverage, he doesn't blitz a lot. Just get the best LB you can possibly get and put him at MLB.

ROLB: Needs to be a complete player - run stopping, blitzing, coverage - he needs to do it all. Lance Briggs in his prime comes to mind.

CB: I play a lot of man coverage, equally press- and off-man. If I play zone, it's mostly zone blitzes with a Cover 3 shell. So my Corners need to be coverage guys first and foremost. Nickel CB should be a decent tackler and doesn't need to be as good in press-man coverage.

FS: Pure Centerfielder - he's usually my last line of defense, sometimes I also use a good-tackling CB and convert him to FS. Think Earl Thomas or Ed Reed.

SS: In my 3-3-5 I have 2 starting SS so this position is more important than in other defenses. They are the guys who can make or break this defense. Need to be able to man-cover against slot-receivers but also set the edge at the line-of-scrimmage. Think Jabrill Peppers or Shaq Thompson.
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Old 08-11-2017, 02:39 PM   #5
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Re: Defensive Coaching Clinic

I play a 3-4 and almost always have a dominant defense. My run-first spread option offense can score me points with the correct players, but their main job is always to not screw up and let the defense win the game for us.

I play zone coverage about 90% of the time, which is why I love the 3-4 as the variety of zone coverages in the 3-4 is VASTLY superior to every other defense (I'm almost positive there are a lot more varied zone coverages in the 3-4 than there is in the 4-3, 3-3-5, and 4-2-5 combined).

In general, I go 1 less than the offense personnel wise. Ie I go 3-4 against 2 and 3 wide, nickle against 4 wide, and dollar or quarters against 5 wide.

I very rarely bring more than 6 guys, but will on occasion. I often bring 4 (which is another great thing about the 3-4 as that 4th guy can be ROLB, MLB1, MLB2, LOLB, CB1, CB2, FS, or SS). I probably bring only 3 as often as I rush 4. The variety of zone blitzes available in the 3-4 is phenomenal as well.

I mix up my D a LOT. I'll throw in the occasional man coverages as a change up, but I'll switch between cover 2 shells to cover 3s, to cover 4s and 6s. I'll bring that 4th guy or even 5th guys from all over. I'll also switch up my zones a lot as well. I'll go from no buzz zones, to 2, to 1 with rolled coverage, etc.

If there's a scrambler, then I'll call a spy on almost every play (or at least every play I expect a pass). This is yet another great thing about the 3-4 as it has more spy plays. If he's balanced, I'll call spies for plays where I'm sure there'll be a pass.

Here's who I recruit:
DE: BSH is by far most important, then FMV, PMV, ACC in that order. To be realistic, I don't recruit anyone under 250 lbs.
DT: BSH, by far, then PMV.
(Most important for all linebackers is tackle)
LOLB: This is the guy that blitzes the most so he needs BSH, FMV, ACC first and foremost.
MLBs: I mainly care about TKL 1st, TKL 2nd, and third, TKL. If you're a MLB that can't tackle, you'll never even make my practice squad.
ROLB: This is the guy that plays in nickle normal so I care more about cover skills and SPD than I do the LOLB.
CBs: ZCV is obviously #1 for me. After that I look for MCV, and then SPD. I rarely press so I don't care about that and I'll take a 95 ZCV/85 SPD guy over an 85 ZCV/95 SPD guy every time.
SS: TKL is #1, then ZCV
FS: TKL is #1 (I'm guessing you've noticed a theme by now), then ZCV, and SPD.
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Old 08-11-2017, 03:14 PM   #6
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Re: Defensive Coaching Clinic

Jello and Burnum with great insights. I'm looking to switch from my standard 4-3 that I've been running a lot in the last 18 months since playing NCAA 14 again. I'm going to implement either the 3-4 or 3-3-5 when I switch jobs this offseason. I'm leaning 3-3-5, I think.
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Old 08-11-2017, 04:04 PM   #7
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Re: Defensive Coaching Clinic

I would always run a 4-2-5 in my dynasty's, especially with my friends who would just cheese the read option out of the shotgun.

The main idea behind the 425 is that there is no inherent strength or weakness to attack in the defense since everything is balanced. Now you can create shifts and pressures to change that if you want, but just straight up base, you're going to have a very sound structure.

Most of this is from TCU and Gary Patterson so just look him up if you want more detail.

Schematically, adding that 8th man to the box nullifies the advantage of the read option. As long as everyone does their job and tackles the ball when it comes to them, this defense is very stringent. Between your 4 linemen and 2 linebackers you are going to account for all 6 gaps with a 5 man OL.

Everyone's first objective as it pertains to the run is to force the ball horizontal instead of vertical. Hopefully if the ball keeps going horizontal they will never pick up considerable yardage vertically. As long as it's going horizontal, that will give your chase players the ability to catch up and make the tackle.

The coverage scheme is for simplicities sake, a cover 3. 3 DBs account for the deep 3 zones, underneath Safeties and LBs account for the underneath zones. There's a few holes to target, but if you know where they are (4 verts) you can user and take them away.

Recruiting wise I'm going to go small. You recruit smaller/faster players who can cover the wider college field.

DL is all pass rushers. You can have a run stopping DT if you want but it's not necessary. 4 true pass rushers will allow you to sit back with 7 in zone on passing downs.

LB can be converted safeties but they are going to need to be able to tackle. If they can't stop the interior run game, you're gonna be screwed.

Dogs are the overhang safeties, call then whatever you want. These are kind of your Swiss Army knife guys. They can be converted safeties who can't cover or fast linebackers if you have too many of those. Their first job is to stop the outside runs and then play a shallow zone which doesn't take a lot of skill. You corners need to just be big enough to not let the run outside of them. Other than that, they've got 1/3 of the deep part of the field to cover so they better be pass first guys. That center field safety better be a dude. He's got the toughest job on the field and is a hell of a guy to user. He's got to be able to take the toughest deep 1/3 of the field in zone. He's also got to be able to run the alley and make tackles in the run game, which if he doesn't usually means a big gain.


I could talk for hours about this defense but I'm sure y'all are tired of reading by now. Best of luck.
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Old 08-11-2017, 04:29 PM   #8
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Re: Defensive Coaching Clinic

@catcher_0_3: Could you elaborate on when/how you use the different alignments (normal, over, under) in the 4-2-5? Is it dependant on the hashmarks or expected offensive formation?

I have a lot of experience in the 3-3-5 because we used it when I was in my playing days. In my view the 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 are very similar, as they are designed to put 8 in the box and stop those spread offenses. In real life, 4-2-5 is more of a one-gap defense, 3-3-5 can be used as either one- or two-gap-defense.
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