Article:Bob Shoop and the Fire Zone

#2
#2
Great read, Ace. It is very informative. I love pressure defense and look forward to seeing what Shoop will do with the d this fall. Thanks for sharing.
 
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#4
#4
Great article, thanks for linking it, Ace!

So what's the offensive counter to the fire zone? What should we be looking for our opponents to use to overcome it? Flooding a short zone? Draws and traps? Working the seams?
 
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#5
#5
Thanks for the post, Ace. A guy that is going to feast with this is Barnett. It will make double teams less likely to happen.
 
#11
#11
Great article, thanks for linking it, Ace!

So what's the offensive counter to the fire zone? What should we be looking for our opponents to use to overcome it? Flooding a short zone? Draws and traps? Working the seams?

To answer your question, first you have to understand that an effective zone-blitz hinges on how well the defense can disguise where the pressure is coming from. Offenses will have at least 5 men in protection (linemen), and many times leave a back or TE in to help too. So sending 5 guys doesn't do much if each man is picked up. A successful zone blitz creates confusion in the protection and allows a defender to get through unblocked to the QB.

So - if a team gameplans well and is able to identify who is blitzing, they will be able to pickup the blitz and buy the QB time in the pocket. This allows the QB and WR's to take advantage of the soft zone coverage and find holes in the defense.

OR the offense could potentially pick up a big run if they successfully identify where the pressure is coming from and block it up correctly. For instance, kicking out one of the rushing LB's and creating a seam for the RB. Plus the defense has one or more D lineman (less athletic than LB's) out in the open field trying to make plays in open space. Could be bad news.

Essentially, zone blitzes are most effective when the defense can properly disguise who is blitzing to create confusion. A good counter for the offense relies on how well they can gameplan and diagnose the blitzers.
 
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#12
#12
Great article, thanks for linking it, Ace!

So what's the offensive counter to the fire zone? What should we be looking for our opponents to use to overcome it? Flooding a short zone? Draws and traps? Working the seams?

well, i think if you take in to account that the article says he likes to do this on 1st and 2nd down, i think if you're getting these kind of looks, offensively, you run right at it.

you have to make him stop blitzing...so you run draws/screens, in the middle of the field, behind the blitz. you keep a back or TE in, quick chip, boom behind the blitz for a quick pass.

but the caveat to all of this is...who's faster?

the defensive blitzers or your guy getting to his spot?

and that's only if the QB recognizes and makes the proper read, and check to the correct play. if you have a slower developing play, routes down field or drags across the middle, then this blitz works a lot.

then there's the matter of the personnel...do you have the personnel to drop guys like a DE in to coverage? i remmeber back in the day, the panthers would drop Julius Peppers in to coverage....it freaked people out.

the Steelers would do the same with their OLB...the int James Harrison got in the Super Bowl against the Cardinals was such a play.

anyway......the good news is i think we have the speed on defense to pull this kind of stuff off. LB and Safeties plenty fast enough, and good enough tacklers to make this work.
 
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#13
#13
the Steelers would do the same with their OLB...the int James Harrison got in the Super Bowl against the Cardinals was such a play.
greatest defensive play of all time!!!:rock:
 
#15
#15
#16
#16
This could be a special yr.or could be 1997 we all thought that was our yr.but 1998 was the yr.i hope they both are but the d should be fun to watch.Its so fun to be back to where we know were going to be good maybe even great.
 
#19
#19
When we get pressure from our front 4, we won't have to rely on blitz packages, we can dominate with vanilla.

Go Vols!
 
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#20
#20
When we get pressure from our front 4, we won't have to rely on blitz packages, we can dominate with vanilla.

Go Vols!

Shoop doesn't operate that way. The sacks and negative yardage plays are going to soar under him. He brings all the heat he can to make sure the get offense goes backwards. Even if our front 4 gets good pressure you will see extra guys coming in. Only thing that will slow us down is of the secondary struggles to cover short to medium passes. That was not a weakness we had last year so it shouldn't be this year. JRM should thrive in Shoop's defense even more than he did under Janeck.
 
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#21
#21
well, i think if you take in to account that the article says he likes to do this on 1st and 2nd down, i think if you're getting these kind of looks, offensively, you run right at it.

you have to make him stop blitzing...so you run draws/screens, in the middle of the field, behind the blitz. you keep a back or TE in, quick chip, boom behind the blitz for a quick pass.

but the caveat to all of this is...who's faster?

the defensive blitzers or your guy getting to his spot?

and that's only if the QB recognizes and makes the proper read, and check to the correct play. if you have a slower developing play, routes down field or drags across the middle, then this blitz works a lot.

then there's the matter of the personnel...do you have the personnel to drop guys like a DE in to coverage? i remmeber back in the day, the panthers would drop Julius Peppers in to coverage....it freaked people out.

the Steelers would do the same with their OLB...the int James Harrison got in the Super Bowl against the Cardinals was such a play.

anyway......the good news is i think we have the speed on defense to pull this kind of stuff off. LB and Safeties plenty fast enough, and good enough tacklers to make this work.
Yep it still boils down to its simplest form..,,can I create enough spacing and mismatches to control the game. That's oversimplified I know but it's the goal of any good game plan.
 
#22
#22
Shoop doesn't operate that way. The sacks and negative yardage plays are going to soar under him. He brings all the heat he can to make sure the get offense goes backwards. Even if our front 4 gets good pressure you will see extra guys coming in. Only thing that will slow us down is of the secondary struggles to cover short to medium passes. That was not a weakness we had last year so it shouldn't be this year. JRM should thrive in Shoop's defense even more than he did under Janeck.

The speed of our LBs will be crucial as well
 
#24
#24
Butch made a great hire here, and it is so refreshing for a UT coach to know what needs to be done and have the guts to pull the trigger and make the move. it will pay dividends for UT next year without a doubt. Besides, the defensive players, and even other coaches were past being tired of Jancek's demeaning style of coaching
 

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