Article: Football Concepts - Shoop Part 2 Quarters Coverage

[Volosaurus rex]

Hey Vol in the Bama game this year it appeared Tennessee played a lot of cover 2 or at least their safeties were playing deep to take away Bama's big play ability. But for the most part they were still able to contain Henry to some degree. Holding Alabama to 19 points was pretty good D. Any comment on what the Vols were playing the 3rd Saturday in October?

If you recall, our safeties disguised their coverage until just before the snap vs. Alabama, then retreated quickly into deep coverage. In his post-Alabama game edition of Big Orange Sunday, Doug Mathews had this to say about our defensive scheme and performance:

"On the defensive side of the ball, [Tennessee’s] game plan . . . was to attack Alabama’s run game early and often. [They] did that, they [also set the edge well] for the great majority of the game. . . . For the most part, we contained the running game, I think, as well as anyone else has this year and probably will [over the course of the rest of the season. Another important goal was to take] away the long passes by playing loose man coverage. . . . Alabama’s offensive coordinator . . . is one of the most impatient play callers that I’ve ever watched. Make him drive the ball and, boy, it drives him nuts! He gets itchy over there . . . because he has to have a big play. He can’t call a game where he has to drive the ball very much. . . . [The ultimate goal was to force] Coker to win the ball game and I think Tennessee did that. . . . We still . . . aren’t a very good tackling secondary; we missed a lot of tackles yesterday, but [we did an excellent job of compensating for that by swarming to the football.] See http://www.volnation.com/forum/tenn...-post-alabama-game-edition-orange-sunday.html.

 

[Quaint88]

That was one of spurriers favorites. He called it mills. He'd run a dig with the slot to get your safeties attention and then throw a post behind it. He loved that against quarters.

Another common one is dagger (seam by the slot with a dig by the outside Wr). You push the safety deep and then throw the dig under him.

Would the width of the splits (or something else pre-snap) give you a clue what's likely coming in either scenario, or is this a situation where you mix in a better call against it here and there and just hope your pass rush gets there the rest of time? Just curious since this is our base defense now.

 

[RockyTop411]

Good article. I've been basing out of quarters for 5 or 6 seasons now. It's a great run defense like they said in the article, because both safeties are involved in the run. This makes quarters the best run defense possible on early downs. It also means cover 2 is the worst run defense you can be in. Because the safeties have to play too deep (12-15 yards normally).

On passing downs though, I always go to a MOFC (middle of field closed) coverage. Normally cover 1 banjo (we call is Maroon). Banjo means one guy plays inside the Wr's and the other plays outside of them, then you run with whoever comes your way.

Most people consider quarters to be a better deep pass defense than cover 1, but that's not the case. The issue is that if a team sends 4 guys deep and you're playing quarters, then you're one on one with those four Wrs.

If you are in cover 1, and they send 4 people deep, you end up with 5 deep defenders on 4 wrs.

8188, are you a high school football coach somewhere?

 

[Vol8188]

8188, are you a high school football coach somewhere?

I am. Near Greenville NC.

 

[thebjd]

Would the width of the splits (or something else pre-snap) give you a clue what's likely coming in either scenario, or is this a situation where you mix in a better call against it here and there and just hope your pass rush gets there the rest of time? Just curious since this is our base defense now.

Someone with more acumen than me may answer but if you have a slot receiver the linebacker will need to take away the underneath or a nickel back. Michigan State was burned on the deep ball and double post patterns in this defense by biting on the underneath and play action.

 

[RockyTop411]

I am. Near Greenville NC.

Have you guys done any split coverage concepts and had success? Specifically against trips/trey?

 

[Vol8188]

Would the width of the splits (or something else pre-snap) give you a clue what's likely coming in either scenario, or is this a situation where you mix in a better call against it here and there and just hope your pass rush gets there the rest of time? Just curious since this is our base defense now.

You're asking about the width of the safeties and how to identify quarters coverage? Is that correct?

 

[Vol8188]

Have you guys done any split coverage concepts and had success? Specifically against trips/trey?

What we run against trips is almost always some split coverage. We are a 3-4 front but we do slide to an under front a decent amount.

Depends on our front:

Under Weak:
Sometimes we will call the strength to the single WR and run under. This gives an extra LB outside to the single Wr side and gives our corner quick help underneath allowing him to back off to about 7-9 yards. Then we rotate our safeties to the trips side and run quarters with one of our safeties down as the flat player. We only run this is their single Wr is really good or if they like to run speed option weak.

Under:
Normally we run under to the trips. We put our Sam LB over number 2 and run quarters. Our backside safety cheats a bit to trips and runs with 3 vertical.

Option 2 out of under is our cover 2 look. Here we place the SLB over the inner most Wr (number 3). This allows me to send him off a blitz if I want to. And we press the corner. The safety players over number 2 and reads 2 to 1. The backside safety still plays 3 vertical.

Bear/Base 3-4:

If we run this, we have to spin the safety down to the trips side because bear and base are both balanced defenses. So we have to use the safeties to account for the third man.

We spin the safety down like we do in under weak and let him play the flats over number 2. And the backside safety comes over and plays over number 3. I'll draw it all up for you.

 

[Quaint88]

You're asking about the width of the safeties and how to identify quarters coverage? Is that correct?

No, I was asking about the spacing of the receivers pre-snap, but it occurs to me that pin or dagger wouldn't work against quarters if you could tell pre-snap because you wouldn't stay in it, so dumb question. My question should be: what can a DC with quarters as the base defense do against teams running pin or dagger?

 

[Vol8188]

Here's how we stay in base or bear (mainly on running downs) against trips.

 

[Vol8188]

Here's our under front. The last one is under weak. On under weak we have to rotate our safeties strong like we do in base or bear. We call that purple coverage. But it's still quarters.

 

[Vol8188]

And this is what we'd normally do against Trey. We play under with our cover two look behind it. The backside safety has the TE deep (he's always taking vertical). The only other thing we'd do against that is play cover 1.

 

[Vol8188]

No, I was asking about the spacing of the receivers pre-snap, but it occurs to me that pin or dagger wouldn't work against quarters if you could tell pre-snap because you wouldn't stay in it, so dumb question. My question should be: what can a DC with quarters as the base defense do against teams running pin or dagger?

The key is involving the backside safety and LBs. Against dagger, the LB has to get under it and help you out.

Against Pin/Mills, we have the backside safety rob the dig route. But depending on formation and the other routes seen, he can't always do that. So you pick your poison. We normally have the play side safety take the dig and hope that our corner can run with the post (rarely thrown in HS). Ideally, your safety stays on the post (deepest man in his zone) and the lbs help with the dig route (that's how most colleges would handle it).

But ultimately, that's why on passing downs you put someone in the middle of the field. To avoid that.

What I do on 3rd down we still consider quarters. We just add a 3rd safety and put him deep middle. We call it bonus, because it's quarters with an extra guy deep. But really it's more of a cover 1 banjo.

 

[Burger]

I get what you're saying.

 

[RockyTop411]

What we run against trips is almost always some split coverage. We are a 3-4 front but we do slide to an under front a decent amount.

Depends on our front:

Under Weak:
Sometimes we will call the strength to the single WR and run under. This gives an extra LB outside to the single Wr side and gives our corner quick help underneath allowing him to back off to about 7-9 yards. Then we rotate our safeties to the trips side and run quarters with one of our safeties down as the flat player. We only run this is their single Wr is really good or if they like to run speed option weak.

Under:
Normally we run under to the trips. We put our Sam LB over number 2 and run quarters. Our backside safety cheats a bit to trips and runs with 3 vertical.

Option 2 out of under is our cover 2 look. Here we place the SLB over the inner most Wr (number 3). This allows me to send him off a blitz if I want to. And we press the corner. The safety players over number 2 and reads 2 to 1. The backside safety still plays 3 vertical.

Bear/Base 3-4:

If we run this, we have to spin the safety down to the trips side because bear and base are both balanced defenses. So we have to use the safeties to account for the third man.

We spin the safety down like we do in under weak and let him play the flats over number 2. And the backside safety comes over and plays over number 3. I'll draw it all up for you.

Thank you for a very informative post. The 3-4 is such a balanced front and allows you to do a lot without tweaking your base rules, gap responsibilities, etc.

Does you see a lot of bubble by #3 against teams you play against?

 

[Vol8188]

Thank you for a very informative post. The 3-4 is such a balanced front and allows you to do a lot without tweaking your base rules, gap responsibilities, etc.

Does you see a lot of bubble by #3 against teams you play against?

We do. That's why we normally place the SLB head up on number 2. Or when we play cover 2 we have him on 3 and the corner on 1.

The key playing screens is gaps. The SLB has to fit outside of the number 2 Wr. The corner fits outside of number one. This closes off the two outside gaps and forces the runner back inside. By the time he changes direction and heads inside, your safety should be there.

 

[volunteerpaul]

Great thread.

 

[Vol865]

But they wouldn't in man? What's the difference?

Zone reacts to the QB. I'd run Cover 2 man vs Four Verts. The only time I'd run Cover 1 is if I need to stop crossing routes or other routes over the middle. I'd almost be willing to run Cover 0 over Cover 1 if I had good DBs. We wanted teams to play Cover 1 vs Four Verts because you put the FS in a position to make a choice or be a deer in headlights and either decision isn't really the right choice as long as WRs beat their man.

 

[Vol8188]

Zone reacts to the QB. I'd run Cover 2 man vs Four Verts. The only time I'd run Cover 1 is if I need to stop crossing routes or other routes over the middle. I'd almost be willing to run Cover 0 over Cover 1 if I had good DBs. We wanted teams to play Cover 1 vs Four Verts because you put the FS in a position to make a choice or be a deer in headlights and either decision isn't really the right choice as long as WRs beat their man.

This isn't madden. All zones eventually become man. Quarters becomes man quick because the safeties play close to the line for run support. After the Wr goes 8-10 yards, the safety is playing the slot man to man. So once again, quarters and 0 become the same thing against 4 Verts.

Because the safety is so close to the line and flat footed, he has to turn his hips early in the route. Once you turn your hips, you aren't going to be much help to anyone else.

 

[Ned Ray McWorkher]

Love Narduzzi, his D (blue collar, nasty types) are always solid

The National Title game broadcast with Narduzzi, Muschamp and the others was good stuff. They had Florida's coach along with Taggart and Larry Fedora giving offensive analysis as well. Bunch of coach talk going on.

 

[RollerVol]

Always enjoy that guy's write ups - even thought I hardly understand them :crazy:

Think of it as a collapsing zone as in college basketball...read and react to provide support where needed...eace2:

GO VOLS!

 

[Coach_Z]

Here's our under front. The last one is under weak. On under weak we have to rotate our safeties strong like we do in base or bear. We call that purple coverage. But it's still quarters.

Man if you throw six in the box out there, we're gonna run our read game to death with a bubble to the backside. We've got 8 for your 6.

And even if you walk that safety down into the box, we're going with a run/pass option reading that flat defender. Run a spot, slant, or win route right at him with the line blocking zone away from the trips. The guy can't be right.

 

[Vol8188]

Man if you throw six in the box out there, we're gonna run our read game to death with a bubble to the backside. We've got 8 for your 6.

And even if you walk that safety down into the box, we're going with a run/pass option reading that flat defender. Run a spot, slant, or win route right at him with the line blocking zone away from the trips. The guy can't be right.

8? I have 6 in the box against a 1 back set. So the offense only has 7 in the box.

 

[Vol-in-Ct]

To me the term 'Base Coverage' implies that we'll be in that scheme during non-situational plays. I would think 1st and 10 and 2nd and long type of plays where a run and a pass are pretty much equally likely. In obvious passing downs, I would assume we'd be out of our base coverage and into a more pure pass coverage without worrying much about the run.

 

[RockyTop411]

We do. That's why we normally place the SLB head up on number 2. Or when we play cover 2 we have him on 3 and the corner on 1.

The key playing screens is gaps. The SLB has to fit outside of the number 2 Wr. The corner fits outside of number one. This closes off the two outside gaps and forces the runner back inside. By the time he changes direction and heads inside, your safety should be there.

Thanks.

What do you teach your ILBs to read? Change from cross reading backs to guards with different personnel?

And does your defense spill?