- Nov 6, 2008
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Originally Posted by DLo13
Is it too early for the "Miami won't beat a I-A team until mid-Oct." talk again...
'09 COLLEGE FOOTBALL OFF-SEASON THREAD-recruiting/Coaching Changes/Transfers
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by gunna get it,
- Start date
- Jul 23, 2007
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On paper. I got UM Losing 6 games.
- Oct 30, 2004
- 4,751
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Damn, Miami could lose the first 4
- Nov 17, 2004
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Originally Posted by DLo13
Is it too early for the "Miami won't beat a I-A team until mid-Oct." talk again...
Swagger.
- Dec 30, 2008
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the hate is thick.
- Nov 23, 2008
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SUs schedule:
Still waiting on David Oku's decision. Experts are saying that his decision to wait could be very beneficial for Syracuse.
| 2009 Schedule/Results | ||||
| at Connecticut | 
| East Hartford, CT | ||
| South Florida |
| Syracuse, NY | ||
| Rutgers |
| Syracuse, NY | ||
| Cincinnati |
| Syracuse, NY | ||
| West Virginia |
| Syracuse, NY | ||
| at Pittsburgh |
| Pittsburgh, PA | ||
| at Louisville |
| Louisville, KY | ||
| Sep 5 | Minnesota |
| Syracuse, NY | |
| Sep 12 | at Penn State |
| State College, PA | |
| Sep 19 | Northwestern |
| Syracuse, NY |
Still waiting on David Oku's decision. Experts are saying that his decision to wait could be very beneficial for Syracuse.
- Nov 17, 2004
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Originally Posted by CP1708
Miami's swag > anything ever done by the U of Oregon.
What swag?
- Nov 6, 2008
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saw that from a mile awayOriginally Posted by Chester McFloppy
Originally Posted by CP1708
Miami's swag > anything ever done by the U of Oregon.
What swag?
3
39478
Guest
Originally Posted by ericberry14
saw that from a mile awayOriginally Posted by Chester McFloppy
Originally Posted by CP1708
Miami's swag > anything ever done by the U of Oregon.
What swag?
But seriously, I read something about Bryce Brown considering LSU...
Lame. Dude just needs to pull the trigger.
- Nov 17, 2004
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Originally Posted by CP1708
Just because some schools want to bury their history (or lack thereof) not all schools have to do that.
*
- Apr 24, 2005
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I need to go 'head and get my tix for the FSU/Wake and FSU/UNC games.
FSU has to beat Riley Skinner
Can't let him go 4-0
FSU has to beat Riley Skinner
- Jul 23, 2007
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No curry, no phonsie. No excuse.
FSU Better beat Wake
FSU Better beat Wake
- Dec 30, 2008
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How is an Oregon fan all of a sudden such a Miami hater? Is this over Bryce Brown?
- Apr 24, 2005
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Yeah. I guess. In theory that's true. This team is too hot or cold though, so who knows.
- Nov 17, 2004
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Originally Posted by Fear The Ibis
How is an Oregon fan all of a sudden such a Miami hater? Is this over Bryce Brown?
No, it's been goin on for like 2 years. It's all in good fun.
- Dec 30, 2008
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Miami hasn't been relevant since like '05 though.
- May 19, 2004
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Here's the ESPN Thursday Night schedule...
@ all this ACC garbage.
- Jul 23, 2007
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Rell.
Its Tennesse or Auburn with a heavy UTK lean right now.
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Guest
Originally Posted by DLo13
Here's the ESPN Thursday Night schedule...
@ all this ACC garbage.
- Apr 24, 2005
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Here's a good breakdown of USC's defensive scheme. a.k.a the Elephant
http://www.trojanfootball..._under_blitz_schemes.html
This one written by Pete himself
And another one.
http://www.trojanfootball...usc_elephant_defense.html
Both are pretty good reads if you have the time.
http://www.trojanfootball..._under_blitz_schemes.html
This one written by Pete himself
Spoiler [+]
| USC 4-3 Under Blitz Schemes By Pete Carroll Head Football Coach University of Southern California Thank you. I am really excited to be here. I want to start by thanking Nike for putting on these clinics. It gives us a chance to exchange ideas, have some fun, and talk about the game we love. I was asked to speak about defense today. I'll try to give you some general thoughts that might help you on this topic. I'm not trying to get you to change your defense, but I'll show you what we are doing. In order to be successful on defense you need to develop a philosophy. You have to know what you want to do, how you want it to look, and how you want it to feel. A philosophy is like a railroad track. You have a clear cut direction in which you are going. If you start to get off track it becomes real obvious to you. If you don't know what you want and what you are about you won't know when you are off course. If you do realize you are off course you won't know how to fix the problems you are having without a philosophy. If you can't write down your philosophy then you still have some work to do. If you don't have a clear view of your philosophy you will be floundering all over the place. It you win, it will be pure luck. One year you will win, it will be pure luck. One year you will run a 3-4 defense and the next year you will run a 4-3 based defense. You will never get zeroed in on what is important. I am an example of a person who got zeroed into a philosophy early. I went to Arkansas many years ago to work for Lou Holtz. Monte Kiffin was his defensive coordinator. He had just come over from Nebraska to take that job. He is now of course the defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is one of the best coaches that has ever lived. Under Monte I was a part time coach in the secondary at Arkansas. Monte ran what is known in coaching circles as the 4-3 under defense. That was his base defense that he had developed and perfected at Nebraska as a gap control defense to stop the run and pressure the passer. That was the first time I started to get hold of something that had a philosophy to it. I started to grow with this defense. After all the years I've been in football I've never coached anything but the 4-3 under defense. So I know this defense inside and out. I know the good side of the defense and I know the problems and weaknesses of this defense. I run it with one gap principles but can also make it work with some two gap principles. What I can give you today is a real basic understanding of this defense. I am not trying to sell this to you as being the best defense. What I am saying is that for me this is the defense that I know best and can make work. The reason I run this as a base defense is that I know how to fix any problems that may be created. I want to start out explaining the basic front end coverage. Then we'll go over some of the more basic blitzes we run from this coverage. When I went to the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, Monte Kiffin was there and we got together with another coach named Floyd Peters. He was from the Northern California area. He played for the Cleveland Browns and had coached all over the NFL. He was one of the great pass rush specialists that has ever been. He believed as well that the 4-3 under was the best overall front to use to rush the passer. The 4-3 under defense has evolved over the years and adjusted over time. There are some different ways to do things from it. The presentation that I am going to give today is the "one-gap" approach. In principle we want to give our players a chance to know exactly what they have to defend. We also want to give them an attitude in which to do that. We want to be an attacking, aggressive football team. We don't want to sit and read the play like you often have to with "two-gap" principles of play. We want to attack into the gap at the snap, get off the ball to play on their side of the field and get after the quarterback. The big problem with any "one-gap" approach however is that it allows a ball carrier to get into the secondary if one guy makes a mistake. No matter how aggressive the defense is there is a great amount of discipline that goes with this defense. You have to be very strict about your positioning and the placement of your players. You have to have the ability to maintain relative spacing between your players. When we talk about this front all gaps are lettered to give us a reference point. We letter the gaps on each side of the center as A, B, C, D, etc. We do this for the strong side and the weak side. For starters the Sam linebacker controls the D gap to his side of the field. He is in an inside-foot to outside-foot alignment on the tight end or what most coaches call a 9 technique spot. He can never get reach blocked by the tight end in this position. He is the force player for everything run to his side of the field and turns everything back inside to the pursuit. The defensive end to the tight end side is responsible for controlling the C gap. He is an inside-foot to outside-foot alignment on the offensive tackle he is lining up against. If the tackle blocks inside then the defensive end has to close down with him in keep relative control of the C gap. The nose tackle plays in the A gap to the tight end side of the field in our defense. We have done a number of things with this position based upon the opposition at times. We have put him right in the A gap, we have cocked him on the center at times, and as needed we have even played him in a direct shade technique right over the center at times. The way we play him on base defense is as an inside-foot to outside-foot alignment or a 1 technique on the center to the strong side of the alignment. The prime spot on the defense to the weak side is the B gap player. He is an inside-foot to outside-foot alignment on the offensive guard to his side. He is a 3 technique player. He has B gap control but he can't get reached or hooked by the defense due to the way we align him. The whole scheme of this defense is predicated upon not getting hooked. The best pass rusher on the team is usually the defensive end to the open side of the field. That puts him on the quarterback's blind side and makes him a C gap player in this defense. We often align him wider than this in order to give him a better angle of attack and allow him to play in space. We align him a yard outside of the offensive tackle most of the time. He has to play C gap run support but at the same time he is rushing the passer like it is third and ten. He has to be able to close down however if the tackle blocks down on him. The front five players I mentioned are playing aggressive defense with their outside arms free. The only thing we can't allow to happen is for them to get hooked or reached by the defender. This alignment leaves open the strong side B Gap and the weak side A gap which are played by the Mike and Will linebackers. The Mike linebacker is in an inside-foot to out-side foot alignment on the offensive guard on his side of the field. The Will linebacker is aligned against the offensive guard to his side of the field. He is basically a protected player in this alignment and should make a lot of tackles. He has to control his weak-side A gap and play relative to the Mike linebacker and the Free Safety. The Free Safety is the force player to the open side or weak side of the ball. He works off the defensive end's play. The Defensive End works for leverage and force. The Free Safety works off of the Defensive End and fills where he is needed on run plays for example. If we are playing Cover 3 behind him the Strong Safety is going to have the middle of the secondary behind him but also fills off the linebacker's side as needed depending upon the play. If the Sam linebacker does get hooked for example the Strong Safety will then have to come up and make the play. The offense will obviously gain a chunk of yardage on the play, but that is because there was a breakdown at the point of attack in our scheme. The two Safeties are both fill where needed sort of players. The have to keep everything on their inside shoulder. All the players in this defense have to keep the blocks in their inside shoulder and force the ball carrier back inside to the next player. Here is an example of our base alignment against a pro set backfield with wide receivers split to either side. 4-3 UNDER DEFENSE VERSUS PRO SET If you look at this front it is basically an eight man front against the run as we'll bring the Free Safety down hard in run situations. This is a stop the run first type of defense. We want to outnumber the offense to either side of the ball. We call this particular alignment of the front an "under" and the coverage "flex" in our language. The open side of the alignment is the flex side and the tight end side is the strong or solid side. Those are our terms for the tight end side and the split end side of the formation. The defense is a man to man coverage scheme for the corners in this example. If we call a cover one flex, we are man to man on the corners with the strong safety moving into the middle of the field. The Free Safety or flex side safety is down on run support. The Sam Linebacker has the tight end in man to man in coverage. He has him anywhere he goes for this defensive call. He never switches if we are in this coverage and will go with him if the tight end does go in motion. The Mike Linebacker plays the first back out of the back field to the strong side. The Free Safety plays the first back out of the back field to the weak side. The Will linebacker plays the short middle. The gives us a man in the hole in the short middle area of the field. If we get a full flow by the backs to the strong side the Mike linebacker takes the first back and the Will linebacker takes the second back out of the backfield. The Free Safety becomes the short middle player. If it is a full flow weak side play the Free Safety has the first back and the Will linebacker has the second man to the weak side. The Mike linebacker becomes the short hole player. In theory the middle hole player helps with the tight end but in reality he is the second line of defense against any breakdown in the pass rush. They can help on the draw play, scramble by the quarterback, or screen passes that they can see developing. If the offense comes out in a different look such as a Twins look to one side, the basic core of the defense stays the same. There are no adjustments to be made. The defenders take their men in coverage regardless of where they line up. The Mike linebacker has help in the middle from the short hole player. However, he can't allow himself to get beat in the flat. The play action pass is a problem for this defense. That is an area on which you really have to focus on reads and execution. That is a critical aspect you have to practice. Before we go any further, let's talk about personnel. You want to get your best players on the field. The open side Defensive End has to be one of your best football players. Size does not matter as much. We want an athletic player who can move around. At Nose Tackle you have to find a player who likes to mix it up. We want a big guy in there who likes to get down and dirty. He is going to get doubled a lot on the run and pass and is going to get down blocked a lot. He has to be a tough player. This guy can be a short and stubby type of player. The other defensive tackle the 3 technique player should be your premier interior pass rusher. He is going to get a lot of one on one blocks as it is hard to double team him because of where he lines up. The defensive end to the tight end side needs to be a defensive player that can play the run. He does not have to be a big time pass rusher. He has to play the C gap and stop the run. The Mike linebacker is a traditional middle linebacker. He is instinctive and makes a lot of calls for the defense. He may be the guy with the most experience or the best feel for the game. The Will linebacker can be a smaller player. He is generally protected in the defensive schemes and will not see as many blocks. All you want him to do most plays is flow and chase the football. We want our fastest linebacker at this position. The Sam linebacker has to be a good containment player. He has to be big and strong enough to play on the edge of the tight end. He has to be able to run in pass coverage also. The defensive backs that are the best run defenders are our safeties. The Free Safety is another player who makes a lot of tackles for us. He has to have good instincts. He is what we call a natural player. You don't have to coach this player too much. He has to have a feel for the everything and understand the big picture. The corners have to run fast if you plan on playing bump and run. If they don't run fast then you can still play with them. But if your corners are not faster than the wide receivers you are facing don't play bump and run. Your asking them to do something they can not do and they'll get beat deep. It is a race when you play bump and run and if you can't win the race don't play bump and run. If you have a million reads for your secondary you are crazy. They don't need that even at our level. All they need to know is their primary responsibility and then secondary. At the highest level in the NFL the pass game is as complex as you can imagine. However if a defender can play the post and the seam route then they can learn to play at that level. The thing that kills and breaks down a defense is a ball being thrown over the defender's head for a touchdown. Teach your younger players to play the deep middle and forget about all the confusing rules. The guy who is playing in the middle of the field has to figure out who can get into the middle. We want our safety to play in the middle of the two receivers that can run the post route. He wants to split the relationship with anyone who can get down the middle. When we play pass defense with our corners we play as tight was we can for the match up. Against spread offenses we back them off more. If we get a one back or an Ace set the safeties are going to take care of it. Everything else in the defense stays the same. The Mike and Will linebackers take the back out of the backfield. If he goes to the strong side the Mike linebacker takes him. If he goes to the weak side the Will linebacker takes him. The linebacker that is not involved in coverage drops into the short middle hole on pass coverage. The Free Safety adjusts down to take the second tight end. If the offense spreads out a bit into a double set to one side we don't make any adjustment except to match up better with the safeties. Everything else on the defense remains the same. Everyone is playing their gap control and support schemes. If the back goes in motion to leave an empty backfield set the linebacker to the side of the motion takes him. The remaining linebacker bumps over to the middle to balance the defense and plays football. If the offense comes out in a triples set the adjustment is made by the safeties. In this case pictured the Strong Safety goes out to cover the third receiver to the strong side. The Free Safety moves to the middle third of the field and plays the middle third. Everyone else stays the same with the linebackers playing the remaining back the same way. Trips to the other side would flop the role of the safeties. Or if one is a better cover person that the other you can protect accordingly. For a base defense to hold up you have to have some things that you can use to complement it. When you play USC every single one of my players is going to have a blitz pattern. The offense will have to account for every player on our side of the ball in their pass protection scheme. The next thing that I am going to show you are some of the most basic combinations of pass rushes that we use with the under defensive front. I want it to be multiple so that the defense doesn't know who is coming and from where. The first blitz that I am going to show you is what we simply refer to as "Sam and Mike". We are going to use the strong side linebacker and middle linebackers to rush the passer. We slant our strong side defensive end, nose guard, and 3 technique to the open side of their formation away from their normal rush gaps. The weak side defensive end is going to drop into pass coverage on this play. The alignment is the same as before. The Corners are line up in tight coverage but are going to bail out and play a three deep zone coverage with the Free Safety. The Corners will play outside leverage on this blitz and force everything inside. The Free Safety is playing a deep middle. The weak side Defense End and Strong Safety are the outside defenders to each side. They are playing seam coverage with the Will linebacker in the middle seam. The Strong Safety and weak side Defensive End play what we call the hot receivers to their side. Once the quarterback sees the blitz he'll often throw to these short areas to his designated hot receiver. If the tight end comes down the middle seam the Strong Safety collapses on him. The Defensive End does the same thing with the back out of the backfield. The Will linebacker is playing the hot receiver to the middle of the field. That means he is finding the third receiver and covering him if he comes out on a hot route. When we overload on the rush the ball with be thrown quickly. We want good spacing in our coverage people so we can react by changing up, and make the play for a short gain. The formation doesn't matter much. We have to find the hot receivers on this blitz and identify them. Another advantage the defense has in these types of stunts is the change up of the line. The defensive line is now slanting away from where they have been playing the entire game. That changes the landmark for the offensive lineman and gives the defensive lineman an advantage in his pass rush. The defense has to have counter moves to the keep the offense off balance. This stunt can also be used in run defense. To give us a change up we bring the Sam linebacker underneath the tight ends block. We can also let the Sam linebacker play under all the blocks and bounce plays to the outside. Those are changes we add to the base defense to keep the offense off balance. Another way to get five man pressure on the quarterback is our Under Safety blitz. On this stunt we are bringing the Free Safety from the outside. The defensive line is slanting away from his blitz. The corners are playing their same bail coverage and the Strong Safety is going to the deep middle. The Sam and Will linebackers have the first two hot receivers and the Mike with have the hot third receiver. A very effective stunt from this defense is called "Sam and Safety". On this stunt we are blitzing with both the Sam and the Free Safety. The defense line slants to the Free Safety side. The open side Defensive End comes off in coverage and everything else is the same. The Mike linebacker and the drop end have the first two hot receivers and the Will linebacker has the third. One of the problems we have when we drop the Defensive End in coverage is containment to his side. When we drop the end it means the 3 Technique tackle has to work hard to contain outside. That is not a good situation but we work hard to make it work. We also like to bring the defensive backs in the blitz scheme. If they can disguise the stunt they can get there in a hurry. We like to bring the Corner on a blitz as a change up from time to time. The Corner aligns in a bump and run technique. On the snap of the ball however he comes hard off the corner. The Free Safety cheats back and covers the deep outside third. The Strong Safety is covering the middle third and the strong side corner in this case is taking the outside third to his side. The rush end and the 3 technique rush the A gap and the B gap. The corner comes off the edge. The Sam, Mike, and Will linebackers play the hot zones on this play. You can mix up your blitzes according to your needs. This simplistic blitz scheme lets you bring pressure from a number of different areas. You can game plan the match ups the way you want with other combinations as well. The important thing in this blitz pattern is that we are not changing anything in our basic schemes underneath. That is all the time I have. I hope I have given you something you can take home with you today. It is extremely important to have a philosophy that can guide you to the success you are looking for. Thank you. It has been a pleasure. |
And another one.
http://www.trojanfootball...usc_elephant_defense.html
Spoiler [+]
USC's Elephant Defense
One of the more confusing aspects of USC Trojan Football in 2006 pertained to the "new look" used by the defensive line. As most die hard Trojan fans are aware Pete Carroll is a noted Monte Kiffin disciple and has employed a 4-3 defense with one gap defensive responsibilities and a mix of secondary zone coverage schemes (e.g. Cover 2) throughout his entire career. So did the Trojan defense suddenly change in 2006 and convert to a 3-4 scheme as several newspapers reported and some commentators believed? Well, the short answer is "No" but it will take a bit of explanation to understand why and what is all the confusion about...
For clarification first we need to start with defining some specific defensive alignment terms used by coaches throughout football. The term used to specify exactly where a defender lines up is called a "technique spot" and there is a common numbering system used by most teams. The legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant of Alabama football lore is the coach most often cited for developing this numbering scheme. However, Bum Phillips the former coach of the Houston Oilers also reportedly had a hand in creating the system when he was a high school coach in Texas. Regardless of who developed what it was considered a badge of honor to know the technique spots and different blocking methods used in regard to each alignment position. Today all coaches at the high school level on up can rattle of these technique spots instantly. Here is a graphic that shows a simple sequential numbering scheme for example.
Sequential Numbering of Technique Spots
Starting from the center position in the graphic at left the first alignment spots are called either zero techniques or direct shade techniques. The numbers then move either left to right or right to left indicating the next alignment spots referencing off of the offensive player's shoulder. In the case of a guard for example an inside shoulder alignment by the defender is called a 1 technique, a direct alignment is a 2 technique, and an alignment on the outside shoulder of a guard is a 3 technique. The numbers generally continue all the way out to 9 technique position which is when a defensive rush end aligns wide outside of a tight end in order to speed rush the quarterback from the outside. Sometimes this is also referred to as a jet alignment by coaches.
Some coaches like Bill Doba (former coach at Washington State) use the sequential numbering scheme outline above first for simplicity. In addition however and confusing things somewhat is that most coaches like to label the direct shade spots on the guard, tackle, and tight end as "2", "4", and "6" techniques while others prefer the simpler sequential numbering scheme above. From what I can read Pete Carroll and the USC defense used the classical method outlined below. It really does not matter which numbering system you use as long as you are consistent and using the same terminology as the person you are speaking to. Below he is an example of the more historical numbering scheme for comparison. On the graphic are both the technique spots and the "gaps" used to identify the lane through which running plays are designated. The "i" designations merely denote inside alignments for the defenders. Again this all varies slightly team to team and coach to coach but is standard in principle across all teams in high school on up to the NFL. USC uses this method outlined below.
Classical or Generic Numbering of Technique Spots
The origin for this numbering system as I mentioned is usually given to former head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant during his tenure at Alabama. However in his book on Playing Championship Football Coach Bryant is clear in giving credit to O.A. "Bum" Phillips for the system in this passage from his book. Coach Phillips rose from the high school ranks mentioned in the passage to later coach the Houston Oilers in the NFL.
Unfortunately what most fans are more familiar with is the simpler personnel classification of a 4-3 alignment meaning 4 down lineman and 3 linebackers or a 3-4 meaning three down lineman and 4 linebackers. Unfortunately this simplistic designation has stopped meaning much in today's highly evolved level of football schemes and it is probably confusing more that helping these days. Personnel does not necessarly explain where players align...Here are two charts showing a traditional 4-3 look versus a normal 3-4 for clarification. The first is a stereotypical 4-3 diagram over alignment with one gap responsibilities for each of the defenders.
Here is what a stereotypical 3-4 diagram looks like for a team that plays this alignment. Of course the outside linebackers in this scheme often drop down closer to the line of scrimmage on some plays so it can look like either a five man line or a three man front line.
There are a couple of key difference between the two alignments. First in a normal 4-3 there are four lineman in a three point stance versus only 3 down lineman in three point stances in a 3-4. Second there is a difference in the exact alignment spots. In a 3-4 for example the defenders usually line up in a direct shade technique straight up on the defender. In a 4-3 they usually (but not always) line up in the gaps between the offensive players. There are several different types of 4-3 alignments such as the 4-3 under which USC plays, the 4-3 over, the 4-3 stack, as well as other more complex variations. Each one has a slightly different tweak in terms of alignments. The key difference to keep in mind though is in terms of technique spots and gap responsibilities. In a normal 4-3 alignment the defenders are only responsible for "one gap" coverage and attack into that space on the snap of the ball. In the traditional 3-4 defense the three down linemen are often responsible for "two gaps" and don't always immediately attack into the open space. Instead they read and react on many plays instead of automatically attacking. For this simple reason linebackers are the ones making most of the tackles in a 3-4 defense while the linemen are trying to occupy defenders and keep the blockers away from the linebackers. Complicating things is the reality that even in a 3-4 scheme the lineman are often playing one gap and not two by slanting one way at the snap of the ball and have the linebackers slant the other way. Just don't expect the announcers to ever pick up on this or explain it on TV. There are pro's and con's to each scheme and which one a team plays depends more upon the nature of their athletes and the coaches philosophy. Obviously all the variations can and do work well. And of course there are more versions and combinations of the two styles than the simple extremes I outlined here.
So after this long introduction how does this all relate back to USC's defensive so called elephant alignment of 2006? Well first it is important to understand that the USC defense actually lines up in different technique spots play by play and game by game to take advantage of individual match ups and tendencies. (Read the Pete Carroll article on this site about USC's Base Defense). The announcers on TV never bother to state the actual details on the defensive alignments except for the obvious stuff like, "the Trojans showed blitz on that play", or "USC was in a nickel package on that one". Why? Frankly I doubt that most commentators even know what a technique spot is except for a few former players or coaches like Bob Davies for example. On a specialty show like NFL Playbook on the NFL network you probably will of course hear about it in some of their explanations. However if you want to understand the game at a higher level you should realize that just as the offense lines up in different formations so does the defensive alignment change in response in a variety of subtle ways. Here are some actual pictures for example from USC's base alignments.
Here is an end zone shot of the common base defense used by USC during most seasons. Technically it is called an Under alignment but we'll save the details of that for another post for the future. Unfortunately the camera man on TV cut off the USC defender to the right of the screen #10 Brian Cushing but the picture is worth noting for several reasons. First as you can see the Trojan defenders are lined up in the gaps of the defense and are not aligned directly over the Arizona State Sun Devil offensive lineman. On the snap they charged into the gaps. So right away you know it is not a traditional 3-4 alignment with two gap responsibility up front. If it was a 3-4 scheme Ellis would be directly over the center in a zero technique while Jackson and Moala would be directly heads up on the tackles in four technique alignments. Also if you study the alignment spots one by one you'll notice the Nose Tackle #49 Sedrick Ellis is aligned to the strong side of the formation and the other defensive tackle is aligned in what is called the 3 technique position to the weak side of the formation. The two defensive ends #96 Lawrence Jackson and #10 Brian Cushing (just out of the picture to the right) are in 5 Technique alignments outside the offensive line's tackle positions. there is a single safety deep on the play (#29 Taylor Mays) making this a probably Cover 1 scheme in the secondary. Overall however this is still the same 4-3 under alignment by definition of the technique spots and gap responsibilities. From a personnel point of view it was confusing to fans and announcers in 2006 since Brian Cushing plays in an upright two point stance and is a converted linebacker playing defensive end in 2006. For simplicity the coaches let him play defensive end in an upright two point stance instead of a 3 point stance where he would have to learn different skills with his footwork etc.
Under Defensive Alignment
This alignment above is not the only one however that USC plays by a long shot. For example here is a good end zone shot of USC's defensive alignment in 2006 from the game against California. If you look closely you can easily make out the basic 4-3 nature of the defense up front with two safeties deep in a Cover 2 shell look. This next alignment is called a 4-3 Over alignment.
4-3 Over Alignment Cal Game 2006
The image above is a little blurry but again you can see clearly that the USC defense is lined up in the "gaps" of the defenders and preparing to defend single gaps as is the norm since Pete Carroll arrived. This actually looks more like a 4-3 Over alignment and not the Under style. Note this time however that the Nose Tackle Sedrick Ellis is aligned in a 1 Technique spot off the shoulder of the center to the weak side of the formation. In the under alignment he is to the strong side (TE side). The other defensive tackle is in a 3 technique spot to the strong side of the defense (again opposite the previous picture). Once again the defensive ends Jackson and Cushing are both in 5 technique spots outside the tackles. Sometimes Cushing lines up on the opposite side as he and Lawrence Jackson do flip back and forth depending upon match ups and the tight end location. This stand up defensive end is what confused people and the fact that Brian came into the USC program and played as a linebacker his freshman year. Due to a shortage of talented defensive ends that could play run gap responsibilities with discipline in 2006 the coaching staff simply lined up Cushing at defensive end in 2006 in a two point upright stance and had him play the end position instead of strong side linebacker. This continually "fooled" a lot of people including commentators on TV into thinking that USC was now playing a 3-4 two gap defense. Look closely however...the defensive lineman are in the typical technique spots for a 4-3 defense with one gap responsibilities. Nothing really has changed in Pete Carroll's defensive philosophy - it is still a one gap scheme with an former linebacker now playing an upright end position. Pete Carroll likely learned this style from former San Francisco 49er coach George Seifert who used Charles Haley in this role in the late 1980's. Seifert did this for pass rush reasons, however in the case of USC I suspect it was done for more discipline in terms of outside run containment.
USC of course does not always however rigidly adhere to either of these (4-3 over or under) alignments schemes. The above play was a 2nd and 8 situation where the base defense stayed in place. The play above resulted in an incomplete pass and a 3rd and 8 situation. In this case like most teams USC pulls a linebacker off the field and puts in an additional defensive back (called a nickel back) who was usually Mozique McCurtis in 2006. This makes the front half of the defense look more like a 4-2-5 alignment instead of a 4-3-4 scheme. In addition USC also takes Brian Cushing off the field in many third and long situations and replaces him with Kyle Moore who lines up in a traditional 3 point stance to rush the quarterback. Here is a picture of the following play with four down lineman and Kyle Moore in for Brian Cushing.
4-2-5 Nickel Package versus Cal 2006
As you can see a couple things have changed if you look closely. First there are now four down lineman in three point stances in the picture and they are lined up in the gaps they are attacking i.e. a one gap scheme. Second the defensive end over the tight end is lined up wider in a "jet" alignments (9 technique spot) to try to get up field and pressure the QB on what is a fairly sure passing situation. Third the NT Sedrick Ellis has shifted over from his normal 1 technique position and is also lined up in a 3 technique spot for rush purposes. The alignment had two 3 technique DT's now and there is less chance of either of them drawing a double team block from the center. This leaves the center "uncovered". The danger here is now that the middle linebacker will have to mind both of the A Gaps on either side of the center in the event of a run play. The other inside linebacker has also crept up closer to the line of scrimmage showing blitz in the strong side C Gap. The rest of the Trojan defenders are out of the picture as the Cal Bears spread the field with three wide receivers split out wide. Only one safety is in view deep on this play as the other DB's are in tighter alignment on the line of scrimmage.
Here is an another set of examples from a side view in 2006 versus Washington State. USC attempted more of a traditional 4-3 even look for a few plays during the game with Brian Cushing at the stand up end position. USC seemed to abandon this defensive formation during the second quarter when it became clear it could not stop the outside run game of Washington State (8 gaps to defend with 7 defenders).
4-3 Picture WSU Game 2006
Most of the game they went back to the 4-3 under below that provided better outside run containment support. They also brought a safety down after the snap on several of these plays as well to help get an 8th person in the box. (Note: Sorry but that would take video to show completely).
4-3 Under Defense WSU Game 2006
Here is a picture from 2005 against Fresno State where USC aligned in an under front versus Fresno's I Formation.
4-3 Under Fresno State Game 2005
In USC's case there are of course many other variations to be aware of as these are just some of the basics that I am highlighting. Here is a picture from a game up in Oregon in 2005 against the Ducks at Autzen Stadium. (Note: This was done in 2006 on third down and obvious passing situations as well.)
4-3 Defense versus Oregon
This picture is from a first down play and it looks like the Trojans are in a 4-2 alignment up front. Although you can't tell the personnel from this distance it is still a 4-3 package as the linebacker split out to handle an extra receiver. (Note: That is the referee between the two LB's and not a USC player). Oregon tried to spread out USC on this play with 4 WR's and 3 of them or "Trips" 3 x 1 WR formation. In response a linebacker had to move out of the box and go into coverage mode in response. On a third down and more predictable passing play he'd be replaced by a 5th defensive back.
Here is a different looking play where USC lines up NT Sedrick Ellis in a zero technique directly over the center as a change of pace. Fans and announcers might jump to the conclusion that this is a 3-4 alignment (and personnel wise you can argue that it is). However from a gap responsibility and technique alignment point of view it is a different beast. In this look the Trojans have a zero technique NT and two 3 technique DT's in the scheme. That is different from a traditional 3-4 (which has a zero technique and two six techniques up front), differs from a 4-3 Under alignment (which has two five techniques, a one and a three technique up front, or a 4-3 Over (which has five technique, a one technique, a three technique, and a nine technique). This particular scheme below is nothing to coaches as the interior part of the DL (3 tech, 0 tech, 3 tech) of it was used in the old Bears 46 alignment as well in the Arizona Wildcats double eagle flex front...
Anyway, as you can hopefully see from the pictures there is a lot going on with the Trojans defensive personnel up front. This reality is true every season. The lineman move around quite a lot in response to the formation of the offense. Virtually every play there is some small shift in technique or alignment spot that sadly the announcers never even comment upon and even seem oblivious to in reality. I clip pictures from every USC game on TV. What has stayed the same since 2001 and Pete Carroll's arrival is the Trojan's commitment to a one gap defensive scheme and a version of the 4-3 defense. The base defense has been and still technically is a one gap 4-3 under alignment scheme. 2006 was confusing for sports announcers and fans alike as linebacker Brian Cushing lined up in an upright stance and played a defensive end technique spot for most of the season. In zone blitz schemes not discussed here he even dropped back into coverage on some downs to play pass protection. So does DE Lawrence Jackson as well or Kyle Moore at times. That has been done with defensive ends however since Pete Carroll arrived at USC and is nothing new. We'll see if USC continues the use of Brian Cushing in the "Elephant" role in 2007 or if USC moves him back to a traditional SLB role. My belief is that with Dallas Sartz now gone to graduation Brian Cushing will move to the strong side linebacker spot in 2007. However that decision will probably depend upon the improvement of Kyle Moore and the development of incoming freshmen Everson Griffin. At least USC has the flexibility to use Brian Cushing at the stand up "Elephant" end position in the 4-3 under defense if needed. For more information on Pete Carroll's concepts refer to the speeches he gave at Nike clinics which are summarized on this site. That should further help to clarify any confusion.
One of the more confusing aspects of USC Trojan Football in 2006 pertained to the "new look" used by the defensive line. As most die hard Trojan fans are aware Pete Carroll is a noted Monte Kiffin disciple and has employed a 4-3 defense with one gap defensive responsibilities and a mix of secondary zone coverage schemes (e.g. Cover 2) throughout his entire career. So did the Trojan defense suddenly change in 2006 and convert to a 3-4 scheme as several newspapers reported and some commentators believed? Well, the short answer is "No" but it will take a bit of explanation to understand why and what is all the confusion about...
For clarification first we need to start with defining some specific defensive alignment terms used by coaches throughout football. The term used to specify exactly where a defender lines up is called a "technique spot" and there is a common numbering system used by most teams. The legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant of Alabama football lore is the coach most often cited for developing this numbering scheme. However, Bum Phillips the former coach of the Houston Oilers also reportedly had a hand in creating the system when he was a high school coach in Texas. Regardless of who developed what it was considered a badge of honor to know the technique spots and different blocking methods used in regard to each alignment position. Today all coaches at the high school level on up can rattle of these technique spots instantly. Here is a graphic that shows a simple sequential numbering scheme for example.
Sequential Numbering of Technique Spots
Starting from the center position in the graphic at left the first alignment spots are called either zero techniques or direct shade techniques. The numbers then move either left to right or right to left indicating the next alignment spots referencing off of the offensive player's shoulder. In the case of a guard for example an inside shoulder alignment by the defender is called a 1 technique, a direct alignment is a 2 technique, and an alignment on the outside shoulder of a guard is a 3 technique. The numbers generally continue all the way out to 9 technique position which is when a defensive rush end aligns wide outside of a tight end in order to speed rush the quarterback from the outside. Sometimes this is also referred to as a jet alignment by coaches.
Some coaches like Bill Doba (former coach at Washington State) use the sequential numbering scheme outline above first for simplicity. In addition however and confusing things somewhat is that most coaches like to label the direct shade spots on the guard, tackle, and tight end as "2", "4", and "6" techniques while others prefer the simpler sequential numbering scheme above. From what I can read Pete Carroll and the USC defense used the classical method outlined below. It really does not matter which numbering system you use as long as you are consistent and using the same terminology as the person you are speaking to. Below he is an example of the more historical numbering scheme for comparison. On the graphic are both the technique spots and the "gaps" used to identify the lane through which running plays are designated. The "i" designations merely denote inside alignments for the defenders. Again this all varies slightly team to team and coach to coach but is standard in principle across all teams in high school on up to the NFL. USC uses this method outlined below.
Classical or Generic Numbering of Technique Spots
The origin for this numbering system as I mentioned is usually given to former head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant during his tenure at Alabama. However in his book on Playing Championship Football Coach Bryant is clear in giving credit to O.A. "Bum" Phillips for the system in this passage from his book. Coach Phillips rose from the high school ranks mentioned in the passage to later coach the Houston Oilers in the NFL.
Unfortunately what most fans are more familiar with is the simpler personnel classification of a 4-3 alignment meaning 4 down lineman and 3 linebackers or a 3-4 meaning three down lineman and 4 linebackers. Unfortunately this simplistic designation has stopped meaning much in today's highly evolved level of football schemes and it is probably confusing more that helping these days. Personnel does not necessarly explain where players align...Here are two charts showing a traditional 4-3 look versus a normal 3-4 for clarification. The first is a stereotypical 4-3 diagram over alignment with one gap responsibilities for each of the defenders.
Here is what a stereotypical 3-4 diagram looks like for a team that plays this alignment. Of course the outside linebackers in this scheme often drop down closer to the line of scrimmage on some plays so it can look like either a five man line or a three man front line.
There are a couple of key difference between the two alignments. First in a normal 4-3 there are four lineman in a three point stance versus only 3 down lineman in three point stances in a 3-4. Second there is a difference in the exact alignment spots. In a 3-4 for example the defenders usually line up in a direct shade technique straight up on the defender. In a 4-3 they usually (but not always) line up in the gaps between the offensive players. There are several different types of 4-3 alignments such as the 4-3 under which USC plays, the 4-3 over, the 4-3 stack, as well as other more complex variations. Each one has a slightly different tweak in terms of alignments. The key difference to keep in mind though is in terms of technique spots and gap responsibilities. In a normal 4-3 alignment the defenders are only responsible for "one gap" coverage and attack into that space on the snap of the ball. In the traditional 3-4 defense the three down linemen are often responsible for "two gaps" and don't always immediately attack into the open space. Instead they read and react on many plays instead of automatically attacking. For this simple reason linebackers are the ones making most of the tackles in a 3-4 defense while the linemen are trying to occupy defenders and keep the blockers away from the linebackers. Complicating things is the reality that even in a 3-4 scheme the lineman are often playing one gap and not two by slanting one way at the snap of the ball and have the linebackers slant the other way. Just don't expect the announcers to ever pick up on this or explain it on TV. There are pro's and con's to each scheme and which one a team plays depends more upon the nature of their athletes and the coaches philosophy. Obviously all the variations can and do work well. And of course there are more versions and combinations of the two styles than the simple extremes I outlined here.
So after this long introduction how does this all relate back to USC's defensive so called elephant alignment of 2006? Well first it is important to understand that the USC defense actually lines up in different technique spots play by play and game by game to take advantage of individual match ups and tendencies. (Read the Pete Carroll article on this site about USC's Base Defense). The announcers on TV never bother to state the actual details on the defensive alignments except for the obvious stuff like, "the Trojans showed blitz on that play", or "USC was in a nickel package on that one". Why? Frankly I doubt that most commentators even know what a technique spot is except for a few former players or coaches like Bob Davies for example. On a specialty show like NFL Playbook on the NFL network you probably will of course hear about it in some of their explanations. However if you want to understand the game at a higher level you should realize that just as the offense lines up in different formations so does the defensive alignment change in response in a variety of subtle ways. Here are some actual pictures for example from USC's base alignments.
Here is an end zone shot of the common base defense used by USC during most seasons. Technically it is called an Under alignment but we'll save the details of that for another post for the future. Unfortunately the camera man on TV cut off the USC defender to the right of the screen #10 Brian Cushing but the picture is worth noting for several reasons. First as you can see the Trojan defenders are lined up in the gaps of the defense and are not aligned directly over the Arizona State Sun Devil offensive lineman. On the snap they charged into the gaps. So right away you know it is not a traditional 3-4 alignment with two gap responsibility up front. If it was a 3-4 scheme Ellis would be directly over the center in a zero technique while Jackson and Moala would be directly heads up on the tackles in four technique alignments. Also if you study the alignment spots one by one you'll notice the Nose Tackle #49 Sedrick Ellis is aligned to the strong side of the formation and the other defensive tackle is aligned in what is called the 3 technique position to the weak side of the formation. The two defensive ends #96 Lawrence Jackson and #10 Brian Cushing (just out of the picture to the right) are in 5 Technique alignments outside the offensive line's tackle positions. there is a single safety deep on the play (#29 Taylor Mays) making this a probably Cover 1 scheme in the secondary. Overall however this is still the same 4-3 under alignment by definition of the technique spots and gap responsibilities. From a personnel point of view it was confusing to fans and announcers in 2006 since Brian Cushing plays in an upright two point stance and is a converted linebacker playing defensive end in 2006. For simplicity the coaches let him play defensive end in an upright two point stance instead of a 3 point stance where he would have to learn different skills with his footwork etc.
Under Defensive Alignment
This alignment above is not the only one however that USC plays by a long shot. For example here is a good end zone shot of USC's defensive alignment in 2006 from the game against California. If you look closely you can easily make out the basic 4-3 nature of the defense up front with two safeties deep in a Cover 2 shell look. This next alignment is called a 4-3 Over alignment.
4-3 Over Alignment Cal Game 2006
The image above is a little blurry but again you can see clearly that the USC defense is lined up in the "gaps" of the defenders and preparing to defend single gaps as is the norm since Pete Carroll arrived. This actually looks more like a 4-3 Over alignment and not the Under style. Note this time however that the Nose Tackle Sedrick Ellis is aligned in a 1 Technique spot off the shoulder of the center to the weak side of the formation. In the under alignment he is to the strong side (TE side). The other defensive tackle is in a 3 technique spot to the strong side of the defense (again opposite the previous picture). Once again the defensive ends Jackson and Cushing are both in 5 technique spots outside the tackles. Sometimes Cushing lines up on the opposite side as he and Lawrence Jackson do flip back and forth depending upon match ups and the tight end location. This stand up defensive end is what confused people and the fact that Brian came into the USC program and played as a linebacker his freshman year. Due to a shortage of talented defensive ends that could play run gap responsibilities with discipline in 2006 the coaching staff simply lined up Cushing at defensive end in 2006 in a two point upright stance and had him play the end position instead of strong side linebacker. This continually "fooled" a lot of people including commentators on TV into thinking that USC was now playing a 3-4 two gap defense. Look closely however...the defensive lineman are in the typical technique spots for a 4-3 defense with one gap responsibilities. Nothing really has changed in Pete Carroll's defensive philosophy - it is still a one gap scheme with an former linebacker now playing an upright end position. Pete Carroll likely learned this style from former San Francisco 49er coach George Seifert who used Charles Haley in this role in the late 1980's. Seifert did this for pass rush reasons, however in the case of USC I suspect it was done for more discipline in terms of outside run containment.
USC of course does not always however rigidly adhere to either of these (4-3 over or under) alignments schemes. The above play was a 2nd and 8 situation where the base defense stayed in place. The play above resulted in an incomplete pass and a 3rd and 8 situation. In this case like most teams USC pulls a linebacker off the field and puts in an additional defensive back (called a nickel back) who was usually Mozique McCurtis in 2006. This makes the front half of the defense look more like a 4-2-5 alignment instead of a 4-3-4 scheme. In addition USC also takes Brian Cushing off the field in many third and long situations and replaces him with Kyle Moore who lines up in a traditional 3 point stance to rush the quarterback. Here is a picture of the following play with four down lineman and Kyle Moore in for Brian Cushing.
4-2-5 Nickel Package versus Cal 2006
As you can see a couple things have changed if you look closely. First there are now four down lineman in three point stances in the picture and they are lined up in the gaps they are attacking i.e. a one gap scheme. Second the defensive end over the tight end is lined up wider in a "jet" alignments (9 technique spot) to try to get up field and pressure the QB on what is a fairly sure passing situation. Third the NT Sedrick Ellis has shifted over from his normal 1 technique position and is also lined up in a 3 technique spot for rush purposes. The alignment had two 3 technique DT's now and there is less chance of either of them drawing a double team block from the center. This leaves the center "uncovered". The danger here is now that the middle linebacker will have to mind both of the A Gaps on either side of the center in the event of a run play. The other inside linebacker has also crept up closer to the line of scrimmage showing blitz in the strong side C Gap. The rest of the Trojan defenders are out of the picture as the Cal Bears spread the field with three wide receivers split out wide. Only one safety is in view deep on this play as the other DB's are in tighter alignment on the line of scrimmage.
Here is an another set of examples from a side view in 2006 versus Washington State. USC attempted more of a traditional 4-3 even look for a few plays during the game with Brian Cushing at the stand up end position. USC seemed to abandon this defensive formation during the second quarter when it became clear it could not stop the outside run game of Washington State (8 gaps to defend with 7 defenders).
4-3 Picture WSU Game 2006
Most of the game they went back to the 4-3 under below that provided better outside run containment support. They also brought a safety down after the snap on several of these plays as well to help get an 8th person in the box. (Note: Sorry but that would take video to show completely).
4-3 Under Defense WSU Game 2006
Here is a picture from 2005 against Fresno State where USC aligned in an under front versus Fresno's I Formation.
4-3 Under Fresno State Game 2005
In USC's case there are of course many other variations to be aware of as these are just some of the basics that I am highlighting. Here is a picture from a game up in Oregon in 2005 against the Ducks at Autzen Stadium. (Note: This was done in 2006 on third down and obvious passing situations as well.)
4-3 Defense versus Oregon
This picture is from a first down play and it looks like the Trojans are in a 4-2 alignment up front. Although you can't tell the personnel from this distance it is still a 4-3 package as the linebacker split out to handle an extra receiver. (Note: That is the referee between the two LB's and not a USC player). Oregon tried to spread out USC on this play with 4 WR's and 3 of them or "Trips" 3 x 1 WR formation. In response a linebacker had to move out of the box and go into coverage mode in response. On a third down and more predictable passing play he'd be replaced by a 5th defensive back.
Here is a different looking play where USC lines up NT Sedrick Ellis in a zero technique directly over the center as a change of pace. Fans and announcers might jump to the conclusion that this is a 3-4 alignment (and personnel wise you can argue that it is). However from a gap responsibility and technique alignment point of view it is a different beast. In this look the Trojans have a zero technique NT and two 3 technique DT's in the scheme. That is different from a traditional 3-4 (which has a zero technique and two six techniques up front), differs from a 4-3 Under alignment (which has two five techniques, a one and a three technique up front, or a 4-3 Over (which has five technique, a one technique, a three technique, and a nine technique). This particular scheme below is nothing to coaches as the interior part of the DL (3 tech, 0 tech, 3 tech) of it was used in the old Bears 46 alignment as well in the Arizona Wildcats double eagle flex front...
Anyway, as you can hopefully see from the pictures there is a lot going on with the Trojans defensive personnel up front. This reality is true every season. The lineman move around quite a lot in response to the formation of the offense. Virtually every play there is some small shift in technique or alignment spot that sadly the announcers never even comment upon and even seem oblivious to in reality. I clip pictures from every USC game on TV. What has stayed the same since 2001 and Pete Carroll's arrival is the Trojan's commitment to a one gap defensive scheme and a version of the 4-3 defense. The base defense has been and still technically is a one gap 4-3 under alignment scheme. 2006 was confusing for sports announcers and fans alike as linebacker Brian Cushing lined up in an upright stance and played a defensive end technique spot for most of the season. In zone blitz schemes not discussed here he even dropped back into coverage on some downs to play pass protection. So does DE Lawrence Jackson as well or Kyle Moore at times. That has been done with defensive ends however since Pete Carroll arrived at USC and is nothing new. We'll see if USC continues the use of Brian Cushing in the "Elephant" role in 2007 or if USC moves him back to a traditional SLB role. My belief is that with Dallas Sartz now gone to graduation Brian Cushing will move to the strong side linebacker spot in 2007. However that decision will probably depend upon the improvement of Kyle Moore and the development of incoming freshmen Everson Griffin. At least USC has the flexibility to use Brian Cushing at the stand up "Elephant" end position in the 4-3 under defense if needed. For more information on Pete Carroll's concepts refer to the speeches he gave at Nike clinics which are summarized on this site. That should further help to clarify any confusion.
Both are pretty good reads if you have the time.
- Jul 23, 2007
- 31,964
- 1,056
Good Read.
Dre,
De'Joshua Johnson from Pahokee, just got offer from CLK & Eddie Gran
FSU better lock him up quick before they get Nu'keesed.
Dre,
De'Joshua Johnson from Pahokee, just got offer from CLK & Eddie Gran
FSU better lock him up quick before they get Nu'keesed.
- Apr 24, 2005
- 43,678
- 8,689
I ain't worried........Originally Posted by GUNNA GET IT
Dre,
De'Joshua Johnson from Pahokee, just got offer from CLK & Eddie Gran
FSU better lock him up quick before they get Nu'keesed.
Yet.
UT is offering mad _'s.
And I watched De'Joshua's latest vid not to long ago. Boy is sick. Fast as *%*#. But he's small as +*@%. Typical Pahokee kid.
What stood out to me also, was how good Nukeese looked @ QB on some of the passes to DJ. Nukeese has good technique to be so raw @ the position. He'salready better than TP in that department. He was making some BEAUTIFUL throws too. I smell some trick plays for UT.
I think DJ might play QB this year.
