The FishDuck Minute #3: Opposing Coaches Know

Courtesy of my friend Ryan (who is a USC fan, but we can forgive him for that…right?):

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For those who didnt get it:

Over – Linebackers shifted over to the strong (Tight End or Field side
depending on your scheme) side with the OLB to that side playing on the
line of scrimmage, making it looks like a 5-2 front. DE to the strong
side slides inside
Under – same shift to the weak side
Odd – a nose tackle right over the Center

Bear – both guards covered. he’s technically not fully accurate here as
he should have said “Even” instead of “Bear”. A Bear front is all
three, the center, and both guards, covered.

The names Odd and Even come
from the “techniques” the defensive tackles play. When you have a
DT/Nose on the center, he is playing a 1-technique, or a 1-shade. You
then have your other DT in a 3-technique, which is the outside shade of
the guard. Both 1 and 3 are odd numbers, making it an “odd” front. An
“even” front means the tackles are playing both guards head-up, or, in a
2-technique. With 2 being an even number, it is called an “Even” front.
This applies to a 4-3 look only as a 3-4 always has a nose tackle in a
1-technique.

The Bear look, with the center AND BOTH guards
covered was designed to stop the inside veer triple option. The outside
veer was developed to counter the Bear look but it is still used in all
goal line defensive formation to this day.

about the Oregon O, though,
the biggest difference is the blocking of the OL. What I’ve noticed is
that regardless of a dive/keep/pitch call or option, the OL blocks that
look as if its going outside every time. the RB is really on his own to
find a lane. There is no dedicated hole for him to run through. This
gives the playside OLB and the Mike no keys other than peeking in the
backfield at the mesh point. It also puts a great strain on the backside
OLB as it’ will be on him to prevent the cutback for a huge gain. It
also makes him susceptible to the reverse as he really has to abandon
outside contain to make it happen. The dive back is really the key cog
for the offense. if he’s not making it happen on his own, the offense
stalls. This is also why you see teams with great DTs able to slow the
offense down. They’re just so athletic. it’s a great scheme Kelly runs
but should he not have the right RB, it can fall apart.

Jeff–I will have all this information in defensive video tutorials this late spring/early summer–and more.

FishDuck