DL Stunts - Part 2

Part 2 of the Defensive Line Stunts series will look at stunts where the Defensive Tackle works in tandem with the Defensive End.  DL Stunts - Part 1 looked at stunts with just the Defensive Tackles.  Blitzes and Fire Zones are great for applying pressure, but the easiest and safest way to get pressure is from the guys up front.  It is nice to be able to play your favorite coverage on 3rd and Long and still get pressure from the front 4.  If a defense can do that, it has an opportunity to be great on 3rd Down.

Stunts are also important for stopping the run and for giving smaller, quicker defenders a better chance to be successful.  Former Florida Co-DC and DL Coach Greg Matteson talked about giving his defensive linemen a 3-way go.  A right defensive end could attack the offensive tackle in three ways: 1) slant inside him, 2) run through him, or 3) jet upfield right past him.  Using all three techniques keeps the offensive lineman off-balance and gives the defensive lineman his best chance for success.

3-Way Go

The stunts I will talk about are Ex, Tex (and Dbl Tex), Veer, Spear, and Watch Me.  Ex and Tex are great vs. the pass or run.  Veer and Spear are primarily run stunts, although they still work vs. the Pass.  The Veer has its origins as a stunt to stop Inside Veer, and Spear is a Greg Matteson stunt that is very similar.  Watch Me is a pass rush stunt all the way designed to give your best pass rusher the freedom to do his thing.

Ex from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Ex

Clip 1 (Giants) – Right DE takes a step upfield, slams the Guard, then comes off and makes the sack.

Clip 2 (Jets) – Right DT hesitates and lets DE slam the Guard.  The Tackle turns inside just enough to cause him to be too late in trying to block the DT, who makes the sack.

Clip 3 (Giants) – Ex can also be run with a 1 tech NT.  DE slams Guard and gets in QB's face.  OT chases DE too far, allowing NT to come around free.

Clip 4 (Giants) – DE one step upfield then moves quickly inside but does not slam Guard.  He could not slam the Guard since he slid inside, leaving a nice lane for the DE to pressure the QB.

Tex from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Tex

Clip 1 (Steelers) – DT takes a step upfield and slams the Tackle.  The Guard chases the DT and chases him too far outside to block the DE who comes inside for the sack.

Clip 2 (Gators) – DE takes two steps upfield and then come inside.  The Guard is locked on the DT and never touches the DE who makes the sack.

Clip 3 (Cowboys) – The 1 tech NT looks to slam the Guard, who slides away so the DT gets pressure on the QB.  The Center locks onto the NT and does not see the DE come inside.

Clip 4 (Dolphins) – don't think this was Tex, just the DE seeing an opening to the QB and running to daylight.

Clip 5 (Miss. St.) – Tex stunt allows DE to come free inside to tackle RB on Draw.

Clip 6 (Giants) – Tex Ex – Tex on the left, Ex on the right.  The Guard turned outside with the DT and the DE sped right past him inside for the strip sack.

Dbl Tex

Clip 1 (Giants) – Left DT could have done a better job taking a step upfield first, but he makes up for it with a great swim move inside the Tackle to sack QB.

Clips 2, 3 (Broncos, TCU) – Guard too aggressive blocking DT and doesn't see DE come inside.

Veer from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Veer

Clip 1 (Gators) – Right DE to 1 tech side takes a step inside and then quickly re-directs.  Current Michigan DC Greg Matteson did a tremendous job at Florida of teaching his DL to read the OL that you are slanting away from.

Clip 2 (Giants) – Tackle thought he had an easy base block on Iso play but DE blew by him inside to wreck the play.

Clip 3 (Gators) – Veer stunt pressures the RB who tries to cut all the way back on zone play to Sam LB and SS.  Good job by Sam LB of squeezing OT and not leaving a crease.

Clip 4 (Gators) – DE re-directs and causes RB to cut back inside to pursuit.

Clip 5 (Ravens) – A quick DE is deadly on this stunt.

Clip 6 (Giants) – DE able to re-direct, but not quickly enough to catch RB.  LB must scrape quicker over top.

Spear from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Spear

Clip 1 (Gators) – good stunt vs. Power with DE working quickly inside of FB's block to make tackle.  DT in good shape outside to make tackle as well.

Clip 2 (Gators) – DE aims at hip of Tackle, works inside and runs to daylight to pressure QB.  This is the gruesome play where the Bama WR tore his knee up.

Watch Me from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Watch-Me

Clip 1 (Cowboys) – if you have a fast DE who has a knack for getting to the QB and working inside when the Tackle sets too far outside, this is a great stunt to give him the freedom to get the QB and not have to worry about pass rush Contain.

Clip 2 (Steelers) – DT does a good job of getting outside when the DE works inside, allowing DE to make a big hit on QB.

Clip 3 (Seahawks) – DT sees DE come inside and seamlessly works outside for pass rush Contain to get the sack.

Clip 4 (Eagles) – The DE worked inside and the DT worked outside and both got to QB.

Clips 5, 6 (Colts) – The Colts used this call to give Dwight Freeney the freedom to use  his devastating spin move.

Great Links
The speakers and schedules are now finally out for the 2014 Glazier Clinics here.
Strong Football with The Popularity of the 3-4 Defense: What's Old is New, Playing Fast with the 4-2-5 Defense, Wing-T Offense: Buck Trap, Dick LeBeau's Wime/Will Cross Fire Zone Blitz, and The 5 Step Guide to Striking a Balance as Football Coaches.
Chris at Grantland / Smart Football on Art Briles and the Baylor Offense.
Coach Mac with Analyzing Your Statistics, 3 Man Scat Combinations, and Changing Defensive Looks.
Duece with The Passing of a Great One.
Brophy with Cal's Solid Screen.

Hi-Lo DL Stunt

I am still working on finishing up the rest of the DL cut-ups for the series on DL Stunts (Part 1 here), but this was a huge play that clinched the game in the Kansas City Chiefs 17-16 win over the Texans yesterday that I want to show.

If you just look at this stunt in a playbook, it is easy to dismiss, but once you see it on video, it really stands out.  The Colts were great at this stunt.  Dwight Freeney was famous for his spin move inside and he would line up at the Buck DE spot.  His job was to flush the QB outside the pocket, which he usually did with his spin move.  A right-handed QB trained by the Wave Drill will see the inside move by the DE to his left side and start moving to his left.  Then the Fox DE would speed rush upfield past the Offensive Tackle and come all the way back around to hit the unsuspecting QB.  For the Colts, it was Robert Mathis, who had a pretty spiffy night himself on Sunday, who would line up at the Fox DE and use his speed to hit the QB from behind.

Here is the link to the play from the NFL Network.  Go to the 1:15 mark.

Chiefs-Texans highlights (Hi-Lo DL Stunt - 1:15 mark)

Also want to share some great coaching advice here by Wade Phillips that he got from his father, the late Bum Phillips in this week's MMQB:

“When I was growing up, people thought bitching was coaching,” says Wade. “But players eventually turn off the guys who yell and scream. My father once told me, ‘Don’t coach the way you were coached. Coach the way you are.’ I don’t believe in coaching by fear. I believe in coaching by teaching.”

“He was the ultimate players’ coach,’’ Wade Phillips said of his father, Bum Phillips. “He had a real knack for making every player feel special, like they were so valuable. I never heard him once talk about winning. You play hard because your teammates are like a family. You owe that to your teammates. He always thought the scoreboard would take care of itself.’’

Great little article by Earl Campbell on the late Bum Phillips here.

DL Stunts - Part 1 - DT Stunts

I have been working on Install film of Defensive Line Stunts that I will share with my next few posts.  This first post will concentrate on stunts with just the two Defensive Tackles.  Most stunts that I will show are from a four-man front that can be used with the 4-3 or 4-2 defense, but some can also be used from a three-man front with the 3-5 or 3-4 defense.  Each stunt is diagrammed with video and coaching points from each cut-up.

Tap from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Tap

Clips 1, 2 – Ricochet Technique.  Ricochet – to bounce off of the blocker that you are slanting towards when you see that the play is going away from you.  This is best done by reading the OL you are slanting away from.  I believe you get a faster read this way, although many coaches also do it successfully by having their DL read the man that you are slanting towards.  Clip 2 (Utah) is a better example of the Ricochet technique.

Ton from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Ton

Clips 1-3 – DT slams the Center trying to block the NT.

Clip 4 (Steelers) – RG stays on block too long to be able to block DT coming from other side.    

Clip 5 (TCU) – DT Ricochet.

Nut from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Nut

Clips 1-2 – NT slams G trying to block DT.

Clip 3 (Cowboys) – DT in 5 tech, NT slams G trying to block DT and comes off to pressure QB.  DT ends up tripping up QB for Sack.

Clip 4 (Bowling Green) – Movement allows 2i tech NT to make tackle on RB.

Toc from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Toc

Clip 1 (Steelers) – NT works for Sack.

Clip 2 (Gators) – NT quick re-direct, followed by a loaf, and then makes tackle.  This is a great example of reading the OL you are slanting away from to get a quicker read.  The NT was able to re-direct before he even touched the G.

Nitro from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Nitro

Clip 1 (Gators) – Ricochet.

Clip 2 (Ravens) – Both NT and DT re-direct.  Backside NT makes tackle but notice the DT doing an excellent job of working in front of the back.

Gate from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Gate

Clips 1, 2 - Both DTs attack Center and whoever the Center doesn't block will penetrate first and the other DT will work around.  For more info on this stunt, Blitzology did an excellent article here.

Info on latest Va. Tech Helmet study from ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook:

"Here are the latest Virginia Tech football helmet star ratings. The Riddell 360, Riddell Revo Speed, Xenith X2 and Rawlings Quantum Plus drew five stars. The Rawlings Impulse looks like the best value -- four stars for $100 less than the top models. Players and parents, beware the Riddell VSR4 and Adams A2000. Research shows these should not be on anyone's head."

Great Links

Chris at Smart Football / Grantland has been tearing it up lately to make up for the rest of us with Packaged Plays and the New Option Football, Vandy's OL Shift, The Art of Quarterbacking, Chip Kelly's Eagle Offense, and How Will Nick Saban Solve His Johnny Manziel Problem?
Check out Strong Football's 4-3 Blitz Package: Making An Easy Blitz Look Complicated by Coach CP.
Coach Bird with great info with Al Golden notes on Utilizing Safeties to Stop the Run and David Shaw notes on Offense and Creating Conflict with an Unbalanced Line.
Coach Mac has more on packaged plays with Conflicting Defenders.