Playing in a college system that emphasizes skillset diversity is actually a good thing. He has held the job since 1996, and he came to . The Hokies used a base 8-man front the majority of the time. What VT plays most against pro-style teams is Inverted Cover 2 Robber, but the deep cover guys are the Cornerbacks, not the safeties. Because its a 4-4 defense that has to be able to handle the spread offense at times, it needs some rather special players at some of the hybrid LB spots. pdf yrs ago. If he went out, Rover has him. So, they would use multiple tight ends to the strong side, then motion one of those tight ends back to the whip side. The S must loop hard play-side, crossing the face of the tight end without allowing himself to get his outside shoulder blocked by the tight end. Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield. The tackle will cross the face of the guard and the center, and fill the 2 gap, originally vacated by the Nose. The Mike is over the center. To the uneducated eye, the defense features two ends, two tackles, three linebackers, two safeties, and two corners just like a traditional NFL style 4-3, but Foster turns the 4-3 concept on its ear. Not sure Tahj Boyd's skills are of the same caliber but he took advantage of us as well. The primary adjustments were to go to a base 2-high safety set (as discussed earlier), with the Whip up as a linebacker full time and the Rover back as a safety in most alignments. It defintely helps to have depth regardless of the scheme, but depth and ability in the scheme only make it better. Oh well. Jack Tyler can't cover a rock, so CBF adjusts his schemes and defensive calls to account for that. If our defense is designed to "funnel" the ball carrier to certain positions I could see some recruits not liking that. Darryl Tapp has been a career backup. It really is an outlier as far as defenses, as much as Paul Johnson's wishbone is on offense. Otherwise (because the linebackers don't immediately scrape and pursue to the ball) there will be large holes and tremendous pressure on safeties to make the tackle. Prior to 2004, the alignment of the linebackers and safeties was based more on the strong side / weak side of the offensive formation. With deep safety help, Hosley stopped his back pedal and planted on the snap, and he stepped in front of the quick curl and picked off the pass to seal the game. Spoilers). Next week, we will examine some of the basic blitz packages that the Hokies use for passing down and distance situations. Oh, and lets not forget the secret weapon. Field G front. d88$FQ &~g?Waj }4;{S=Gg``YoF2a2XCTH#?:]=e1sp=$3_ S??oB/r~u6n?o'tm{ iu e*g[3mcXX_ endstream endobj 7 0 obj 859 endobj 12 0 obj << /Length 13 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream He retained the terminology and many of the blitz schemes of the Attack Defense, and then moved the rover position back to that of a traditional strong safety. MIKE is the same type of player as MIKE in a 4-3 defense, but Backer is more like a SAM LB in a 4-3, and often gets the RB or TE to the passing strength. TSL) is an independent publication that is in no way affiliated with or sponsored by Virginia Tech or the Virginia Tech Athletic Department. This post gave me a good chuckle. I am ready for some football. The Rover is an OLB who plays more coverage, like a SS. If the ball is on the hashmark, Rover goes Field side, WHIP to the boundary. Kudos to Foster and Co. for making the adjustments. . Normally, it will be one of the linebackers that will communicate any adjustments to the defensive front call or blitz call. If the running back looks to go straight ahead, he will see the guard and tackle jammed up and look to cutback. The nose tackle is a 1 technique, the tackle is a 3 technique. Think DeAndre McDaniel. From the coaches in the booth, to the coaches on the sideline, to the players on the field, to the pre-snap adjustments; that is a lot of communication and it is pretty much non-stop in those 20-30 seconds between each play. For this example, here is a pre-snap diagram of a likely defensive set against a 12 personnel group (one RB, two TEs, two WRs). NIL and the future of the 'student athlete', Liz Kitley is back to back ACC Player Of The Year, 2023 ACC Wrestling Tournament Seedings announced, OT: TKP Winter/Spring 2023 Gamer's Lounge, OT: 700 miles from the Rock through Spain and Portugal, HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH (16-13, 6-12 ACC) AT LOUISVILLE (4-25, 2-16 ACC) 9PM ACCN, FSU AD floats uneven revenue share for acc & leaving acc. The attack from the DL is the next step, but they have to achieve their gap fit first. NIL and the future of the 'student athlete', Liz Kitley is back to back ACC Player Of The Year, 2023 ACC Wrestling Tournament Seedings announced, OT: TKP Winter/Spring 2023 Gamer's Lounge, OT: 700 miles from the Rock through Spain and Portugal, HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH (16-13, 6-12 ACC) AT LOUISVILLE (4-25, 2-16 ACC) 9PM ACCN, FSU AD floats uneven revenue share for acc & leaving acc, Your analysis above holding true, but with our refreshed/deep D-line being able to slow Clemon's run, Clemson's new D-coordinator implementing a less pro-oriented scheme. The Backer disguises, looking like he is scraping play-side, but in reality, he is filling the interior of the 6 gap. Through the first half, Andre Ellington was averaging like 1.3 yards a carry with 23 yards total. I think we see the Hokies playing a ton of 4-4G man this year, with next to no pass coverage responsibility by the mike and backer. Access Exclusive Content and Financially Support The Key Play. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. If the blitz didnt get to the QB quickly, then the defense was at risk for a big play. Learn how to identity the Bear and understand how it accomplishes its goal. Was a great move on moving the rover back in alignment based on the offenses being seen but thought the Rover always lined up on the strong side away from the Whip but your diagram indicates them lined on the same side. View All Discussions French on the Bench , "Does it get any better than Thursday Night in Blacksburg?" At that point, the players on the field know the down/distance and the front, pressure, and coverage calls. The helmets they're wearing are still my favorite VT helmets. I think I understand why our defense is used against us in recruiting. For more details about the site, including a list of TechSideline.com staff, see our About page. Remember that what I am describing in this series is at the 5,000 foot level. A lot can still happen from that base pre-snap state, including shifts, motion, and checks/audibles by the offense. For that reason, some teams found success by running weak side out of those spread formations. I think they were 6'2 or so and 270-280 lbs. ]~ .O}_JG7mn0 1.Wvn;m,Fv i>TFis endstream endobj 11 0 obj 433 endobj 17 0 obj << /Length 18 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream h_k@vJbR Access Exclusive Content and Financially Support The Key Play. That was generally the wide side of the field as well, so the Backer or Rover had to cover a faster, quicker player out in open space. The opinions of the author(s) on this site are independent and no way reflect the opinions of the Virginia Tech administrators, coaches, staff, or athletes. BLACKSBURG Bud Foster's defenses have grown accustomed to carrying Virginia Tech's offenses over the years, so an early conversation the longtime Hokies defensive coordinator had with new . In the nineties, many teams tried to emulate Frank Beamer and defensive coordinator Bud Foster's scheme, with its premium on defenders stacking the line to either stop the run or scare the offense into abandoning it and apologizing for having considered such a silly idea. When the TE switches sides, usually the Backer flips spots with MIKE to cover him. Jessie has three boys of her. Every defensive player in the front seven has a "gap" responsibility in every defense that is called. In obvious passing situations, the Hokies would shift to a base 4-3-4 look by dropping the Whip as the second safety. I remember seeing our defensive philosophy torched about ten years ago. Coles scored on that long TD. The architect of Tech's famed Lunch Pail Defense, Foster was the longest continually tenured FBS assistant coach at the same school at the time of his retirement in 2019. *:JZjz ? Note that with no receivers split to the boundary, the Rover will rotate up to the line of scrimmage and align as a linebacker on the boundary side. The Whip was a weak side outside linebacker in the base 8-man front and he was a weak side safety in the 2-deep safety set (base used regularly in passing situations). They are not supposed to be playmakers (except in the pass rush) but they have to be adept at maintaining leverage while stunting. Flowers, Hall, and Green have been starters. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Because of their Field/Boundary alignment philosophy, the same defenders do not always get matched on the same offensive players. That sign board on the sideline is a tool that identifies the offensive personnel group. Ok. The Gap Defense is grounded in a simple concept. The idea is the front 6 align based on front alignment rules. The first number reflects the number of running backs and the second number reflects the number of tight ends. He had a concussion and it hurt our secondary. Join the community. I hope they can return to dominance. Game situation includes things like score, wind / weather conditions and time remaining on the clock. Damn shame if you ask me. He doesn't believe in double-talking players, or as he continually referred to as "fork tonguing" them. Maybe an example would work here. For example, a 21 personnel group is two running backs, one tight end, and two wide receivers. In the diagram, Whitley (who the coaches called "the rover" last year) is lined up to the twins side, and he motions back to the middle of the field while Exum (who was the "free safety" last year) rotates up towards the line with the motion. Our DL has way more play making responsibility in the run game than a traditional 4-3 where at least 2 of the linemen are expected to eat double blocks and free up the linebackers. Ive said it before but Im super serious this timethis is a must win game for Clemsons NCAA tournament resume. A "Bear" front covers both OGs and the Center, making it an Odd front. He can have a SS build and sometimes aligns deeper, like the FS. I have no expectations that Antoine will start this year coming off that injury coupled with his history of not being as hard a worker. So, it's not surprising that the man's personality matches his philosophy when it comes to dual reads in offensive football. In the above play, Jayron Hosley backpedals to his deep third at the snap. The Whip blitzes hard from the 7 gap to fly through the 5 gap space. Virginia Techs defense is a unique one in major college football in that it is very much an older style of defense descended from the Gap 8 and Wide Tackle 6. Really great stuff. Also I totally disagree with your wording about the DL simply 'stalemating their blocker in the gap' and 'not being expected to be play makers'. It's no secret that Tech uses a lot of "hybrid" type players. Well, Hosley was disguising his true intention. Am I getting overconfident that we'll be able to better compete with Clemson this year based on the following assumptions: from Clemson beat writer Greg Wallace via Andy Bitter: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/06/ask-another-teams-beat-writer-clemson. The "nickel" linebackers have almost no pass defense responsibility, and instead are used in a variety of blitz packages designed to outman the offensive line and force the quarterback to make quick throws, where the designed hidden coverages in the secondary await to pick off the pass. Eventually, the kids who see the NFL in their future realize that going to such a school hurts their chances. The stud end is outside eye of the tackle strong side, and the end is outside eye of the tackle on the weakside. Bud Foster received national recognition for the way his Bear defense surprised and shut down Urban Meyer's vaunted spread rushing attack in 2014. "-John Blutarsky. In certain situations, without changing the personnel, the Hokies will play an 8-man front, with four defensive linemen, four linebackers, and three defensive backs (4-4-3 alignment). Today, a look at some of the pass rush and blitz packages utilized in Bud Foster's Gap Defense As discussed in "A Look Back at the Hokie Wide Tackle Six Defense" , Virginia Tech rose to defensive dominance running an 8-man front which allowed the Hokies to blitz from multiple angles. We will look at the Hokies pass defense in more detail in a later post. Its heavy on blitzes from those two hybrid players. What are the differences between what Tech does and a traditional NFL 4-3?? Based on the film that I have watched, either Bud Foster calls more middle linebacker run blitzes than any coach in the country, or the mike backer has almost zero pass responsibility. The movement ideally allows three Hokies to be unblocked, versus depending on the physical ability of the defensive line to beat each of their blocks at the point of attack. We wore it again that season in our ACC Championship win against FSU. 8 Ohio State with schemes used by Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster,. Can we get this thread retitled - "A Look Back at a Look Back to . Behind the defense, the Hokies secondary plays a basic robber coverage on this play. It was a pro-style system and designed to work against pro-style offenses, which is precisely what the Hokies system is. I love that article. So opposing coaches will tell a kid he'll have a better shot of making it to the NFL if he plays in a "NFL-style" 4-3. Urban Meyer fell behind LSU and Alabama in recruiting, and magically his health is at risk and he gets out. Combining elements from each scheme is what gives the 4-2-5 its versatility. 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