TSL) is an independent publication that is in no way affiliated with or sponsored by Virginia Tech or the Virginia Tech Athletic Department. Thekeyplay.com is not affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. See Tim Tebow (or Pat White at WVU.) Most college teams are not that good, but if the Hokies want to win a NC we will have to face that caliber of offense. 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). After all, at Pry's introductory presser he noted he cut his teeth as a graduate assistant in the mid-90s under Foster. Yet, unlike most stunts and blitzes where the defensive player is trying to shake loose to make a play, the Foster gap defense still requires the players who were stunting to maintain responsibility for their assigned gap. The consistent 3 stripes on white was a good look. How do those pieces fit together and how do they work collectively to form one of college footballs best defenses? (Dave Knachel/Virginia Tech athletics) Article It's a season of transition. The other two LBs, MIKE and "Backer" play zones over the middle like any other Cover 2 zone. Anytime you see the mike backer dropping back, it is change up defense hoping the QB throws to a spot without seeing the mike. A 46 is by definition a "Bear" front, but to use "Bear" does not necessarily mean a 46 defense. in the long run, if the giants dline continues to dominant with "defensive ends", i think it can be used to pitch to good dlineman. "-John Blutarsky. I think they use the same DE rotation as last year, with Wilson and McCray playing every 4th series and Marshall getting some snaps at tackle and end. A student manager signals the personnel group (12 in this example) via the sign board. Jack Tyler can't cover a rock, so CBF adjusts his schemes and defensive calls to account for that. He has held the job since 1996, and he came to . It was a very clever scheme because it could be adjusted to a pass oriented defense by slipping the two outside linebackers (the Whip and Rover) into coverage as defensive backs. When they play 46 front, its mostly man/man, because its a pressure front like the Under we use. In th defense now, the free safety and the whip are essentially interchangable. Presented by, Click here to access all three parts of the Hokie Defense series by Raleigh Hokie. He can have a SS build and sometimes aligns deeper, like the FS. Because the line is flowing play-side, the Whip should be unblocked and should go directly to the ball-carrier. When he isn't rushing for 2000 yards next year, Martin Scales will be the Hokies 3rd down pass rusher and get 10 sacks. Also, in goal line and short yardage, the backer and blitz the gap to try to blow the play in the backfield playside. Every defensive player in the front seven has a "gap" responsibility in every defense that is called. Rece Davis. Everyone, especially play side, must at least stalemate their blocker in their gap. Keeping the Whip closer to the line of scrimmage allows him to play more like a true linebacker, which helped an athlete like James Anderson flourish at the position. Sadly, the wide tackle six approach saw it's end as the Hokies were decimated by sophisticated passing attacks from the 2002 Gator Bowl through Aaron Rodgers legalized murder of the secondary in the 2004 Insight Bowl. The adjustment from one set to the other depends on the alignment of the Rover. So, it's not surprising that the man's personality matches his philosophy when it comes to dual reads in offensive football. 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. I think they are well coached. MAN. It will be a 4-3. http://www.orangeandwhite.com/news/2012/jan/21/swinney-hired-venables-br. One thing that the Hokies will have to do is be able to beat their press coverage on our receivers like what happened when D.J. They tie up the center and both guards, allowing the middle linebacker to go unblocked sideline to sideline. I love it anyway! Not sure Tahj Boyd's skills are of the same caliber but he took advantage of us as well. TechSideline.com (a.k.a. Containment often fell onto the shoulders of the Whip LB, a hybrid player that was part linebacker and part safety. 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. It depends on which version of the 4-3. Playing more of the defense it ran under former coordinator Bud Foster, the unit turned in a markedly better performance against the high-powered Hurricanes in Saturday's 25-24 loss. Stanford also used formation to create matchup problems. Exactly like Clemson this year. Also BF has talked about wanting to change the "DNA" of our DL referencing Ala. and LSU's D-lines. The pre-snap look is quite often Cover 4 because of this. 2. Foster has been at Virginia Tech for 30 years and has been the coordinator for 12 seasons. Learn how to identity the Bear and understand how it accomplishes its goal. His initial spot is 3x5 off the TE, reading the #2 receiver. 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. The "G" front is the base front, but here I have not adjusted to the formation. Stanford presents the most unique formula. In terms of positions, the Stud, Whip, Mike, Field Corner and Free Safety always align toward the wide side of the field. A "gap" is an area of space on the field that the defensive player is responsible to "control." The Tigers complete their season sweep of the Wolfpack. Inverted Cover 2 Robber is a 2-deep, 5-underneath zone coverage that uses the FS as the Robber. Once their keys indicate that the running back has the ball, each pursues the ball. Because of the gap fit responsibility, a tremendous amount of pressure exists for the whip and the safeties to be sure tacklers anytime the ball carrier penetrates the line. He started 79 games over an 8 year career. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. VTs version of defense is a morphed descendent of what the Washington Huskies ran in the 80s and early 90s when their defense dominated the Pacific coast under DC Jim Lambright. The FS himself will play Robber over the very middle of the field and watches the eyes of the QB to take away intermediate routes, yet against the run hes a 9th man in the area to fill a gap. Cover 6 goes well with the pressure fronts they like to show. Tackle: The Tackle (Derrick Hopkins) lines up as a 3 technique, outside eye of the backside guard. Clemson started to rise after that game, and we started to fall. WHIP often creeps up because he usually gets a 1 on 1 matchup with the RB in coverage. Upvoted. "#()%$%%! In his walked out spot, he is reading the backfield triangle to the #2/#3 receiver and has the flat zone weak. (He finished with well over 100 yards.) View All Discussions French on the Bench , "David doesn't even fart. Welcome to Bud Foster's Lunch Pail D. This site is dedicated to blue collar, hard nosed defense like those run by Bud Foster during his years as the Defensive Coordinator for the Virginia Tech Hokies. For #3, I think this defense actually makes the corners look better than they really are. There are two inside linebackers in the 4-4 scheme sometimes known as the Mike and Buck linebackers. Based on what you guys are saying those type of players wouldn't fit into BF's scheme unless he's going to go to a more traditional 4-3. And finally, we will take a look at how all of the calls and adjustments for each play are communicated from the coaches to the players. They know on which side to align based on ball position. The amount of zone and safe coverages they play really is determined by the ability of the line, mike, and backer to stop the run. Part 1 covered some basic concepts, including a description for each defensive position. "-John Blutarsky, Small, and generally stout defensive tackles certainly seem to be the Bud Foster model. I have told anyone who would listen that I didn't like having Collins moved inside, and that if they did move him inside, he needed to get upfield and disrupt the full back/QB mesh point. Bud Foster's defense held the Tigers to 186 yards of total offense in a 24-7 route. Ive said it before but Im super serious this timethis is a must win game for Clemsons NCAA tournament resume. Maybe an example would work here. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. I don't have the time to cover them all, but this is a pressure-based defense. Hopkins was hurt slanting if I remember correctly. The Hokies defense requires the DL to essentially "tie up" blockers and hold gaps. It is fascinating stuff and beautiful to watch when it produces the type of results that we have seen over the years from Bud Fosters bunch. The diagram below uses numbers to identify each gap. pretty heavy on stunts and exchanges between the DL and LBs, Clemson Basketball Travels to NC State with Last Hope of NCAA Berth on the Line, Clemson Softball roars to fast start and high rankings. Simple. I think we have had these super talented CB's the past few years but what happens when somebody gets hurt and we have to go to the bench like when Hosley got hurt last year? B) Bud resurrected many of the 8 man front concepts during the awful end of Beamer's departure. Engleberger wasn't a bust. What's so radical about it? This post gave me a good chuckle. I have read it many times in the past. In that case, both Rover and WHIP will show blitzes naturally. Likewise, by no longer asking the Rover to man up against speedy slot receivers to the wide side of the field allows linebacker / safety type athletes like Aaron Rouse to be successful at that position. From a fans perspective, it is easy to see that football is very challenging physically its arguably the most physical of any sport in the world. The running back is supposed to take two strides playside, plant his playside leg (in this case the right leg) and select a weak spot where the defender has overrun the play. VT shifts their G front to the Field side as well into a 4-3, whether its weak or strong, which gives them 3 fronts in the base package. Even the best (Brown- moved to LB, Worilds- moved to LB, Tapp- non-descript backup, Engleberger-bust, Moore- bust, Price- nada) didn't make an impact. Meanwhile, Dwayne Allen would come BEHIND the line against the grain of the play and pop out the weak side. Join the community. "My advice to you is to start drinking heavily. The 4-2-5 Defense Study (Softcover: 145 pages) . The Rover is an OLB who plays more coverage, like a SS. When they face 21/22/12 personnel, theyll set up in the G front or Bear front most of the time. 5yltM;6#D"A.+|F'g"##PBG Wi+5~ljx3!_YJ8a7p;[Bx$60FF8x\f@-. The end result of this 1st quarter play against UVA features Tyrell Wilson preventing the back from getting to the edge, the nose and tackle slant and fill their gaps, and Jack Tyler flies in on the blitz to make the play. The WHIP LB is a weakside LB, analogous to a JACK LB in a 3-4, who often blitzes off the edge in pressure situations, but who has to be able to cover backs well. In the 4-3-4 base set, the Rover aligns as a defensive back, specifically as one of the two safeties. As some of you may remember, Virginia Tech rose to prominence in the early 90's on the back of elite special teams, a grind-it-out conservative offense, a state of the art weight training program, and most significantly, on the back of a radical defensive approach that took recruits that nobody wanted and turned them loose like the dogs of war on opposing defenses. The Hokie Gap defense rose from the ashes of the famed "Hokie Attack" 8 man front of the 1990's. I admit, I got chills when I read Charley Wiles bullet on defensive line play: "Feet in neutral zone by the time the ball disappears into centers crouch.". 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. Hell Charley Wiles even stated that one thing he was challenging Antoine Hopkins on last August was making plays out of his alignment, i.e. However, in the Ravens 2 gap 4-3 that they ran in their Super Bowl season, Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams only job was to keep the interior line off Ray Lewis. Never forget Aaron Rodgers literally laughing at our defense. They made popular the "G" front and took the 1985 Bears 46 defensive front as a compliment, which Tech would call the "Tuff" package. I hope they can return to dominance. Drawing on the scheme's nickel roots gives 4-2-5 teams the ability to run a divorced front concept. The 6 comes from the switches called between the LBs and the backfield. 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. At that point, the players on the field know the down/distance and the front, pressure, and coverage calls. 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. Whip starts back and creeps up or vice versa. The zone run requires each offensive lineman to block the gap to the playside, moving along the line of scrimmage and maintaining contact for as long as possible with the first defender that crosses their face. I find it interesting how you compare our defense to being as unique as GT's offense. Part 3 and the final installment of this series will be dedicated to pressure concepts and the more popular pass coverage sets used by Virginia Tech and many other teams around college and professional football. When fans get their first glimpse of the Hokies this spring, they will see a huge degree of Bud Foster influence in Brent Pry's defensive scheme. When the TE switches sides, usually the Backer flips spots with MIKE to cover him. It's no secret that Tech uses a lot of "hybrid" type players. 1) I have seen a ton of schemes and I can't remember one that repeatedly asks the defensive tackles to stunt across multiple gaps and still maintain gap fits. I foresee a TON of blitzes on 3rd and long. From there, Tech held Miami to 10, Kent State to 0, #14 Wake Forest to 6, and Virginia to 0 to finish 10-2. You have heard the laundry list of coverage terms, but what do they mean? The nose tackle is a 1 technique, the tackle is a 3 technique. Miami has completely destroyed GT the last few years (if i remember correctly), and they do that by blowing up the GT OL at the LOS. - TheFifthFuller. 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. It wasn't ideal. In this installment of the series, we will cover the general concepts of Bud Foster's defensive scheme, including how offensive personnel and formation impact defensive alignments and responsibilities. If you have any questions, I will be sure to answer to answer them in the comments. This "Field G" is mostly what Virginia Tech is in nowadays. #Scales4Heisman. And then they all have to stay on the same page through a series of on-going adjustments just before the ball is snapped. From this base set, the Hokies can play any number of man and zone coverages while still getting to an 8-man front on any play by rotating the Rover up closer to the line of scrimmage just prior to the snap. 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. It is a scheme that looks complicated, but yet is very simple. 3) Finally, as stated in #2 above, this seems to be a heavy run control D and if we don't have super talented CB's who can cover their man without help we could get burned in the passing game real quick. If our defense is designed to "funnel" the ball carrier to certain positions I could see some recruits not liking that. They just dont have the special players they used to get at those hybrid spots and DE, which they always used to have. The whistle blows, the players un-pile and the cycle starts again. Odds & lines subject to change. I understand explaining that might as well be another post but it would be facinating stuff. Combining elements from each scheme is what gives the 4-2-5 its versatility. They recruit nimble, short tackles, which you don't see in the NFL. Thanks for reading! What I do see Tech doing is forcing opponents to keep the RB/TE in there to block by blitzing the WHIP often. MAN. Does this really hurt us? It is mostly combined with Man coverage and is pretty heavy on stunts and exchanges between the DL and LBs. I love the white helmet with the stripe and white facemask. Neither would a Pat Williams type DT. The Backer and Rover were strong side players, so they would usually align to the strong side of the formation. Thoughts? This is absolutely an attacking defense where every player is expected to #1 maintain leverage/control their gap responsibility and #2 attack attack attack the ball carrier. He had to make the Rover less a run-defender and more of a full-time DB, a SS in laymans terms. Where and how they play, and personnel types preferred, are highly scheme dependent. They know where to be and they know how to adjust more quickly to formation shifts and motion. How did you think TCU was able to defeat teams like Wisconsin with their 4-2-5? When Foster developed the concept for the Gap Defense, he looked to solve two problems. An 11 personnel group is one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers. The one-gap 4-3 is a little more similar to the Hokies in that each defensive front 7 has gap responsibility, but in the NFL almost never does the radical stunting that the Hokies perform (the NFL lines are good enough to adjust and drive the stunting linemen off the ball.). Most of the time, there is a safety/LB hybrid that is dropped into the box to create a true 8 man front. What's considered non-radical? If those guys don't need much safety help, then the corners can take chances, bait QB's and mix in robber coverages to get turnovers. Actually Clemson's D is not going to be all that different than what it was last year except that Venable is simplifying it without all the checks and stuff. A retired San Jose police officer was convicted Friday of committing more than $1 million in insurance fraud and $18 million in money laundering after exploiting workers at a private security . The formation is twins wide, so the passing strength is heavy to the wide side of the field. This book features Bud Foster, Defensive Coordinator at Virginia Tech; Chris Ash, Co-Defensive Coordinator, Ohio State; Mickey Matthews, former Head Coach at James . Down and distance is fairly obvious. The below diagram lays out a typical Hokie run blitz utilized to stop the zone run to the strong side out of an I formation. Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield. Seems there were a lot of big plays in that game and during the year. They have to get Maddy, Marshall, and McCray in there to dominate rather than having read and react play from Wilson and Collins (at tackle.). Either way we'll have 3 starting quality DT. Note: This is the second installment of a three part series about Virginia Techs nationally renowned defense. I had to go back and read about the defense given how I did not understand all the roles. Hopefully he has a breakthrough year. Bud Foster defenses know how to get after the quarterback. We wore it again that season in our ACC Championship win against FSU. This site utilizes responsive web design, which renders the site properly on all platforms (PC, tablet, mobile). http://www.playbookexchange.net/playbooks/Defense/02060201-VirginiaTechAttack.pdf. And whip will show blitzes naturally, a SS in laymans terms terms, but yet is simple! The ashes of the whip should be unblocked and should go directly to the other two LBs, and! 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