FOOTBALL Stack 3-3 Five

FO
Stack 3-3 Five-Man
Zone Blitzes
By Kenny Ratledge, Defensive Coordinator, Sevierville (TN) County H.S.
T
his article is an addendum to the article "Stack3-3
Zone Blitzes" published here in August 2006.
That article detailed four-man rush schemes with a
four-under three-deep configuration.
This article explores the anatomy of a rush five-drop six
concept, which obviously allows the defense to exert more
pressure than a rush four-drop-seven scheme.
Before the advent of the zone blitz concept defenses
would have had to use man-to-man coverage with all its
attendant problems, i.e.:
Mismatches with offensive personnel.
Completions usually mean longer gains.
Interceptions are less likely because defenders have
their backs to the ball.
Scrambling quarterbacks are harmful because defenders have their backs tumed.
Play-action passes may present a conflict between
run/pass responsibilities.
Man coverage busts are more cosUy than zone busts.
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The ability to stunt and play zone allows the defense to
pressure the quarterback and enjoy the benefits of zone
coverage, i.e.
' Offers belter run support.
' Allows defenders to better see the ball and break when
the ball is thrown.
• Defenders don't have their backs to a scrambling quarterback.
• Gang tackling is more conducive in zone than man.
• Less talented players can be used.
• Zone defenses handle crossing rotes, picks, and rub-offe
better than man coverage.
Zone blitzes can be run from a multitude of defensive
systems. However, the availability ot eighl two-point
defenders makes the 3-3 or 3-4 defenses a prime conduit for
an effective zone-blitz package.
The following compendium of zone blitzes allows the
defense to bring pressure from the strong side, weak side.
2007 JANUAHV 15
FOOTBALL Stack 3-3 Five-Man Zone Blitzes
right or left. The ability to blitz from the right and left allows
the defensive coordinator to attack wide side or short side.
College names are used to call the blitzes; Spartan
denotes a blitz from the strong side.
Wildcat brings pressure from the weak side,
LSU triggers the blitz from the left, while Raven is from
the defense's rigbt.
The coverage call is Zebra, which puts the defense in a
rush five-three under-three deep zone. Later on, we will discuss running these stunts with man coverage, which we call
Cover Money.
3-3 PERSONNEL
Before discussing the particulars of zone blitzes, we
must first examine personnel.
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DIA.3, SPARTAN C
Spartan (strong side) Cover Zebra, Diag. 3
Nose - Sooner
Stud - Long stick
End - Sooner
Bandit - stunt
Will - curl/flat
Mike - zone over #3
Dog - stunt
Rover - spin to hole
Corners - deep outside 1/3
Free Safety - spin to stunt side curl/flat
DIA.4, WILDCAT COVEIt ZERRA
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Diag. 2 shows personnel predicated on offensive
strength.
S - stud (strong end)
16 JANUARY
The stunt-side end will slant two gaps away from the
stunt. This is called a Long Stick. The nose and away side
end slant one gap away from the stunt. This is called a
Sooner technique.
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ZONE BLITZ LINE PLAY
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Diag. 1 shows base personnel.
N - nose
E -ends
B-bats
M - mike
D - dogs
C - comers
F - free safety
In the generic base look, the defense has a left and right
end, left and right bat, and left and right dog. For stunt
purposes you must distinguish those positions by offensive strength.
DIA.2,0FF>PI1O SPLIT,
FR>3-3 FRONT B,C0V>3-3
E - end (weak end)
B - bandit (strong bat)
W - will (weak bat)
M - mike
D - dog (strong dog)
R - rover (weak dog)
C - comets
F - free saiety
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Wildcat (weak side) Cover Zebra, Diag. 4
Nose - Sooner
Stud - Sooner
End - Long stick
Bandit - curl/flat
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FOOTBALL Stack 3-3 Five-Man Zone Blitzes
Will - stunt
Mike - zone over # 3
Dog - spin to hole
Rover - stunt
Corners - deep outside 1/3
Free safety - spin to stunt side curl/flat
DIA.6, WILDCAT
SUN COVER ZEBRA
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Diag. 8, Wildcat Sun Cover Zebra
DISGUISING ZONE BLITZ
Care must be taken that the offense doesn't readily
diagnose the defense's intention of running the blitzes. It
would be beneficial to have the Dogs fake blitzes with simple up/back and in/out movements pre- snap.
The Free Safety can also give the illu.sion that he is .spinning by simply leaning right or left pre-snap. Another effective disguise would be to run the blitzes from a cover 2 shell,
LSU (left side) Cover Zebra, Diag. 5
DIA.6, RAVEN COVER ZEBRA
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Raven (right side) Cover Zebra, Diag. 6
An LSU call brings the five-man pressure from the
defense's left. Raven brings the pressure from the defense's
right. This flexibility enables the defensive coordinator to
bring pressure to the quarterback's blind side, enables him
to attack selected offensive personnel, wide side, short
side, and attack offensive tendencies.
The offensive formation is irrelevant. The stunt is direction oriented.
A lane exchange on the backside of the blitz is possible.
This supplies additional pressure on the offense.
BLITZES WITH MAN COVERAGE
If your defense is blessed with good athletes, you can run
these blitzes with man coverage. Cover Money means man
coverage. The rules are very simple. They are as follows:
Nose - Sooner
End to the stunt - Long stick
End away from the stunt - Sooner
Bat to the stunt - stunt
Bat away from the stunt - #2 man to man
Mike - #3 man to man
Dog to the stunt ~ stunt
Dog away from the stunt - spin to hole
Corners - #1 man to man
Free safety - #2 to the stunt man to man
These rules can be applied to any of the above-mentioned blitzes.
RIA.7, SPARTAN E
COVER ZURA
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Diag. 7, Spartan Eon Cover Zebra
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Diag. 9, Spartan Cover Money is an example of one of
the previously described stunts using man coverage •
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