Thanks! Through the first half, Andre Ellington was averaging like 1.3 yards a carry with 23 yards total. I will touch on this more when I write my column on the secondary play, but I think because Hokies safeties have been victimized in man coverage so much, that Foster is looking at his safeties having less run support responsibility and being better at coverage, hence the change of putting converted corners at safety. http://www.orangeandwhite.com/news/2012/jan/21/swinney-hired-venables-br OT: "The Mandalorian" S3 discussion thread (feat. HT-T5632U0 BcD\^}O##|^ endstream endobj 13 0 obj 45 endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Name /I22 /Filter /DCTDecode /Width 32 /Height 3 /BitsPerComponent 8 /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /Length 11 0 R >> stream The dominant defenses in Tampa Bay of the late 90's early 2000's allowed Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice to get up field as the method for controlling their gaps. 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. Engleberger wasn't a bust. What I do see Tech doing is forcing opponents to keep the RB/TE in there to block by blitzing the WHIP often. (Please note, the Hokies may use letters or other terminology to identify each gap.). They know where to be and they know how to adjust more quickly to formation shifts and motion. 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. All of those adjustments are made in real time by the players on the field. Gap fit means when the defensive player hits the assigned gap, he must hold that gap maintaining the proper leverage in order to get off a block and make a tackle. "My advice to you is to start drinking heavily. So, I don't think having our DL being smallish gives us a good advantage to counter the GT offense (a la moving our DE in as a DT and then replacing the DE with T. Wilson), since Miami has prototypical NFL DT's and absolutely mauled them at the LOS. But the biggest thing is probably the QB ability to react quickly to the pressure (a key part of the Hokie D). Also BF has talked about wanting to change the "DNA" of our DL referencing Ala. and LSU's D-lines. The defensive calls will be different on 2nd and three versus 3rd and nine. The result of these adjustments is a scheme that has proven to be more effective against the current trend of spread formation, passing-oriented offenses. Here's the INT described at the end of the article. In that AFCA presentation could you explain what Wiles means for h.(Under Defensive Line: 10 Commandments) Escape: Rip or wipe, push with power, pull with trail, step 45 and rip your gap. When the TE switches sides, usually the Backer flips spots with MIKE to cover him. A "Bear" front covers both OGs and the Center, making it an Odd front. 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. An example are the Virginia Tech teams of Frank Beamer and Justin Fuente, with Bud Foster serving as defensive coordinator under both. After all, at Pry's introductory presser he noted he cut his teeth as a graduate assistant in the mid-90s under Foster. 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. The scheme will give about 3,000 families in poverty $1,000 a month for a year, and there are no . James Anderson is the only Hokie alumni who is a starter in the front 7 of an NFL team. He doesn't believe in double-talking players, or as he continually referred to as "fork tonguing" them. These coverages have the goal of taking away the crossing routes over the middle and the post route that is used to attack C2 defenses, but also keep a guy relatively close to the LOS to help with the run, or running QBs. With a 2-high safety base set, the Hokies can play a lot of different zone coverages (while still playing man coverage when they want), preventing offenses from dictating match-ups with their personnel groups and formations. The diagram below uses numbers to identify each gap. 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. Hopefully he has a breakthrough year. "That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! 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. 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). That would have been tough duty for a guy like Rouse, who was much better suited for the current responsibilities assigned to the Rover (1) back as a deep safety to the boundary side or (2) up at the line of scrimmage as an outside linebacker playing boundary run containment or picking up a tight end in man coverage. Cover 6 goes well with the pressure fronts they like to show. Upvoted. MAN. An 11 personnel group is one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers. Virginia Tech uses both their base look (which features each lineman and linebacker having gap responsibility for the gap in front of them) or a more radical stunting approach based on the talent Foster has available. Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor. Damn shame if you ask me. 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. And based on the history of Bud Fosters defenses, its likely that the play is stuffed. Oh well. I saw that and knew we were in trouble. Several things are known at the end of the first play game situation, down and distance and ball position. Either way we'll have 3 starting quality DT. Anytime you see the mike backer dropping back, it is change up defense hoping the QB throws to a spot without seeing the mike. The other two LBs, MIKE and "Backer" play zones over the middle like any other Cover 2 zone. Because the line is flowing play-side, the Whip should be unblocked and should go directly to the ball-carrier. In addition to these types of coverage adjustments, there may be front and pressure adjustments made by the defense as well. 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. Worilds was moved to OLB and by the accounts of Steelers insiders, has struggled with the transition to a 3-4 look. In an obvious passing down. Join the community. The Gap Defense is grounded in a simple concept. The attack from the DL is the next step, but they have to achieve their gap fit first. How do those pieces fit together and how do they work collectively to form one of college footballs best defenses? The nose tackle is a 1 technique, the tackle is a 3 technique. This "Field G" is mostly what Virginia Tech is in nowadays. It is a scheme that looks complicated, but yet is very simple. When Frank Beamer coached under Bobby Ross, they ran the Wide Tackle 6, and he took that with him to VT. Remember that what I am describing in this series is at the 5,000 foot level. From all of us at The Key Play, get off the bench and in the game. Remember getting gashed repeatedly by just about everybody we played? What about that sign board with numbers like 21 or 11? I think we played less aggressive which led to Clemson eventually winning. 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.). He does not have to be a big guy, but he does have to have a very high motor. against Stanford in the OB? Seems to me it would be a waste of time unless they are going to use him at DE. A lot can still happen from that base pre-snap state, including shifts, motion, and checks/audibles by the offense. At the snap, the nose has the daunting task of stunting two gaps, crossing the face of both the guard and the tackle to get outside shoulder gap fit on the 4 gap. Really great stuff. From the formation, they know the passing strength of the offense and based on that they will slide their respective alignments accordingly (still within the basic alignments defined by ball position). Even if they win, guys like Hopkins and Collins were just not the same after the GT game last year. 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. 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. We wore it again that season in our ACC Championship win against FSU. Even more bedeviling to teams that use pro-style running games, Foster uses a huge variety of stunts, hard slants, and linebacker blitzes to "funnel" the ball carrier right into an unblocked defensive player. It turns into a 1/4-1/4-1/2 scheme, C3, or you have to split the coverage so that the single receiver backside is getting man coverage. 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.). You cannot play straight M2M all the time. The offense goes through its gyrations to get a better pre-snap read and the defense adjusts accordingly. It's no secret that Tech uses a lot of "hybrid" type players. The Tigers complete their season sweep of the Wolfpack. 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.". Nuk Hopkins is usually a Boundary-side WR, so he gets the Boundary CB most of the time. Mr. Hokie Cody Grimm was moved to the secondary (which is funny given that pass coverage was his greatest weakness as a Hokie.) Hopefully Logan will have improved his accuracy to be able to make them pay for it. What is a zone blitz? 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. Tyler is almost always coming forward at the snap except when a key has him pursuing playside. Tech's attacking eight-man-front scheme, first instituted by Elmassian in 1993, has become one of college . Stopping the run is one of the basic tenants of the defensive scheme. Quarterbacks, seeing the odd space develop, are often easily baited into throwing seam routes against this coverage. When Virginia Tech plays Duke on Friday night (7 ET, ESPN/ESPN App), Foster will coach his 282nd game as the Hokies' defensive coordinator. In this installment of the series, we will cover the general concepts of Bud Fosters defensive scheme, including how offensive personnel and formation impact defensive alignments and responsibilities. Neither would a Pat Williams type DT. 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. Based on what you said, don't the DL's all "tie" up the lines in both Bud scheme and the traditional pro-scheme? 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. Hosley was excellent enough to execute the design up there with the very best ball hawk the Hokies have had. The results of these adjustments speak for themselves. The boundary, field, and rover all have pass coverage. Adobe d C Down and distance is fairly obvious. Watkins is usually Fieldside. I don't know recall the plays that Taylor and JWG got hurt, so I am not really sure. The defensive linemen get into the neutral zone, engage their blocker, secures their gap, and sheds the blocking using a "violent hand motion" (rip, swim, push-pull, or 45 technique). 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. As for tight ends, teams that play tight ends usually end up with the rover or free safety covering them. The Hokies used a base 8-man front the majority of the time. The Backer and Rover were strong side players, so they would usually align to the strong side of the formation. *:JZjz ? But after several seasons of getting pounded into the turf by the Tech defense, teams began to spread things out and use more 3-4 wide receiver formations to isolate certain match-ups. They have to have the frame and natural instinct. They recruit nimble, short tackles, which you don't see in the NFL. Some teams run a 2 gap scheme (which is much more difficult to get players for.) At the time, the Whip and Rover were described as hybrid players that had combination linebacker/defensive back responsibilities. -- French. A student manager signals the personnel group (12 in this example) via the sign board. From there, Tech held Miami to 10, Kent State to 0, #14 Wake Forest to 6, and Virginia to 0 to finish 10-2. The changes were not major in terms of philosophy and were primarily related to base sets, player alignment and the responsibilities of the Whip and Rover positions. Such a menacing look. They know on which side to align based on ball position. In terms of positions, the Stud, Whip, Mike, Field Corner and Free Safety always align toward the wide side of the field. The Stanford tight ends (who were all NFL caliber blocking tight ends) were then matched up with the weakest member of the Hokie front seven, in this case, Jeron Gouveia-Winslow. In these cases why couldn't we stop the run? I remember the first half of the Stanford OB and watching one of Stanford's 300 lb guards kick out and just flatten Eddie Whitley. Most of the comments were centered on the adjustments to the Whip and Rover positions, so I wanted to revisit that and clarify some points in those areas. Now, he will get a jump start at Ohio State, where he will always have a talent advantage over the best Big Ten schools. 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. Once their keys indicate that the running back has the ball, each pursues the ball. Not sure Tahj Boyd's skills are of the same caliber but he took advantage of us as well. . I'd have to double check but I'm fairly certain Wiles even said he is the starter going into August camp because his players don't lose their starting jobs due to injury. I'm sure Nick Saban said the very same thing to him hence his "I don't believe I could achieve my goals at VT" comment. Suddenly the gap is open, and the back has a nice hole. There are a ton of details that are critical for the defense to execute properly. A "gap" is an area of space on the field that the defensive player is responsible to "control." The Hokies showed a blitz up front, and Jayron showed a cover 3 look by bailing out and back pedaling before the snap. This allows the players to react instinctively and play with more confidence. Los Angeles is launching a guaranteed income pilot program, set to be the biggest in the US so far. Oh, and lets not forget the secret weapon. This site utilizes responsive web design, which renders the site properly on all platforms (PC, tablet, mobile). 1. "That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! The first number reflects the number of running backs and the second number reflects the number of tight ends. Presented by, Click here to access all three parts of the Hokie Defense series by Raleigh Hokie. Without the post-2003 adjustments, there would have been many plays where Rouse would have been isolated in man coverage against the slot receiver. It seems to me that when Bruce Taylor is in the game there's quite a bit more of a mix. Many defenses set the alignment of their players based on sides of the ball (ie, left and right) or formation strength (ie, which side the TE is on). So, it's not surprising that the man's personality matches his philosophy when it comes to dual reads in offensive football. 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. He was on a roll at the start of last season and his recovery is going really well. Thanks for reading! Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield. They do not run blitz as much with him in the lineup, however he is used just as much on mike dog pass blitzes (at points he was their most dangerous pass rusher as a blitzer last year.). In fact, since he arrived in Blacksburg in 1995, the Hokies have led all FBS programs in sacks (894) and sack yardage (-6,110). The offense makes the next move by setting their personnel group for this example, they have just removed one of their two running backs and sent in a second tight end. Does this really hurt us? If healthy, this year's defense is going to be quite different. Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who announced Thursday he would be retiring at the end of this his 33rd season, is the longest continually tenured assistant at the same school in . By handing off in this way, the defenders do not tip the coverage. Field G front. I don't have the time to cover them all, but this is a pressure-based defense. Antone Exum is moving forward at the snap, and both Exum and Hosley end up making the tackle along with Luther Maddy. Note- things I was wrong about when I started this off: A) Backer is to the boundary. "-John Blutarsky, Small, and generally stout defensive tackles certainly seem to be the Bud Foster model. "My advice to you is to start drinking heavily. Clemson Basketball: 2014 Scholarship Roster. While the Hokies were able to win, Collins was a shell of himself until the bowl game after Georgia Tech, and I am convinced that was because he was so beat up. Bud Foster called this scheme his "attack defense" but the base alignments were 8 man front's following the model of the famed Buddy Ryan 46 defense used by the Bears and Eagles in the 80's. His initial spot is 3x5 off the TE, reading the #2 receiver. To counter these offensive trends, Bud Foster made some adjustments to the base defense after the 2003 season. Watching film of South Carolina against Clemson, South Carolina absolutely manhandled the Clemson OL, the same OL that manhandled the Hokies in the 2nd half of the ACC CG. How will VT defend against teams like Stanford and other NFL caliber offenses? Clemson started to rise after that game, and we started to fall. While it's currently a knock that VT hasn't developed NFL linemen, it's more of an inability to recruit them onto campus than anything else. 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. Nose Tackle: The Nose (Luther Maddy): The nose will line up as a 1 technique, on the inside eye of the play-side guard. In obvious passing situations, the Hokies would shift to a base 4-3-4 look by dropping the Whip as the second safety. In the big games where we got burnt it was the opposing QB's abilities that made the difference. Maddy is going to have to really step it up to be the starter. 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