Quarters Coverage: 3 Keys to

Defending the Boot Pass

Before we dive into defending the boot pass in Cover 4, I want to quickly
thank those who have been visiting the site and sharing the articles. Itʼs
great to get the engagement from fellow coaches, so Iʼm grateful for that.
Again, you can quickly share to Facebook, Twitter, etc. using the social
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Also, being that we are talking Quarters today, donʼt forget to check out my
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I recently wrote somewhat of a satirical article on the most annoying plays

to defend, one of which is what we are covering today: the boot pass. The
boot can be a Quarters beater because the natural misdirection can take
advantage of the aggressive Cover 4 linebacker play, and also challenge the
eye discipline of your safeties.

However, the potential damage of a boot pass should not require you to
change how you teach your kids. Standard Cover 4 rules will match the
boot routes, but just like anything else it needs to be specifically repped
with as much attention to detail as possible.

The 3-Level Boot Pass

The boot pass is a pretty versatile concept, but for the purposes of this
article I am referring to the most popular 3-level version where the offense
floods 3 zones to one half of the field: short, intermediate, and deep. The
formations, routes, and who runs where obviously vary, but thatʼs the
general concept.

The boot pass is rarely designed to hit the deep route, which is most often
designed to clear space for the shallower routes, and poses very little
deception to the defense.
The simplest route, the short flat route, is the one that the OC coaches his
QB to take every time if itʼs not immediately matched. Itʼs a quick hitter that
can get the ball in space if your backside guys are undisciplined.

The hardest route to defend, however, is the intermediate route that usually
comes from a tight end dragging across the field. When the offense has set
up their boot with their primary perimeter play like outside zone or toss, the
development of this route can be difficult for your kids to identify.

In Cover 4, the corners will be solely responsible for matching the deep
route of the #1 receiver, so we will focus on how to match the other two
routes: the flat and the drag.

3 Keys to Defending the Boot Pass

In order to prepare your defense to defend the boot in your base Quarters
coverage, the following 3 items are key points of emphasis:

#1 – “CBRS” Play

One acronym we use, which is probably similar to something you do, is

“CBRS.” It stands for Counter-Boot-Reverse-Screen, and we use it to
remind our safeties and outside linebackers of their responsibilities when
they read action away.

The “C” in CBRS for the safeties often means “cutback” more often than it
does “counter.” A Cover 4 safetyʼs top priority is always to match the
release of the #2 receiver, but if their #2 is in the backfield then they are
keying the QB and thinking cutback and boot on run action away. They will
stem down and shuffle laterally, getting ready to look up the drag as soon
as they recognize the boot.
With the outside linebackers, we constantly stress “no routes across the
face.” This means that if any wrong colored jersey comes in front of them
and “across their face,” that route takes priority over anything else. They
need to redirect (if necessary) and run with it immediately, as this will be the
QBʼs primary read.

Against the boot, that route crossing the OLBʼs face is typically either the
fullback out of the backfield (who they typically key anyways), or a backside
wing running the heel line of the offensive line.
In order to properly defend the boot pass, your safeties and outside backers
need to rep their CBRS responsibilities early on in camp. Typically, the boot-
side safeties will match the drag with their #2 in the backfield, while the
outside backers will match the short route crossing their face.

If the offense is in a one back formation with one or more TEʼs, however,
then the boot pass can get slightly more complicated. With both safetyʼs #2
receivers aligned as either a TE or a slot, recognizing the drag can become
a little harder. This is where the next key comes in.

#2 – Eye Control

Eye control is the most important trait of a Cover 4 safety. If your safeties
donʼt have eye discipline, you canʼt play Cover 4. It doesnʼt matter what
scheme the offense presents.

Some Quarters coaches have their safeties read the QB first, however we
prefer the cleaner read that the #2 receiver gives. Not only do we believe it
is the most accurate read at the high school level, itʼs also the safest. You
donʼt have guys running by you.
In the boot game, letʼs assume that the #2 receiver is an attached tight end.
When coaching a Cover 4 safety to identify #2ʼs run action, we talk about
watching him to contact. If he doesnʼt get his hands on somebody, then he
is getting into a route. We bounce in place and wonʼt add ourselves to the
run game until our #2 has.

If we get that drag across the field, a disciplined strong-side safety can get
on top of the route and help to sandwich it. This can be a difficult route to
match, especially if the boot-side safety is occupied with action from his
own #2, but with disciplined eye control he can at least put himself in
position to impact the play.

Still, stuff happens. Your kids will make mistakes, because theyʼre kids.
Thatʼs why itʼs also important as a Quarters coach to drill the following
technique, our 3rd and final key to defending the boot pass.

#3 – Mike Redirect to Depth

We will work a specific boot drill with our linebackers where they will react
to the flow of their near-back key before planting and redirecting to their
responsibility.

We mentioned CBRS play earlier where the weakside linebacker runs with
routes across his face. He will practice that here as well, with the added
component of forcing the QB if he has nothing coming across his face.
Either way, he canʼt be caught in no manʼs land.

The strongside linebacker (or strong safety/overhang depending on your

front) will check for the potential wheel route coming off the ball fake.

The key to this drill though is the Mike. As he recognizes the boot, he must
plant his foot and redirect to depth, as the drag route typically deepens as it
develops. Whether he plants with his outside foot and stays facing the QB,
or plants with his inside foot and has to speed turn in a 360, does not
matter. We just want him to get underneath the drag as fast as he can and
force a tight window, ideally to sandwich the drag with the safety.

Itʼs Only a Beater If You Let It Be

Just like anything, knowing your weaknesses and repping them until they
are strengths is important in any defensive system. The boot pass can be a
Quarters beater if you donʼt give it proper attention, but the keys to
defending it all fit within the framework of the Cover 4 system.

As you can gather, the drag route is the trickiest to defend and poses the
most problems with the misdirection. The backside safety has the best
chance at matching it against most 2-back boot schemes, but offenses can
also formation you to occupy that safety in a lot of 1 back boot schemes.

Either way, we stress CBRS responsibilities for our backside players, eye
control for our safeties, and getting a vertical redirect/push from our Mike in
order to put us in the best possible situation to defend the boot pass.

Thanks again coaches for all of your collaboration and feedback. Feel free
to leave me a comment or shoot me an email at coachtwich@gmail.com.
Donʼt forget to share this article on social media using the side buttons to
help get the word out, and also to get your free copy of “10 Reasons to
Build Your Defense Around Press Cover 4.”

I appreciate it. Happy beginning of summer! Weʼre almost there…

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