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Stack 3-3 Five-Man Zone Blitzes

By Kenny Ratledge, Defensive Coordinator, Sevierville (TN) County H.S.

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.

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.

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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.

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

ZONE BLITZ LINE PLAY

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. DIA.3, SPARTAN C

3-3 PERSONNEL
Before discussing the particulars of zone blitzes, we must first examine personnel. DiA.t, BASE m m n v Off >PRO SPLIT. F l l > n FRONT e,COV>

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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

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

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Diag. 2 shows personnel predicated on offensive strength. S - stud (strong end)

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 O O

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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.
RIA.7, SPARTAN E COVER ZURA

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.

Diag. 7, Spartan Eon Cover Zebra Z007

Diag. 9, Spartan Cover Money is an example of one of the previously described stunts using man coverage COACH AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOr

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