WHIP often creeps up because he usually gets a 1 on 1 matchup with the RB in coverage. Registered users can participate in the forum, post and vote on comments. Smart Football did an excellent write up on the Hokies robber and 4-4G. How did you think TCU was able to defeat teams like Wisconsin with their 4-2-5? . 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. 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. That gets us to the pre-snap look for second down. Really excited about the front seven this year. We will look at the Hokies pass defense in more detail in a later post. The defense slides their individual alignments based on that personnel group and passing strength. Worilds was moved to OLB and by the accounts of Steelers insiders, has struggled with the transition to a 3-4 look. 46 does not stand for 4 DL and 6 LBs, the name is derived from the player Buddy Ryan used to play one of the attacking LB positions. In certain situations, without changing the personnel, the Hokies will play an 8-man front, with four defensive linemen, four linebackers, and three defensive backs (4-4-3 alignment). The singular thing that can derail their run defense is getting chewed up physically against Georgia Tech. -Bud Foster. There is an extensive blitz package in VTs scheme. I foresee a TON of blitzes on 3rd and long. The strongside End, called a "Stud", aligns over the inside of the TE (7 technique) and the other DE aligns in a 5-technique. 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. The Rover was a strong side outside linebacker in the 8-man front that would slide out as an additional corner / defensive back against 3-4 wide receiver formations. How many Hokies have become elite corners in the NFL? Thanks for reading! . 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). OT: "The Mandalorian" S3 discussion thread (feat. There are a number of factors that the coaches consider when setting the defense from play to play. The alignment is a disguise, as he has no pass coverage responsibility. Instead of slanting as much (because his DL had a tendency to lose gap control and his backer couldn't figure out how to be in the correct place), Bud reverted back to shooting gaps. I was getting confused reading the comments and didn't see they were from 5 years and 12 months ago. Justin Hamilton is in his first year as Virginia Tech's defensive coordinator after serving as safeties coach last year. Kudos to Foster and Co. for making the adjustments. It really is an outlier as far as defenses, as much as Paul Johnson's wishbone is on offense. 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. Where and how they play, and personnel types preferred, are highly scheme dependent. The wide variety of stunts are designed to make backs read holes that are not there, causing them to run right into the mike or backer who have moved across the formation to meet the back in the hole. Whether you've been running the 4-2-5 defense for years or you're looking to implement the scheme for the first time, . Most of the time, there is a safety/LB hybrid that is dropped into the box to create a true 8 man front. Clemson Basketball: 2014 Scholarship Roster. If he went out, Rover has him. The Tigers first-half offensive struggles were too much to overcome in a 64-57 loss. 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. h_k@vJbR Damn shame if you ask me. Seems there were a lot of big plays in that game and during the year. What VT plays most against pro-style teams is Inverted Cover 2 Robber, but the deep cover guys are the Cornerbacks, not the safeties. 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. Simple. The coaches helped by putting him in positions where he could be successful. When they play 46 front, its mostly man/man, because its a pressure front like the Under we use. Note- things I was wrong about when I started this off: A) Backer is to the boundary. Basically, it requires two defensive tackles who can each command double teams. '+,,-/4443.4444444444 They made popular the "G" front and took the 1985 Bears 46 defensive front as a compliment, which Tech would call the "Tuff" package. *:JZjz ? Here's the INT described at the end of the article. Access Exclusive Content and Financially Support The Key Play. The boundary, field, and rover all have pass coverage. I hope they can return to dominance. Winslow and the defensive end (JR. Collins) to an X stunt, with Collins going outside and JWG taking the inside (or #5) gap. Whip: The Whip (Kyle Fuller) lines up wide, but well to the inside of the slot. http://www.orangeandwhite.com/news/2012/jan/21/swinney-hired-venables-br OT: "The Mandalorian" S3 discussion thread (feat. But the biggest thing is probably the QB ability to react quickly to the pressure (a key part of the Hokie D). Clemson started to rise after that game, and we started to fall. Great stuff as always French. One of Techs defensive coaches in the booth communicates the ball position, down/distance and personnel group to the coaches on the sideline. Hopefully Logan will have improved his accuracy to be able to make them pay for it. Likewise, the End, Backer, Boundary Corner, and Rover always align toward the short side of the field. 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. TechSideline.Com 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. Combining elements from each scheme is what gives the 4-2-5 its versatility. Attack Defense Bud Foster Defensive Coordinator Virginia Polytechnic Institute Blacksburg, Va. Jim Cavanaugh Outside Linebackers Lou West Secondary Charlie Wiles Defensive Line Diagram 2 Your thoughts please. The legendary defensive coordinator stepped away after the 2019 season, but his . When they face 21/22/12 personnel, theyll set up in the G front or Bear front most of the time. Bud Foster received national recognition for the way his Bear defense surprised and shut down Urban Meyer's vaunted spread rushing attack in 2014. Jack Tyler can't cover a rock, so CBF adjusts his schemes and defensive calls to account for that. Upvoted. For this example, here is a pre-snap diagram of a likely defensive set against a 12 personnel group (one RB, two TEs, two WRs). How will VT defend against teams like Stanford and other NFL caliber offenses? If NFL type DT's wouldn't fit BF's scheme then what's the use of trying to recruit guys like an Andrew Brown? Backer: The Backer (Tariq Edwards) lines at the same depth as the mike but in the guard tackle gap. The doubles on the interior also give the ends more flexibility to get upfield and rush the passer. James Anderson is the only Hokie alumni who is a starter in the front 7 of an NFL team. In a robber coverage, the safeties actually come forward at the snap while the corners bail out to a deep third. So something else broke down that lead to Clemson being able to run the ball like they did in the second half. Lets go through the sequence that takes place in the 20-30 seconds between the end of one play and the next snap. In terms of base sets, the Hokies transitioned from being a heavy 8-man front defense to a 4-3-4 base set characterized by two deep safeties. I'm sure our coaches cite James Anderson who transitioned from Whip to NFL LB, and Jason Worilds who played DE at Tech and was drafted as an OLB for the Steelers. The defense was predicated on putting 8 men in the box, and bringing a wide variety of unique blitzes to confuse and outman the offensive line, while in the secondary attempting to hide coverages and trick the defense into throwing into their quick blitz read, where a Hokie defensive back sat waiting to take the ball the other way. http://www.playbookexchange.net/playbooks/Defense/02060201-VirginiaTechAttack.pdf. I have not watched any tape of Miami vs Georgia Tech, so I am not sure if they make any specific adjustments from their normal scheme, but they certainly have the Yellow Jackets pegged. He must maintain gap control on the 6 gap and not allow the running back to get outside his outside shoulder. He has held the job since 1996, and he came to . A "Bear" front covers both OGs and the Center, making it an Odd front. French on the Bench is a new series of posts that will take a closer look at the theory, fundamentals, and scheme of Tech's offense and defense. With deep safety help, Hosley stopped his back pedal and planted on the snap, and he stepped in front of the quick curl and picked off the pass to seal the game. Gambling problem? A London Fletcher or Brian Urlacher type linebacker would not be a good fit for the Hokies. 2) This defense also seems to point out a weakness for a athletic, good hands tight end (ex. 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. This book features Bud Foster, Defensive Coordinator at Virginia Tech; Chris Ash, Co-Defensive Coordinator, Ohio State; Mickey Matthews, former Head Coach at James . 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. Thanks! 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.). When Fuller took over whip, it seemed like that balance flipped, with the Whip finishing on more blitzes and the Mike not filling up the pass-rush stat column as much. At the time, the Whip and Rover were described as hybrid players that had combination linebacker/defensive back responsibilities. 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. To counter these offensive trends, Bud Foster made some adjustments to the base defense after the 2003 season. I'd like to see those guys like McCray playing more than thatespecially down the stretch with Clemson, fsu, and Miamifresh legs all round are a gOod thing.. McCray played more against UVA and Michigan than I thought he did, and he had some good pass rush (but he was usually second in the race behind another defender.). This column was more about the run defense, so I can work on drawing up some plays and video that shows how Clemson neutralized the Hokies in a future piece. 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. 8 Ohio State with schemes used by Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster,. More to come in my next post. The Hokies play a base 4-3-4 defense, meaning that there are four defensive linemen, three linebackers and four defensive backs in the base set. Stanford also used formation to create matchup problems. The DEs aligned much like they do today with the Stud always to the wide side and the End always to the boundary. How do those pieces fit together and how do they work collectively to form one of college footballs best defenses? It is actually not a 4-3 base, as its introduced on your TV sets, but is a 4-4 front that has morphed into using 4-3 personnel. Virginia Tech football's defensive coordinator, Bud Foster, has been on the job for 18 years now, but he keeps revealing new layers of brilliance to show why he's the best defensive boss in. Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor. Clear as mud right? Mike: The Mike backer (Jack Tyler) lines up directly over the center, and blitzes against the flow of the play to fly through the 1-3 gap. 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. 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