DIAGRAM 6: Dog. This is an all-out, 8-man blitz and is usually run from the Eagle “Out” look. We usually play man coverage in the secondary and tackle the offensive backs as they run through the holes. If a back peels to the flat, it’s the responsibility of the outside LB to peel and play man-to-man. Tackling the backs will prevent the screen play from hurting your defense.
This blitz is not shown before the ball is snapped and is devastating to the offensive blocking scheme. The only way to properly prepare for it is to gap protect on every play.
DIAGRAM 7: Eagle Out “Tight.” This look features the OLBs walking up to the line of scrimmage and presenting the defense with seven men on the LOS. It creates a great blitz look and also serves as a short-yardage defense. We often show the tight look and shift to our 44 base defense.
The Eagle looks like our other fronts and is based on pressure. The secondary can play straight man coverage or play zone if it isn’t facing a great passing defense. You should be willing to give up a pass to the flat.
KEEPS OFFENSE GUESSING
The great thing about this and the other defenses is the offense does not know if you are going to blitz or not. Placing a grain of doubt in the mind of the opponents gives you a great tactical advantage.,By B. Scott Smith, Head Coach,
Ezell-Harding Christian School, Nashville, Tenn.
OUR PROGRAM HAS great success with a version of the 8-man front. We do many things from the base set that serves to confuse the offensive blocking scheme.
The defense is designed to close down running lanes and put extreme pressure on the passing attack. It uses many coverages but it’s normally a man-free situation or straight-cover-3 look. Most of the time the secondary is in a man-press posture.
AGGRESSIVE STYLE OF DEFENSE,The 44 base defense, along with its companion 5-3 Eagle, allows for two tight-end sets as well as multiple receiver sets. You want your defense to be an aggressive, attacking defense that dictates play to the opposing offense.
This is accomplished by blitzing on almost every down, shifting to other fronts and changing the coverage look after the quarterback’s pre-snap read. This defense is based on single-gap coverage and reading the flow of a back or backs.
DIAGRAM 1: 44 Base Defense. Here are the gap responsibilities of each player. Having a strong side and a quick side will allow you to potentially flip flop sides on every play.
EASY TO CHANGE
The Eagle defense shows a different look to the offense while maintaining the standard 8-man front pressure. All stunts remain the same no matter which defensive front is presented. This simple approach cuts down on teaching time and allows for more repetitions each week. The only changes from the base 44 to the Eagle defense revolve around switching gap responsibilities among a couple of players.
DIAGRAM 2: Eagle “Out.” This adjustment, is our most frequently used and only switches the gap responsibility of the nose guard and Willie linebacker.
Now the Willie LB is nose up on the center and has the weak A gap as his responsibility. The NG switches from a 1-technique on the guard to a 3-technique and is now responsible for the weak B gap.
The Mike LB stacks over the Willie LB at a depth of 3 to 5 yards. Mike LB’s gap is still strong A, but essentially he’s a free-running player protected by the Eagle adjustment of the defensive tackle, Willie LB and NG.
DIAGRAM 3: Eagle “In.” For this adjustment, have your four inside players remain in the same positions with the same responsibilities as with the Eagle “Out” defense. The “In” adjustment switches the gap responsibility of the defensive ends and outside LBs. Now Hero and Stud have the C gap, and the two DEs have the D gap and the outside-contain assignment. This adjustment gives you three LBs inside the tackle box to combat a strong inside-running game. To further confuse the opposition, switch from the “Out” to the “In” just before the ball is snapped.
BLITZES OUT OF THE EAGLE,DIAGRAM 4: Double “A” Stunt. The NG and tackle attack the B gaps and the stacked LB tandem attacks the A gaps. This places a tremendous amount of pressure on the inside four gaps and opposing teams must practiced against it in order to stop it. The stunting LBs are free to switch A gaps.
DIAGRAM 5: Double Razor. The ends and OLBs crash their gap responsibilities and shut down the off-tackle holes. The ends work to the original alignment of the FB, and the LBs come off the corner at tailback depth. This stunt funnels everything back to the Mike linebacker, who cleans up anything that manages to get through still standing.
