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I t is a tremendous honor to representJacksonville University in the A F C ASummer Manual . On behalf of our headcoach Steve Gilbert and our defensive staff

Rick Humphreys (linebackers), ShawnTrent (defensive line), and David Martin(defensive backs) I appreciate the oppor-tunity to share our ideas with you and hopethat you may gain some useful information.

I wish I could tell you that weve rein-vented the wheel and are running somenew-fangled defense, but that wouldnt bethe truth. As a defensive staff, we took overabout a month before the 2000 seasonstarted and barely had time to learn eacho t h e rs names. Without the benefit ofspring football to install our package, weneeded to develop a comprehensive pack-age that would handle the many differentoffensive systems that we face. We alsoneeded to keep it simple (KISS), so that theplayers and coaches were on the samepage. As coaches, we believe that the bet-ter our players understand our schemes,the more successful we will be. After all, itis not what we know as coaches, its ourability to convey that knowledge to ourplayers.

Having said this, let me clarify one thing:I am not hung up on any particular defen-sive scheme. The scheme must suit yourpersonnel and defensive philosophy. If youdont have the knowledge to make the nec-essary adjustments in your package,youre probably in the wrong defense. Runwhat you know and what you believe in.Dont try to copy a scheme with which youare not familiar. At JU, we base out of the4-3 because of the various offenses thatwe see. We run quarters coverage with allof its checks along with man coverage. Webelieve the versatility of our package givesus the ability to handle all of the differentoffensive systems we face without deviat-ing from our base.

Our three base fronts consist of stack(Diagram 1), G (Diagram 2), and opposite

(Diagram 3).Stack: Stack is our base package, play-ing cover 4 behind it. We want the ability toget into a 9-man front if people are going toget into a 2-back set and try to run the ball(Diagrams 4 and 5).

G: Is a front that we used more fre-quently as the season progressed. In thisfront we bump our nose guard over to theweak guard and walk our linebackers up intheir respective gaps. What we gain is theability to give the offense a new front with-

out changing our gap responsibilities. Withour linebackers up in the gaps, the offen-sive line is forced to respect their presence.This allows our defensive line to get moreone-on-one situations. We force theoffense to anticipate pressure, which againforces more one-on-one blocks up front.Any time we limit the potential for a doubleteam, we gain an advantage.

Shap Boyd

Defensive Coordinator

Jacksonville University

Jacksonville, Fla.

KISS Defense with thePower of Positive Thinking

Diagram 1: Stack

Diagram 2: G

Diagram 3: Opposite

Diagram 4: Stack Cover 4

Diagram 5: Stack Cover 4

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Coaching Point: When our linebackerswalk up, they stay on the heels of the defen-sive linemen so that they have the ability toscrape. We dont want to get caught up inthe legs of our defensive linemen.

Opposite: Is a front that we use as achange-up so that the offense cannot settlein and get comfortable knowing where ourthree technique and nose guard are going

to be positioned. The offense can show youa formation to get certain defensive tech-niques in certain positions and we do notwant to let the offense dictate where weposition our players. We want to have theability to position our players, as we deemnecessary. In opposite, we align our noseguard and defensive end to the tight endside, which would normally be our tackleand stud side. Our defensive calls areopposite from what they would normally be,thus the name opposite.

The advantage we gain by using thesefronts is the ability to show multiple lookswithout changing players responsibilities.This method is absolutely consistent withour KISS philosophy. Our linebackers gapresponsibilities remain the same in flow to

and flow away, for all of these defensivefronts. We have a limited amount of time ina practice to work on our linebacker fits, sowe keep as much continuity from one frontto the next to allow for carryover withincreased repetitions. Our linebackers arecoached to understand who their first threatis based on flow. Pre-snap the linebackersmust know how they are going to attacktheir respective blocker based on their fillresponsibility.

Once our players understand their fits in

each of these respective fronts, we installour line movements. In teaching this to ourplayers we refer to our movements as gapexchanges. We have single-man linemovements as well as tandem movements.We also have whole line movements. Thefirst thing that our linebackers must know iswhen a movement affects their gap orwhen they have a gap exchange.

Echo: Is a gap exchange for our defen-sive end and our Will linebacker. We like torun this line movement to help with strong-side runs. We feel that we have a chance toget an extra player to the strong side of theball. We will also run this to help on anystrong side isolation that might cut back tothe weak side. It can also be effectiveagainst the weak isolation play by forcing itto bounce outside.

FB: Is a gap exchange between ourStud and our Sam linebacker. We like torun this to help defend against the strongoff-tackle run game whether it is an isola-tion or power game. We also feel this helpsagainst the weak side run.

We now have a chance to get an extraplayer to the point of attack. In particular

this helps with the weak isolation play thatwants to cut back to the strong A gap.

Nail: Is a tandem movement for ournose guard and our defensive end. Wehave a gap exchange for both our noseguard and Mike as well as our end and Will.We would run this stunt to fortify our strong-side and help control the cutback lanes.

Hammer: Is a tandem movement for ourtackle and our stud. We run this stunt tohelp with the weakside run game and todisrupt offensive blocking schemes.

These are our main defensive linemovements. We have two additional linemovements that we like to employ. Thesebecome whole line movements:

Over: Is whole line movement that is agap exchange for all of our linebackers.This gives us the ability to slant into aneagle front on the snap of the ball asopposed to lining up in an eagle front. Wecan also bring our Will linebacker off theedge with this movement. This movementhas been effective against both run andpass.

Under: Is a whole line movement that is agap exchange for all of our linebackers. This isanother way to slant our line to the weak sidewhile also giving us the ability to bring our Samlinebacker off the edge. Again this has beeneffective against both the run game and pass.

Diagram 6: Stack Opposite

Diagram 7: Stack Opposite

Diagram 8: Echo

Diagram 9: FB

Diagram 10: Nail (Weak)

Diagram 11: Hammer (Strong)

Diagram 12: Over

Diagram 13: Under

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Coaching Point: On all of these linemovements it is important that our linementake a flat step and get a hard rip up fieldso that they do not get washed down. Thisis crucial if you are going to utilize move-ment in your defensive front.

One constant concern for 4-3 teams ishow to handle the two tight end formation.We have three ways that we handle the two

tight end formation.The first is to check to a Loose call.

This is one of our base adjustments andhas been a good adjustment for us. Weprefer this adjustment to walking our Willlinebacker up on the line of scrimmage.Two additional checks that we employ areour buster check, and our buster double Icheck. These last two checks help usremove one or more of the bubbles thatoffenses try to create. All three checks havebeen valuable and have served theirintended purposes.

The most important component to ourdefense is the power of positive thinking.There is absolutely nothing more importantto success than believing in what you aredoing. If you demonstrate that belief daily,

your players will believe in what you aredoing. It all starts with YOU, and how youpresent your package to your players. Bepassionate and clear about the system thatyou are teaching and your players will alsobecome passionate and confident. If youare wishy-washy your players will be

wishy-washy. It all begins with a belief, ifyou believe they will believe. Players willgive you exactly what you expect, nothingmore, nothing less. Make sure you expectenough!!

Again, on behalf of our head coachSteve Gilbert and the rest of theJacksonville University football staff, wewould like to thank the AFCAfor the oppor-tunity to contribute to this years Summer Manual . On a personal note, I would like tothank all of the coaches I have worked within the past. If not for their expertise andyears of tutelage, I might not have had thisopportunity. We hope this article will be ofsome benefit to you and your program, andgood luck in the 2001 season.

Diagram 14: Loose

Diagram 15: Buster

Diagram 16: Buster

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