Drake Zone Blitz

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Applying Pressure with

the Zone Blitz


I t is truly a pleasure and an honor to be
able to represent Drake University in the
AFCA Summer Manual. On behalf of our
What is a Zone Blitz?
The term zone blitz refers to bringing an
extra rusher and playing some form of zone
head coach Rob Ash and our defensive coverage behind it. At Drake, we have a
staff — Defensive line coaches Roc number of different ways to get an extra
Bellantoni and Paul Davis, linebacker rusher. One way is to simply vacate an
coaches George Sypnewski and Dan underneath zone by bringing one of our
Sullivan — we appreciate the opportunity linebackers and not drop anyone. Some of
to share some of our ideas and hope that our zone blitzes require us to bring two
they can be of some benefit to you. linebackers and drop one defensive line-
When a certain scheme starts to enjoy man. We also have zone blitzes that bring
some success, you can be assured that two linebackers and drop two defensive
many teams will soon be running some linemen.
variation of it. The zone blitz is definitely an
example of this. Virtually every football Why Do We Run Zone Blitzes?
team at the pro and college level, is run- In being an attacking pressure defense,
ning some form of zone blitz. At Drake, we use a variety of five and six-man pres-
zone blitzes have become a vital and very sures, playing man free and straight man
successful component of our defensive behind them. If we do not blitz, we often
package. This article will briefly discuss show blitz and play different combinations of
why we run zone blitzes and examine a few man and zone coverages. We think by run-
of our favorite ones. ning zone blitzes, that we combine some of
Before getting into our zone blitz the best elements of both, blitz and zone
schemes, I would first like to share our concepts, while at the same time creating
defensive philosophy. There are 10 impor- confusion and indecision for the offense.
tant points to our philosophy. By showing the same pre-snap look and
changing up between man and zone pres-
Drake Defensive Philosophy sure, it makes it tough for the quarterback
Chris Ash 1. The best defensive teams are great to get any kind of a pre-snap read at the
because of their ability to stop the run first. line of scrimmage. We give a pressure look
Defensive Coordinator We want to put the offense in predictable with man coverage as much as possible.
situations. When we run a zone blitz, the defender is
Drake University 2. To stop the run, we must put the best falling off and passing the receiver to
11 defensive players on the field. another defender. This creates confusion
Des Moines, Iowa 3. We want to be known for being relent- and makes it difficult for the quarterback to
less. When the ball is snapped, we are decide where he is going to throw the ball.
going to have 11 players flying as hard as We will play with our corners up in the face
they can to the football. of the wide receivers, and play either press
4. Look complicated, but be simple with man or bail them to a deep third to further
technique, alignment and assignment. This add to the confusion.
simplicity will lead to aggressiveness. Along with confusion for the quarter-
5. Pressure and attack the offense. To back, zone blitzes add confusion for the
do that we must be able to: offensive line as well. Keeping offensive
A. Stem our fronts. linemen on their heels by guessing whether
B. Disguise our coverages. their man is going to rush or drop leads
C. Blitz the quarterback. them to play tentatively. Once we get the
6. Stress “three-and-out” series and get- offensive linemen to play in a passive
ting off the field quickly. Most big plays hap- mode, we feel it really benefits our normal
pen when the defense is tired. four-man pass rush.
7. We must control the sudden change With our philosophy of being an attack-
situation. Do not give up a touchdown in a ing pressure defense, we rely heavily on
sudden change situation. our secondary’s ability to play man cover-
8. Create turnovers. Force takeaways age. Even though this has been good to us,
through emphasis. it does put a lot of pressure on the defen-
9. We want to develop a “win every play” sive backs. The zone blitz gives us a safe
mentality. If the defense loses one play, we and effective way to still put pressure on
may lose the game. the quarterback, but remove some of the
10. Play with excitement, enthusiasm, stress put on the defensive backs when
effort, and enjoy playing the game. playing man coverage.

• AFCA Summer Manual — 1999 •


We use pressure to try to dictate and dropping a safety into the underneath hole Diagram 7: Eagle Storm Cover Three
limit what an offense can do. By being able area. As a change-up, we will run zone
to create confusion, we hopefully can force blitzes from a two-deep look.
an offense to commit a significant amount Diagram 3: Cover Three Strong
of practice time to preparation for our wide
variety of man and zone blitzes. This takes
practice time away from things that they
want to do offensively.
Once you have success putting pressure
on the quarterback, offenses start going to
maximum protection. They will keep their check for run first. On his drop, he reads
backs and potentially their tight end in for from No. 2 to No. 1. He is a seam to flat
extra pass protection. Now, instead of getting dropper.
four or five receivers out into pass patterns, Diagram 4: Cover Three Weak Sam: Blitzes D gap. Is a contain player.
we will start to see more two and three-man Mike: Blitzes strong side B gap.
routes. By using zone blitzes, we can put Scrapes tight off of the bandit going inside
pressure on the quarterback, plus have max- to the A gap.
imum coverage versus limited receivers. Will: Key is No. 3. Is a B gap player with
Another thing that we have discovered run at him. Plays strong A gap with run
about zone blitzes is that our players have away. He is the hole player vs. pass.
fun running them. Our linebackers are Rover: Drops seam to flat strong. He
always wanting to blitz, and our defensive reads No. 2 to No. 1.
linemen dream about having the opportuni- Free: Rotates to the deep middle third.
ty to get an interception or getting a big hit Diagram 5: Three-Robber Corner: Bail to deep outside third.
on a receiver while in pass coverage. Zone
blitzes give us something that our players The next blitz we will look at is run out of
really enjoy doing and have a lot of fun our eagle G front and we call it eagle G
preparing to run each week. flush. In this blitz, we are going to bring our
Mike and Will linebackers and drop our
How Do We Run Zone Blitzes? weak side defensive end. Behind our flush
We base our zone blitzes out of our 4-3 blitz we will drop our free safety into the
and eagle fronts. We have the ability to get underneath hole and play our three-robber
an extra rusher by bringing one or two line- coverage.
backers and dropping one or two defensive Diagram 6: Two-Deep Diagram 8: Eagle G Flush
linemen, depending on the blitz.
Three Robber
Diagram 1: 4-3 Front

The first blitz we will look at is run out of Responsibilities


our eagle front and called eagle storm. In Bandit: Contain player.
eagle storm, we will blitz our Sam and Mike Nose: Cross face of the guard into the
Diagram 2: Eagle Front
linebackers and drop our weak side defen- strong B gap.
sive end. Behind it, we will play cover three Tackle: Contain player.
to the strong side of the formation. End: Attack the offensive tackle to
check for run first. On drop, read from No.
Responsibilities 2 to No. 1. He is a seam-to-flat dropper.
Bandit: Rip inside and attack the Sam: Attack the tight end to check for
guard’s outside shoulder. We want him to run first. On his drop, he will read from No.
take the A gap by crushing the guard inside 2 to No. 1. He is a seam to flat dropper.
and then working vertically upfield. Mike: Blitz weak A gap. Come tight
Behind our zone blitzes, we will primari- Nose: Cross face on the center into the behind the Will blitzing.
ly play some form of three-deep. We can weak A gap. Will: Blitz strong A gap.
roll to cover three strong, cover three weak, Tackle: Contain player. Rover: Rotate to the deep middle third.
or play what we call three robber, which is End: Attack the offensive tackle to Free: Drop into the underneath hole.

• AFCA Summer Manual — 1999 •


Corner: Bail to deep outside third.
The third and final zone blitz we will look
at is called stack whip. It is run out of our
stack front. In this blitz we will bring our Will
and Mike linebackers and drop our strong
side defensive end. Behind it we will roll
Cover 3 to the weak side of the formation.
Diagram 9: Stack Whip Cover Three

Responsibilities
Bandit: Attack the tight end to check for
run first. On the drop, he will read No. 2 to
No. 1. He is a seam to flat player. The Drake defense held it’s opponents to less than 300 yards in total offense
Tackle: Contain player. last season and was a big reason for the Bulldogs earning their second Pioneer
Nose: Cross face of center into strong A Football League championship.
gap.
End: Rip inside and attack the guard’s Free: Drop and become a seam to flat Again, on behalf of our head coach Rob
outside shoulder. We want him to take the player weak. Read No. 2 to No. 1. Ash and the rest of the Drake University
A gap by crushing the guard inside and Corner: Bail to deep outside third. football program, we would like to thank the
then working vertically upfield. We have had some success with our pres- AFCA for the opportunity to contribute to this
Sam: Hole player. Read No. 3. Run to, sure package by incorporating the zone blitz. year’s Summer Manual. I would also like to
play B gap. Last season, we had a total of 36 sacks and thank all of those coaches who, through the
Mike: Blitz weak B gap. Scrape tight off 18 interceptions in 10 games. We believe in years, have helped us grow in this profes-
of the defensive end going into the A gap. the aggressive, attacking style of defense. Our sion. We hope this article can be of some
Will: Blitz C gap. Contain player. players and coaches believe in our system benefit to your program, and wish you the
Rover: Rotate to the deep middle third. and are committed to preparing it each week. best of luck in the 1999 season.

NCAA Position
on Gambling
The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering. Sports wagering has
the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare
of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community. Sports wagering
demeans the competition and competitors alike by a message that is contrary to the
purposes and meaning of ‘sport.’ Sports competition should be appreciated for the
inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches and institutions
in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.

For those reasons, the NCAA membership has adopted specific rules prohibiting ath-
letics department staff members and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activ-
ities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional sporting events.

• AFCA Summer Manual — 1999 •

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