At that point, the players on the field know the down/distance and the front, pressure, and coverage calls. Were tallish and relatively lean. Whip is to the passing strength, which is most often to the field but (against teams like Pitt) can be to the boundary. So now the first question to come to mind is "How do they even handle spread teams when they can have 8 or 9 men in the box?". Likewise, by no longer asking the Rover to man up against speedy slot receivers to the wide side of the field allows linebacker / safety type athletes like Aaron Rouse to be successful at that position. There are a ton of details that are critical for the defense to execute properly. Simple. He's as genuine as they come. Stanford understands that the whip most often will line up to the weak side of the defense. Tech often checks out of 4 into their version of straight Man, called a Cover 6 package, but it maintains the C4 look. The attack from the DL is the next step, but they have to achieve their gap fit first. (Dave Knachel/Virginia Tech athletics) Article It's a season of transition. They tie up the center and both guards, allowing the middle linebacker to go unblocked sideline to sideline. A terrific example (which of course I cannot find a good video of) is the 2010 interception of Stephen Morris by Jayron Hosley against Miami. I have had some great question both here and on twitter about some of the nuances of the defense. 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. His recruiting dropped off when it became apparent that players could be great in that system, but the fundamentals they acquire do not translate to the NFL. That gives up some of the flat zone coverage, so watch for more WR screens this week if they show us C4. I have a few questions: 1) With all the extra movement in the "radical stunts", do you see this as wearing down the front 7 more and possibly being the cause for some of the injuries, esp last year, (ex. I still worry about the whip (watching film of the Stanford game will do that to a guy) and Maddy and Marshall have to take the next step. How many Hokies have become elite corners in the NFL? *U# N)qQ/y(H"hVt kf@^L;,R?P0;|v44 JFC=zYh AWEBYl5I[.X@v6UQV@_msY)Ng1KhZ/Y)va+XsM =_ewrr\|2Q)/zN]N}q_r{f-wvw)1,Z )$fy86g8@ZtqI,dX& ^twn*g$b{xoa.WwDWZflk1g,JIEfPO[h-H( ,AdYp[fuNP&SuhZs`um%?HSpQ1Y. They've only had a few with an NFL frame, and none of them worked out. WHIP often creeps up because he usually gets a 1 on 1 matchup with the RB in coverage. Its a bit like a Tampa 2 defense, where the MLB drops back deeper in zone over the middle with 2 safeties behind, except that here youre dropping the FS down instead of backing up the MLB. Am I getting overconfident that we'll be able to better compete with Clemson this year based on the following assumptions: from Clemson beat writer Greg Wallace via Andy Bitter: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/06/ask-another-teams-beat-writer-clemson. So, I don't think having our DL being smallish gives us a good advantage to counter the GT offense (a la moving our DE in as a DT and then replacing the DE with T. Wilson), since Miami has prototypical NFL DT's and absolutely mauled them at the LOS. . Yet, unlike most stunts and blitzes where the defensive player is trying to shake loose to make a play, the Foster gap defense still requires the players who were stunting to maintain responsibility for their assigned gap. UNC had those guys, FSU has those guys, and that is about it in the SEC. They have to have the frame and natural instinct. I'm pretty sure, if VT could land Hand or Brown, Foster would develop them into 1st Rd D-linemen, even in a gap fitting scheme. A student manager signals the personnel group (12 in this example) via the sign board. In the 4-3-4 base set, the Rover aligns as a defensive back, specifically as one of the two safeties. So something else broke down that lead to Clemson being able to run the ball like they did in the second half. Defensive Alignment in the Four-Four In the 90's, Bud Foster used two alignments with the 4-4 defense. Suddenly the gap is open, and the back has a nice hole. B) Bud resurrected many of the 8 man front concepts during the awful end of Beamer's departure. Here's the INT described at the end of the article. The 60-year-old Foster, who has been with the Hokies since 1987 and has served as defensive coordinator since 1995, is currently the longest-tenured assistant coach in the FBS. )jlOkD0 Nzlk}nGr(eancz#pC)vg`gd>fX&qb' h3L88ihTy%B|1ebUX9T ";*KM Clemson Basketball: 2014 Scholarship Roster. We will review the scheme adjustments that were made following the 2003 season and the impact they have had. Your thoughts please. Containment often fell onto the shoulders of the Whip LB, a hybrid player that was part linebacker and part safety. Why are we sometimes successful (last year 2nd half) and sometimes not so successful (09 second half)? Yeah Hosley getting knocked out screwed the rest of the defense off. 2) In a one gap 4-3, the DL wants to get up field and make plays. If you have any questions, I will be sure to answer to answer them in the comments. The Whip and Free Safety were more weak side players, so they would usually align to the weak side of the formation. Such a menacing look. When Frank Beamer coached under Bobby Ross, they ran the Wide Tackle 6, and he took that with him to VT. Aaron Rodgers, Kellen Moore, Andrew Luck all have great skills under pressure. Once their keys indicate that the running back has the ball, each pursues the ball. The Backer and Rover were strong side players, so they would usually align to the strong side of the formation. I admit, I got chills when I read Charley Wiles bullet on defensive line play: "Feet in neutral zone by the time the ball disappears into centers crouch.". Bud, a divorcee, married Jessie in February on Super Bowl Sunday, about four months after the hospital scare and around the time discussion began about him retiring. Gap fit means when the defensive player hits the assigned gap, he must hold that gap maintaining the proper leverage in order to get off a block and make a tackle. A "Bear" front covers both OGs and the Center, making it an Odd front. A London Fletcher or Brian Urlacher type linebacker would not be a good fit for the Hokies. 20102023, Orange and Maroon Media, LLC. For example, a 21 personnel group is two running backs, one tight end, and two wide receivers. To the uneducated eye, the defense features two ends, two tackles, three linebackers, two safeties, and two corners just like a traditional NFL style 4-3, but Foster turns the 4-3 concept on its ear. Because its a 4-4 defense that has to be able to handle the spread offense at times, it needs some rather special players at some of the hybrid LB spots. The "G" front is the base front, but here I have not adjusted to the formation. I love the white helmet with the stripe and white facemask. "-John Blutarsky, Small, and generally stout defensive tackles certainly seem to be the Bud Foster model. Keeping the Whip closer to the line of scrimmage allows him to play more like a true linebacker, which helped an athlete like James Anderson flourish at the position. 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). We play three different packages: G, T u f f and FD/ST-G. Our G package is our base defense. Presented by, Click here to access all three parts of the Hokie Defense series by Raleigh Hokie. And you can quote me on that shit!" Clemson started to rise after that game, and we started to fall. Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor. At the time, the Whip and Rover were described as hybrid players that had combination linebacker/defensive back responsibilities. If you compare how offensive schemes don't really hurt a recruits ability to make it to the NFL, why should a defensive scheme hurt us too? The mike linebacker has no pass coverage responsibility in most of the Hokie defenses. couple that with (hopefully) some VERY strong dline recruits panning out, and landing dhand and/or brown next year, and it seems as if our defense is only going to get better and better, French-- in your opinion what position in the front 7 is the most important for a successful tech D. Also fwiw if tyler plays every play like those 2 video plays above its going to be hard to keep him off the field especially against gt. Because the line is flowing play-side, the Whip should be unblocked and should go directly to the ball-carrier. The potential risk is that the movement can allow for gashing big running plays if the players can't control their gap responsibility. a !1AQa"q2B#$Rb34rC%Scs5&DTdEt6UeuF'Vfv7GWgw(8HXhx )9IYiy TSL) is an independent publication that is in no way affiliated with or sponsored by Virginia Tech or the Virginia Tech Athletic Department. He has held the job since 1996, and he came to . Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield. He had to use less of the C2R and more Cover 4. %PDF-1.2 % 8 0 obj << /Length 9 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream . "My advice to you is to start drinking heavily. This morning, I actually stumbled across a presentation that Bud Foster made to the AFCA back in 1999. I played in the pre-2004 VT defense in HS at Westfield which was also a popular defense with Oakton/Robinson and I guess now South County which has Bendorf. It also put the Whip and Rover in better positions to be successful. In other words, without changing the base personnel, it was a scheme that could adjust play to play from a run stopping 8-in-the-box set to a strong pass stopping set with five defensive backs (Whip, Rover, Field Corner, Boundary Corner, Free Safety). The Hokie Gap defense rose from the ashes of the famed "Hokie Attack" 8 man front of the 1990's. The helmets they're wearing are still my favorite VT helmets. 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. 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 architect of Tech's famed Lunch Pail Defense, Foster was the longest continually tenured FBS assistant coach at the same school at the time of his retirement in 2019. Look at Florida under Urban Meyer. The scheme is also simpler to execute because the players are aligned based on ball position, rather than on the strength of the offensive formation. At the time, there was a lot of discussion about the changes, both from the coaches directly and from others close to the program. 3. MAN. This "Field G" is mostly what Virginia Tech is in nowadays. Maddy is going to have to really step it up to be the starter. The "nickel" linebackers have almost no pass defense responsibility, and instead are used in a variety of blitz packages designed to outman the offensive line and force the quarterback to make quick throws, where the designed hidden coverages in the secondary await to pick off the pass. 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