Our short one-quarter areas extend back 16 yards from the line of scrimmage because we are trying to force the passer to throw the football higher to his receivers behind our front line. We think that our linebackers can get back approximately 12-14 yards, but we always tell them we want them to cover 16 yards so they will hustle and work hard to get depth on their pass coverage. If we said only 12 yards, they might only get back to a depth of 10-12 yards, which would not be sufficiently deep to cover their zones.
If our inside linebackers drop back 16 yards and our corner linebackers drop to 8 yards, if all four of these defenders are in a football position and ready to move, they should be able to touch any ball that is thrown in this area. There may be a ball thrown in front of our linebackers, but a completed pass in this area normally will not defeat us. We believe if the passer goes back seven or eight yards, and our rushers can make him release the ball at a higher angle over their extended arms and fingers, it will be difficult for the passer to throw in front of the linebackers. Consequently if they hustle and get to the depth I have indicated, they should be in a good position to intercept any ball thrown into their zone. We instruct our men in the short “fourths” to tip the ball when possible, providing they cannot intercept it, as one of our deep backs is likely to intercept a deflected pass. Incidentally, at times we will not have a defender in every “fourth,” or only two of the “fourths” will be covered. At other times we’ll have an extra man in one of the “fourths.”
After our linebackers get back to their positions, we want them to assume a relaxed position with the feet almost together, knees slightly bent, and ready to move in the direction indicated by their keys. We adopted this stance after making a study of Jackie Robinson’s relaxed and always ready-to-move position on the baseball field. We do not want our players to waste time and motion running in a circle getting to the football.
We can play only three men back in the deep zones. Therefore, we divide our deep zones into “thirds.” A pass should never be completed in one of the deep zones if the line rushes hard forcing the passer to release the ball higher than usual, if the 3-deep men cover their zones properly, and if they see the ball leave the passer’s hand and hustle to intercept it. Of course, teams do complete passes on us in these areas, but we do not believe it should ever happen. Each of the 3-deep men is a “guardian” of his particular area of the field, left, middle and right one-third.
The “thirds” will vary in size. As an example, if the football is over on the offensive team’s left (our right) hash mark, the defensive right halfback’s third would be smaller than the left halfback’s one-third, as illustrated in [Figure 53]. The right halfback’s one-third is smaller because of field position, and secondly because the ball has a relatively shorter distance to travel if thrown in this area of the field. Conversely, if the ball were thrown in the left halfback’s area, the ball would be in the air longer on a deep pass and both defender and receiver would have farther to go to get to the ball. Therefore, the defensive left halfback’s “third” would be larger and farther removed from the ball on the opposite hash mark.
Figure 53
OUR PASS COVERAGE
We normally want a man in every area on our pass coverage, unless we decide for one reason or another not to cover one of the “fourths,” as I indicated previously we sometimes do. The defender must intercept or knock down any and all passes thrown in his area. The defenders do not play man-to-man in their areas, but each man covers a zone. If he will play in the middle of his zone or area, when the ball is thrown he can go to it. If a defender plays a man instead of his zone, the decoy can take him out of his area permitting another receiver to catch the ball. Then our defense is not sound. Therefore, we stress zone coverage, and playing the ball—not the man.