Building a championship football team

by Paul W. Bryant

Figure 67

Defensive Right Corner Man—He lines up in his regular position and observes the type of play developing. When he sees the offensive end to his side releasing downfield and the action is coming toward his side, he is alert for a pass. He then turns to his outside and sprints to his short one-quarter area, which is about eight yards deep. He should be in a good football position so that he can cover his zone properly. He must try to stay wider than the widest man in his area, unless he is closer than six yards to the sideline.

Defensive Right Halfback—After lining up in his proper position, when the action starts toward his side, he sprints to his outside getting depth and tries to get into a position so that he can cover the deep one-third area, as illustrated in [Figure 67]. He should be as deep as the deepest man in his area, and when the ball is thrown, he plays the football and not the receiver.

Defensive Left Halfback—When he sees the flow going away from him, upon receiving an oral signal he will turn to his inside and start for an angle of pursuit through where the safety man would have lined up if it were a 3-deep defense. On his third or fourth step he should see a pass developing, and then he must start for the deep middle one-third of the football field.

Defensive Left Corner Man—On the snap of the football as the defensive left corner man sees the flow of the backs going away from him, he immediately knows only one man can come to his side as a receiver. Therefore, he must sprint back to cover the deep one-third area, usually covered by his defensive left halfback in a normal situation. He gives an oral signal to his halfback, which releases him from his normal responsibility.

Defensive Linebackers—The defensive linebackers play the action pass on the 4-spoke defense exactly as they do on the 5-spoke defense, which was explained previously.

4-Spoke Pass Defense Versus the Roll-Out Pass

[Figure 68] illustrates the 4-spoke pass defense versus the roll-out pass. The box-wing defenders must react as follows:

Figure 68