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Coach Macho - aggressive man coverage?

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theuksu said:
@Coach Macho in your opinion do we have the CBs to play aggressive press man coverage as a base in our defense? And any thoughts for how to better defend the QB draw. Our defense is elite but the quick throws and QB draws caused us problems last season in big games.
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QB draw wasn't used against us all that much this season.

Only Castellanos, Drones, and Chambliss had any meaningful yards during a game.

- CJ Carr had a long of 13
- Byrum Brown long of 6
- DJ Lagway long of 5
- Castellanos long of 18
- Kevin Jennings long of 5
- CJ Bailey long of 10
- Drones long of 19
- Heinstchel long of 8
- Marcel Reed long of 11
- Chambliss long of 19
- Mendoza long of 12
 
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Its kinda hard to complain with the end result but situationally playing country cover 3 irked the **** out of me all season, lol.. But we were a top defense so its like dam cant really say much. But with more eyes on us even the best in business like Saban and Belichek were like with our talent why we have 10 yard cushion bailing at snap free access throws against this offense.. Kinda frustrating but again hard to complain when you see end result.

Our Dline was a freakshow upfront which can obviously cover up a bunch of sins and it was year 1 of install. Having watched the IU defense in lead up you hope our backend returning that we can tighten up our coverage and awareness and squeeze zones better and with more awareness (I just cant stand a guy covering grass while a receiver is right next to him open in 2026) because we would play same coverages but the windows would be different. Also hope for less busted coverages on back end also.. Its crazy to imagine and some will push back but there is actually alot of meat on bone and room for improvement.
 
hollyhood27 said:
Teams got a lot of mileage out of curl/flat variations against us
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And then Ole Miss’ TE made a highlight tape off the corner route - one of the hardest routes to cover and communicate while in Cover3.

For run game reasons, I understand why Hetherman stays away from quarters, but I never understood why he played such little Cover2 as a mixup coverage. Especially with our DL. Cover 2 with solid press or hands on the WRs would force all sorts of adjustments from Ocoordinators.

Again, I understand the reasons and a lot of the results were fantastic, especially in the run game support, but we’ll see if Hetherman adds some spice in year 2.
 
skyman said:
Its kinda hard to complain with the end result but situationally playing country cover 3 irked the **** out of me all season, lol.. But we were a top defense so its like dam cant really say much. But with more eyes on us even the best in business like Saban and Belichek were like with our talent why we have 10 yard cushion bailing at snap free access throws against this offense.. Kinda frustrating but again hard to complain when you see end result.

Our Dline was a freakshow upfront which can obviously cover up a bunch of sins and it was year 1 of install. Having watched the IU defense in lead up you hope our backend returning that we can tighten up our coverage and awareness and squeeze zones better and with more awareness (I just cant stand a guy covering grass while a receiver is right next to him open in 2026) because we would play same coverages but the windows would be different. Also hope for less busted coverages on back end also.. Its crazy to imagine and some will push back but there is actually alot of meat on bone and room for improvement.
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Cover-3 Match is my jam...
It's the COUNTRY Cover-3 that irks the **** out of me.

I just don't get it, particularly when there's a better version of Cover-3 that's been available since 1994 (when Saban and Bill invented it). 🤷🏻‍♂️

There's way too many ways to exploit country Cover-3, particularly when you have your CB's bailing like they're receiving the baton in the 4x100.
Occupy the flat defender for a second and you've got hitch open all day on the outside. (and thats what we saw versus Indiana)

It would literally madden me at times, but like you said it's hard to complain when the end result is one of the best defenses in the entire country. I do appreciate how Hetherman would change his approach in the second half and tighten up coverage.
 
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Coach Macho said:
Cover-3 Match is my jam...
It's the COUNTRY Cover-3 that irks the **** out of me.

I just don't get it, particularly when there's a better version of Cover-3 that's been available since 1994 (when Saban and Bill invented it). 🤷🏻‍♂️

There's way too many ways to exploit country Cover-3, particularly when you have your CB's bailing like they're receiving the baton in the 4x100.
Occupy the flat defender for a second and you've got hitch open all day on the outside. (and thats what we saw versus Indiana)

It would literally madden me at times, but like you said it's hard to complain when the end result is one of the best defenses in the entire country. I do appreciate how Hetherman would change his approach in the second half and tighten up coverage.
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Any chance you'd be able to ask Hetherman about his philosophy regarding corners press bailing and the use of spot dropping over match principles at the clinic you mentioned you're attending?
 
Coach Macho said:
Cover-3 Match is my jam...
It's the COUNTRY Cover-3 that irks the **** out of me.

I just don't get it, particularly when there's a better version of Cover-3 that's been available since 1994 (when Saban and Bill invented it). 🤷🏻‍♂️

There's way too many ways to exploit country Cover-3, particularly when you have your CB's bailing like they're receiving the baton in the 4x100.
Occupy the flat defender for a second and you've got hitch open all day on the outside. (and thats what we saw versus Indiana)

It would literally madden me at times, but like you said it's hard to complain when the end result is one of the best defenses in the entire country. I do appreciate how Hetherman would change his approach in the second half and tighten up coverage.
Click to expand...

You think it's to get kids thinking less after last seasons debaucle or just his philosphy in general? Not sure what he ran at Minnesota
 
88 said:
Don't have access to all but here's Indiana

View attachment 356597
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Incredible because they had a Safety I think some posters on here can beat in a foot race. They did have one excellent LB in coverage. Another who was ok. And another fast dude. I will never understand our initial approach to that game. Their middle defenders looked like they were in **** trying to chase Toney around. Oh well. I promise to let it go.
 
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theuksu said:
@Coach Macho in your opinion do we have the CBs to play aggressive press man coverage as a base in our defense? And any thoughts for how to better defend the QB draw. Our defense is elite but the quick throws and QB draws caused us problems last season in big games.
Click to expand...
QB draw is tough to defend unless you know it's coming. My two approaches have been...

1. Lineup in a "Tite" Front (4i-0-4i) which doesn't allow the draw to hit up the middle, thus forcing the QB to bounce where your guys can run him down.

2. A "TE" stunt which essentially has the DE's start up-field then loop inside. This renders them unblocked, and when the QB steps up to run the draw, he runs into the waiting arms of the stunting DE's. This is probably the best approach because it also works on passing plays.

But like I said...
You have to get an idea of when it's coming.

3rd down with anywhere between 5-7 yards to go is sometimes an alert.
 
LuCane said:
Incredible because they had a Safety I think some posters on here can beat in a foot race. They did have one excellent LB in coverage. Another who was ok. And another fast dude. I will never understand our initial approach to that game. Their middle defenders looked like they were in **** trying to chase Toney around. Oh well. I promise to let it go.
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Its interesting because i posted about how dawson sounded more confident in our pass game than our run game in pre game press conferences

He probably felt like if we just come out in the beginning like he did in the 2nd half with uptempo pass heavy ill get killed for it but it probably would have gave us more success in the first half

Still think going for it on 4th and 1 instead of a 50 yarder with a bad kicker could have salvaged a bad half but it is what it is
 
Coach Macho said:
QB draw is tough to defend unless you know it's coming. My two approaches have been...

1. Lineup in a "Tite" Front (4i-0-4i) which doesn't allow the draw to hit up the middle, thus forcing the QB to bounce where your guys can run him down.

2. A "TE" stunt which essentially has the DE's start up-field then loop inside. This renders them unblocked, and when the QB steps up to run the draw, he runs into the waiting arms of the stunting DE's. This is probably the best approach because it also works on passing plays.

But like I said...
You have to get an idea of when it's coming.

3rd down with anywhere between 5-7 yards to go is sometimes an alert.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. Curt Cignetti mentioned on that 4th down play that they knew the QB sneak would work based on our tendencies and formation.
 
Coach Macho said:
Cover-3 Match is my jam...
It's the COUNTRY Cover-3 that irks the **** out of me.

I just don't get it, particularly when there's a better version of Cover-3 that's been available since 1994 (when Saban and Bill invented it). 🤷🏻‍♂️

There's way too many ways to exploit country Cover-3, particularly when you have your CB's bailing like they're receiving the baton in the 4x100.
Occupy the flat defender for a second and you've got hitch open all day on the outside. (and thats what we saw versus Indiana)

It would literally madden me at times, but like you said it's hard to complain when the end result is one of the best defenses in the entire country. I do appreciate how Hetherman would change his approach in the second half and tighten up coverage.
Click to expand...
Coach,
Could you perhaps give some insight into why Hetherman played it that way?
 
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