During this offseason I have spent more time then in the past listening to offensive coaches as opposed to the usual of just going into hear defensive coaches speak. This has paid real dividends for me hearing offensive coaches talk about their thought process on game day and game planning. In doing this the biggest thing that has stuck with me is how incredibly important a pre-snap read has become to offenses. Not just for the QB, but also the OL and the skill players. Some times all three must be seeing the same thing without time to communicate.
A lot of times, for simplicity’s sake, we brush disguise aside on defense. However my thought process is changing on this. The focus has now turned to finding easy ways to make offensive players have to react to what we are doing post snap. Not giving them an easy pre-snap read. This is the last of a series of blog posts I have done on disguise. My two earlier posts dealt with disguising the linebackers and the defensive backs. In this last one I will discuss disguising the defensive line.
In disguising the defensive line we keep three goals in mind. First to disguise whether we are in an even or odd front. A lot of coaches will determine this on whether the center is covered or uncovered. Whatever your base defense is, you’ll want to have the ability to cover and uncover the center to make the OL have to make calls and checks at the line. Second, many offenses like a certain play to be run at a certain defensive line technique. Whether it is the 3 technique (outside shade of the guard) or the nose guard shaded on the center. Giving disguise makes distinguishing this more difficult for the signal caller and the play caller. Finally any sort of indecision in the offensive line’s mind makes them less sure of their blocks and playing alittle more back on their heels. Different looks and movement by DTs pre and post snap can accomplish this and give your players an advantage.
Keeping those goals in mind, and understanding that simplicity is key in this, here are the four ways we like to disguise the defensive line.
1- Heads front
Instead of your DL aligning in their usual alignment, start them head up on the linemen then move to their shade. For example, if you are a four man front and your DTs shade the OGs one way or the other, have them start head up on OGs. Then on the snap move to their responsibility on the snap. See Diagram #1 for an example in a 3man and 4man front.
There are not too many two gap defensive coaches out there, so for those of us that shade a lot and one gap, it can have a good effect in lineman not being quite sure where your DTs will end up. It also will not give a 3 technique or a shade to an offense that is trying to pre-determine that pre-snap. Finally, if you use this with a stem or move calls, offenses will sometimes wait for the move call, and when it does not come may have to burn a timeout.
2- Stem Call
When you say “Stem” to players without giving them direction, it usually does not look like anything your defense runs and is easy for the offense to recognize what is coming.
One thing we have done is start our DTs in a head up alignment. Then on the second sound from the QB move them to a shade. When the ball is snapped the DL will slant away from that shade. In other words a more coordinated pre-snap movement that gives direction to your DL. See Diagram #2.
Lots of teams offensively want to run certain plays at certain defensive lineman techniques. Pre-snap they are trying to decide where those alignments will be. Stemming your DL is just another way to help create confusion within the offensive play caller and signal caller. It will also make the OL less aggressive if they are not sure where the DL will be moving.
3- Shift call
When the QB aligns in gun or under center, he usually looks left looks right then centers his head before the snap. When he centers his head we direct the MLB to make a loud SHIFT call to signal for the front to move to a different look. Let’s say from and Under front to an Over front or to a Bear front. At times an OL may jump offsides or we may time the move right before the snap making it even harder for the OL to change their calls. With this be sure to check with the officials before the game and the call you use cannot be a word used in the offensive cadence. See Diagram #3 for the shift from an Over front to an Under front as an example.
4- Pull or Push The Front
Another way to disguise up front, which for us actually came out of a blitz adjustment, is to have your boundary DE pull or push the front. If you are a four man front team have your boundary DE pre-snap go from a 3 point to a 2 point stance and pull the DTs and DE to him. This would bring the one tackle to a 4i technique and the another to head up zero technique on the center. The field DE would then align in a 4i. You’ll have to have some coordination with your LBs here, is there a TE to the field or not. But it will change your front from one the is not covering the center to one that is. A lot of times this determination effects the blocking schemes up front. You can similarly “push” to a four man front from an Okie front. See Diagram #4 and #5 for an example of a 4 man front being “pulled” to a 3 man front and a 3 man front being “pushed” to a 4 man front.
So there are four ways that we find helpful in disguising our defensive line. We feel these are simple ways to disguise whether we are in an odd or even front, not give the offense definitive defensive techniques to run their choice calls and keep the OL off balance.
Find ways that work with in your defensive scheme to make the offensive players determine post snap what kind of scheme your defensive line is in. As always, feel free to email (jmcdonald@wesleyan.edu) with any questions, concerns or feedback.