Hurry Up No-Huddle Defense: Defending All Formations With the Pattern Read Cover 3 and Cover 1

Coach David Joyce has developed a reputation for quickly turning around struggling programs, allowing them to compete for conference championships while becoming State Tournament qualifiers. He has turned a team that was 0-10 in 2008 into a 9-2 playoff team in 2011, and took another school from 2-8 in his first year to 8-3 overall and a conference championship. In just his third season at Mountain Home, Coach Joyce's team earned a playoff berth for the first time in 8 years and finished with a winning conference record for the first time in over 10 years. Newly installed as Jackson Hole (WY) High School's head coach, Joyce has already amassed 1 state final appearance and 2 state semi appearances over his first 3 years.

Playing multiple set and spread offenses puts tremendous pressure on a defensive scheme. Keeping the defense simple, but flexible enough to match and stop various offensive sets is difficult.

Cover 3 zone coverage is one of the oldest and most stable coverages in football. David Joyce diagrams the pattern matching version of Cover 3, which includes concepts of man-to-man with zone drops, that he utilizes with his team. Combining pattern match Cover 3 with Cover 1 puts the pressure back on the offense. Quarterbacks have no way to identify zone or man before the snap of the ball, which will pressure them into mistakes.

Coach Joyce uses a PowerPoint as well as a white board to show you the structure dividers that are landmarks for the secondary to create leverage on every offensive set. Dividers will change depending on the placement of the football on the field as they move with the ball from the center of the field to the hash.

Advantages of the Pattern Match Cover 3

Joyce explains the difference between pattern matching and spot dropping in zone coverages, including the advantages and disadvantages of both styles of play, which include:

• Fewer big plays because of a middle of the field defender.
• Pattern reading routes cover up holes left by spot dropping concepts in a traditional Cover 3 zone.
• Packs the box to outnumber the potential blockers so you can stop the run.
• Few people run it.
• Allows the defense to play with confidence because of the simplicity of the scheme.

He goes on to explain alignment and assignment rules for each position and describes the specific reads and reactions of the secondary players against specific routes. Joyce also covers inside linebackers' rules and responsibilities vs. 2x2 formations and trips.

Joyce does an excellent job explaining the concept of the divider principle for the secondary, which helps players determine what leverage to play on a receiver as determined by his alignment. The divider principle will allow the player to know if he can expect the free safety to be able to help him or not on routes that break to the middle of the field.

Advantages of Middle of the Field Cover 1

Cover 1 is, according to Nick Saban, "the simplest and best coverage in football." Joyce explains the basis of the coverage and how it's the perfect complement to Cover 3 zone coverage. You'll learn the rules for the secondary as well as the inside linebackers. Joyce diagrams and uses game footage to provide examples of the inside linebackers' responsibilities against 2x2 and trips formations, with a special emphasis on his "fiddle" call. As an added bonus, he describes how this coverage can be used to complement inside linebacker blitzes.

Coverage Drills

Coach Joyce spends a considerable amount of this presentation describing various drills to teach proper technique to the secondary players. Using practice video footage, Joyce demonstrates his "phase drill" in which players are taught how to play the ball depending on the position they are in relative to the receiver.

Looking for an in-depth coverages video to combat fast offenses? This is the one for you!

90 minutes. 2017.