Cover 3 Defense for Football

One of the simplest and most commons forms of zone pass defense is the Cover 3 Defense. The term “Cover 3″
indicates there are 3 deep zones being played. The underneath, or short zones, can be divided into as few as 3
zones or as many as 5 zones. However, it is still a Cover 3 Defense due to the presence of 3 deep-third zones.

Field Zones in Cover 3 Defense

The deep pass defenders will divide the field into 3 zones. Deep zones begin at roughly 14 yards from the Line
of Scrimmage and extend all the way to the back line of the End Zone. In high school football, it easiest to
divide the zones using the hash marks. The right side Cornerback will be responsible for the right side Deep 1/3.
The Free Safety is responsible for the Middle 1/3. The left side Cornerback will be responsible for the left Deep
1/3.

Diagram 1

Underneath Zones in Cover 3 Defense

Underneath zones are divided by the types of routes that will be thrown there. Underneath zones typically range
from 5 yards away from the Line of Scrimmage to about 14 yards deep, where the Deep 1/3 zones begin.

The outermost zones are known as the Flat area, and extend from the sidelines to about halfway between
numbers and the hash on a typical high school field layout. Typical routes here are short out routes and arrow
routes by the running back.

The next zone in is the curl area. The Curl area exists from the hash to the edge of the flat zone. Moving in from
there, the hash to the middle of the field is known as the Hook zone. Imagine a player, perhaps a Tight End,
aligned on the hash mark (see Diagram 1). If that player runs a route 8 yards off the ball, then turns outside, he
is in the curl area. If he were to turn inside, he would be in the hook area. Commonly run routes in the curl area
are hitches and slants. Quick routes the Tight End and crossing routes from inside receivers are most common
in the Hitch zone.

Key Points of Playing Cover 3 Defense

It is important that players remember the following:

 1. Which zone they are responsible for!
2. Do not leave that zone, pass players off as they leave your zone and communicate to teammates (“IN!
IN! IN!” when a receiver crosses from an outside zone to an inside zone, as an example).
3. Underneath zone defenders are responsible for playing solid run defense first, then drop to pass zones.
4. Deep 1/3 Defenders cannot be responsible for playing the run as well as playing a deep zone 14 yards
off the ball. Do not ask more of players than they are physically capable of doing.

5 Yard No-Cover Zone

We use a 5-Yard “No Cover Zone” to prevent underneath players from jumping short routes and leaving deeper
routes uninhibited. This tells players than on any route that is run either behind the line of scrimmage (Bubble
route, Flares by the Running Back), or any route that is not more than 5 yards from the line of scrimmage, we
will widen with the route, but not come up to the man. Our players remain in a position relative to that receiver
to rally up to the football as soon as the ball is thrown and make a secure tackle for a minimal gain. We will
always invite the defense to throw these short routes. Very few Offensive Coordinators have the patience to
drive down the field in this “dink and dunk” manner. As long as your team is made up of sound tacklers, you
should be secure in employing a 5 yard No Cover Zone.

The Cover 3 Defense is one of football’s most common, and most effective defenses. It can be adapted to any
defensive front or scheme easily.

Cover 3 with the 3-5-3 Defense

3-5-3, Blitz, Cover 3, Fire Zone.

Since we’ve established the fronts with the 3-5-3 Defense and included one or two good stunts as well, I want to
talk a little bit on the coverage in this defense. Because of the nature of the 3-man front, and the ability to
bring anyone from anywhere, the coverage zones in the 3-5-3 have a slight different from the traditional Cover
3 pass defense.

The main difference is that there are 8 players who, in a base defensive call, would drop into coverage. Now
you may not use this very much, but you probably will want to at some point – so the players better know how
it works. And honestly, its a lot easier to start off teaching Base 3-5-3, Cover 3, than almost anything else (even
Man Coverage, in my opinion). Once the players understand the 5 underneath cover zones in the Cover 3 deep,
5 under, they just need to learn a simple little rule and we can run a 3 deep, 4 under or even the Fire Zone
concept with 3 deep and 3 underneath coverage players.
The flat players in base are going to be the Sam and the Will, the outside linebackers. This makes them the
contain/force players against the run. The Lion and the Ram play traditional Linebacker coverage zones in the
Hook to Curl zones. The Mike Linebacker is an extra player in this case. He hangs in the middle of the field,
can spy a quick Quarterback, hold for the draw, and be effective against the middle screens from here.

The rule to learn is basic – if the man outside of you is gone, you take his zone. He can be gone in one of two
ways: 1) He can be sent on a stunt, or 2) He can be covering another zone for the man outside of him.

For example, if we called Jacks – Lion – 3, the Jacks tells both defensive ends to slant outside and the Nose to
slant strong (can change), Lion sends the Left Inside backer on a blitz. The Lion makes a call to the next guy
inside of him “I’m Going!” or “You You You!” Your call system should be up to you and to your players. We
try to teach them not to worry that the other team can hear them, but instead be concerned with communicating
to each other. When the Lion makes the call to the Mike, the Mike confirms and knows that he now bumps one
zone out. So, in this case, the Mike takes the Hook-Curl zone to the left and we have a 3-deep, 4 under zone
with a 4 man rush. (By the way, after the snap of the ball, you’re running a 4-4 defense all of the sudden)

Another example would be if the Will Linebacker was going. He makes his call to the Lion, who echoes that
call to the Mike. The Lion bumps out to take the flat zone (after the snap, we will not show this) and the Mike
bumps to take the hook-curl zone for the Lion.

Sending a 5-man rush and creating a 3-deep, 3-under follows the same concept, only with a little more
communication and a bit more planning from the coordinator. If you’re going to send an overload, make sure
to send it from the boundary – because the Mike Linebacker is technically responsible for the flat and that’s a
heck of a long way to go. It is not a sound defensive call, but sometimes you just need to roll the dice and
remember there’s some speedsters back there in the deep zones if somethings goes really wrong. Coach them up
to make the tackle and live to fight another down!

The following defensive package versus a spread offense (in this case, a 2x2 shot gun set) is a nice look and scheme
when a defense finds itself in a long yardage situation (say 7 yards or more), especially on third down.

The perfect scenario in the diagram below would give us a right handed quarterback who likes to throw to his right side
(based on the scouting report and film study), and the offenses right side being the field or wide side, and the left side
being the boundary or short side of the field.
As you see in the diagram above, we're in a 3-4 - Cover 4 (Cover 4 is also known as: quarter, quarter, half's coverage)
alignment defensively. For reference, we call our three down-lineman:

Ends ( 2 E's)
Nose Guard (N)

Linebackers:
Will (Weakside backer)
Mike (Middle backer)
Sam (Strongside backer)

Buck (4th backer, aligns opposite Will)

Defensive backs:
Corners (2 C's)
Free Safety (1 FS)
Strong Safety (1 SS)

Against the 2x2 (double twins) formation above, the defensive line call is a:

'Slant' call for the 3 down lineman, meaning they are slanting into the strong side gaps (slant = 'strong', or to strength, and
angle call = away from strength, or 'weak'). In this case, we are declaring the right side of the offense (left side of the
defense) strong, based on the wide side of the field and the off-set back in the backfield.

In this particular call, a Zone Blitz is being executed by the boundary defensive end {E} on the right. During a zone blitz,
the defensive lineman wants to take one aggressive first step to briefly engage or 'tag' the offensive linemen, then they
need to open up their hips and get to the zone area they are responsible for on the call. On this particular call, they are
getting to the 'curl' area to the boundary. Since defensive linemen are not schooled on playing zone coverage, one
particular pointer to emphasis is to explain to them not to cover 'air or grass' in their zone, cover offensive players who will
likely catch the ball.
The linebacker call is a:

'Mike/Will Go', a 'controlled' blitz from the two boundary side linebackers that want to try and time the snap so they have
forward momentum. I use the word 'controlled' because based on the down and distance of the play at hand, this could
either be a run blitz or a pass blitz, and the last thing you want to do is run by a run play because you blitzed 'out of
control'.

This is a critical coaching point, especially at the young levels, being able to teach defensive players how to blitz 'under
control' based on the down and distance and more importantly, the real time read of the play... pass or run.

A blitzer is useless if they run themselves past an inside run play (especially to their side) or a mobile quarterback on a
pass.

The defensive backs and linebacker coverage call is:

Cover 4 (qtr/qtr/half's):

This coverage is a zone coverage that instructs the defensive backs (2 Corners, Buck, Sam, F, and SS) to do the
following:

Field Corner (C) 1/4: The field corner is sinking at the snap and covering the deep quarter to the field (sideline to hash).

Free Safety (F) 1/4: The free safety is sinking at the snap and covering the 2nd deep quarter of to the field (hash to
middle of field).

Strong Safety (SS) 1/2: The strong safety is sinking at the snap and covering the remaining deep half of the field to the
boundary.

Buck: Buck is a space linebacker to the field, and he has 'curl to flat' repsonsibility versus pass. Buck has to attack hard
inside/out versus any quick screen, flair pass to the back, or bubble screen.

Sam: Sam is 'sinking into the hole' at the snap, basically a zone area right in the middle of the field, roughly 8-10 yards
from the line of scrimmage. Again, instruct Sam not to cover 'air or grass', but to look to wall off crossers and/or receivers
looking to 'sit' in his zone.

Boundary Corner (C): The boundary corner is a flat defender, meaning he is sitting in the flat and will more than likely be
defending somekind of flat route by the #2 receiver. This corner should keep his eyes in the backfield and continue to
backpedal (gaining depth) until a flat threat arrives. In this technique, it allows him to help the SS defend any deep sideline
throw (fade by #1) and helps tighten the sideline window on a smash route combination.

Hopefully this package is something you can use in defending the spread offense.
Keep spreading e'm (or defending e'm)!

Basic QB Reads - Ron Jenkins

With Mark Sanchez headed off to the NFL it looks like USC will have a good old fashion QB derby during the
Spring and Summer practice sessions. Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain will be the favorites but Garrett Green and
Matt Barkley will get their share of looks as well. Who will win? I have no idea. The winner will have to
demonstrate various leadership qualities, gain the confidence of their team mates, show the ability to make
things happen when the designed play breaks down and of course be able to make all the prerequisite
coverage reads and throws.
With that latter point in mind it is a good time during the off season to brush up on the basics of QB reads. Ron
Jenkins formerly of El Camino JC has put together some basic material on the topic that is widely available on
the internet. I’ll highlight some of the basic thought patterns below regarding the rudimentary aspects of
coverages that QB’s have to start learning in high school on up through college and the pro ranks. In a later
follow up post I’ll cover ten very basic reads that the QB must make in order to succeed and point out some
coaching material for sale by Ron and others on this topic.
Coverage schemes can get very complex but the fundamental starting point is to understand the basic families.
Most coaches start by teaching their players the concept of middle of field open (MOFO) or middle of field closed
(MOFC). By this coaches mean recognizing whether or not there is a single safety in the middle of the field.
Sometimes this is also referred to as reading either “0″ “1″ or “2″ safeties deep. I’ll try to explain below.
In the MOFC category the two main cases are called Cover 1 and Cover 3. Both are eight man front schemes
that put an extra defender in the tackle box and rely upon a free safety in the middle of the field. In Cover 1 the
defenders are all playing basic man coverage with the help of a single free safety deep for protection. For this
reason it is also called Cover 1 Man Free. This sort of coverage scheme would look like the following graphic.
Notice how there is a defender in the middle of the field.
Every coverage family whether it be zone based or man based has its weak points and this one is no exception.
The strengths are as noted above and teams with good cover corners often use this coverage at certain times
when advantageous. Unfortunately the scheme also has its weak points as it is often susceptible to pick and rub
type crossing routes and play action passes. Skilled WR’s will beat man coverage if they are more physical and
or simply faster than their defender. Big plays in games often result when the offense beats man coverage as
there are fewer defenders deep for safety purposes. QB’s can also often scramble to the flats and gain
significant chunks of yards as the corners are chasing after WR’s down field.
As an alternative to Cover 1 there is of course the more commonly known scheme called Cover 2. Cover 2
belongs in the Middle of the Field Open (MOFO) or 2 deep category of coverages. When the QB looks up the area
behind the linebackers between the hash marks (assuming we are in the middle of the field) is open compared
to Cover 1. In this case there are two safety players deep and in basic cases they are dividing the 53 and 1/3
yards of field width between them. Refer to the picture below for an example:

Cover 2 dictates a seven man front as there are two corners playing the flats and 2 safeties playing the deeper
part of the field. There are actually a lot of flavors of Cover 2 and I will only briefly mention the more common
varieties. The first case is sometimes called hard corner Cover 2 where the corners are used as part of run force
on the outside and turn run plays back inside. On pass plays Cover 2 corners cover WR’s to a certain depth and
them funnel them off inside to the deeper safeties on the play.
The second case is more of a complex style Cover 2 where the corners read the play as it develops. This is often
referred to as the pattern read style of Cover 2. What the corner does on the play depends upon whether it is
run or pass and if a pass play it further depends upon what type releases the #1 and #2 WR’s to that side of the
field take. Coverage rules are governed by “if – then” type of situational logic.
The third case is the reality that Cover 2 need not be entirely zone based at all. In other words the coverage can
be a man and zone combination scheme. Specifically the two deep safeties on the play can be in zone while the
five underneath players (2 CB’s + 3 LB’s) can still play man to man. This is normally called Cover 2 Man Under.
The fourth case is the Tampa Two style of Cover 2 made famous by Monte Kiffin and the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers. This style is similar to Cover 2 pre-snap but has an added feature where the MLB drops deep on the
 play and plugs the middle hole on the play. This makes it more difficult to exploit the middle of the field and
essentially becomes a hybrid model between Cover 2 and Cover 3 which I’ll outline next.
Cover 1 is not the only coverage scheme that closes the middle of the field (MOFC). Cover 3 is another eight
man front with three deep defenders for pass coverage. This front is very common scheme versus run oriented
teams and is a way to provide some degree of safe protection against down field throws. Unlike Cover 1 where
the corner backs are near the line of scrimmage and often playing a press technique on the wide receiver in
Cover 3 the corners play off the line of scrimmage as shown in the graphic below.

The benefits of this technique is that corners are less likely to get beat deep versus superior wide receivers. The
downside of course is that this technique relatively gives up the area to the side of the field known as the flats.
QB’s will have an easy time throwing quick out breaking routes, screens, hitches, and other common plays. It
has further structural weakness as listed above.
In reality teams often align in one scheme pre-snap and play another scheme post snap. Cover 1 and Cover 3
can easily be exchanged in a moments notice to attempt to throw the QB off of his read. Show one scheme and
play another. This disguise intent is of course true for most all coverages.
Just like it is easy to switch between Cover 1 and Cover 3 it is easy to switch between Cover 2 and something
called Cover 4. Just as the name implies in Cover 4 there are four deep defenders on this play and it would fall
into the general category of MOFO. The difference from Cover 2 is that the corners will play further off the WR to
avoid getting beat deep. In reality Cover 4 is very similar to man coverage as strange as that may initially
sound. The coverage scheme has fairly complex “if – then” decision rules for who covers which receiver when
the #1 WR runs an in breaking route and the #2 or #3 WR runs and out breaking route. However once past 10
yards defenders are essentially playing man style of defense versus any player that comes into their area or
zone. For this reason it is frequently thought of as a match up zone style of play and is common with a lot of
teams. The graphic below shows a pre-snap alignment example and some of the basic rules. Cover 4 is also
known as quarters coverage since the deep field is divided into four parts.
 Why play Cover 4? Coaches like it for multiple reasons. Both safeties in Cover 4 play downhill on run plays
allowing the defense to essentially have a 9 man quickly in the box versus the run. In Cover 2 the safeties are
backpedaling and first reading pass and protecting against post and corner breaking routes, etc. Run defense
comes second. Cover 4 is strong against the run and with strong cornerbacks it can be difficult to throw against.
It has some weaknesses of course versus throws to the flats and play action passes that may deceive the
safeties.
The last main MOFO open category is an easy one to spot and understand. It is true Cover 0 with no safeties
deep on the play. Unless it is a disguise to confuse the QB this is an all out blitz scheme where there is
essentially no deep help on the play. Everyone is locked on a single player in man coverage and the defense
attempts to rush more players than the offense keeps in to block. Below is a typical example.