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Indiana is playing for a National Championship because they’ve mastered the art of making a quarterback guess.

They major in simulated pressures to dictate the protection rather than reacting to it. Ola Adams, the Hoosiers’ DB coach and former Villanova DC, is a big reason why that unit is so disruptive.

While he isn't the play-caller in Bloomington, his fingerprints are all over their success. Adams recently shared his third-down philosophy—and it’s a masterclass in making the complex simple for your players.

Video: 3rd Down Defense

The One-High Illusion

Adams wants every third down to look exactly the same before the snap. Specifically, he favors a one-high presentation.

The goal is to give the quarterback the illusion that at least five—and potentially six—defenders are coming every single time. By staying in this look, Adams ensures the defense isn't playing a guessing game with the protection.

Instead, the offense has to guess where the pressure is coming from, while the defense knows exactly how the protection will react to the look. At any time, any defender could come or drop out.

Kill the Outliers

One of the most interesting moves Adams made demonstrates his commitment to his philosophy of making everything look the same. One offseason, he decided to scrap a call that had a 90% efficiency just because it didn’t look the same as the 1-high presentation he wanted to show every 3rd down.

One offseason, he decided to scrap a call that had a 90% efficiency just because that call required a different presentation than the one they were committed to. To Adams, the presentation is more important than an individual "good" call.

If a play doesn't fit the look, it’s an outlier. Get it out of the plan. You only get so many third downs in a game; you have to maximize the calls that keep your identity consistent.

Handling Motion

Offenses will try to "ID" your man or zone coverage through motion—shifting from 2x2 to 3x1 or moving the back into the flat.

Adams’ rule is simple: Everything must look the same.

If the offense motions, the defense travels with it—regardless of whether they are playing man or zone.

This forces the quarterback to figure out the coverage post-snap.

While doing this requires a lot of planning around managing responsibilities across zone coverages, it’s certainly possible when your players understand the concept of each zone rather than just their individual responsibility. 

Build Your Packages

This philosophy is rooted in self-scouting. Adams builds his packages based on what he has shown in previous weeks.

He uses the offense's film study against them. If they expect pressure because of a specific look you've lived in, that’s when the presentation remains the same but the intent changes.

Coach Adams presents an interesting idea where instead of searching for the “perfect” 3rd down calls each week, you build around one look that evolves week to week, but always looks the same to the opposing offense. It keeps them guessing and always on edge, while keeping things simple for your players.

Always be growing!

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P.S. Thank you, Coach Adams, for sharing. f you’d like to check out Coach Adams’ full clinic which also goes over how he attacks protections and a bunch of pressures, then click HERE.