ATTACK - Nebraska DC Tony White’s 3-3-5 Combo Blitzes

Coach ,

A word stressed over and over by new Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Tony White is “Attack.”  It is the hallmark of the 3-3-5 defense that has quickly become popular again. 

The 3-3-5 relies on athletic personnel and an organized and creative defensive coordinator who can design schemes that attack a defense in multiple ways.  

Multiplicity is a key to running a successful 3-3-5 defense.  It allows for alignment in a variety of ways while giving the defensive coordinator the ability to be aggressive with an almost endless combination of defenders attacking and pressuring.

Coach White loves the multiplicity it allows and shares his defensive philosophy with the 3-3-5 here (click on images for videos):

Video: Defensive Philosophy

Multiplicity and creativity in the attack begin with categorizing the types of ways that the defense can attack the offense.  Coach White lists six ways:

• To the Tight End Strength
• Away from the Tight End Strength
• Field
• Boundary
• To the Running Back
• Away from the Running Back

With that framework in mind, the coordinator can build an attack weekly having pressures from all of six ways, or picking and choosing which are the optimal ways to attack the offense that particular week.

Being multiple also means playing different coverages.  In addition to defenders attacking on the move from various positions, playing different coverages behind can add to the stress that a quarterback, offensive line, and offensive coordinator must handle.

Coach White outlines the coverage used in this video:

Video: Coverages

The creativity and fun come in when you start to draw up all of the possibilities. He points out that this type o attack really gets an offensive line thinking because the pressure can come from anywhere.  It can allow a coordinator to get a great Blitzer a one-on-one match-up by design.

 In this next video, Coach White shows various ways to attack from a balanced look and then shows the results on game film:

Video: Balanced Blitzes

Obviously, no matter what defense you run, it starts with understanding what will be the most difficult things for an offense to handle given the understanding you have of what they really want to do.  

The 3-3-5 allows you to maximize your player's athleticism while providing the coaches with a multitude of ways to do that.

This presentation was given at the NYHSFCA Clinic.  I will be at the Clinic which is February 2-4 at the Turning Stone Resort. Stop by and say hello if you are there.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski

P.S. You can find more on the 3-3-5 here.