Stress the Offense with Multiple Fronts
Jan 23, 2023 6:34 pm
Coach ,
Offensive coordinators often speak of stressing defense and utilize a multitude of components in their arsenal to do that.
The way to make it easy for an offensive coordinator is to remain static on defense. Line up in the same front every down and play a small set of coverages. It allows them to utilize all of their stressors best.
Want to make it difficult? Give them a variety of different looks up front. Of course, there are plenty more ways to make it challenging for an offense, but playing multiple fronts is a great place to start.
The key to multiplicity on either side of the ball is to keep it simple for your guys but complex for them.
A friend of mine used this strategy against a superior offense to beat them. He gave them a different look on every down. He didn’t repeat that look twice in a row. He forced their communication and adjustment and was always one step ahead of the offense. They held that offense to one of their lowest totals all year.
While offensive lines have become very good at communicating and adapting to multiple fronts. The multiplicity of the defensive fronts forces them to think and not get comfortable with blocking one front.
Having superior talent on defense is always a great answer. There are few of us who can boast of that week in and week out. We have to create a situation where our players have the upper hand.
Ottawa University Head Coach Nick Davis sees benefits of being a multiple-front defense like forcing the offense to block more people and looks at practice. This uses up their practice time and decreases the amount of stress they can present because they have to limit their playbook. For the defense, it allows for highlighting a great player or hiding a weaker one.
Nick Davis explains how being a multiple-front defense provides advantages in this video.
Coach Davis mentioned highlighting players. That is something that Ohio State DC Jim Knowles does with his Leo position. Typically, in multiple front defenses, the player being highlighted is a hybrid type of player who can fit the run, drop into coverage, and rush the passer.
That’s something that has advantages at every level of football and begins to create the ability to be a multiple-front defense.
Chris Wolfe, Male High School (KY) Utilizing Hybrid Personnel
In today’s world of dynamic tight ends, the use of hybrid offensive skill players, and personnel groups that stay on the field, the defense must respond in like fashion. Enter the hybrid linebacker. He is a fast and aggressive player and could play inside linebacker, yet he is physical enough to play defensive line. In the 5’10-6’ and 185-200 pound range, this is a player who can stay on the field and effectively match the different formations that the offense may throw at the defense and allows the defense to align in multiple fronts because of his versatility.
Chris Wolfe, two-time state champion head coach at Louisville Male High School knows firsthand the advantages of utilizing this type of player. It is an advantage and, in many cases, a necessity.
Wolfe lists the benefits of utilizing a hybrid linebacker:
- Flexibility
- Match number and personnel
- Can kick the font
- Better screen recognition
- Better block recognition
- Better Drop Angles
- More effective blitzes
- Better pass rush position
- Athletic players making plays
Whether it is week-to-week or within a single game, a defense wants to have its best players on the field. Trying to match personnel constantly makes a defense susceptible to being dictated to, and in some cases, can even allow the offense to take a better player off the field.
Utilizing a hybrid defender allows the defense the flexibility it needs to play with its best and therefore match numbers and personnel, and provide the opportunity for multiple defensive looks.
Video: Advantages of the Hybrid - Flexibility
Nate Moore, Massillon Washington High School (OH) using 3-4 and 4-2
At the high school level, Massillon HS is a powerhouse in Ohio. They utilize an approach of multiple front defense.
The hybrid player allows them to do this. While they start with a 3-4 alignment as their base teaching, Coach Moore notes that they very rarely play base. He outlines the multiple even and odd fronts which they play here:
Jeff Dittman RPI - Mixing in 3-down looks to a 4-down Defense
RPI had one of the top defenses in D3 in 2022, and Defensive Coordinator Jeff Dittman has had the RPI performing at a high level for several seasons now.
Needing something different in the middle of the 2019 season, RPI Defensive Coordinator found a way to add an odd front into their four-down defensive system on the fly.
This didn’t require major overhauls. He kept it simple and it proved very effective.
Coach Dittman used various odd front alignments while keeping the thought process the same for his defenders.
“Bama” allows Dittman to get his defense into the “mint” front which utilizes 4i’s. Many coordinators like this to shut down inside zone teams because it forces the ball wide instead of downhill.
Here Coach Dittman shows the change-up:
Here is video of Bama:
In the scenario we discussed earlier, the replacement is that outside linebacker (OLB) who was subbing in with another outside linebacker (OLB). When the defensive end (DE) goes down or needs a break, the replacement is used from an odd structure to maintain their four down-front responsibilities. Now a more dynamic player is on the field rather than using that next defensive end.
Mike Bruno - Run Fits
Aligning in all kinds of fronts definitely causes some confusion for offenses, but the main thing a defense wants to avoid is being confused on their run fits. One wrong fitter and the offense may be in the end zone quickly.
Mike Bruno was the linebackers coach for UNLV for the 2022 season. He spoke on this aspect of multiple defense at Lauren’s First and Goal Clinic.
In the defense the have a clear-cloudy defender and slide defender in 4-down fronts and the 4i fitter and 0 fitter in 3-down fronts.
In this video Coach Bruno explains the two types of fitters on inside zone in the 3-down defense:
He teaches the fitters how they approach their fits against every scheme from both types of fronts. Having this type of definition and detail allows them to be sound while playing multiple fronts.
The off-season is the time to collect ideas and then spend time thinking about how and if they fit what your defense does and how you might evolve to put more stress on the offense.
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski
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