Strong's Stack Defense

[chilly52]

Listening to the Roundtable with McPhaul & Feeley last night, I found it interesting when they started talking about Strong's "Stack Defense" (3 man front) and realized that he has not had any time to recruit specifically for those kinds of positions. Poona Ford may be the only signee that fits that mold as a Middle Guard, so far. So, the defense is going to have a lot more opportunities for LBs/DEs that can run and cover ground and some very quick DTs/MGs that can handle the Center block and lots of double teams. It's going to be very interesting to see how Strong and his coaches make their decisions about filling these positions with current players and how they adjust their recruiting for next year. I think this will literally change the shape of the defense...smaller quick lineman and large quick LBs able to fill. Gonna be fun to watch.

 

[BBQ time]

I expect to see Strong's strategy evolve to reflect his new opponents. He appears to adapt well to change and provide innovative solutions. Clearly his SEC defenses over the last 20 years were designed to stop a different offensive style than what he will face at Texas. I think the key is his ability to win despite the circumstances.

We will likely see a significant upheaval in our defensive two deep.

 

[Juan]

I posted this b4 but if you havent had a chance, it is a nice read.

An excerpt from The Essential Smart Football published by Grantland -- "The Birth of the 3-3-5 Defense"

t was early 2000, and Charlie Strong had a problem. Strong, then in his second season as the defensive coordinator for South Carolina, had gone to Columbia, SC to join head coach Lou Holtz in an attempt to resurrect the school’s moribund program. Unfortunately, instead of resurrecting anything whatsoever, the team finished an abysmal 0-11 in the pair’s first year. Fortunately for Strong, in football, the need for solutions to unique problems often leads to new ideas. In his first year with the Gamecocks, Strong’s defense had little luck defending talented SEC squads solely with traditional defensive alignments. In an effort to combat his superior foes, Strong, whose work at South Carolina and later Florida propelled him to his current role as Louisville’s head coach, went about trying to find a strategy that was novel, adaptable, and, above all else, would actually work. What he came up with was the 3-3-5 or “30 stack” defense — a defense still in vogue around college football, and one that stood as an important predecessor to the NFL’s use of versatile and athletic “hybrid” defenders who have become increasingly valuable despite not being built for traditional roles.
The 3-3-5 defense starts with three down linemen, three true linebackers stacked behind those linemen, and five defensive backs. Those five include three in the traditional mold and two hybrid strong safeties/outside linebackers that can patrol the flats, blitz, stop the run or even cover receivers or tight ends in man coverage. This is just one of several ways the 3-3-5 contrasted with more traditional defensive sets, like the 4-3 (four down linemen and three linebackers) or 3-4 (three down linemen and three linebackers). The result was that in 2000, with its revamped defense (along with a new shotgun spread offense to go with it), South Carolina went 8-4 — including 5-3 in the SEC — and defeated Ohio State in the Outback Bowl. Although the 3-3-5 seemed like a wholly new strategy, it didn’t just occur to Charlie Strong out of the blue. The scheme was a natural variant from a defense he coached in another venue under Holtz: Bob Davie’s 3-4 defenses at Notre Dame.

http://grantland.com/features/an-excerpt-essential-smart-football-birth-3-3-5-defense/

 

[Lord Vader]

Brown and Ford can man the "nose" spot against Big 12 centers who are more adept at pass blocking than running the football. The issue will be when that front faces someone with a line anchored by guys averaging 330 across the front.

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

Thanks for listening to the podcast.

BTW, it's The Roundtable with Feeley and McPhaul. The kid wanted his name first and I'm too old to care

Hornsports is lucky to have Coleman Feeley break the all the offensive & defensive schemes down for us.

Keep in mind that Strong is going to spin some guys down and try and find this best fit. I would imagine Texas has a few DT that will fit the three technique.

 

[Topstarr]

Ok we are going with the 3-3-5 and we will stop the spread O.

can not wait to see who is playing what positions on D.

 

[Tulsahorn]

Listening to the Roundtable with McPhaul & Feeley last night, I found it interesting when they started talking about Strong's "Stack Defense" (3 man front) and realized that he has not had any time to recruit specifically for those kinds of positions. Poona Ford may be the only signee that fits that mold as a Middle Guard, so far. So, the defense is going to have a lot more opportunities for LBs/DEs that can run and cover ground and some very quick DTs/MGs that can handle the Center block and lots of double teams. It's going to be very interesting to see how Strong and his coaches make their decisions about filling these positions with current players and how they adjust their recruiting for next year. I think this will literally change the shape of the defense...smaller quick lineman and large quick LBs able to fill. Gonna be fun to watch.

Coaches adjust to personnel they have. They don't force feed an alignment.

 

[chilly52]

Sure they do! Sometimes it's why they fail.

 

[Davharjac]

A smart Coach won't force feed an alignment, and most defenses in the Big 12 play some sort of hybrid defense w varying situation based fronts.

 

[Tulsahorn]

Sure they do! Sometimes it's why they fail.

Not many.

although Leach was pretty set in his ways - often that's why his QB's were some times seniors, with little game experience. But, they had run the offense ten thousand times during 3 previous years in practice. Leach used pre set routs, which is a bit unusual with no read by WR's at all.

 

[Horn78]

Coaches adjust to personnel they have. They don't force feed an alignment.

I think you've forgotten about our "power" running game 3 years ago.

 

[Anubis]

Strong isn't going to use a 3-3 stack as a primary defense at Texas. 3-3 is fine only when you don't know it's coming. When it was new, it was great every week. Now, you can only run it infrequently enough that an offense won't prepare for it. 3-3 works well against assigned blocking. Everyone runs zone blocking now, and that kills the 3-3. So forget it, I doubt you'll ever see it.

 

[RealtorHorn]

Sure they do! Sometimes it's why they fail.

I see what you did there.

 

[Anubis]

Sure they do! Sometimes it's why they fail.

And sometimes it's why they win National Championships. Like with Greg Davis coaching Vince Young for instance.

 

[Juan]

Even Bevo is getting fired up

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Great meeting you Coach Strong! Think I could get a little PT at D-Tackle?? <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23HookEm&src=hash">#HookEm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BEVO&src=hash">#BEVO</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Strong_TexasFB">@Strong_TexasFB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TexasExes">@TexasExes</a> <a href="http://t.co/0gcmed4Ahi">pic.twitter.com/0gcmed4Ahi</a></p>— BEVO XIV (@BEVO_XIV) <a href="

https://twitter.com/BEVO_XIV/statuses/441612068865572864">March 6, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

I think you've forgotten about our "power" running game 3 years ago.

Bingo!

 

[java]

Bevo forgot to tweet, #LetsRide

 

[echeese]

Thanks for listening to the podcast.
BTW, it's The Roundtable with Feeley and McPhaul. The kid wanted his name first and I'm too old to care

Hornsports is lucky to have Coleman Feeley break the all the offensive & defensive schemes down for us.

Keep in mind that Strong is going to spin some guys down and try and find this best fit. I would imagine Texas has a few DT that will fit the three technique.

There's a pod cast?????

Where would I find it?

 

[Topstarr]

are we still going to do the 3-3-5 or 4-2-5....just asking