O

n behalf of the Delaware football pro-

Diagram 3

Delaware’s
gram, Head Coach K.C. Keeler and our
defensive staff of Paul Williams, Rob

Eight-Man
Neviaser, Craig Cummings and Brandon
Walker, it is an honor to contribute to the
2003 AFCA Summer Manual.

F ro n t: In recent years, the zone blitz has been a

widely used concept in passing situations.

T h e Zo ne
The philosophy of the zone blitz has been to
overload the pass protection, to trigger a hot
throw and tackle it up. At Delaware, we also Below in diagrams 4 and 5 are tradition-

Blitz use the zone blitz in run/play action pass situ-

ations. Our goals in these situations are to
al eight-man fronts:
Diagram 4
outnumber the amount of blockers in the run
game and contain, as well as defend, play-
action passes. We view the zone blitz as one
of our eight-man fronts with immediate boot-
leg contain. This past season we zone blitzed
79 times versus the run, for an average gain
of 2.75 yards per rushing attempt.
The advantages of the zone blitz over a
traditional eight man front: Diagram 5
1. The post-snap movement hurts a
team who is choosing their rungame to a
specific leverage.
2. The pre snap two deep shell does not
indicate a weakness to quick game or one
on one coverage on the receivers. We are
a seven man front look pre snap.
3. A player is assigned a vertical charge
to immediately contain any action pass on
both the strong and weak sides. They are Our philosophy on the zone blitz is to be a
not put in the bend inside for the run game 5-3 defense with cutback help coming from
versus containing the bootleg dilemma. the strong and weak side. Our rush end (he is
4. The blitz is run out of a field front not in a three point stance) is the boundary cut-
a formation front. There are no checks. back player. He will shuffle back on the snap
Change of strength motion and tight end to linebacker level and is on a backfield key.
trade have no effect. The coverage He plays like the will in a 4-3 defense
remains the same to any formation. (Diagram 6). There is an outside player work-
Below, in Diagrams 1, 2 and 3 are the top ing vertical on the snap to contain bootleg
zone blitzes we use as eight-man fronts: and action passes both strong and weak. The
pass coverage is three underneath (curl No.
Diagram 1
2/hook No. 3/curl No. 2) and three deep. All
pass coverage people have their vision on
the quarterback expecting a quick throw.
Boundary receivers will be rerouted to
the outside toward the corner. Field
receivers will be rerouted to the inside
toward the middle third player (Diagram 6).
Diagram 6
Diagram 2
 Bootleg is drilled the first day we install a
zone blitz. The curl (No. 2) droppers have the
first outside threat with quarterback coming
back to them and throwback with the quarter-
back going away from them. The hook (No. 3)
dropper has the first crosser and the middle
safety has the deep crosser. Below in
Diagrams 7 and 8, bootleg is drawn up strong
and weak versus one of our top zone blitzes.
Diagram 7
Diagram 8
The installation of our zone blitz is sim-
ple. Our Sam linebacker sets the front to
the wide side of the field.
If the ball is in the middle of the field the
front will be set to the receiver strength. If
the blitz is from the field the front will work
weak. The strong safety will blitz or step
down as the curl/cutback player and the
free safety is the middle third player. See
The AFCA is proud to recognize
and thank its Official Corporate Partners.
Diagrams 1 and 2 for two examples of a
field zone blitz.
If the blitz is from the boundary, the line
will work to the field. The free safety will
blitz and the strong safety will become the
middle third player. Below, in Diagram 9, is
an example of a boundary blitz.
Diagram 9
If the blitz is from the middle, the tack-
les will work out. The free safety will step
down as the middle linebacker/hook (No.
3) dropper while the strong safety will be
the middle third player (refer back to
Diagram 3).
The run fits are very specific with aiming
points and gap responsibilities. The follow-
ing are the responsibilities for one of our
field blitzes (refer back to Diagram 1):
Sam Linebacker: Hammer technique-
D gap responsibility- blitz to a point two
yards outside the deep or near back. If
action is away continue to work up field for
bootleg contain. Take on all blocks with
your inside arm.
End: Long slice-a gap responsibility-
slightly deepen off the ball and step to the
crotch off the guard. Come under all blocks.
Nose-nice-boundary A gap- cross the
center’s face and work up field in the oppo-
site A gap.
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Official Corporate Partners
Tackle: Long tout-work to the inside
number of the tackle. Cross face vs. any
block and work up field for bootleg contain.
Rush: Shuffle back to four yards over
the offensive tackle and perform the
responsibilities previously mentioned in the
article (refer back to Diagram 6). Curl (No.
2) versus pass.
Mike Linebacker: Blitz the B gap. The
aiming point is the inside number of the
offensive tackle. Bend inside with any
down block staying as tight to his hip as
possible. Come under all blockers (out-
side shoulder).
Will Linebacker: Shuffle in, replace the
mike and play inside out on everything (like
a 4-3 middle linebacker). Outside shoulder
all blocks. Hook (No. 3) versus pass
Strong Safety: Step down to the out-
side number of the tightend/No. 2 receiver.
Keep the ball on your inside shoulder, C
gap versus run to him and cutback versus
run away. Curl (No. 2) versus pass.
Free Safety: Deep middle third player.
Back peddle to a position splitting the No. 2
receiving threats on both sides while read-
ing the quarterback.
Corners: Outside third players. Read
quarterback for quick game and late help on
flat routes. Versus two removed receivers to
his side peddle to a position that splits both
while reading the quarterback.
We feel the zone blitz is a great run
down call to compliment our other eight
man fronts. Please feel free to give us a
call if you have any questions about this
article. The staff at the University of
Delaware would like to wish you and
your staff the best of luck in the upcom-
ing season.