Align for Success

Installing the Eight Man

Blitz Package

David Bailiff
Defensive Coordinator
Southwest Texas State
University
San Marcos, Tex.

t was an honor to be asked by the

AFCA to contribute to the 2000 Summer
Manual. On behalf of our head coach Bob
DeBesse, we appreciate the opportunity. I
am very fortunate to coach with great professionals and dear friends Mike Hudson,
Jim Dawson, Chad Glasgow and Robert
Crivellari, who make up our defensive
staff. The defensive package we installed
is not mine. We have taken ideas from all
of our stops and incorporated what we
feel is a simple, but multiple package to
combat the complexity of the offensive
schemes we face.
Our defensive meetings are lively, we
have some guys with great personality
and defensive minds. We tried in great
detail when we started, to all be on the
same page. We went through and examined each formation, blocking scheme,
run and pass route, discussed field zone
philosophy and then we established our
Bobcat defensive language. It required
new learning for all coaches, but streamlined the installation and meeting time for
the defense. Utilizing the knowledge
acquired from the staffs different coaching stops, we established an extremely
wordy defense. Each of the 11 defensive
positions were given a name. Every alignment was given a name. We packaged
blitzes by name with the alignment terminology within the blitz package. We
believed that if we told the players where
to align or where to blitz, each snap we
would eliminate assignment and alignment confusion and give our players the
confidence to play fast and furious.
While we initially taught hard alignment rules, our defensive goal was to
gain knowledge so our players could
align for success. We will teach different alignments according to down and
distance and offensive formations. Up
front, we will play right or left side. We
will not flip the defensive line as we want
those guys to excel at playing one side of
their body. We will flip the linebackers;
the Sam will be to the call or Eagle side
and the Mike will be to the away or
Bubble side. Our secondary will align to
the passing strength. The strong safety
will always go to the tight end side or to
the field in a balanced formation and the
Kat will go to the open side. The free
safety will set the strength and the safety
away and put us in the best coverage
according to down and distance and
offensive formation.

AFCA Summer Manual 2000

Diagram 1: Tite 4 Check vs. I

Diagram 2: Tite 4 Check vs. Near

Tite 4 Check- Two Back Alignments

Diagram 3: Tite 4 Check

Diagram 4: Tite 4 Check

Tite 4 Check- One Back Alignments

Tite linebacker will make a right or
left call to the run strength.
Four Check, the free safety will make
a Linda or Rhonda call to the passing
strength.
At the beginning of our installation,
each defensive position had a list of
vocabulary words they had to learn. Each
of these words were unique and hot to
their position. The player must listen in the
huddle for a hot word that will change their
alignment or assignment. If a player does
not hear a hot word, they will play their
base technique.
Blitz Package
Along with the wordy alignment and

DE

DT

LBs

Safeties

Corners

Tite
Split
Field
Boundary
Under
Take
Tank
Army
Silver
Cop
Drop
Void
Fire
Blast
Loose
Twist

Tite
Split
Field
Boundary
G
Go
Outlaw
Aim
Toro
Tank
Pinch
Okie
Tex
Ex
Fist
Loose
Twist
Over
Stab

Tite
Split
Field
Boundary
Double Stack
Sam
Mike
Bullets
Bobcat
Dog
Glue
Bang
Coyote

Solid
Smoke
Cross
Bobcat
Waco
Cut
Kong
Blast
Dog
Coyote
OT
Rob
Roll

Waco
Bail
Press
Coyote
Cut
Kong
Sky
OT
Cloud
Rob
Roll

Diagram 5: Tite Outlaw 4 Check

want the threat of the blitz to be something

an offense must prepare for.

using wide and short, these will give us a

blitz from the field or boundary. If we want
to bring the safety from the tight end side,
our call will be strong smoke. A safety
blitz from the open side is called kat
smoke. We will bring both safeties off the
edge with a double smoke call. If we want
to slant the line and bring a smoke at the
same time, we may call boundary army
short smoke.

Diagram 10: Tite Strong Smoke 4

Check

Diagram 6: Tite Fist Blast 4 Check

Diagram 8: Tite Sam B 4 Check

Cross
Cross is another safety blitz. A cross
blitz is simply a gap exchange between the
safety and the defensive end to that side.
The safety will blitz the B gap. His key will
be the offensive tackle. If the tackle zones
at him, he will immediately take his eyes to
the adjacent guard. If the guard is also zoning, he will get up the field in the B gap. He
will come under any fan block by the offensive tackle. If the safety is getting zone
away, we want him to run flat at the heel
line of the offense line and be there to
make the play when the ball is pulled up or
when the running back cuts back. We still
may run wide, short, strong and kat crosses. We want the cross blitz to be a little
slower, as this will open up the gap and
define the hole for the blitzing safety.

Diagram 7: Split Solid 4 Check

Diagram 9: Tite Bullets A O Silver

Diagram 11: Cross vs. Zone To

assignment calls, we have developed our

blitz package using the same thought
process. Each blitz has its own name for
immediate huddle and formation recognition. We are going to pin our ears back
and blitz. We want to keep an offense
guessing and off balance, at times we will
show and not blitz and other times we
will bring a blitz from depth. We want the
element of surprise on our side and we

Tite aligns the front to the tight end.

Bullets A tells the defensive line and
linebackers what gap is being blitzed.
0 coverage man no help.
Silver defensive end hot word to alert
him to take the runningback on a flare.

Diagram 12: Cross vs. Zone Away

Bullets
If we blitz one linebacker, our huddle
call will be Sam A or B or Mike A or B. The
A or B tells the linebacker which gap to
blitz and alerts the defensive line of any
gap exchange. If we blitz both linebackers, we call it bullets.

Smokes
We call our safety blitzes smokes. We
dictate which safety we want to blitz by

AFCA Summer Manual 2000

Diagram 13: Cross vs. Fan

Diagram 14: Tite Kat Cross 4 Check

If we get drop back pass, the defensive

end will rip under the offensive tackle to
shorten the blitz line for the safety. We will
use this teaching point anytime a safety is
involved in a perimeter blitz.
Bobcat
The last blitz we will carry into every
game is an eight man read-blitz we call
Bobcat. A bobcat blitz is read-blitz that
involves both linebackers and safeties.
We will have a four-way spy on the runningback in a one back situation. If he is
on an inside path, the linebacker on his
side will be responsible for covering him. If
the runningback flares or releases wide,
the safety to that side will cover him. We
can use different exchange coverages to
add an element of surprise.

Diagram 18: Bobcat vs. Two Back

Dog
We call our four-to-a-side blitz package
a dog. We get four men from a side by
bringing the linebacker and safety to that
side. We may blitz the linebacker and
safety in any gap. We will again use wide,
short, strong and kat to determine where
we want the dog coming from.

Diagram 15: Tite Kat Dog O

Diagram 19: Bobcat Cop O Silver

Diagram 16: Tite Okie Kat Dog A

Diagram 17: Tite Okie Kat Dog A

Cross

Tite will set our eagle to the tight end

side.
Bobcat is the buzz word for the linebackers and safeties.
B tells the linebacker and defensive
line what gap the linebackers are blitzing.
0 tells we are playing man cover
with no help.
Silver is a word for the defensive
end and it tells him to cover the back on
a flare, if for some reason the safety to
his side is not able to blitz according to
formation.
Cop is another buzz word for the
defensive ends and it tells them if there is
a tight end to their side and they have
him man.
Double Stack
Double stack is our way of getting into

AFCA Summer Manual 2000

a double eagle defense. We achieve this

by adding the words outlaw and double
stack to the tite call. Outlaw will move the
nose to a three technique and double
stack will move the Mike linebacker down
as a nose guard and the Sam linebacker
will stack behind the Mike. We may still
use all of our base blitzes in double stack.

Diagram 20: Tite Outlaw Double

Stack I

Diagram 21: Tite Outlaw Double

Stack Kat Smoke O

Cobra
In addition to our blitz and base packages we will play cobra. Cobra is our dime
package and we try to get as much speed
on the field as possible. The defensive
tackles come out and we send in two more
defensive backs. We will move the defensive ends inside and one linebacker and
defensive back will become the new
defensive ends. We will utilize our cobra
package in second or third and long situations or when we want to match up with a
three or four wide receiver set by the
offense. This package is about attitude.
Our players take a great deal of pride in
cobra and they expect great things to happen when cobra is called. This package
allows us to get over the top help versus
the pass. We will play halves coverage or
man under in base cobra. The defensive
line works independently, by this we mean
each side of the line may call its own twist.
We tell the defensive line that they have
no run responsibility and to get up the
field.
We still have the ability to run any of
our blitz package when we are in cobra.
The terminology and the teaching
points remain constant, so we do not
have to spend a lot of extra time trying
to find a time to practice cobra. When

we make a cobra call, we will just use

the word cobra at the beginning.

Diagram 25: Cobra Viper 2

Diagram 22: Cobra

Diagram 26: Cobra Viper Bobcat O

Diagram 23: Cobra

Diagram 24: Cobra Short Smoke 2

Void

Cobra Viper
Cobra Viper is the next blitz package we
will use with our dime personnel. The line
will shift prior to the snap to a three down
lineman and two linebacker. We can tighten our safeties to be in a 50 front or keep
them loose in coverage. From our viper
look, the entire blitz package is available
for use. Bullets, Smokes, Dogs and Bobcat.
The installation may at first seem confusing, but our players understand their
hot words. Their knowledge of the pack-

age and great communication allows us to

add hot words on a weekly basis as needed by game plan. We are able to be this
wordy defense due to the fact that we
operate off wristbands. The wristband is
divided into categories of possible calls for
the week. Each call will be numbered
under the category. We signal in the category we want with the number. The linebacker will refer to the category and make
the call to the defense. The players and
coaches believe in what we do. The players believe we are on the cutting edge on
defense. We sell our defense to our players by calling it high tech and we are going
to make sure they have fun. Our players
know we care about them and trust in
them on and off the field. We will not be
afraid to make a call no matter the situation and our players know it.
Therefore, they take pride in their performance and look forward to the challenge when their number is called. In conclusion, I would be remiss if I did not take
this opportunity to thank the individuals
who have taken their time to share their
knowledge and passion for this great
game. They include John O'Hara, Dennis
Franchione, Bob DeBesse, Mickey
Matthews, Jim Bob Helduser, Fred Bleil,
and Gary Patterson. I will always be in
their debt. Thank you.

NCAA Position
on Gambling
The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering. Sports wagering has
the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare
of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community. Sports wagering
demeans the competition and competitors alike by a message that is contrary to the
purposes and meaning of sport. Sports competition should be appreciated for the
inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches and institutions
in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.
For those reasons, the NCAA membership has adopted specific rules prohibiting athletics department staff members and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional sporting events.

AFCA Summer Manual 2000