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Cover 4 Beaters
Cover 4 Beaters
Today we are going to look at how to beat Cover 4. In my experience, this is the default coverage against our spread formations. Most teams
don’t have the safeties to play Cover 2 or the corners to play Man. And, like we looked at last week, Cover 3 will not contain this offense. For
that reason, I think most defenses will default to Cover 4.
Let’s define what I mean when I say Cover 4. There are a couple variations of this coverage.
The first is a true Quarters coverage, where the CB’s and the Safeties each take one quarter of the field, the OLB’s take the flats,
and the Mike drops to the middle. Quarters is probably safer and is definitely easier to teach
The second variation is a Man Combo Scheme, where the CB covers the #1 receiver, until #2 crosses his face. The Safety and OLB
combo #2 and #3, with the safety taking any vertical threat and the OLB running with anyone who releases to the flat. Man Combo
rules create a sound defensive scheme
The crux of Cover 4 is that there will be a shell of 4 defenders deep with underneath coverage by the linebackers. Sometimes the issue with
identifying coverage in high school is that kids don’t always do what they are coached to do. So, a lot of times, it’s tough to decipher between
Cover 4 and Soft Man. Choose one and go with it. Remember, what you call the coverage doesn’t matter, we are looking for open grass. So,
whether you call it 4 and it’s really Man or you call it Man when it is really 4, it doesn’t matter as long as you are attacking the grass that the
defense gives you.
HOLES IN COVER 4
To beat Cover 4 we have to understand where the holes are. Cover 4 is similar to Cover 3 in a lot of ways. The defensive mindset is to keep
the ball in front and make you line up again. But, it solves one of the biggest issues with Cover 3 by dropping an extra safety to guard against 4
verticals. The holes in Cover 4 are in front of the CB’s, in the flats, and behind the Mike (or in front of the Mike depending on his depth). The
seams can be difficult to hit because of the safeties over the top.
Like Cover 3, you can tag a pass play with play action which will pull the backers up and allow you to slip behind the backers.
***Don’t forget to practice this. In practice, it’s tempting for the QB to force the ball to his first or second read, even if it’s not open. His mindset
is that it’s only practice, it doesn’t really matter if he throws a pick or an incompletion. But, if you are going to use it in the game you have to
make the QB hit the check down in 7 on 7 and Team.
TRIPS VS BALANCED COVERAGES
This is something that I’ve mentioned before, but it bears repeating. Remember that Cover 4 is a balanced coverage. One way to beat Cover 4
is to make the defense unbalanced. Trips unbalances the coverage and forces the defense to make a choice. They are either going to stay
balanced, which gives you a numbers advantage on the trips side. Or, they are going to cheat their safety over, which gives you a 1 on 1
match up on the backside. Either way, you have an advantage.
BEST PLAYS TO BEAT COVER 4
Before we get into the plays that beat Cover 3, if you haven’t downloaded my free version of the Air Raid, some of the terminology may not
make sense. Click here to download the playbook now.
SPECIAL WRINKLE:
Here is a nice little special to throw in if you know they play a lot of Cover 4. Run this into the boundary:
Trips Right Verticals X Skinny Post T Wheel: USC used to run this all the time with Reggie Bush. The CB has to run with the X. This puts the
OLB 1 on 1 with the RB up the sideline. Cue the band and the cheerleaders!
CONCLUSION:
Hopefully, this post and the previous 3 posts about attacking coverages have been beneficial. But, I want to reiterate one thing
before we end this discussion on how to beat Cover 4. As a coach, we want to know the holes in every coverage so that we can
always call the right play and give our guys the best chance to succeed. We also want our guys to start to recognize coverage so
that they can make adjustments to certain routes and get themselves open. But, remember that this is a progression based
system. If you don’t use the progression, the system will not work. Teach the QB the progressions and trust the system! You can
anticipate who will be open based on certain coverages, but If the QB learns to go through his reads and throws it to the open
guy, you are going to be fine. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is tell your QB who you think is going to be open. It can
hamper him. It can make him play tentatively. And it can make him force the ball. You need to find that balance between
anticipation and reaction. Every QB is different. That is the nuance of coaching. You need to find the right buttons to push with
your guy. One of the most rewarding moments as a play caller is when you call a play anticipating a certain throw, and your QB
shocks you by throwing a TD to someone else. That means that he has embraced the system, learned to trust his progressions,
and that he is actually “playing” football. So, even after all this talk about coverage and exploiting the defense, try not to get too
robotic. Coach hard during the week and try to identify your best plays. On Friday night, trust the system, trust your players, and
let them play!