Iowa State Football: Jon Heacock Defense (Origins, History, and Film Study)

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3 жыл бұрын

Twitter: @tcpfootball
Learn about the 3-3 Defense run by Jon Heacock with Matt Campbell's Iowa State Cyclones football program. We'll talk about how Heacock switched from the 4-3 defense (which he'd run at Youngstown State, Kent State, Indiana, Purdue, and Toledo) to the 3-3 in order to defend the Air Raid and other Spread offenses of the Big-12. We'll see how he uses 8-man coverages (especially versions of the Tampa-2) and hyper-light boxes to get as many defenders into coverage as possible, while using walked-out defenders as force players on the edge. We'll also learn about the Robber Safety position that Heacock calls the Star, before seeing how these coverages can be susceptible to downfield concepts like 4-Verticals in the passing game.

Пікірлер: 52

@THarjo-ks6pf 3 жыл бұрын

Serious respect to Heacock and Campbell. ISU is very fundamentally sound.

@JasonA123 3 жыл бұрын

Very underrated channel!

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you like it!

@kmarasin 3 жыл бұрын

This is superb and really helps me understand the scheme as an ISU fan. Couple of questions: 1) ISU has NOT had much success against Mike Gundy and OSU with this defense. Why is Gundy so much better than even Lincoln Riley at playcalling against this defense? Is he doing something that OU isn't? Does he have personnel (like extra TEs) to call on that OU doesn't? 1b) On a possibly related note, Campbell is on record saying that the reason he adopted the 3-3 was to negate the tempo that air raid offenses like to create by substituting mismatched personnel when the defense can't counter. When he DOES have time to substitute, he preaches "being multiple" and does play 4-2 and even 4-3 against multiple TEs. So is the reason for OSU's big play you showed: that ISU didn't have an opportunity to substitute an appropriate package and got caught in their base look against a package designed to beat it? (Edit: I realize after watching it again that the CB on the near side was supposed to read the TE in deciding whether to commit to run support or bail into deep coverage, and just realized too late that the TE was running vertical. The coverage may or may not have succeeded, but he was responsible for the TE and missed his assignment.) 2) In the second half of the 2020 season, ISU faced a number of above average teams and strangled their scoring after halftime. They allowed 0 to K-State, 7 to Texas, 6 to West Virginia, 3 to Oklahoma, and 0 to Oregon. Is there any pattern to the adjustments made after halftime, or was it just a combination of luck and game circumstances? Or just poor play from their opponents? Re the comment about the 3-3 in the NFL: I could see a team like Baltimore that runs a blitz-heavy 3-4 disguising a 3-3 look and delay blitzing out of that. The coverage is confusing and there would seem to be extra men lurking to effect a sack or interception. You're right that it's probably not a base D teams will adopt because of how many good TEs there are in the NFL, but it could be effective in 2nd or 3rd and long against 4 wide.

@tobiahsoto9464 3 жыл бұрын

Backing up you're 1B point, I've also read and studied that they switch up their defense a lot, and that while it's a base 3-3-5, it's better described as a unique 4-2-5/3-3-5 hybrid that they do a lot of untraditional things out of. My guess to you're 2nd point/question is that on the ISU side, they make really good adjustments. They also aren't small on the front 6, their line and linebackers are big athletes, so when they switch things up it still matches the adjustments of the other team. I've also heard that the San Diego State's and ISU's 3-3-5s are the defensive version of the triple option, they're so unique and different from what you normally see, and no one else really uses them as a base defense the way you do, so you can't spend to much time preparing in the offseason for it, but that means you haven't spent enough time either. It would be interesting to see how they adjust to more Big 12 teams using 12 personnel more than they have for the past decade

@SvdSinner 3 жыл бұрын

#2: On top of the actual adjustments they make, ISU is having 2nd half success because of a strategy they use: During the game when people see smart adjustments to make, they don't immediately implement them. Instead, they build up a war chest of planned adjustments and only pull them out late in the game in critical situations. By holding onto these adjustments, they take away the other team's ability to adjust to their adjustments and can quickly kill any momentum their opponents might start building.

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

I'm doing an Oklahoma State video right now, so I have a lot of thoughts about Gundy's offense and its relationship to the Air Raid. Most of the guys who coached with Leach are actively trying to get out of his system from a scheme standpoint. Working for Leach can be really smothering, because he never changes anything, and especially when you look at the younger generation guys like Graham Harrell and Lincoln Riley, you see that the offenses that they're running really aren't in-line with Leach philosophically (I've got videos on both of them). Leach and the older guys, like Tony Franklin and Sonny Dykes, emphasize getting an equal number of touches to all five eligible receivers. This means that there are lots of empty protections, passes to the RB's out of the backfield, 4-Vertical concepts, flood concepts, quick game overloads, etc. Riley, on the other hand, is really a 2-back run/play-action offense. Gundy's interesting because he already had a kind of Power Spread offense, and then he went out and got an Air Raid passing game by hiring Holgorsen. He's not trying to get out of the Air Raid shadow, he's pulling what's useful about the Air Raid into his pre-existing system, and because of that his pass/screen game often looks conceptually more like a pure Air Raid than what a lot of the "Air Raid" guys are running. A lot of the problems that ISU had vs. that offense were really about horizontal spacing, which is what the Air Raid is great at creating. As for personnel, by rule the defense gets a chance to sub if the offense does, so I don't think that they were necessarily getting caught. Like a lot of Power Spread teams, Oklahoma State plays with the splits of their TE's a lot and splits them out wide as often as they pull them in, so I suspect that ISU chose to stay in Nickel to preserve their ability to flood underneath coverage for plays where the TE's are split out wide. Against a team with bigger, blocking-oriented TE's or a different passing scheme then they might've made a different decision.

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

As for the second-half adjustments, I've only broken down the Oklahoma game in detail, and they were about as effective after halftime as they were before it (after the half they had drives of 11, 9, and 4 plays and scored on all three). I'll be on the look-out for second-half adjustments in future breakdowns, though!

@botomcgee808 3 жыл бұрын

The 3 High…haven’t even watched and know this one is gonna be fun!

@cannonbros8487 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome video! Watching these are super fun

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, glad you're enjoying them!

@chrisluttrell5607 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Shared on linkedin. Very good presentation.

@kevinlopez1570 3 жыл бұрын

Great video

@tobiahsoto9464 3 жыл бұрын

Love this! I wish you had gone into the type of athlete ISU uses, as I understand that the size of their front 6 is what sets them apart from other 3-3 teams (San Diego State uses smaller and quicker linemen and linebackers, but to my understanding ISU has more traditional body types at those positions) or how they'll shift to a 2 or 1 man front when the play happens. I love following this defense because of how untraditional it us, and then how unique their adjustments are as well. I do have a question. I've read from other sources that this 3-3 is different and very unique from what Rocky Long and his coaching tree use, which is why it's caught the attention of everyone. Any chance you know what sets this defense apart from other versions of the 3-3-5?

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

I've studied both Long and Danny Gonzalez a bit, and as you say, they've relied on smaller players, often out of necessity, and this definitely dovetails with what's different about their scheme. First, what both systems have is a lot of depth. They're both going to have three LB's and the Robber Safety, giving them four guys at depth in the middle of the formation. Where they differ is in what they do with that depth. For Long, it's all about creating unpredictability and multiplicity in the front. For example, if you start in a 3-3 Stack alignment, but then slant the NT across the Center's face to one side and blitz the MLB over the OG to the other side, then you've effectively created a 4-2 look, with the blitzing LB fulfilling the role of a second DT. The key, though, is that because you're blitzing into that front instead of lining up in it, the offense doesn't know which front is coming (i.e. where they'll have double-teams vs. single blocks, which gaps will be covered by a 1st-level defender, etc.). In reality, Long's defense often ends up playing like a 4-2, where you're going to have a six-man front handling the run and pressure, and then a pretty traditional 5-man nickel secondary, so they end up in a lot of Quarters/Cover-2/Cover-3. Iowa State instead uses their depth to flood the underneath coverage and create strong run support patterns on the perimeter. If they face a 4-wide set, they're going to pull both OLB's out of the box to play with a 4-man box, like I outlined in the video. Personnel definitely factors into this, because ISU's DL plays more traditional odd-front principles, with the DL controlling blockers and taking away space, whereas Long's DL is more about movement and penetration.

@halalcurb3933 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent video and production. I’m new to football and would love to understand the game on a deep technical chess-like level. Do you have any videos for newcomers like me regarding the technical terminology like “quarters””nickels””dimes””cover 1,2,3” “1-man/2-man” “flats””alleys””7-technique””seams” etc. Thank you kindly

@orangetuono38 Жыл бұрын

Beautiful tape breakdown. And very timely give that OkState is moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4 D this season. Also loaded up on a couple additional TE's for the O.

@jeffedmonson8913 2 жыл бұрын

Kudos to Iowa State for carrying the defensive banner in the big 12 …Sooners fan here

@DHTex11 2 жыл бұрын

New DC PK @Texas would be great 🤘🏼

@user-eb1zw3lx8u Жыл бұрын

problem with off tackle play at 9:57 mark is not field safety rolling down soon enough ,but star safety back pedaling instead of flat foot reading and getting downhill filling inside out

@TheCoordinatorProject Жыл бұрын

Do you see that as a fault in the scheme, or do you think the Star isn't doing what he's been coached to do?

@jlp001 3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic analysis And some pretty good vocal fry to boot

@mattp5991 Жыл бұрын

The new Nebraska D and their coaching tree, please and thank you! Great channel you got going here....❤🏈☠️🔥🔥🔥

@TheCoordinatorProject Жыл бұрын

Already done! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZshzdZyBrrOUkWg.html

@JuliusCaesar19 2 жыл бұрын

Really good job thx

@TheCoordinatorProject 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot!

@nexasdf 3 жыл бұрын

Cool! :)

@joedalgarn2041 3 жыл бұрын

Could you do a video explaining the “wide zone” offense that BYU has been using and that Baylor and Kansas are moving towards? Especially on how it’s similar and different than the offense that PJ Fleck and Minnesota run.

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

I'm gonna be hitting some SEC requests for the rest of the off-season, but in-season I'm changing the format a little bit, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for content from those offenses! Are you coming at this as more of a Baylor fan with Jeff Grimes coming over, or as more of a scheme guy not interested in any one team over the others?

@johncanesa2804 9 ай бұрын

How do they defend outside zone

@cyrilnein4821 3 жыл бұрын

👍🏿

@collingoslin6604 Жыл бұрын

Can we get a Jim Leonhard feature?

@halalcurb3933 3 жыл бұрын

11:40 could we say that the core responsibilities of the two outside linebackers (what are their positions technically called? Will?Mike?) are to mirror the TEs so if the TE blocks they crash in to cause the clogging but if either TE releases down the field the outside LB on that side of the line simply follows them accordingly…? Would that have therefore prevented this touchdown?

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

There are coverages that ask OLB's to carry as you say, but Iowa State doesn't really run them. Here's a good term for you: Spot Drop Zones (as opposed to Matchup Zones or Man Coverages). A Spot Drop zone is kind of what it sounds like: Defenders have an area/landmark, and they're looking to get to it and read the QB's eyes, moving with them to find the threat. In these coverages, you won't necessarily have a defender "covering" each receiver, though the coverage structure as a whole should account for every receiver. This is more of the philosophy that Iowa State's running here, and OK State has obviously found a combo that exploits it (every coverage has weaknesses). Iowa State might've been baited into this kind of coverage by the two-TE formation, because they viewed it as more of a run threat.

@kofianpu4499 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent break down, how about Charlie Strong Defense? Or Florida Defense 06’-09’🤷🏾‍♂️

@TheCoordinatorProject 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I actually want to do some historical defenses sometime soon. Not sure when, but Strong's definitely been influential enough to get a spot in the lineup.

@davidhernandez9985 3 жыл бұрын

I wonder how he'll do coaching M-U football DC?

@shanemeyer7989 3 жыл бұрын

CB blitz wrinkle is money.

@vbateaste 2 жыл бұрын

Can we get something on PK and Jimmy Lake at Washington

@TheCoordinatorProject 2 жыл бұрын

Now that 2021's started I'm going to do more week-to-week matchup stuff, but I'll look out for an opportunity to do more Texas stuff for sure.

@travisreed3582 2 жыл бұрын

Zach Arnett

@carlislekoonts4036 3 жыл бұрын

Nate Woody would be great!

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

Ooh, I hadn't thought about him, but that's a really interesting suggestion! I've got a bunch of requests backed up right now, but I'll definitely get to Woody when I can.

@TheKRL78 3 жыл бұрын

Could we see this type of defense being implemented in the NFL?

@TheCoordinatorProject 3 жыл бұрын

That's an interesting question. The name of the game for most NFL defenses is multiplicity, and I don't think that the base package at Iowa State would probably cut it versus a truly balanced NFL offense. For example, I wouldn't be surprised to see Sark's offense do comparatively better vs. this defense than good spread offenses. I think it'd be more likely that the NFL would absorb Heacock's principles into their Nickel/passing down packages. Like, if a team finds that they're giving up some annoying 3rd and 7's because teams are breaking tendency and running the ball, then there are a lot of unique ideas in this defense about fitting the run while still legitimately defending a 3- and 4-wide passing game. Ultimately, though, I have structural concerns about this defense once TE's start becoming a big factor in the run game (to expand on the video a little bit, the light boxes force everyone that IS in the box to play inside of the TE's or else risk having too many bubbles to the inside, but when those players all pinch inside, then the TE's have leverage/good blocking angles to cause all sorts of problems on the edge. This is basically the price that you pay for having that Robber Safety in the middle of the field, because if your NB were instead playing on the edge, as he does in most systems, then you'd have a defender with outside leverage on the TE; when you put your extra DB someplace else, then you give up that leverage).

@gregfrancis9978 3 жыл бұрын

The Carolina Panthers ran some of this defense in 2020.

@TheKRL78 3 жыл бұрын

@@TheCoordinatorProject Carolina actually ran this alignment some this past year even against 12 personnel, but not on a full time basis.

@TheKRL78 2 жыл бұрын

@@TheCoordinatorProject kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pJeIZs6ay82vk3U.html Kurt Warner's channel talks about this.