The Eat The Captain Defense is known for some truly WILD fronts and alignments, but the core of the scheme is based on sound defensive football and detailed film study.
It’s not just about the unusual looks you can bring against an offense on 3rd and long, Eat the Captain is about giving your players the tools they need to be successful against what the offense does best.
Today we’re going to talk about one of coach Holley’s pressures that neutralizes zone and gap concepts. Pressures like this are one of the many reasons why High School programs of all sizes have won multiple State Championships by using this EXACT scheme.
Run game pressures are discussed in more detail in: The Eat the Captain Defense – The Complete Series.
Tiger Smash
Coach Holley’s Tiger Calls are pressures that allow his defense to get set and his Mike to call a blitz based on the offense’s formation. In this example, we will be looking at the Tiger Smash call which is a 2 LB pressure.
The first thing that coach Holley teaches his players is that if there’s a FB in the formation, more often than not, the offense is looking to get to a gap scheme run. Understanding this, the defense is prepared to attack the areas that the offense wants to get to.
The smash call is taught to the Sam as a blitz with an aiming point of the toes of the near back.
This is NOT a gap-dependent blitz.
The blitzers are taking their entry angles based on the alignment of the near back. Since the strength is left, this means the Sam is aiming for the FB. The Mike is gonna stack him and chase him through the gap. This allows the near back to drag the Mike to the ball where the Mike can detach and make a play once something happens.
The DE on the side of the blitz takes three steps up the field, and sits down preparing to collision what shows. He is an edge setter, not a contain player. His job is to force the runner to turn his shoulders to the sideline should he get around him.
On the backside, the defense is going to cancel gaps with a twist. The Tackle’s aiming point is the hip of the next man inside. Once he arrives at his aiming point, the Tackle should put both hands on him and knock one into two. This shortens the edge of the formation all the way down to where the ball way snapped.
The Nose engages the center, and then steps square and flat. This gets the center’s attention, making him think he has the Nose, without any contact being initiated.
The LB that’s left tracks the Back that the blitz was set off of. This allows the defense to cancel gaps and neutralize gap scheme runs because their are players set up to insert into holes left open by pullers and players attached to where the FB takes them.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how this defense shuts down opponents in both the run and pass game!
Create confusion and uncertainty for your opponent TODAY in the Eat The Captain Defense – The Complete Series!
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