O
n behalf of Tennessee Tech University 11 defensive personnel fit to support the
and our head coach, Mike Hennigan, it
is a great honor to present this article for
the 2003 AFCA Summer Manual. I would
like to thank my current staff, Damon
Bradford (linebackers) and Dewayne
Alexander (defensive line), and past staff
Eric Roark (SMU) and Chris Jones
(Montreal-CFL), as well as all the restricted
earning coaches for all of their hard work,
dedication and great times we’ve shared
through my four year tenure as defensive
coordinator at Tennessee Tech. Last and
most important, I would like to thank my
two predecessors, Mike Hennigan (head
coach) and Mike Smith (defense coordina-
tor, Jacksonville Jaguars), for their vast
knowledge and guidance as I took over a
defensive system that has evolved through
the last 17 years from their hands to mine.
Pass Defense Philosophy
Our philosophy of pass defense begins
with applying pressure on the passer. Most
of the time, your best pass defense is a
good pass rush. At the same time, we also
want to be able to jam and disrupt the tim-
ing of receivers with their patterns as they
release down field. Communication is also
important to be effective in pass coverage
where it is the responsibility of everyone in
our secondary to communicate by talking
(ex: “ball” calls, splits, motion adjustments)
or through the use of hand signals.
Our basic theory is to mix a variety of
man to man and zone coverages in pass sit-
uations. We try to have a zone coverage to
compliment every man coverage concept
we have. If our defensive backs execute the
coverages properly, vary their secondary
alignments, and use effective disguises, we
can create uncertainty and problems for
opposing quarterbacks and receivers.
This uncertainty can create doubt in the
opposing players’ minds as to the type of
coverage to expect, which in turn, may
reduce the number of pass patterns that a
quarterback and receivers have confidence
in using. No where is the concept of Team
Defense more evident than in pass
defense. With the coordination of applying
pressure on the passer by our line and tight
coverage by our secondary will produce
interceptions, sacks, and the ability to con-
trol our opponent.
End Run Force
End Run Force is one of the most
important concepts of defense where the
Zoning Out
run. Being sound both against the run and
pass in each coverage is important; there-
Offenses:
fore, we put a major emphasis on where
we fit as a defensive unit. Diagram 1 below
shows our defensive base alignment.
Diagram 1: Base Alignment
Te nn es s ee
Tech Zone
Coverage
The secondary, linebackers and defen-
sive ends have the responsibility of stop-
ping (forcing) the end run and playing the
run-pass. The primary “force” defender can
either be the free safety, rover, corner, line-
backer or defensive end depending on the
front and coverage called. There are four
key elements of defending the end run:
1. Force.
2. Alley (Cutback).
3. Secondary Support/Play Pass.
4. Pursuit.
Force
The player that is responsible for out-
side leverage vs an end run. The “force”
player meets the play forcing the play to
cutback to the inside or causing the ball
carrier bounce so he is vulnerable to pur-
suit. It is very important that the “force”
player must constrict or squeeze the width
of the running lane; therefore, minimizing
the area between himself and the next
inside defender (the alley player).
Alley
The player responsible for the middle
position between the force and the pursuit.
The “alley” player must control the alley
area by defeating the blocker and staying
in an inside-out relationship on the ball.
Secondary Support
The player responsible for secondary
outside leverage if the “force” player loses
outside leverage. In addition, the “sec-
ondary support” player is also responsible
for playing the toss pass. If a receiver
releases down field, the “secondary sup-
port” player must play pass until the ball
crosses the line of scrimmage. This player
must also replace the force player vs. the
crack block.
 Pursuit
The other eight players not responsible
for the other three elements of End Run
Force. All pursuit players must maintain an
inside-out relationship on the ball carrier
and have the awareness of other defend-
ers’ pursuit angles. Our basic rule in pursu-
ing to the football is to close to the near
shoulder of the ball carrier while not follow-
ing your own colored jersey.
Each defense we call will have one of
the four End Run Force schemes:
1. Sky Support: Free safety or rover is
“force” player.
2. Cloud Support: Corner is the “force”
player.
3. Bronco Support: Linebacker is the
“force” player.
4. Easy Support: End is the “force” player.
Diagram 2 (Sky Support), Diagram 3
(Cloud Support) and Diagram 4 (Bronco
Support) demonstrate how our defensive
backs and linebackers support the end run.
Zone Coverage (Base)
Diagram 2: Sky Support
Diagram 3: Cloud Support
Diagram 4: Bronco Support
Zone coverage is the backbone of our
defensive coverage package. Our base
zone coverage is a very flexible package in
which we align in a four spoke secondary
with the philosophy of dropping seven
defenders in coverage. The free safety
(strongside) primarily works with the Sam
linebacker, Mike linebacker, and corner. Our
rover (weakside) works with the Will line-
backer and corner to the weak side. The cor-
ner’s base alignments are at seven yards
and head up. The free safety and rover align
at a depth of 10-12 yards deep (depending
on coverage) and are given a landmark of
aligning two yards inside or outside the hash
depending on ball placement and formation.
Our base coverage is simply called
“zone.” In Zone, each safety has the option of
making one of three calls; Sky, Sink, or
Funnel. In order to make the proper call, the
safeties are given rules in which they use to
control their side of the formation. The safe-
ty’s call to each side will depend on the num-
ber of receivers to their side, the receiver(s)
alignment, or the receiver(s) splits. In num-
bering offensive personnel, we count from
outside in to the ball.
The following rules are given to our
safeties to use in Zone:
1. Sky call given on the strong side by
free safety when the No. 2 receiver is in the
“C” area (tight end position) and there is a
normal split of No. 1 receiver. Sky call is
given by rover on weak side when there is
a normal split of No. 1 receiver.
2. Sink call given by free and rover when
there are two receivers outside “C” area.
3. Funnel call given by the free safety
and rover if the No. 1 receiver takes a short
split or motions to a tight split for releasing
purposes or for blocking purposes.
In each coverage Sky, Sink and Funnel,
the coverage name not only tells the sec-
ondary and linebackers their pass responsibil-
ity but also dictates the run support scheme to
each side. Even though there are strengths
and weaknesses of each coverage, we feel
the coverage called based off these rules give
our players the best coverage to be most suc-
cessful both against the run and pass based
off offensive alignments and formations.
Sky Coverage
Sky Coverage is a quarters-based cov-
erage where the primary support of the run
is handled by the safety (Sky support). The
corners in Sky are pass defenders first and
have the role of secondary support versus
the run. Sky is a run-based coverage which
aggressively allows your safeties to get
involved in the running game. When our
safeties support the run in Sky, it enables
us to involve nine players against the run.
Sky pass drops can be seen in Diagram 5
on both the strong side and weak side.
Diagram 5: Sky Coverage
Corner Progression: Sky
Alignment: Seven yards deep and
head-up.
Footwork: Back peddle to inside-post
position.
Reads/Keys: Ball to No. 1.
Assignment: Man-to-man concept on all
deep routes (take off, post, post- corner) of
No. 1. Intermediate routes of No. 1 (curl, dig,
crossers) corner becomes halves player.
Free/Rover Progression: Sky
Alignment: Ten yards deep; two yards
flexibility off hash.
Footwork: Flat-foot shuffle.
Reads/Keys: Ball to No. 2.
Assignment: Free safety on strong
side. Read No. 2. Vertical release play No.
2. Flat release No. 2, play curl to post. Drag
release of No. 2, route recognition.
Rover on weak side. Read No. 2. verti-
cal release play No. 2. No vertical release,
curl/flat drop relating off No. 2.
Linebacker Drops: Sky
Sam: Curl/flat drop.
Mike: Hook/stretch to curl (all three
receivers outside).
Will: Hook/curl drop.
Sink Coverage
Sink coverage is a coordinated coverage
ran against a two wide receiver set. This type
of read coverage can turn into either true
quarters or a Cover 2 concept based off the
release of the No. 2 receiver. The primary
support of the run is handled by the corner
(Cloud support), but is a wide force concept.
With a three over two look on the outside,
Sink offers a safe and sound answer to both
the run and pass. The safety and corner’s
responsibility versus the pass can change
with the release of the No. 2 receiver.
Diagram 6 demonstrates Sink pass drops
on the strong side with release patterns of
No. 2 and Sky pass drops on the weak side.
Diagram 6: Sink Coverage
Corner Progression: Sink
Alignment: Seven yards deep and
head-up.
Footwork: Lateral Shuffle.
Reads/Keys: Ball to No. 2.
Assignment: Read No. 2 for technique.
Vertical release of No. 2, play No. 1 like
quarters. Flat release of No. 2, settle with
depth like Cover 2.
Safety Progression: Sink
Alignment: Twelve yards deep; two
yards flexibility off hash.
Footwork: Controlled back peddle to
throttle.
Reads/Keys: Ball to No. 2.
Assignment: Read No. 2 for technique.
Vertical release of No. 2, play No. 2. Flat
release of No. 2, overlap No. 1 like halves
coverage.
Linebacker Drops: Sink (St. Side)
Sam: Curl/No. 3 flat.
Mike: Hook/stretch to curl (all 3
receivers outside).
Will: Hook-Curl/No. 3 flat, unless other
coverage called.
Funnel Coverage
Funnel is a true Cover 2 coverage where
the corner squats the No. 1 receiver playing
the flat and the safety is a true half-field
defender. In our Zone coverage package,
Funnel is called when there is a short split of
the No. 1 receiver for releasing or blocking
purposes. The primary support against the
run in Funnel is handled by the corner (Cloud
support). In Diagram 7, Funnel pass drops
are illustrated on each side of the formation.
Diagram 7: Funnel Coverage
Corner Progression: Funnel
Alignment: Seven yards deep and
head-up.
Footwork: Work up to five yards; mirror
No. 1.
Reads/Keys: Ball to No. 1.
Assignment: Collision No. 1, play the flat.
Safety Progression: Funnel
Alignment: Twelve yards deep; two
yards flexibility off hash.
Footwork: Controlled back peddle to
throttle.
Reads/Keys: Ball to No. 1.
Assignment: Halves; eye control No. 1
to No. 2.
Linebacker Drops: Funnel
Sam: Curl
Mike: Hook
Will: Hook/Curl unless other coverage
called.
In closing, Zone coverage gives us the
built-in flexibility to run multiple coverages
to one side of a formation based off of
offensive sets and splits. Because of vari-
ous offensive personnel and formations,
we feel that the options of Sky, Sink, and
Funnel in Zone put our players in the best
coverage to be successful both against the
run and the pass. Again, I would like to
thank the AFCAfor this great opportunity to
share these ideas and that our doors at
Tennessee Tech are always open to you.
Best of luck in 2003.

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