Ohio State Defense and the Tampa 2

[BrianO]

College offenses around the country continue to look a lot more like NFL offenses all the time. More and more teams are using some sort of spread attack where the QBs and WRs make a lot more plays in the air than when compared to the old wishbone days.

To combat the current pro style offense the defacto scheme appears to be the Tampa 2. I have included Wikipedia?s definition for the Tampa 2 at the bottom of this post.

Here are some questions I have.

1) How close is OSU to the Tampa 2, this is hard to tell from TV. I see some 2 deep safeties and the personnel packages look close. Does Laurinaitis ever cover a deep 1/3rd?

2) Is it a natural progression that some form of the Tampa 2 will be common in college football and at OSU?

3) How will this affect recruiting? I assume speed, speed, and then some more speed.



Tampa 2 background (Wikipedia)

The Tampa 2 is an American football defensive strategy popularized by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League (NFL) team in the 1990s-early 2000s. It was designed by then-head coach Tony Dungy, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, and then-linebackers coach Lovie Smith.

After Dungy became head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Smith became head coach to the Chicago Bears, they installed the Tampa 2 in their respective teams. During the 2005 NFL season, The Buccaneers, still under defensive coordinator Kiffin, ranked first in the league in total yards allowed, Smith's Bears ranked number two, and Dungy's Colts ranked eleventh. In the 2006-2007 season, the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, and Detroit Lions adopted the defense.

Pass Defense

The Tampa 2 is a variation of the Cover 2 formation in which all pass responsibilities are zone coverage (instead of Man-to-man). Zone coverage is where players are assigned an area on the field which they are to cover:

* The safeties and middle linebacker cover the deep third: areas of the field usually extending from about 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage to the endzone, divided into thirds by the middle of the field). The middle linebacker drops into deep coverage, making what first looks like a Cover 2 into a Cover 3.

* The cornerbacks cover the flats: the area of the field extending about 15 yards from the line of scrimmage, and from the last man on the offensive line to the sideline.

* Outside linebackers cover the box: the two outside linebackers split the middle of the field consisting of the area within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage and in between the two flats into halves.

Run defense

To defend running plays, the Tampa 2 is a single gap defense where each player is responsible to defend his own gap. The assigned gap changes with game conditions and personnel.

Typically this style of defense utilizes smaller but faster linemen and linebackers with above average speed. Also the defensive backs must be above average hitters as well.

 

[Cornerback6]

We do a lot of zone defense like this, but the middle linebacker generally will take centerfield (with the two safeties behind him) as opposed to a deep third with the two safeties at his left & right. I could be wrong because our MLBs have been involved in some plays deep in the middle of the field, but I don't think they're ever expected to cover an entire third.

Which gests...IMHO...we do WAY too much zone coverage and not enough man. We have some of the best corners in the country year in and year out, but we do not use them aggressively enough. Granted, our zone does for the most part eliminate the "homerun ball", but I still prefer more man coverage. The major reason for this is that I personally like the blitz packages and more aggressive things we can do with the man coverages as opposed to the zoning...which we got dissected in during the NC game this year...while Chris Leak went 9 for 9 to start things off.

 

[osugrad21]

Zone coverages do not affect blitz packages...aggression is not defined by zone or man schemes.

In terms of Tampa 2...that is fluid terminology anymore as the variations of it are widespread. Think of "spread offense" and the variations of the spread you see...same thing.

Does tOSU run a variation of it at times? Sorta, kinda if you want to label it...but as for running it exactly the way Kiffin and Smith designed...no.

 

[BrianO]

In terms of Tampa 2...that is fluid terminology anymore as the variations of it are widespread. Think of "spread offense" and the variations of the spread you see...same thing.

True enough... I live in the Tampa Bay area. I have been a big fan of the defensive coaches from the Tony Dungy tree. As they have gone their separate ways they all continue to innovate.

I think you need to mix up the man and the zone. These cover schemes can set each other up, something like the play action pass. When done well zone can initially look like man and vice versa. When the QB thinks he is seeing one coverage and it is actually another is when the picks are made.

The other stupid obvious thing is a great pass rush can cover up a lot of sins. Of the 4 down lineman it is nice to have 3 speed rushers and one huge plug at the under tackle. Sprinkling in disguised blitz packages especially from DBs is nice be it from a zone or man scheme.

I think the idea is to keep the defense simple, play to its strengths, but use enough variation to keep the offense guessing.

 

[808 Buck]

You need more than just talented corners to play man against four or five receiver sets. Safeties and linebackers are involved as well, unless you situationally substitute more corners to these spots in a nickel/dime look. My guess as to why we didn't see more man coverage during the year was that the coaches played to the strengths of the guys we had available. You had a relatively new back seven, and zone is the "safe" way to go. In addition, run reads (for the safeties and LB's) are usually easier from a zone look. Of course as we all witnessed, safe didn't get it done on January 8. I think that we will see a more aggressive package in '07 as there will be more movement up front, more experience in the back, and hopefully, more quality depth in the secondary. There's a reason why we have recruited so many DB types for the last two years.

 

[Buck88]

I've always been more of a Cover 1-Man with lots of pressure fan, or the 46. Obviously you have to have the athletes to play it, but I prefer to attack the offense, assuming the risk, rather than sitting back waiting (hoping) for a mistake by the offense.

Bend but don't break is for teams with lesser talent on defense.