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I get a LOT of emails asking me about "terms" and "what does this mean" and "what is

toro or aim mean". Well, today we are going to have a vocabulary lesson! ere goes

ead side# the strong side of the coverage, or the side of the defense that the $% is aligned

on.

&way side# o''osite of the read side.%lice# "(uick to the curl".

%wing dee' of )eans take the receiver running out or out and u' through your *one

man to man.")e"# +all that has the %% take the out of -swing dee' of .

/lue# read coverage where the out of 0 is handled by the corner

+over # In T+12s system, robber coverage where the out of is still handled by the

corner -not traditional robber where the OL/3invert has the out of .+over 4# dee' s(uat 532s coverage, or what most of us are familiar with as cover .

%'ecial# &n "6" out conce't against tri's where the read side corner is man to man on the

05 receiver and the %% and $% 'lay /lue coverage to the 0 and 07 receivers.

%olo# &n "6" out conce't against tri's where the read side 'lays /lue coverage to 05 and0 while the read side L/ has the short wall of 07 and the W% has the long wall of 07.

oll# /asically...538, 538, 53./ronco# & modified version of man to man coverage ran on the away side where the

corner has all of 05 and the W% has the vertical and out of the 0 receiver.

+over 9# )an to man, no man free.+over 9 $ree# +overage used when blit*ing and there will be a dee' safety free: ie +over

5 -man free.

+O%# +hange of strength.

)an clue# &ll of a certain receiver vertical -basically.;ound# L/ is leaving the bo< to a'e< a 0 reciever: may also be telling the => to that

side to s'ill -vague.+hina# When a route by the 05 receiver is shorter than 4 yards -smash alert./ullets# /oth IL/2s blit*ing.

%mokes# /oth outside safeties blit*ing outside.

Lions# O%%2s blit*ing 5 ga' inside a %moke blit*.=ogs# IL/ and O%% blit*

/ullets Thunder3Lightning# /oth IL/2s and safety to3away from call blit*ing.

)ob# /ullets and %mokes.

+o'# =>2s man to man on a T> if they get one.$iddle# on 5 coverage.

&im# =L slant 5 techni(ue away from call.

Toro# =L slant 5 techni(ue to the call.%'y# +all telling outside rusher to cover back man to man if he attem'ts to cross his face

-'eel.

$ire# +all telling => to rush one ga' inside his alignment.%witch# +all made by O%% when he cannot blit* -vs. detached 0, this call tells IL/ to

blit* side to re'lace the safety in the blit*.

%ilver# =>2s will cover / man to man if he flares and take 'itch on o'tion.

$li'# +orners over.

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;ower# +all by O%% 'uts => in a 4 techni(ue.

Tag# Tackle to & ga'.

;eak# Long stick.&rmy# %lant 5 full ga' away from call.

Tank# %lant 5 full ga' to the call.

Tim# Tackles inside 5 ga'.Tag# Tackles in & ga'.

)O># )ike off edge3edge blit* by )L/.

%O># %am off edge3same as )O> but for %am.$ifty# Tackle away from call -most of us call him the nose.

That is nowhere near all the T+1 terminology, however it is the bulk of what I receive in

emails. emember folks, it2s ?ust "their" language. @ou can call it anything you like. Imoved most of my terminology to theirs as it allowed me less "conversion" when

learning the scheme and teaching it. That doesn2t mean that some of my old terminology

isn2t still in my defense, it ?ust means I2ve ada'ted more of my stuff to theirs. Whatever

you choose, it2s u' to you! Aood luck!

+Overage install order

obber#/lue#%olo

)an#$ree

#shell

/ronco%'ecial

In that order.

Our 'rogression is as follows.

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front -those that know me from the uey site know I2m an Over guy by nature.

owever, I never had much success in doing this. +hi*ik gave me the first glim'se in

how it2s done. Bow, this 'ast season, we moved to using the 8##4, and the blit*es aremuch sim'ler from this look than the Over front in my o'inion. What I did was to co'y

+hi*ik, however I labeled each side of the offense by the same cities. & ga' was &tlanta,

/ ga' was /oston, + ga' was +hicago, and the = ga' was =etroit. The only other tag weadded was "&way" which meant o''osite & ga'. ;atterson terms this "Okie" in his

defense, but I was trying to hold true to the word association for my 'layers, and "Okie"

did not have an "&" in it. %o from there, we ?ust started adding in the blit*es, and the'ossibilities became endless!

Aeneral ules

Inside rushers# If you encounter a back on your way to the (uarterback, grab him and takehim with you, do not allow the screen or draw to beat us. This is taken verbatim from the

1niversity of $lorida2s =oc olliday when describing their "eat" blit* they used to

terrori*e Ohio %tate in the 99C Bational +ham'ionshi' game. This is very im'ortant

because the screens and draws were meant to slow the rush down, and this sim'ly cannotbe allowed to ha''en when blit*ing.

Outside rushers# Outside rushers in our scheme were always "'eel rushers". /asically,don2t let a back cross your face. If he tries to, cover him man to man.

$ront;atterson mi

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/ ga's and both linebackers in the & ga's. Our favorite /ullets blit* was /ullets

&way. &way, told the defense, each inside linebacker was going to blit* the & ga'

o''osite of their alignment, so in our defense, the )ike was going to go strong & ga',and the %am was going to go weak & ga'. We told the )ike to go first, since ) comes

before % in the al'habet. The defensive linemen would both go to the / ga's and the

linebackers hit the line of scrimmage -LO% on the run, but were crossing as they went!Eery tough blit* to 'ick u' by the interior of the offensive line.

%mokes%mokes are safety blit*es, and we ran them ?ust like T+1 did, however the rule we added

for outside blit*es was do not let a back cross your face. &gain, this did things. $irst,

we would always have an answer for the offenses answer to a blit*, the dum' off to the

back out of the backfield. This also allowed us to kee' the free safety free and 'lay a lotof cover 5 looks. We also did not give "fire" calls like T+1 does, our =>2s sim'ly knew,

if there was a %moke call on, they had to rush 5 ga' inside their alignment, unless there

was a tight end 'resent -we ran a F techni(ue as a base call. We also never used a

"%ilver" call either, but I like the idea of what ;atterson is doing with that call, so I nevertotally ruled it out.

=ogs

&hhh, my favorite, the dog blit*! & dog blit* is sim'ly a smoke blit* with half a bulletsblit* to the same side. Bow, /oston =og %trong, seemed a little too wordy to me, so what

we did was label our dog blit*es as %lash, and )ash. %lash was the %am and safety, and

)ash was )ike and safety. %o the call would be 57 +hicago %lash. This 'ut the front in

a 57 call, and sent the %am into the + ga', with a %moke coming outside. Eery good blit*vs. o'tion teams, or against half slide 'rotection. /asically T+12s dog blit*es is their

version of the old B+&& blit* out of the Over31nder front.

)ob

We did not run )ob very much, e

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Look at the reaction by

the defense, one cansee it2s the usual run

fits for the 8##4.owever it2s the "how"

the defense gets to this'oint that makes the

TAOA scheme such a

great system. Lookingfrom strong to weak,

the strong => is a two

ga' 'layer, meaning hehas the + ga' and

doesn2t have to honor

the arc release by theT>. The three techni(ue, is also a two ga''er, so he2s in a very, very tight three alignment.

e2s thinking bull rush and sto' the tra'. When he gets the base block, he sim'ly comes

underneath and slides into the & ga'. The strong side inside L/ -%IL/ will see the /

ga' o'en and will attack the outside breast 'late of the lead blocker. This L/ is the "bo is being isolated now

instead of the 'lay side L/. ere is how the run fits in the TAOA scheme look when the;ower is run to the strong side of the formation.

ere the strong side

=> is the isolated'layer. The strong =>

is thinking get u' thefield, however once he

sees the near hi' of the

OT go down inside,he2s coming flat down

inside to s'ill the kick

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out block by the $/. The three techni(ue is two ga''ing as well, which 'uts him under

the double team and hel'ing with the cutback. The %IL/ knowing that the & and = ga's

are taken care of can scra'e over the strong side =>2s s'ill and 'lay the + ga'. This L/ isthe lever L/, and will take on all blocks with his outside arm free. To the weak side, the

Bose gets u' the field and hel's to contain the runner from the backside. The weak => is

a two#ga''er, so when the OT either scoo's or hinges this 'layer will come underneathand 'lay the cut back through the / ga'. The WIL/ knowing he has no cutback

res'onsibilities is a free runner and can scra'e across the midline to 'lay the strong side /

ga'. This L/ is the s'ill L/, and will take on all blocks with his outside shoulder.

To the weak side

nothing changes for

any 'layer. Theweakside => is a

two#ga''er so he

mashes the OT

down inside ands'ills the $/2s

kickout block. The

Bose works u'fieldand 'lays the

cutback. The

WIL/, knowing allthe ga's to his side are filled, can scra'e outside and is the bo< back 'layer to the

weakside. To the strong side both =L are two#ga''ers so they are coming down hard and

flat and trying to eat u' two blockers in doing so not allowing any blockers to come off

on the %IL/ and %%. The three techni(ue is also working to get in the hi' 'ocket of the'uller in an attem't to chase the 'lay down from the backside. The %IL/ is the free

runner, and the s'ill 'layer, so he is free to scra'e across the formation and s'ill the lead

block of the 'ulling guard.

+ounter

=efending the counter re(uires one hard and fast set of rules. These rules, which I haveused for many years were stolen from legendary defensive coordinator /uddy yan. To

'ro'erly defend the counter, or as I call it the AT counter -for Auard and Tackle 'ulling#

some call this the +ounter Trey, you need& defender allocated to be outside the first 'uller.

& defender who 'lays inside the first 'uller, but outside the second 'uller.

& defender to 'lay inside the second 'uller.

Looking at the diagram below we can see how the TAOA scheme defends the +ounterTrey.

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The strong side =>,

being the two#ga''erwill come down inside

and s'ill the first'uller -this is the

'layer inside the first'uller and outside the

second 'uller. The

three techni(ue, worksdown inside the & ga'

and 'lays for any cut

back runs by therunning back -some of

the most dangerous

runs on +ounter Treycome in either the weak or strong & ga' cut backs. The %IL/, will ste' with his key -the

running back for me and rock back, knowing the & and / ga's are taken, he can scra'e

outside and 'lay for the s'ill by the => -the %IL/ in this case is the "outside the first

'uller" 'layer. On the weak side, the Bose hel's to kee' the / contained by cloggingu' the weak & ga'. The Bose also makes the 'ulling guard and tackle2s ?ob difficult too

by trying to create a "bubble" in the weak & ga' for both the guard and the tackle to have

to work around. Aood Boseguards can even 'ick off one of these 'layers so the frontside of the 'lay doesn2t have a chance. The weak =>, being a two#ga''er is going to try

and get to the tackle, and once he sees the kickout block by the $/, he will s'ill this block

and attem't to chase the 'lay. This is good techni(ue for holding u' the $/2s release onwaggle or counter#boot 'lays that are common 'layaction 'asses off of AT counter

action. The WIL/ will react to his key, then rock back to the strong side coming off the

hi' of the Bose and 'laying for the cutback. This L/ is the "inside the second 'uller"

'layer mentioned in the list above.

To the weak side, theweak =>, being a

two#ga''er, will mash

the OT2s release down

inside and s'ill the

first 'uller -inside thefirst 'uller, outside the

second 'uller. TheBose gets off the ball

and works u'field to

create havoc for the'ulling guard and

tackle and to control

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the / cutting back into the weak & ga'. The WIL/, once he knows the 'lay is counter,

is free to scra'e outside the weak => and 'lay outside the first 'uller, as the bo< back

'layer. On the back side of the 'lay, the Tackle attem'ts to get in the hi' 'ocket of theguard and is working hard to kee' one or both 'ullers from doing their ?ob while he

attem'ts to chase the 'lay and hel' with the cutback. The strong =>, being a two#ga'

'layer is working into the + ga' and will s'ill the kickout block by the $/. The %IL/,will work off the hi' of the Bose and 'lay inisde the second 'uller -this is the s'ill

'layer.

1ni(ueness of the system

I used to be an o'en window3closed window guy in terms of what I taught my L/2s to

read. &t one 'oint this did s'eed us u', but I never felt like my guys were fast enough to

their reads. I ran across this scheme and a friend of mine was doing it, so he and I hadseveral discussions and what I found out was, no longer do you teach L/2s reads, you

teach "fits". In other words, based on the alignment of the front, the L/2s now know what

ga's are o'en and closed 'resna'. Bo longer are they wondering "will that three

techni(ue get reachedD", instead they are reacting to flow and getting to their 'oint ofattack. This system takes all the guesswork out of high school linebacking. This scheme

is also what has allowed our odd front brethren, such as the 7#7 stack to make it a''ear asthough they are blit*ing on every 'lay. The reason these teams look so fast, is that their

L/2s are not reading, they sim'ly "fitting" where the are su''osed to be based on

backfield flow! The sim'licity of the linebacking when 'laying behind the TAOAscheme will free u' your L/2s to be runners and attackers instead of readers and reactors.

The 84 has built in fle

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The advantage you have with the 84 is the 4 s'oke secondary. ;laying the e

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in the old fashioned "Bickle" s'ot allows more fle

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like kee'ing him in the bo