Installing the 3-5 as an Every Down Defense

by Chad Hetlet Head Coach - Glenbard West (IL) High School

http://www.hittersfootball.org/

The 3-5 Defense has often been thought of as a passing down defense, and it has definitely gained popularity
because of the growing number of teams that run spread offenses. Although this may be true the fact still remains
that it allows you to put 8 defenders in the box and depending on how you play your safety you can have 9.

In 2007 our staff inherited a 1-8 team that had just suffered through 3 straight losing seasons. We instantly had
success with our 3-5 Defense making it to the Sweet Sixteen in the State Playoffs the first season. We followed that
in 2008 with a 12-1 record and birth into the State Semi-Finals; in 2009 we went 13-1 and lost a heartbreaker in
double overtime in the State Championship game. This past season we went 10-2 and lost in the State Quarter
Finals to the eventual State Champions, we were ranked as high as 36th in the Nation.

We have gone 41-9 since taking over, and an incredible 35-4 over the last 3 seasons. We are a school of 2,400 and
play in one of the top conferences in the State of Illinois. We have posted 13 shutouts over the past 3 seasons and
have held opponents to 14 or less in 31 of the last 38 games.

We feel that the base structure of the way we align in our 3-5 will create great difficulty for opposing offenses to run
inside. Fig 1 below shows the base alignment.
Our Nose Tackle (Nuke) will play a 0-technique; he is a 2-gap defender. We like a stocky wrestler type of kid. He has
to be strong enough to take on double teams but agile enough to get off blocks and make plays. Our definition of a 2-
Gap Nose is that he CAN'T be base blocked by the Center; he must beat ALL base blocks by the Center. Our strong-
side DE (Tank) is a 5-technique to the TE side; he will be the bigger of the DE as he has to take on double teams
more often. He must also be a good pass rusher. He will squeeze down blocks and wrong arm the trap. He CAN'T be
washed down by the TE. Our weak-side DE (Dart) is a 5-technique to the open side; he can be smaller than the
Tank. He should be our best pass rusher, we will put him to the field against a running QB. This kid can be basketball
type player that is a good athlete. He will also squeeze all down blocks and look to wrong arm the trap.

With our linebacker alignments we add a "2" in front of the technique they will play to represent the second level. For
example our stack backers actually align inside eye of the offensive tackles so they are 24I techniques in our base.
The Middle Linebacker (Mallet) will align as a 20-techinque right over the Center and heels at 5 yards. He is the
"MAN", he has to have the best nose for the ball. We don't care what his size is as long as he has a great motor! You
really can't teach having a nose for the ball so we find these kids early in the program and make them Mallet's. The
strong-side linebacker (Sword) will align in a 24I-technique on the inside eye of the offensive tackle with his heels at
3 yards. Like the Tank we would like him to be one of the bigger inside backers. He is more of a plugger but still
must be able to run. He will have to deal with a TE coming down on him. The weak-side linebacker (Whip) will also
align in a 24I-technique with heels at 3 yards. He can be smaller, must be quick though. He will play to the open
side of the offense. Like our entire inside linebacker core he must have a great motor.

Our outside linebackers are a bit of hybrid players, they are most like a strong safety in other defenses. They are the
force players on the run and MUST CONTAIN! We teach them to squeeze & expand rather than run upfield to take
on lead blockers. Squeeze the lead block on the L.O.S., DON'T cross the L.O.S. but expand down the line as the ball
attempts to go outside. Our strong-side outside linebacker (Rifle) will generally play 3x3 off the end man. He will play
2x7 inside and off of a slot receiver. This protects against seem routes. These guys must be quick and physical, we
don't care about size. The Rifle is the best outside backer we have and will play to the field. The weak-side outside
linebacker (Pistol) will also play 3x3 of the end man and 2x7 on a slot. He is our 2nd best OLB. He will play to the
boundary. We may also roll him up on cover 2 packages.

We are a cover 3 team that protects hard against getting beat up the seems (which is the perceived weakness of the
cover 3), our LB's will look disrupt and re-route all vertical seem routes. This allows are Free Safety to be more
aggressive on the run and be that 9th defender in the box. Our Free Safety (Stealth) will align at 8 yards and slightly
shading the Center against a Pro formation. Against a 4 receiver set he will split the #2 receivers. He is our 2nd best
defensive player. He can be like a OLB or corner, he MUST have a nose for the ball and a violent tackler. We believe
we can teach anybody to play centerfield but again it's tough to teach having a nose for the ball. He usually is top 2 in
tackles on the team. Our strong-side corner (Fire) and weak-side corner (Bullet) will play 1 yard inside and 7 yards
off the #1 receiver. They are secondary support on the run.

We believe in teaching our players run fits and pass fits, and we have found a simple teaching progression for that.
All offensive plays fall under 4 categories which we refer to as "Lanes", 0-Lane is a drop back pass, 1-Lane is an
outside run, 2-Lane is an inside run and 3-Lane is an out-of-pocket pass. As opposed to teaching them different
terminology every week for the offense we're facing we just refer to the plays as "Lanes" and we have found that the
kids play much faster!

Our inside run (2-Lane) fits are as simple as reading "open" and "closed" windows for our linebackers. The DE's and
stack linebackers work in tandem and gap exchange with run fit reads. When we get flow to and a down blocking
scheme "closed" window our DE will squeeze the OT and the stack will scrape to "C" gap or look to defeat the block
of the TE if there is one. If we see flow to and a turn out block by the OT "open" window our DE will post and stay
square, the stack will run through the open "B" gap window as the OG must combo to the middle backer or backside.

Against outside run (1-Lane) we look to "build the wall". Our outside linebackers will be force defenders and set the
edge, while our stack backers will scrape to the ball and the middle linebacker will run the first available window. The
free safety will take a banana path and fill just inside the outside linebacker.
When we read "high hat" (0-Lane) from the offensive front we go into pass defense mode. With that our inside
backers will open up to the nearest receiver and look to "wall off" all crossers over 5 yards (we won't respect crossers
under 5 yards). If we get a vertical route we will re-route and knock them off their path. If we get slot receivers our
outside linebackers will align 2 yards inside and 7 off to defend against slots running verticals as our inside
linebackers are not in a position to.

When the QB breaks contain on a pass whether it's by design (Bootleg or Sprint-out) or if it began as a drop back
and he was flushed out of the pocket we snap to our (3-Lane) rules. Our stack linebacker will come up and force the
QB when he breaks contain, the other linebackers will slide to replace that stack that is pressuring.

The idea is to get your kids to play fast and confident, regardless of your defensive scheme. We feel that the
alignment forces offenses to change their run blocking rules because it's so difficult to get to the linebackers,
especially the middle. With the stacks at 3 yards it can really congest things inside.

There is so much more to what we do but I wanted to share some of the things that has helped us in our journey. If
you have some interest in seeing this in action we will be playing live on ESPN 2 in August on the 28th at noon EST.
I also have 4 instructional DVD's through Coaches Choice that will give you everything you need. Good Luck!

About the Author...

Chad Hetlet is the head football coach at Glenbard West (IL) High School, a position he assumed in
2007. A 1994 graduate of Northern Illinois University, Hetlet began his coaching career in 1995 as
the defensive coordinator at Johnsburg (IL) High School, a position he held for eight seasons, before
becoming the Skyhawk's head football coach for a year. In 2004, Hetlet then accepted the head
coaching job at McHenry (IL) High School, in which he served for two seasons, before moving on as
the defensive coordinator at Hinsdale Central (IL) High School during the 2006 season. Hetlet's
numerous coaching achievements include having Glenbard West qualify for the playoffs every year
that he has been at the helm and having his Hilltopper squads ranked in the top 100 teams nationally
the past three season