COACHES CORNER:
Could the Dolphins go to a new base coverage this year?
The Dolphins made a statement this off-season with the signings of Gibril Wilson and Yerimiah Bell. I was thrilled to see the moves for a few reasons. First, I thought Bell was our most valuable Defensive player last season and a big part of our 11-5 turnaround. He made so many big plays for us that put us in a position to win and his resigning showed me that the coaches recognized his value to the Dolphins. The Wilson signing signaled to me something similar and put me in the frame of thought that we may be heading to a new scheme focus in our secondary. Wilson is like Bell in that he is more of a SS than he is a FS, but both players have backgrounds playing both positions. Both players have become known as adequate coverage men with above average tackling abilities and even big hitter’s on occasion.
The second aspect that thrilled me was that our personnel has become the perfect group to go to my personal favorite scheme on the defensive side of the ball, that being a quarters coverage. This past season the school I am coach at implemented both and went 10-0 and shut out 5 of our 10 opponents. Most of my years using Quarter’s coverage we also used the Miami 4-3, but I have to say that I am sold that a 3-4 similar to what our beloved Fins use is the best front to mix with the coverage after the results I've been seeing with the 3-4 and Quarters.
Sparano has already stated his philosophy on how to decide on scheme matters. "First of all, what I believe in is that I believe it's important that the system fits the players, not the players fit the system," Sparano said. "I think you've got to look at what we have here right now and when we get our coaching staff together and we sit down and we're in this place until 12, one o'clock in the morning, we'll get some of these questions ironed out. At the end of the day, whatever is going to be best for the Miami Dolphins is what we're going to do."
http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5637
The Quarter’s coverage scheme fits our current starters (Bell and Wilson) perfectly and could land one or both of them in place to make a lot of plays for us next season.
Based on Sparano’s “make the system fit the players” philosophy and the two SS type of players that we have in our two Safety positions, I think the odd’s are high we may be gearing up for a run towards becoming a 3-4 Quarter’s team. Most of the past Quarter’s teams have been 4-3 teams but there is an increasing number of 3-4 and 5-2 teams beginning to run it as well. Every team runs it a little bit if not a tad, so implementing it will not be something that is a factor. It’s more about already having it and choosing what to emphasize. I suppose my presupposition here is that the Fins staff will see Bell and Wilson as the same SS type players that I do. Something else I love about this possibility is that of all the leagues current 3-4 team’s, none have their primary focus running Quarters. We’d be running something that they only see in an extreme when they play us. That’s always a unique plus in any scheme you can run.
What are “Quarter’s” coverage origins?
One of the most popular zone pass coverage played in college football today is something called Quarters coverage. Quarter’s coverage is popular because it is a coverage that can be played on running downs as well as in passing situations, and is easy to give false looks and run a wide variety of defensive adjustments out of as a base coverage. The Quarter’s concept allows for defenses to have the best of both worlds. It offers 4 deep in it’s base pass coverage and takes away the deep ball and it offers up to 9 in the box against the run. How? It’s all about alignments, reads, and deception. I’ll go into detail about each of those three aspects of the scheme later on in this thread, but I have to tell you that it’s not complicated to coach, learn, or operate. There are some basic principles that must be golden but the beauty of the scheme is that it allows you to optimize the skill sets of players like Bell and Wilson, as well as your other surrounding players. You can be aggressive as you want or as vanilla as you want when running it, and best of all you can do it all without hinting to the Offense (QB or Offensive Coordinator) what you are really up to. Good stuff huh?
Moreover, another one of the huge benefits of being a base Quarters team is that you can run Quarters against any offensive formation. Trips, Spread, shotgun, I formation, you name it, and Quarters can cover and beat it. Best of all, running Quarters can require very little adjusting when facing various formations. Where I’m coaching now and in places I’ve served as a Defensive Coordinator, anytime we see multiple receiver formations (trips, etc) or a formation that is unfamiliar we check to Quarters as an automatic call.
As in any coverage, there are many variations and changeups that make this an effective catchall defensive scheme. Basically every team in college football plays some combination of Quarters coverage. The Coach that has made Quarter’s such a popular defensive coverage was none other than Former Hurricanes, Cowboys, and Dolphins Head Coach Jimmy Johnson. By the time Johnson took over with the Hurricanes he was very committed to running Quarters (he also liked to run some Man under Cover 2 with Press on the Cornerbacks when he had the guys to do it – Like Madison and Surtain).
When Wanny and Johnson were together in Dallas winning Super Bowls they were a base Miami 4-3 using primarily Quarters coverage. While they were in Dallas, they worked with a Defensive Coordinator from Cerritos City College named Pat Callahan and met with Pat and mentored him in their system. I’m not sure how or when that relationship started, but they were clearly close as Callahan not only went to Dallas for clinics with JJ’s staff, but he had an abundant amount of game film on just the Secondary drops of Dallas from games, including LB, S, and CB reads (run and pass - by player), and practice film of all the same. Callahan in turn mentored me (I was then serving as Varsity Defensive Coordinator) and my Head coach at that time (Tim Titus) in the same system. We ran the Miami 4-3 with Quarters coverage and had tremendous success turning that program around and saw several Defensive players go Div. I,II, and III during my stay there.
Another mentor in this scheme came from the then Head coach at St. Ignatius High School in Ohio, who was also being mentored by the Johnson group and running the same scheme we were. My HC Tim Titus was a pretty well connected guy having coached for 30 years at both the High School and College levels, and he used those connections to help get me up to speed as a young coach in my 10th to 12th year. Just as my experience went, so too did many other High School and College coaches catching on to the Quarter’s system. It is a whole different philosophy of defense and is unique in almost every aspect of what it’s goals and responsibilities are. The purpose of this thread is to explain why I think we are heading towards Quarters coverage as a possible base for our defense based on our current personnel and coaching staff.
Responsibilities in Quarters Coverage:
I’ll start by saying right away that I’m not going to focus much here on any DL or LB responsibilities or alignments. They are interchangeable regardless of Fronts used and have no real impact on anything I’m discussing here. You can stunt, twist, slant, drop, etc all the same with Quarters as you would any other defense. The one aspect worth mentioning though is that unlike some other forms of coverage, when you run Quarters you may also run ANYTHING else in the book with no severe consequences if people on the field play in the scheme.
As a Prevent type defense, many people will drop 4 into deep coverage, to prevent big plays. This is NOT what we are referring to here when we discuss Quarters philosophy and scheme. What I am referring to when I mention Quarter’s is an every down type coverage, that is helpful in dealing with spread teams, such as those that like to send multiple receivers vertical. It is also a good – no let me rephrase that – GREAT zone coverage for safety run support.
Diagram of Jimmy Johnson’s Miami 4-3 using Quarter’s Coverage
To understand Quarters philosophy, you must have a change in your understanding of the positions of CB and S. In a Base Quarters coverage scheme, the CB’s are both CB and a traditional defense safety. They have responsibilities vs the pass at 90% and only about 10% run support most of the time. The golden rule for a Quarters CB is never get beat deep and use great footwork and mental game prep to understand who the threats are by formation and based on what you know about the team you are playing. If a CB makes a tackle in a true Quarters scheme, he’s likely the last guy – the job typically given to a Free Safety in most coverage schemes. Cornerbacks in this scheme are more like the Rookie Butler’s (U Conn) type skilled players that have speed, footwork, and coverage skills as a strength. They do not need to be a big hitter or a guy that can do it all. For them it’s all about coverage and keeping the ball in front of them early in the play, and locking on the hip late in the play. They have to be smart and able to run with the Post and Fade Routes.
The Safeties responsibilities are where this scheme makes its mark. Teams serious about Quarters will make sure they have studs in these positions, guys that can cover, read, attack, run, and hit. Bell and Wilson are prototype Quarters coverage guys. The base alignment for them is 12 yards deep, typically playing on the hash marks unless you have a wide side or unbalanced formation on Offense. The Safety on the snap of the ball may have various reads based on who you are playing, or what the formation is, but for the most part he will read the OT / TE on his side and look for a run / pass read key. The Safety also does not back-peddle quickly the way typical DB’s do, he uses a technique known as “slow through to quick” taking small slow steps on his first 2-3 steps while making the read. The slow steps and long read is for accuracy and that is the basis for having him align in base at 12 yards. Keep everything inside and in front of you, make the perfect read, run to responsibility.
If the safety reads run, he attacks (inverts is a term used at times) and gets to what is called “the sweet- spot” which is straight up the hash mark, in LB range (about 6 yards deep), and then flows on the edge like an Edge player working to contain the ball on the outside. He is coached to make the stop at or near the line of scrimmage, and the routine is rehearsed every day at practice so that it becomes the key ingredient in Quarters Safety play. Typically in a system like mine at work, or with the Dolphins 3-4 the Safety will have a partner, usually the OLB that also has contain responsibility, so plays making yardage to the outside will require a broken tackle because otherwise someone will almost always be unblocked. Moreover, getting back to the “sweet-spot” area, if the play is a run, but is a blast or zone play in the OT area, the Safety simply continues straight on up from the “sweet” spot and is often unblocked (New England did this with SS Harrison a lot in years past).
To assist the Safety, his partner on the other side at Safety also does the same movement and read, and when he gets to his “sweet-spot” he now angles to the side the ball is going looking for the cutback, at which time he too will be unblocked and lay the wood.
If the Safety reads pass during his “slow through the quick” steps he continues to drop back (if in Quarters) and the two Safeties and two Cornerbacks divide the field in an easily defendable ¼ across the field. The Safeties are taught to find the hash marks and keep the play in front of them. The should never have anyone behind them in a base pass read. It’s about the easiest pass drop in the game for both the CB and S.
This defense is very much a moving defense with very defined roles for each of the players. The ability of the coverage to adjust to different routes, is what makes this a great coverage against a deep throwing spread team or smash-mouth running team. What really makes the Quarters scheme a beast is how you can disguise it to look like a variety of other coverage’s and really manipulate a QB into making some bad throws or Offensive Coordinators into making a bad call based on what they see. Best of all too is that you can play the run from it with 9 in the box without showing it or run a full zone cover 4 without showing it. You only have to show what you want to, but you can run an extreme defense to stop the run or pass, or something in between without giving a bunch of looks. Or you can show something and run just the opposite; the options are limitless for what you can do with your CB, S, and LB’s.
Quarters Looks:
Basically the pre-snap look can vary. The base look has the safeties lined up over the hash marks at 12 yards vs standard formations (non trips formations). The Cornerbacks line up at 8 yards over the outside WR usually a yard or two inside them. This is a “deep look” but make no mistake, you can run anything from it. You can be in cover 4,3,2 or man-zone. If you are thinking that the Safeties would have a difficult time flying up to stop the run I can only tell you based on years of experience that is not the case. When the Cowboys ran it Under JJ and Wanny they had Pro Bowl Safeties that were always among team leaders in big hits, big plays, tackles, caused fumbles, etc. The whole concept of this style of Quarters is based on the Safeties inverting and becoming LB type enforcers against the run. It is a 9 in the box mentality like what we current see the Ravens doing from a wide range of coverages that are also difficult to read.
As a coach though, you can play games with your alignments. CB for example don’t have to line up at 8 yards, they can line up in the face Lester Hayes style and use press technique, or they can move up slightly to 5 to deny quick slants. You can also back CB’s off to 12 yards as well in long down and distance situations or at times you move your Safeties up.
Speaking of moving up Safeties, one of my favorite part of this Quarters scheme is moving my Safeties up to 6 yards over the TE especially if I think the Offense wants to throw the seam or run the ball. When you guess right on this you can completely frustrate an Offense and stuff them over and over for losses. If you are thinking that it can’t happen in the NFL I can assure you otherwise, I watch teams do it all the time, as well as play bait and trap QB’s into audibles that get them into trouble thinking they see one Defense yet getting another one altogether.
So by my description you can see that the base Quarters alignment looks alot like Cover 2. QB's are taught that two safeties up top means cover 2 and one up top means Cover 3. This is one of the major factors that leads QB's to throw into double coverage into Quarters becasue they see the Quarters alignment and think Cover 2 is in play. When Cover 2 is in play, QB's are taught to throw the fade on the sideline and beat the safety after the CB squats underneath. It's typically a one on one matchup QBs like. Quarters coverage though screws that notion and causes the QB to throw in double coverage.
In games where we really need a turnover, an old Quarters trick is to line up the CB in the face of the WR (Lester Hsyes style press) wth the Safeties back at 12. This gives the full cover 2 look and the QB's just can't resist throwing the fade. We pick it everytime! The opposite that happens after people catch on to us is we will show the same press look, and run Cover 2 out of it and they will throw the flats despite all the looks saying not to, and agin, we get the easy pick and they look D-U-M-B even though the QB is just doing what he's been told to. I guess in a nutshell Quarters lets you bring a bunch of uncertainty into the mix. It's all about manipulating the look and controlling the process.
Strengths:
No coverage can defend everything and Cover 4 is no exception. Some advantages of Cover 4 are that it enables the defense to heavily involve the safeties in run support; it protects the deep seams vs. a vertical passing game; and it takes the pressure off the LBs in jamming and protecting the underneath seams. Quarters is the toughest zone to throw against (in base Defense schemes) without question especially when a team mixes up how it uses its LB’s in terms of the blitz, drops into zones, etc.
As mentioned, a huge strength is the ability to disguise what you are really doing when you want to. It is not uncommon at all to hear a coach yelling at his QB for throwing into double coverage on the fade after we give him our Cover 2 look while really being in Quarters. The whole Quarters scheme thrives on the old building blocks of how QB’s are taught to read between a Cover 2 and Cover 3 defense. All the things they were taught in those years of QB training become lies that Quarters teams manipulate by giving fake looks.
Lastly, a major strength of Quarters is what I already mentioned, the ability to play 9 in the box against the run or drop into a full zone from the same defensive looks. Quarters with a 3-4 look, and players like Joey Porter and company on the Edge would be a killer attack for the Miami Dolphins!
Weaknesses:
There is not much Post route help over deep middle if Play Action post is called, so CB’s need to run with post and watch for wheel underneath from #2 receiver.
As with any defense, any blitz can create holes ion the coverage, but at least with Quarters you have the umbrella over the top to prevent the big play.
Lastly, the type of player that typically excels at Safety in this scheme (Bell and Wilson types) must make accurate reads on their first few steps or they can create a hole in the defensive attack vs the run or drops into coverage against the pass.
Well, there you have it. My thoughts for why I love the Quarters system and why I think we’ll see a Miami Dolphins move towards the scheme. Sparano believes in using schemes that maximize player strengths. Quarters as a base coverage for us really makes a lot of sense. Bell and Wilson will have unbelievable years if we go to it as a base coverage and the way Quarters compliments an attacking 3-4 will be obvious to us all. It makes the game move much faster and creates all sorts of confusion and mistakes for the Offense.
It will create more turnovers, sacks, and big hits than any other coverage system out there right now. I hope Coach Sparano and the staff see this personnel move of landing Bell and Wilson as something that will allow us to develop into a Quarters team.
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Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed it a lot. It sounds like an exciting base scheme that we could switch out of very quickly if they start taking advantage of its weaknesses.
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Thanks for that Coach.
Man that was in depth..
and informative.
thanks again.:up:
Correct me if I'm wrong. But it seems to me that within the 3-4 Quarters can be even more successful due to the kind of skills required for OLB?DOLFANMIKE likes this. -
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late again likes this.
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I'm sure all of our guys know it. -
I now run this scheme on my 4-year old son's team and the safeties just light recievers UP over the middle!!!!
Thanks Mike!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V1RVRwcTOk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V1RVRwcTOk[/ame]
I am kidding... of course. Though the fact that I found a video like that on youtube is kinda disturbing.ToddsPhins and DOLFANMIKE like this. -
That was a great write up. I am so ready for football season!
anlgp, HULKFish and DOLFANMIKE like this. -
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Bpk likes this.
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Great read... Just curious but how would this work against the Patriots many multi-WR sets?? I just have this vision of Wes Welker catching everything underneath and picking up 5 to 6 yards every pass play...
But would the OLB's be responcible for that? If you have one CB and 2 WRs over there the Offense could send 1 WR deep to take the CB out of the play and have the other just do a slant, a crossing pattern or an out with only the Safety like 12 yards out and the OLB a few yards in. How would that work?DOLFANMIKE likes this. -
One of the major weaknesses of those types of offenses is the inability to protect the QB. The same was true with the Run and Shoot and the Spread is just the next phase of that same Offensive system. Having the QB take a shotgun snap just gives him a little more time to see the field, and of course see who is attacking. That's why it is vital to punish those spread teams QB's every chance you get.
I'm glad Sparano is making comments like "we can't have enough pass rushers", etc because thats how we'll stay ahead of the Patriots and slow that Offense down. Play physical, cover the dink and dunks, and don't give up the big play while punishing the QB from inside DL push and the edge rush.
I'm going to look for some diagram programs on my Computer over the next few weeks so that I can show you some of the specifics on coverage and run responsibility in Quarters vs Trips, spread, etc becasue there has been alot of interest both here and on the Club board about the same multiple receiver Offense question (Patriots). I know it can be tough to visualize. When we teach it to our players, we ALWAYS put it up on the board (Our Quarters vs ALL of their Offensive sets) and see what to expect and what can hurt us. Then we go out and practice alignments and responsibilities vs those formations and motions (movement like shifts too). The great thing about Quarters is you can slide and flood the offensive formation in the same way an Offense floods a zone. It's the ultimate in ceating mismatches and frustrates the Offense's attempting to break it up.CrunchTime, parcellsguy, Larryfinfan and 4 others like this. -
Hobiesailor Season Ticket Holder Club Member
Wow, just wow. The more i sit on this site, the more i fall in love with it. Thanks for the info and was a great read. thephins.com is quickly becoming my only stop for Dolphins info. Keep up the great work.
jdang307, cnc66 and DOLFANMIKE like this. -
jdang307, Larryfinfan, gunn34 and 1 other person like this.
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I have a feeling this Defense will be absolutely incredible versus the Bills, Jets, and other teams we play with lesser QB's. I am really excited to see this put into effect next year! -
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MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member
I'm bumping this thread back up. Because it is IMO a top 5 all time opening post on this forum and it deserves more than just 39 thanks. Well maybe there were only 39 readers who thought they had the mental acumen to digest very much of it. :)
CrunchTime, DOLFANMIKE, Themole and 1 other person like this. -
If we are planning on doing this i would imagine that we would want to keep it on the "down low" so we can catch some teams off guard. I hope we go for it. -
The interesting thing about any such change over is that JJ required good CB play to make it work, in Dallas and in Miami, the Cb's made plays because they were tested so much.
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I just read this for the 1st time. Great stuff!! Makes sense in the fact that we went after a similar Safety to Bell rather than seeking a traditional FS.... as well as not going after any big name CBs if FO has an eye on a draftee who better possesses the skill set to make the quarters run more efficiently.
I've always liked Butler... but I think I like him even more now. LOL. How important is acquiring a guy like Darius to the effectiveness of this coverage?
PS: MrClean, you're right- awesome post! Thanks for bringing it back to the forefront. ;) -
Mike, your philosophy makes me seriously rethink my mock Miami draft. I'd almost do everything in my power to draft Butler and Barwin.... add Bell to it, and we have a start to the modern "killer B's" ;)DOLFANMIKE, cnc66 and MrClean like this. -
How do you feel William Moore would perform in this scheme as Bell's understudy and future hier apparant?
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MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member
You know, I glance through other forums every now and then, and it's not easy to find a poster with Mike's in depth knowledge of Xs & Os, the intricacies of schemes and such. We are very fortunate to have him here.
Now, if we could just get PinkDove to post more often too.Boomer, DOLFANMIKE, cnc66 and 2 others like this. -
MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member
ToddsPhins likes this. -
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MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member
ToddsPhins likes this. -
DOLFANMIKE, ToddsPhins, MrClean and 1 other person like this.
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I agree Marvin, we ARE indeed fortunate to have Mike and we do need to see more of Francois :hi5:
DOLFANMIKE, late again and ToddsPhins like this. -
And I miss Francois. My favorite post ever. He's got incredible knowledge. I would pay to read his thoughts.Boomer and DOLFANMIKE like this. -
Mike I have a question, and the answer may be in the OP but that is a lot to digest and I am not the fastest at digesting things like that. How difficult/easy is this for the CB's? Does it take a lot of intelligence to grasp it. The reason I ask is J. Allen, if it is an easy thing for a CB to grasp then maybe the FO feels going in this direction will also benefit him and help him grow into a play maker. And in turn lessening our need of a CB early in the draft.
DOLFANMIKE likes this. -
It doesn't seem to be all that hard, really. All the difficulty is with the safeties, who have the major read responsibilities. The corners just have to read the QB's eyes and react to a throw in their direction, that's it; a single, simply read and all athleticism.
As for the aggression concerns, I would suggest that those can be honed. Fabian Washington had a similar "problem" when he was drafted by the Ravens but seems to be plenty aggressive now. -
I'm not mike but this makes me think it is easier on a corner than it is on a safety.Ducken and DOLFANMIKE like this. -
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