To those that subscribe, there's a really great article on The Athletic today that goes into how successful man-match coverages have been for championship teams at both the college and pro level in recent years. Saban's Alabama teams heavily use it and each of the last three Super Bowl Champions have used it as well.
I have a basic understanding of defenses in the sense that I know formations by looking at what personnel is on the field and how they are lined up, but I start to get off the tracks some when we start getting into schemes/strategies, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
So my question to those who have a better feel for that part of defense, is this something Hank used at all in the past? My GUESS is that he did only based on the fact that we had a few times in recent years where our safety/corner weren't on the same page and it left a WR wide open down the field. Though that could also just be a miscommunication in what defense was called. I also wonder if O'Neil has given any indication if he will run something like this. Based on some articles I read when he came on board and a basic understanding of his philosophies, it sounds like he may incorporate things like this- defensive strategies that count on players to make reads on the fly based on how an offense lines up and relies heavily on those reads and on-field communication. But again, not sure on that, and would be interested to hear what others with a better understanding think.
And if you have a subscription to The Athletic, I'd highly recommend reading that article. It's a good one.
I have a basic understanding of defenses in the sense that I know formations by looking at what personnel is on the field and how they are lined up, but I start to get off the tracks some when we start getting into schemes/strategies, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
So my question to those who have a better feel for that part of defense, is this something Hank used at all in the past? My GUESS is that he did only based on the fact that we had a few times in recent years where our safety/corner weren't on the same page and it left a WR wide open down the field. Though that could also just be a miscommunication in what defense was called. I also wonder if O'Neil has given any indication if he will run something like this. Based on some articles I read when he came on board and a basic understanding of his philosophies, it sounds like he may incorporate things like this- defensive strategies that count on players to make reads on the fly based on how an offense lines up and relies heavily on those reads and on-field communication. But again, not sure on that, and would be interested to hear what others with a better understanding think.
And if you have a subscription to The Athletic, I'd highly recommend reading that article. It's a good one.
