O

n behalf of the University of Oklahoma,

Diagram 1: Pro
Ho w W e Us e
Head Coach Bob Stoops and our
defensive staff and players, we would like

Our Safeties
to thank the AFCA for allowing us the
opportunity to share some thoughts on our
Eagle Defense. We would also like to thank

a s O ur a couple of individuals that helped mold our

package to what it is today.

Eighth Man
The late Bob Cope who we worked with
at Kansas State and Bill Braisher, the long-
time defensive coordinator at Iowa. These

in the Box
Diagram 2: Twins/Slot
two men were very instrumental in our
thoughts toward Eagle Defense.
Our topic will be “How We Use Our
Safeties as Our Eighth Man in the Box
Versus Two-Back Run Game.” I first
would like to take some time to talk about
our coaching philosophy and our defen-
sive philosophy.

Coaching Philosophy deep, head up on the tight end. The free

1. Be fair and consistent.
2. Make players accountable.
3. Be demanding every day and every
play (never take a play off).
4. Be disciplined with your responsibility.
5. Have an attitude about your defense
(take great pride in your unit).
6. Expect to win through great preparation.
Defensive Philosophy
1. Stop the run.
2. Put offense in long yardage situa-
tions. (The last two years we were 74 per-
cent on all third down situations.)
3. Pressure quarterback with a variety of
zone blitzes.
4. Have the ability to take away the best
wide receiver.
safety is 10 yards deep where a tight end
would be. If on the hash, he will line up over
the tackle.
Run Responsibilities vs. the Lead
The strong safety will key the tight end.
When the tight end base blocks, the strong
safety will go straight for the B gap on lead
strong. The Mike will spill the ball to the
strong safety. The Will takes the back side
A gap. On lead weak the Will has to spill
the ball to Mike who fast flows. The strong
safety will take B gap (Diagrams 3 and 4).
Diagram 3: Lead Strong

Eagle 43
Eagle 43 is our basic call versus any
two-back run team. This call will allow our
strong safety to be our low safety or eighth
man in the box. He is responsible for the B- Diagram 4: Lead Weak
gap on the inside run game. Behind this
call, we will play a three-deep zone cover-
age. You can also play a man-free concept
putting the strong safety on the tight end if
he runs vertical or over the linebackers.
Sam will drop curl/flat, Mike will drop strong
hook and Will will drop weak flat. The free
safety will push to the middle of the field.
Versus twins or slot formations, we will
bring our corners over and play three deep Run Responsibilities vs. Power
or man free (Diagrams 1 and 2). The strong safety reads the down block
and fits straight ahead, fitting off the Mike
Alignments of Safeties backer. Sam should close and attack the
The strong safety is six or seven yards fullback as tight as he can. Mike will fit as
tight as he can to the defensive end. Will
runs through the frontside B gap and strong
safety will be unblocked. If the crack, the
strong safety will run through the crack
(Diagram 5).
Diagram 5: Power
Run Responsibilities vs. Lead Option
Both safeties are responsible for pitch
on lead option. Between the five tech-
nique, Mike and Sam linebackers, we will
need a quarterback player and alley play-
er with the pitch taken by the secondary.
We always want to slow play the quarter-
back (Diagram 6).
Diagram 6: Lead Option
Run Responsibilities vs. Counter
Again, our safeties are fitting as quar-
ter players. When the free safety feels the
double team on the three technique, he
will fit straight ahead. Mike will take the
run through and Will will fit off five tech-
nique as tight as possible. The five tech-
nique must squeeze and attack first threat
(Diagram 7).
Diagram 7: Counter
Eagle Weak Three
This is the other call that will bring our
weak safety into the box as our eighth man.
We feel you have to have this flexibility built
in your defense. Teams will scheme your
strong safety and it helps you on weak side
run plays. We try to move around on pre-
snap to disguise who is the low safety. Our
drops will be traditional three-deep zone
drop versus pro. Versus any slot or twins
formation, we will bring our corners over.
Now the Sam has to loosen up a step to
be able to take the tight end on corner
routes. We can also check runningback
to strong safety support versus twins if
we don’t like our match up. We can also
play man-free to these formations
(Diagrams 8 and 9).
Diagram 8
Diagram 9
Alignments of Safeties
The free safety will come down to five
yards deep over the tackle. He reads the
fullback. The strong safety will be at 10
yards. The linebacker will cheat a half step
away from their low safety. We also like to
check to weak versus far sets.
Run Responsibilities vs. the Lead
The free safety will key the fullback.
When both runningbacks lead strong,
the Mike linebacker will spill the ball
back to the Will linebacker. The free
safety will take the A gap. If they run it
weak, the Will has to keep his inside arm
free and spill ball to free safety. The Mike
is slow, flow and takes the B gap
(Diagram 10 and 11).
Diagram 10: Lead Strong
Diagram 11: Lead Weak
Run Responsibilities vs. Power
We don’t want this ball to bounce. We still
want to attack and squeeze with Sam, but
mike and will take on pulling guard with his
outside arm and turn it back to the will line-
backer. The free safety will take the front side
B gap (Diagram 12).
Diagram 12: Power
Run Responsibilities vs. Counter
We play this the same way as the
p o w e r. Everything goes back to free
safety. On counter weak, Will has to spill
the ball to the free safety. Mike line-
backer has to take A gap run throughs
(Diagram 13).
Diagram 13: Counter
In conclusion, I would like to say that we
spend a great deal of time on our run fits
with the linebackers and safeties. They
must communicate every snap so we know
who the low and high safeties are. At times,
we will check from strong to weak depend-
ing on the backfield sets.
Having this flexibility built into your
defense can be a great asset. Two years
ago, we had Roy Williams, an All-American
strong safety, and we played a lot of strong
safety support. This year we had an All-
American free safety and played a lot of
weak. So we were able to play to our
strength.