Diaco's possible defensive looks for the season

[DCUconnfan]

So, with a lot of the recent articles coming out (and more specifically the pass rush school one), I got a bit more curious about what we may see come Friday and through the season. We all know that it's going to be a multiple 3-4. How much we are in 4 down vs. 3 is yet to be known, but the fact that they've moved as many players from DE to LB/OLB I'm of the belief we'll see more 3-4 than the 50/50 split we've been told here or there. So, with that being said, I wanted to look a bit more into it and did some drill down to find articles in regards to the ND defense, our most recent Diaco sample. Feel free to peruse below.

Key take-aways paraphrased/augmented:
"The Bob Diaco Irish defense used a classic 3-4 scheme with a bend-don't-break mentality. The 2012 Irish D encapsulated what the approach should look like. The team relied mostly on its front seven to make plays while the defensive backs concentrated on staying in front of the ball...The front worked with two-gap principles and some hybrid fronts that would allow players to attack a single gap, rather than controlling blockers.... Meanwhile, with solid tacklers at safety able to play in deep alignments, teams were unable to land very many explosive plays, certainly not enough to offset the negative plays inflicted by a dominant front seven."

"Diaco's defenses didn't attack. They relied on limiting big plays and forcing an offense to beat you with a 10- or 12-play drive. "

The quintessential two readings you should go through are these:
1. Diaco's "no crease" defense encapsulated
http://www.onefootdown.com/2012/8/25/3267286/bob-diacos-3-4-no-crease-defense

2. A 3-4 defense primer, with a few ND defense topics interjected in the mix
http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2012/08/22/notre-dame-3-4-defense-primer/

Here's a video of all of the sacks in 2012 for the ND defense (put it on mute, it has a pretty annoying soundtrack if you're not a ND fan being exhilarated by the highlights). I kept an eye on the lineups and formations they'd be in pre-snap and immediately after. It appears as though there's a lot of zone usage and less man to man, so I'll be curious what we end up seeing:



I can't wait for Friday.

 

[FDNY99]

I think we saw when Don Brown was here as DC that in a 10-12 play drive...there are at least 1-2 "big" plays. If the guys buy into his schemes and limit the mental mistakes, this should be fun to watch. I didn't watch ND a lot when Diaco was there as DC...but the few games I did one thing stood out to me about his D. On 3rd and long, there always seemed to be decent pressure on the QB.

 

[Jimdish255]

If bend don't break means watching the other team go on long drives and wear us out, I've seen that movie before and it doesn't end well. If we can hold our own at the line of scrimmage on run pays and be disruptive on passing downs I have confidence in our secondary. Good leverage up front and smart athletes behind can get this done without being stuck on the field too long.

 

[Jimdish255]

Looked at the position primer. Any idea who will be assigned to the specific LB positions?

http://i1./www.herloyalsons.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3-4-Base-with-Gaps.png



Also looks like a lot of responsibility on the NG. I'm rotating my 2 toughest guys in all game and doing anything/everything possible to make the C's life miserable.

 

[Excalibur]

Bend-don't-break is fine if you can get pressure on the QB. But you can't beat good teams by waiting for them to make mistakes. Sometimes you have to force them. If that means sending guys after the quarterback then so be it.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Looked at the position primer. Any idea who will be assigned to the specific LB positions?

http://i1./www.herloyalsons.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3-4-Base-with-Gaps.png



Also looks like a lot of responsibility on the NG. I'm rotating my 2 toughest guys in all game and doing anything/everything possible to make the C's life miserable.

Just a guess about the LB assignments:

WILL - Ashiru
MIKE - Vann
DOG - Stewart
CAT - Frank

 

[bmayuc]

Looked at the position primer. Any idea who will be assigned to the specific LB positions?

http://i1./www.herloyalsons.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3-4-Base-with-Gaps.png



Also looks like a lot of responsibility on the NG. I'm rotating my 2 toughest guys in all game and doing anything/everything possible to make the C's life miserable.

Mike - Vann
Will - Ashiru
Cat(WS) - Stewart - play in space
Dog(SS) - Frank - Basically a rush DE

 

[Jimdish255]

If Stewart is moving well he could be the coverage guy over the TE ~ Dog

 

[FDNY99]

Looked at the position primer. Any idea who will be assigned to the specific LB positions?

http://i1./www.herloyalsons.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3-4-Base-with-Gaps.png



Also looks like a lot of responsibility on the NG. I'm rotating my 2 toughest guys in all game and doing anything/everything possible to make the C's life miserable.

Depending on down/distance/field position you will see the Dog LB up on the line of scrimmage in a 4-3 look and the SS will also rotate up as a LB giving the D a 4-4 look (Melifonwu is the PERFECT combination of size and speed to do this)

 

[CodyJ.]

Just watched that video. Uhh, ND's D-line is/was incredible. Look at the push they get on their opponenets and how fast they are.

Are our front 3 to 4 that good??

 

[Palatine]

If Stewart is moving well he could be the coverage guy over the TE ~ Dog

Steward is definitely the dog, he can cover pretty much any TE he plays. That frees Frank to rush the passer as the cat. The question is inside, the mike is usually the larger player and the will is a smaller faster guy. so Ashuri is a more typical mike and Vann the Will.

Cat = Frank, Will = Vann, Mike = Ashiru, Dog = Steward.

This matches their sizes and skill sets.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Just watched that video. Uhh, ND's D-line is/was incredible. Look at the push they get on their opponenets and how fast they are.

Are our front 3 to 4 that good??

Unfortunately not. Nix and Pruitt were ND's best defensive players and were All Americans. I'd take them over the overrated Te'o.

 

[DCUconnfan]

Just watched that video. Uhh, ND's D-line is/was incredible. Look at the push they get on their opponenets and how fast they are.

Are our front 3 to 4 that good??

We do not have the same talent there as JS said above, but my hope is that since we do have the size needed up front (well, we're a little light at NT, but the combined weight of the front 3 should be about right) to at least play more blocking control and free up the LBs to do their work

 

[CodyJ.]

Unfortunately not. Nix and Pruitt were ND's best defensive players and were All Americans. I'd take them over the overrated Te'o.

We do not have the same talent there as JS said above, but my hope is that since we do have the size needed up front (well, we're a little light at NT, but the combined weight of the front 3 should be about right) to at least play more blocking control and free up the LBs to do their work

I'm really looking forward to Friday night to see what we have going for our team. Diaco has said that our O-line is getting push...well are they getting push on a sub-par D-line? Is the D-line really good? Compared to that ND video above i mean...boof, they were exceptional.

Biggest concern is will our LB's be able to keep BYU QB from running for 200+ yards?

 

[Palatine]

Riddle me this batman. Why does the UConn two deep list four down linemen, DE, DT, NG, DE and only three linebackers if.... we are playing a 3-4?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Riddle me this batman. Why does the UConn two deep list four down linemen, DE, DT, NG, DE and only three linebackers if.... we are playing a 3-4?

Some people can refer to Frank as a DE, while others call him a LB.

Just like some people refer to Graham Stewart by his actual name, while others insist on calling him "Steward".

Just semantics.

 

[BlueMAB]

"Stewart" not Steward.

Diaco has said we'll play both 3-4 and 4-3.

 

[Palatine]

Some people can refer to Frank as a DE, while others call him a LB.

Just like some people refer to Graham Stewart by his actual name, while others insist on calling him "Steward".

Just semantics.

It's not sematics and it's not "some people" this is the official UConn two deep.

 

[BlueMAB]

It's not sematics and it's not "some people" this is the official UConn two deep.

http://articles.courant.com/2014-08...-20140814_1_bob-diaco-reuben-frank-linebacker

"Reuben Frank, the redshirt senior defensive end/outside linebacker , has an opportunity to be big before he leaves UConn.
And not just in size. In coach Bob Diaco's 3-4, 4-3 hybrid defensive scheme, the 6-foot-4, 246-pound Frank will play in a standing position at outside linebacker about 50 percent of the time and down as a defensive lineman about half of the time..."

 

[sdhusky]

http://articles.courant.com/2014-08...-20140814_1_bob-diaco-reuben-frank-linebacker

"Reuben Frank, the redshirt senior defensive end/outside linebacker , has an opportunity to be big before he leaves UConn.
And not just in size. In coach Bob Diaco's 3-4, 4-3 hybrid defensive scheme, the 6-foot-4, 246-pound Frank will play in a standing position at outside linebacker about 50 percent of the time and down as a defensive lineman about half of the time..."

Don't confuse palatine with Facts. He is solid in his opinion.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It's not sematics and it's not "some people" this is the official UConn two deep.

This post tells me 2 things:

1. You don't fully understand the 3-4 defense

And

2. You have no sense of humor

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Don't confuse palatine with Facts. He is solid in his opinion.

Have you found "Steward" on the 2 deep yet? I'm still looking.

 

[metsfan2323]

Against a running QB who is known to be an erratic passer I would prefer to see our D attack and load up the line of scrimmage and force this guy to pass the ball. Sitting on our heels will be a recipe for disaster.

 

[sportsart]

Against a running QB who is known to be an erratic passer I would prefer to see our D attack and load up the line of scrimmage and force this guy to pass the ball. Sitting on our heels will be a recipe for disaster.

I don't think we should minimize Diaco's experience in terms of game planning for BYU. He knows plenty about them and they know diddly about us.

 

[BlueMAB]

He should go with this look, just to piss off a few fans.