How Will Muschamp Will Stuff the Run While Protecting Against the Pass

Will Muschamp was hired out of an analyst role with the Georgia Bulldogs to become the Texas Longhorns' defensive coordinator this offseason. It will be his seventh time as a defensive coordinator and his second stint in the role with Texas.

Muschamp has spent 10 of his 30 years of coaching with Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, and will presumably bring much of the Saban system to Texas' back end. While that scheme is famous for its split-safety match coverage, its single-high options are arguably even more important.

In order to stop offenses on early downs, defenses have to be able to roll extra defenders into the box and maintain solid downfield coverage. Here is how Muschamp does just that.

How Will Muschamp Dominates From Single-High Shells

Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp coaches against the Baylor Bears in the fourth quarter | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Muschamp's two go-to single-high options are Cover 1 and a match-coverage variation of Cover 3. Cover 1 is a basic man-coverage with a post-safety and a middle-hook zone defender, but Cover 3 is a bit more complicated.

Before examining that, it is worth explaining why defenses roll safeties into the second level in the first place. Here is an example from Muschamp's stint as Georgia's co-defensive coordinator.

Georgia Bulldogs match coverage football — Carter Long

If there is any confusion with certain terms, please reference the previous article.

On this play, Auburn comes out on first-and-10 with a 2x2 set, and Georgia responds by rolling down the safety away from the passing strength, making it 'Cover 6.' Lining up over the backside slot allows the Money to align himself in the box.

This gives the Bulldogs a one-man advantage over the Tigers in the box, also known as eight-man spacing. However, Auburn has a plan to steal the advantage back.

Auburn has a sort of power inverted veer with the center and right tackle down-blocking, the left guard and tackle building a double team and climbing to the MIKE, and the right guard pulling around to kick-out the end. This leaves the Money unblocked as the read-man, with the quarterback being able to hand it off to the back or run behind the puller himself based on what the linebacker does.

However, Muschamp's team simply out-executes the Tigers.

Georgia's defensive end 'spills' the pulling guard by using the 'dent' technique and attacking him head-on. This bounces the run outside and effectively eliminates the quarterback's ability to pull the ball.

With the handoff forced, Georgia's extra box-defender is able to easily cleanup the play for no gain.

While Cover 3/6 has been an effective run-stopping coverage since its inception, it has always had issues covering the seams, the areas between the cornerbacks and the middle-field safety. The Saban/Muschamp-variation eliminates this deficiency.

On this play, South Carolina comes out in 2x2 on second-and-10 and Georgia responds with another Cover 6 call. Before the ball is snapped, the Gamecocks send the boundary No. 1 in motion to the other side of the field, run a bender and wheel behind it and use a smash concept to the field.

Normally, this would stress a three-high defense and allow a major gain. Thanks to the match rules of Muschamp's scheme, the Bulldogs handle it just fine.

Georgia Bulldogs Rip Match Cover 6 — Carter Long

Both corners have the No. 1 receivers on all routes past five yards if those receivers run inside in the first five yards, then they will make an 'under' call and zone off the deep third. The apex defenders have the same responsibility over the No. 2s; however, if they make an under call, then they will look to rob the No. 1 underneath before attacking any routes in the flat.

The hook defenders drop to spots about 10 yards back from the line of scrimmage while looking for under routes from any of the No. 1s or 2s. Otherwise, they will stay in their zone and look to cover No. 3 when or if he releases.

The single safety will play centerfield in the deep middle-third.

The Bulldogs execute this perfectly, and while the bender-wheel pattern might normally cause the cornerback to run with the tight end while the back runs free into the vacated area of the field, the apex peels off with him and is able to force a tight throw that winds up going the other way.

Muschamp puts offenses behind the sticks early by committing extra bodies to the run while remaining protected against the pass.

Once the offense gets into predictable passing situations, the split-safety match coverages are able to break them down even further.

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