Bear Front Cover 1: 3 and 4 man rush variations with DE in coverage
Teams will run different concepts from their bear look. You can rush 3,4,5 and even many variations of simulated pressure. This article looks at sending 3 or 4 and playing the coverage with the outside linebackers in coverage.
When you watched Marshall under Guidry, you noticed he liked to play the bear front. But, one of the things he did well was to run the cover 1 while only sending 3 and playing the DE or some would call outside LB as rat defenders. They would also have the mike play the hook and have a deep safety middle 1/3. This closed many throwing windows and caused confusion for offenses. This was a staple and really resulted in issues for the offense.
Often, due to the man coverage downfield they would have very little to checkdown to in the passing game. In the scheme above, you can see both the de and lb get into the passing lanes and cause disruption for the offense.
Coach Guidry has moved on and will be coaching this year at Miami. Will be great to see the scheme he puts out there.
Here’s another example vs JMU of the concept Click below
https://twitter.com/coachkou/status/1634022384091930624
3rd and 5
They line up in bear.
Both OLB on the line of scrimmage drop
The OLB under #2 on both sides with the DB’s all in man.
The LCB and SS are playing front back. Cb has the front man, safety the back man in man
#1 gets right in the passing lane as they are trying to hit #1 on the slant route.
He tips it to himself and gets a great interception.
He’s in the passing lane and it causes the int.
The same concept vs Notre Dame on 4th and 4.
They get excellent coverage as the db forces the wr to the sideline. An excellent scheme and design as they take away the middle of the field.
4 man rush Variations
When you send the mike, you can still have the one DE play the RB his side, with the other one helping as a rat defender.
Michigan runs It with the mike and nose on an inside game.
UMASS runs a similar pressure. Bringing the mike and dropping the OLB.
The OLB peels and takes the RB his way. He does an excellent job and picks up the RB.
The Cowboys put their best rusher at the mike and run the scheme. This allows your best rusher if executed properly to be matched up vs a RB.
Very tough matchup as the RB tries to take Parsons and he flushes Brady from the pocket.
Wisconsin runs a loop stunt with the nose and gets pressure while playing man free coverage.
The RDE takes the RB, the mike acts as a rat as the LDE rushes. A nice change up on the bear man free from Wisconsin.
I hoped you enjoyed this article on the bear front and 3 and 4 man variations. These are some of the ways you can play it with man free coverage concepts.