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Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many installments of “Chalk Talk” with LB Coach. I am excited to introduce LB Coach as a new contributor to One Foot Down. LB Coach has a significant amount of experience playing football at Notre Dame and on the professional level. He also has a significant amount of current coaching experience. He has offered to stop by here on occasion and share his technical knowledge of the game with us. I always enjoy listening to a knowledgeable and current football coach talk about the finer points of the game and I know that other fans do too. I think you will enjoy the things that LB Coach takes the time to share with us. As his first order of business LB Coach is going to tell us everything we need to know as Notre Dame prepares to switch to a 3-4 defense. In this first installment he will discuss some basic expectations that Irish fans should have about next season. Future installments will get into the weeds on the different position groups. Enjoy. Whiskey
LB Coach
Notre Dame is switching from the 4-3 to the 3-4. What’s involved, just what does that mean and can we be successful against next year’s schedule?
This spring, I would imagine that the offense will be way ahead of the defense because it takes so much time to learn the individual playing techniques in the 3-4 front. It has been my experience in over 45 years of playing and coaching the 3-4 on the high school, college, and professional levels that the more you play the 3-4 front the better you get at it. Over time you learn your responsibilities, understand where the football is and your best angle to get to it and make a play.
The odd alignment is more technique dependent than talent dependent so it is easier to find the next guy on the depth chart and teach him his role in the defense. Most of what you must do and teach is not size, speed, or strength dependent although once you learn what must be done your size, speed and strength contribute.
I believe that this new Notre Dame staff is committed to the 3-4 philosophy and that the players will buy in. Look for the defense to show great improvement next season from week 1 to the end with the “D” coming on stronger and stronger as the season goes on. There should be no more late season losing streaks to inferior opponents as this team will actually improve each week throughout the season.
When a player is replaced with another, the drop off in talent won’t be as apparent as talent is trumped by technique in the 3-4. As long as the coaches demand outstanding technique, whatever player is in there will be able to man his position and fulfill his responsibility.
Notre Dame is the perfect place to have a base 3-4 as the defense’s home. I’ll be excited to share with Notre Dame fans a former player’s perspective on the defense and how well it’s being played. In the next installment I will start discussing the responsibilities of the different position groups.
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poo mcgee said:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:20 am
wow, i almost learned something in this article
valpodoc said:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:58 am
Do you think the learning curve is changed or hindered by using the 3-4 in 2008, and a modified scheme in 2009?
LB Coach said:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
With this staff coming in brand new, they won’t care what was taught by the old defensive guys. They’ll start out brand new and install their brand of 3-4. The players that were part of that in 08 and 09 will recognize some of the positions and techniques but I believe the new coaching staff will implement the odd front and start teaching as if these kids had never seen it before. We’ve been running our version of the 3-4 for the past 13 years and each spring we virtually have to start teaching it all over again because of new faces and position changes, etc. Then again in the fall with the addition of the incoming freshmen and any transfers we start all over again getting ready for the first ball game. Each athlete is different and learns at a different pace but one of the great things about this defensive philosophy is when you see the light come on and the player gets the big picture and his role in it. It’s a pleasure to watch. The offense hates it!
One Foot Down — Blog — Chalk Talk: The ND 3-4 Transition Part II- Defensive Line said:
March 18th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
[...] back to “Chalk Talk” with LB Coach. In Part I he gave Notre Dame fans a little insight into what we can expect heading into the 2010 season. In [...]
whiskey said:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:30 am
I am starting to feel progressivley optimistic. Hopefully we can glean some discernable info about how this transition is going during spring practice. Valpodoc, glad to see you are still with us here at the new place. Your comments always add to the quality of the discussion.
Barking Carnival — Blog — Bradley or Hamilton? said:
March 20th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
[...] onefootdown has started a series on the 3-4 particularly as it pertains to his Irish starting with expectations for the defense and line play in the odd [...]
One Foot Down — Blog — Chalk Talk: The ND 3-4 Transition Part III- Outside Linebackers said:
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:17 am
[...] I- Expectations Part II- Defensive [...]
One Foot Down — Blog — Chalk Talk: The ND 3-4 Transition Part IV- Inside Linebackers said:
March 27th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
[...] I- Expectations Part II- Defensive Line Part III- Outside [...]
One Foot Down — Blog — Chalk Talk: The ND 3-4 Transition Part V- The Secondary said:
April 1st, 2010 at 6:27 pm
[...] I- Expectations Part II- Defensive Line Part III- Outside Linebackers Part IV- Inside [...]
RRR said:
April 2nd, 2010 at 11:58 am
Thanks for the insight, LB Coach. My Texas Tech Red Raiders are going through a similar transition to 3-4, so I’m looking for any good source of knowledge to properly set my expectations. I’ll keep an eye for your stuff.
LB Coach said:
April 7th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
RRR
Texas Tech will be a difficult transition, I believe, since their offense is mostly pass the defense won’t get a chance to really establish the 3-4 principles of not getting upfield and establishing a solid front wall that can’t be run through. The defense will have to get off by itself and really work on why it’s important not to separate either vertically or horizontally from your nearest defensive buddy. If they can establish the solid front wall philosophy and then branch out from there when playing spread teams they have a good chance at success. WVU comes to mind of a team who has successfully converted to the 3-4 while running a spread offense. Texas Tech could kick some serious butt if they can pull it off!