Eliminating “daylight” from the axiom “run to daylight”

[Ed. Note: This post is by Jerry Gordon, a defensive guru (and good friend of mine). He recently authored a book on the 4-3 under, Coaching the Under Front Defense.]

The only way to stop backs like Herschel Walker is to eliminate their daylight by filling all the gaps.

The term “run to daylight,” made famous by Vince Lombardi through a book named just that, became a mantra for running back coaches across the country. It is also (unsurprisingly) exactly what defensive coaches fear the most — a runningback who can see the hole and run to daylight.

I was a college running back coach for six years in the early and mid 1990s and coached a kid, Rene Ingoglia, who did a bit more than simply havet a cup of coffee with the Buffalo Bills.** I asked him what he saw when he ran the ball and how he always seemed to find the hole. He told me that all he saw were flashes of color and he simply went to the hole where there was no color.

From us defensive coaches, it is up to us to provide a solid wall of color that encompassing every possible hole or gap. Although this seems simple in theory, it is much harder than it appears. Defensive coordinators are confronted with a number of problems.

First lets take a look at the I-formation, the formation of the great running teams of yesteryear. Over the decades the I has produced some of football’s most prolific rushers, including Archie Griffin of Ohio State, O.J. Simpson of Southern Cal, and Herschel Walker of Georgia. Any defensive coordinator worth his salt has to have a plan for the I.

As you can see in the image below, an offense in the I presents seven gaps to defend.

As stated above our goal is to put a player in each gap. The problem is that the gaps are not stationary. Let’s take a look as the offensive lineman come off the ball to our left .All the gaps have moved. Each defensive player must move and still fit into his proper gap. Remember the offense know the snap count, we don’t.

In the diagram below, all our gaps have moved to our left.

In the next figure, we are aligned an under defense, which a common front against teams that have a tight end and two backs in the backfield. Under defense is generally characterized by a linebacker over the tight end, defensive ends aligned in an outside shade on the offensive tackles, a nose shaded on the center to the tight end and a defensive tackle in an outside shade away from the tight end.

The important thing to remember is that it doesn’t matter what front we present to the offense — all gaps must be filled with color. A motto that I picked up from CoachHuey.com is to “play defense, not defenses.” It’s more important that we play well as team than to present a ton of different defensive looks to the offense.

Now that we know our gaps can move, the next thing to consider is that, since the fullback is in the middle of the offensive formation, he can insert himself anywhere along the line of scrimmage to thus create an extra gap for us to defend.

Because the offense is now presenting us with another gap to defend, as shown in the diagram above, we must now add another defensive player to combat this extra gap. This is one of the reasons why the I formation is so deadly. A clever offensive coordinator is going to insert him in most every gap from play to play.

Let’s take a look at how we might defend against an Archie Griffin or Herschel Walker running an isolation play towards the tight end — the strong side of the formation. Remember, although the play might be headed one way, the great runningbacks can expose any weakness and can cut the run back.

In the next diagram, because the fullback creates an extra gap between the offensive guard and tackle the strong safety must come up to fill the extra gap.

Now every gap is filled by a player. The tailback has nowhere to run. Of course, offensive coordinators have pens and pencils too, and once they see that the free safety is flying up to tackle the tailback near the line, they will release the tight end to throw a pass to him at the spot where the strong safety came from.

As a result, a second, and maybe better way, to defend against a strong side isolation run is to bring the weak safety into the picture because he doesn’t have an immediate vertical threat to worry about. In the last diagram below, the weakside (“Will” or “W”) and Middle (“Mac” or “M”) linebackers fill the extra gap created by the fullback.

Now the weak safety must come down and present color in the vacated gap left by the will linebacker. Again, every gap is covered; there is nowhere to run, and now the strong safety can cover the immediate vertical threat presented by the tight end.

In sum, to play great run defense you must  attack your assigned gap, shed blockers, pursue the ballcarrier, and make the tackle.  Play defense, not defenses.

** Footnote: Ingoglia was inducted into the UMass hall of fame, spent time with the Bills, and, in a bit of trivia, scored a touchdown in World Bowl VII of NFL Europe. Lawrence Phillips, the famous Nebraska star and NFL cast off, also scored a touchdown in that game.]