What is the 3-3 stack? Different versions of the 3-3 stack 3 safety system-part 1

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The 3-3 stack and broken stack 3 safety systems

People are falling in love with the 3-3 stack and 3-3, 3 safety broken stack system. It is a good defense but not everyone plays it the same way.  Some great coaches run both defenses. I'll just compare the 2 I have been looking at, although there are many great ones. Miss State, Iowa State, TCU and Cincinatti play  the 3 safety defense. Tony Gibson is more a 3-3 stack with 4-2-5 principles, especially on the back end. 

The advantages of going to a 3 hand down system are that it allows more speed on the field to play the spread teams we seem to face on a weekly basis. Most teams are based out of 11 and more and more are running 10 personnel. Both the 3 safety and 3-3 stack teams can get more speed on the field at the Linebacker and SS position.  The 3 safety system allows you flexibility in run fits as you can show different looks and change the run support with more flexibility. 

There are similarities and differences between the 2. I took a look at Tony Gibson a true 3-3 stack team and compared him to Iowa State a 3-3 broken stack system.

Here's what I found:

Similarities:

1. They are both 3 hands fronts in which you will get either a nose and 2, 5 techniques or 2, 4i at De. You will aso see a compbination of the 2. 

2. They will often times play with 3 LB and 5 dbs.

3. They will play a variety of coverages including 3 safeties. Some cover 3, cover 1 and cover 2 will be analyzed further. 

Differences

1. The true 3-3 stack run by Gibson  will not break the stack as often as the broken stack teams. He will often use the safety in run support filling very hard off the rb.

2. The 3-3 stack run by Gibson will make adjustments to a 3 safety with the sam linebacker. The broken stack system will do a ton with the weak side lb/safety. He will often drop into coverage and be the 3rd safety. This is a major difference.

3. Run fits-The Gibson system will often pinch and have the mike play the c gap. The safety will fill off the running back in the Gibson system and you will often see him make plays in the backfield. In the 3  safety, the free safety will often fill on the backside away from the rb.

3 In the 3 safety Iowas State   look 3rd inside  linebacker will often adjust and be out on #2. In Gibson's defense this will be the sam and they will keep the LB inside box. They will not be as likely to break the box. If there is an h back, Gibson will have one of the LB align over him.(see below) It has more 4-2 principles on the back end. 

4. They will often adjust with the sam linebacker in the Gibson model and stay stacked with the other 2 LB. Notice just the one lb moves to the side of the h back. They keep the integrity of the front with the other 2 LB's staying stacked.

RUN FITS 

Gibson Stack:

Let's look at a few examples of how well they fit the run on all three levels. UNC comes out in 11 personnel and they align in their odd front cover 3. They move the De inside and watch the spill overlap technique. DE spill everything, LB box it to the safety. Mike often will play the c gap with all the pinching up front. Safety just fills off the rb. Just mirrors him and is often a free hitter.

Pre snap plus 1 in the run game

nice job with the DE coming hard inside forcing the ball bounced outside.

nice job with the spill as it is forced out side. Safety plays off the RB.

safety unblocked!

The Safety usually just plays off the rb in the scheme. 

2nd example of how they play it on all three levels.

They will often move with the de, he's hard inside so they get the spill, with the overlap LB. Safety usually fills off the back unless they change that with a call.

Mike is a C Gap player, Nose usually off A, OLB will play the cutback.

Again you can see the overlap and safety filing as ball gets bounced.

safety there to make the tackle!

One more example as you can see the de on the left spill it and both LB filling over the top to the b and c gap.

ILB overlap to b and c gap. Sam forces it back inside.

LB is there and the safety if run will be there to fill. 

Great design, Only problem is it's play action so you see the safety put on the brakes

Here's 2 more clips of how explosive the safeties are in the run fits. They come down hill in a hurry when they read run.

Another example is vs Miss State in 2021. They run cover 3 and then cover 2 hole. In the first example the sam is a flat defender. When they go cover 3 they have the sam as the  flat at times . Then on the next clip they go cover 2 hole and the sam is a deep half player. Again all of their coverage variations are often dictated by the sam and his movements and alignment. In the broken stack, the free or will is the adjuster. 

See the zone coverage developing . 

Mike carries 3 vertically.

On the next play they go cover 2 hole. The sam is 2nd from the bottom of the screen. He becomes the deep 1/2 player

You see the sam starting to become the deep 1/2 player. 

You can see the cover 2 hole coverage with a shallow lb playing the shallow crossing area and the middle safety playing the deep hole. 

Here are 2 clips of NC State using the sam in different roles in coverage.

So, that covers the Gibson model, you can see how they use the sam as both a lb underneath, a deep 1/3 or even a a deep 1/2 player but also as an underneath cover man in their man principles. 

Broken Stack System

Here you will see the run fits by the safety usually to the same side of the rb or away from the strength. The FS is more of a cutback player. You can see it on the 3 images below how he fits away from the strength and plays cutback first. 

See the FS

plays cutback.

Iowa State run game fills

Iowa State

Fronts   

At Iowa State 3-3 stack will only be played vs 2x2 10  personnel. It seems like they break it but will start 3 safety.  They have 3 LB and the 3rd LB is often out on #2. It makes their box very light. This is a major difference as you can see their lb split the difference between the tackle and #2.

Basically, any other set they will break the stack look. Here it's a 3-1 front with the safety at 10 yards.

va 20

Strong LB always goes to the formation and is over #2. Again a 5 man box. 

vs 12. Front is a 3-4 with the weak safety acting like the weak side OLB

Vs 11 personnel with a tight end. 3-4 with the overhand with the weak fs/hybrid player playing to the boundary. Starting with the 3 safety look. You can see the 3rd lb out on 2. 

again formation to the boundary and the stack is broken with the 3 safety look. Again more zone.

11 formation to the boundary. They keep the cover 2 look to the field but they still set the front to the boundary. Again broken into a 3-2 defense.

Broken again with the sam over the 3x1 side but off splitting 2 and 3. 

vs 20 its a 3-2 box inside with 2 olb 

va Oklahoma 21

Vs 3x 1 10 personnel and 3-1  it's a 3-2 broken look with the front side lb splitting 2 and 3 and both safeties moving over.  The weak safety lb becomes a deep half player.

Vs 10 personnel, you will get a true 3-1 look with 3 safeties. Again the weak safety is on the hash to the bottom of the screen on the 20 yard line. 

Iowa State Cover 3

Here's a basic cover 3 from Iowa State vs TCU. They roll to 3 with 5 underneath defenders and a 3 deep secondary look. 2 clips below

Weak safety comes down to play the flat, Field safety comes down to play the flat and it turns into a cover 3. 

Again they go cover 3 with the coverage.

See the rotation as the free safety drops and they are in cover 3 

1/4 1/4 half coverage concept with a spy vs Texas

1/4 to the field and 1/2 field to the boundary.

I hope you enjoyed this article. From what Ive seen Gibson will play a true 3-3 stack and because of the man to man concepts can stay in it. The broken stack system is a little more zone based and teams seem to get out of it more with the 3 safety look.

NC State Tony Gibson 3-3 stack defense-Base Fronts, Alignments and run fits

Tony Gibson is an excellent defensive coordinator. He was a a  nominee for the 2021 Broyles Award - given to the nation’s top assistant coach. He has had great success at NC STATE.

- The 2021 NC State defense ranked second in the ACC in scoring defense (19.7 points), third in total defense (331.6 yards), third in rushing defense (124.0 yards),  second in passing efficiency  defense (111.1) and third in passing yard allowed (207.6 yards).

The 2022 version was was 21st in the country in scoring defense allowing 20.9 ppg and only 108 yards rushing per game. They held 8 opponents to 21 points or less, which is quite impressive. They were also 20th in the country in yards allowed per game.

FRONT AND PASS STRENGTH CALLS

Well, lets look at the front, They are primarily an odd front team which utilizes movement as part of the scheme. They have definite alignment rules. 

Here's how they align vs 11 with the te to the boundary. They bring the weak safety into the box but stack to twins side. They bring the lb down over the h back to the boundary.

The Sam and lets just call him the Jack for arguments sake travel together. They go to the pass strength side of the formation or if the ball is on the hash to the field.

Base Alignment with personnel. 

vs 11 with the strength call to the right.

FORMATION INTO THE BOUNDARY, STILL GO TO THE FIELD WITH THE JACK AND SAM

#2 They show presnap cover 2 and bring the lb's to 10 techniques. They walk the lb down to the h back again but vs 3x1 they align the sam to the field with the jack.

Here's how they align vs trips, presnap looks like cover 3. Alignment rules in place.

Once you understand the basic alignment, then they can make all their calls off it. 

Here's another base call with the tight end to the boundary. They stack away from the tight end with the same alignment rules in place.

RUN FITS 

Let's look at a few examples of how well they fit the run on all three levels. UNC comes out in 11 personnel and they align in their odd front cover 3. They move the De inside and watch the spill overlap technique. DE spill everything, LB box it to the safety. Mike often will play the c gap with all the pinching up front. Safety just fills off the rb. Just mirrors him and is often a free hitter.

You can see the +1 situation they create

NC State will be very aggressive with the DT and spill everything.

Great run fits below

Safety unblocked and plays off the rb. 

The Safety usually just plays off the rb in the scheme. 

2nd example of how they play it on all three levels.

They will often move with the de, he's hard inside so they get the spill, with the overlap LB. Safety usually fills off the back unless they change that with a call.

Mike is a C Gap player, Nose usually off A, OLB will play the cutback.

Safety fills off the back and does an excellent job.

Not enough blockers to block the safety

One more example as you can see the de on the left spill it and both LB filling over the top to the b and c gap.

ILB overlap to b and c gap. Sam forces it back inside.

Again safety looks to fill.

Great design, Only problem is it's play action so you see the safety put on the brakes

Here's 2 more clips of how explosive the safeties are in the run fits. They come down hill in a hurry when they read run.

2 plays vs Texas Tech this year. Great job of filling and players playing their gaps.

Lastly, 

The thing I love is the way they line up to end over. They dont give you a soft corner back to the weak side. The go cb over.

They bring the cb over and have the free safety play to the boundary tight on the line of scrimmage. At times they will bring that safety to support the run. Nice alignment vs end over and very effective alignment vs these unbalanced formations.

So much to cover and add.Stay tuned.

Coverages

They play a considerable amount of man free combo vs 11 personnel.

In the example of they are playing cover 1 on the outside. They will move the d line away from the pressure. They all slant rt below.  They bring the Jack and sam makes his way down into the box. Guessing they are playing combo on the tailback and h back depending on who goes where.

Here you see man free with the safety coming into the box.

The Safety sees the play action and reacts.

You can see the whole dline slant to the right and they use the safety and jack in the run fit. NC pulls and tries to hit 2 on the seem route vs man free on the rpo.

D line all moves rt. the jack and safety are entering the picture. Forces the pull read and rpo throw to #2

Here's 2 clips of the man free coverage concept.

The safety doesn't do a good job filling on the 2nd clip, thus the 20 yard gain. He should fill more inside off the lb.

Now they get formation to the boundary and have the ability to run the same concept.

They just take the sam and send him and the free comes down and takes the #2 to the boundary. That's the nice thing about the coverage, the sam and free can cover #2 based on where he aligns.

Formation to the boundary Sam and jack come instead of the SS....The FS has to cover #2 and the Anchor/SS now is middle 3rd. Easy adjustment

Sam comes to the top of the screen. Jack is aligned there. 

You can see the man free combo by the 2 ILB. They add in once the TE and RB block. 

Once the 2 ILB see the TE and RB block they add it.

You see the 2 in the picture below.

Vs 3x1 they will play a 3 safety look.

They try to get 5 over 3 to the 3x1 side and 3 over 2 to the split end side. IF its empty it's 3 over those 2 wr. 

 Ran it several times vs Florida State's trips. Its cover 2 with a robber. 

Pass responsibilities:

5 over three to the trips side

3 over 2 to the weak side

They always try to get a plus 1 in many of their coverages.

Vs. Florida State 2022 ran this concept several times vs 3x1

Presnap single high go to  a roll concept to the strong side and play 5 over 3 while only sending 3 in the pass rush.

You can see the zone starting to develop. 

They go 5 over 3 and 3 over 2. 

vs empty they play it the same way on the front side but go cover 2 on the backside.

Another example of the concept below. 

5 over 3 and 3 over 2

You can see how the coverage works. Easy reads and a plus one situation

Sprint out LB Contains.

vs empty still keeping the 5 over 3 and 3 over 2 to the weak side.

Again they have numbers in coverage. They give up some in pass rush to play coverage

Try to hit the comeback to the single side but curl defender gets in the passing lane and deep 1/2 defender is over the top.

3 SAFETY vs Clemson 

3 safety 5 under 3 deep

Vs Clemson

Take the sam and make him a deep 1/3 player. They play the mike at 5 and play the middle safety extremely deep which opens up the dig window.

3 man 3 safety pre snap

3 man rush

3 safety look pre snap

3 safety look and nice disguise

v

Next up,

1. We will get into some of the coverages and blitzes.

2. Look more closely at the movements

3. We will get into how they shift into a 4 hands look on third down and a few of the 3 safety looks they show on 3rd down.