Vols Film Study: Kirkland, Reeves-Maybin, and the Blitz

Bob Shoop likes to blitz. The Tennessee Volunteers’ new defensive coordinator comes to Knoxville after spending two years at Penn State, and he brings with him a reputation for putting the heat on opposing quarterbacks.

Shoop has consistently produced some of the nation’s best defenses in recent years. In his two years at Penn State, the Nittany Lions finished eighth and ninth in the country in total pass defense.

Before going to Happy Valley, Shoop spent the previous three years coordinating the defense for Tennessee’s in-state SEC rival, Vanderbilt. Despite not always having as much talent as their SEC competition, the Commodores were very good under Shoop, never finishing worse than twenty-third in the nation in pass defense.

A big part of Shoop’s philosophy revolves around putting pressure on the quarterback. The stats back this up. In 2015, Shoop’s Nittany Lion defense led the nation with 3.54 sacks per game.

In his introductory press conference at Tennessee, Shoop said, “We’ll be an in-your-face style of defense that’s built on relentless pursuit and never-ending pressure.”

If you go back and watch film of Shoop’s defenses at Penn State or at Vanderbilt, then you will see that he is serious about never-ending pressure. Shoop will send pass rushers early and often. He likes to rush linebackers on early downs to stop the run, while also using creative blitz packages on passing downs to put pressure on the quarterback.

Shoop’s primary pass coverage scheme is a conservative form of quarters, but he will use a fire zone blitz as his primary changeup.

The fire zone was popularized by Dick LeBeau, then the defensive coordinator of the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, in the 1980s. LeBeau learned the concept from Bill Arnsparger, the head coach at LSU, who was experimenting with zone blitz tactics at the college level.

Prior to this time, defenses always played man coverage behind blitzes. This was effective at times, but very risky. Quarterbacks and offensive playcallers began getting better about designing plays to get the ball out fast, before the blitz could get home. Defenders were isolated in man coverage, so any slight mistake could result in a big play for the offense.

The zone blitz maintained the effectiveness of the pass rush, but the pass coverage scheme was much safer. All six defenders in zone coverage could keep their eyes on the ball, allowing them to rally and make the tackle for little gain even if the quarterback completed a quick pass.

While Arnsparger is credited with inventing the concept, LeBeau is the man who made it famous. When he brought it to the NFL, his new tactic confounded quarterbacks and saw incredible success.

LeBeau’s favorite type of zone blitz was what he called the fire zone. Three defenders (typically the two cornerbacks and one safety) would each be responsible for a deep third of the field in zone coverage. Three more underneath defenders would be responsible for taking away any short to intermediate passes. The remaining five defenders will rush the quarterback. Which five defenders rushed the quarterback and which six dropped in coverage was at the defensive coordinator’s discretion. He was limited by only his own creativity.

Now skip ahead to 2016. Shoop uses the fire zone to compliment his base coverage scheme. Typically, Shoop will rush four and drop seven to play conservative zone coverage. But Shoop wants opposing quarterback’s to feel the heat. He likes to blitz, and the fire zone is the best way to do it. Shoop can send five pass rushers, while maintaining safe zone coverage.

Shoop will send pass rushers from any and all directions. He’s not afraid to use linebackers, slot corners, safeties, and even outside corners as blitzers. He is also willing to drop defensive ends, and sometimes even defensive tackles, into coverage while blitzing a second level defender in order to keep the opposing quarterback off guard.

Fortunately, when Shoop arrived in Knoxville he inherited two linebackers that fit his blitzing scheme perfectly. Middle linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. and weakside linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin both return as starters. While neither linebacker weighs more than 230 pounds, they are both known for their speed, quickness, and instincts. That combination makes Kirkland and Reeves-Maybin tenacious pass rushers for the Vols.

Reeves-Maybin finished his junior year second on the team with 5.0 sacks, while leading the Vols with 14.0 tackles for loss. Kirkland finished right behind Reeves-Maybin with 3.0 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss in his true freshman season.

From a pure athleticism standpoint, Reeves-Maybin and Kirkland are among the best linebackers Shoop has ever coached. They fit his scheme perfectly, and have the potential to star under his tutelage. In order to help them reach their full potential, Shoop will certainly have to devise even more creative ways to utilize his linebackers in 2016.

Consider this pressure package that Shoop has used in the past. It is one of his favorite blitzes, and one that nearly every high school, college and pro team in America runs.

The point of the scheme is to overload the offense on one side. In the above example, the blitz is coming off of the (defensive) left side. The left end will stunt to the A gap, in between the center and the guard (this is called a long stick technique), while the middle linebacker will rush through the B gap, in between the tackle and the guard. The strong side linebacker (or nickel back) will blitz off the edge through the C gap.

Shoop called this rush against Temple last season. The right tackle saw the blitzing middle linebacker and focused his attention on him. This allowed strongside defensive end Carl Nassib came free for the sack.

Now skip ahead to bowl season. Former Vols’ defensive coordinator John Jancek dialed up a very similar blitz when the Vols’ faced off with Northwestern. Here, the right tackle recognized the blitz and tried to block Darrin Kirkland Jr., coming from his middle linebacker spot. He was, however, no match for the more athletic Kirkland, who blew by him for the sack.

Now its Reeves-Maybin’s turn. Consider this blitz that Shoop used while at Vanderbilt in 2013.

Here, Shoop calls for a linebacker and the strong safety to rush, in an attempt to overload the (defensive) right side. The offense will be overmatched with two defensive linemen plus two blitzers rushing to one side.

On this play, middle linebacker Jake Sealand came free up the middle, while the offensive linemen were focused on blocking the defensive linemen. Sealand flushed the quarterback out of the pocket, right into the waiting arms of the other blitzer, strong safety Javon Marshall.

Jancek called a similar blitz against Alabama in 2015. This time, running back Derrick Henry blocked the Vols’ blitzing strong safety LaDarrell McNeil, and All-American left tackle Cam Robinson was in position to block Reeves-Maybin, blitzing from his weakside linebacker position. However, Reeves-Maybin used his speed and his quick hands to swim past the bigger offensive lineman, and ended up finishing the play with a big sack.

With Reeves-Maybin and Kirkland showing outstanding ability to blitz, they will certainly feel right at home in Coach Shoop’s aggressive scheme. With talented pass rushers like Derek Barnett, Corey Vereen, and Jonathon Kongbo already captivating the attention of opposing offensive linemen, the Vols’ linebackers will surely have plenty of opportunities to put pressure on SEC quarterbacks when Shoop dials up the blitz.

Editor’s Note: Seth Price writes Vols Film Study weekly for FOX Sports Knoxville. You can see more of his work at Football Concepts. He is also the author of Fast and Furious: Butch Jones and the Tennessee Volunteer’s Offense, which is available on Amazon.com.