Boston College’s Nickel
Package: Dominant and
O n behalf of Boston College football,
our head coach, Tom O’Brien, our
defensive coaches, Frank Spaziani (defen-
Opportunistic sive coordinator), Bill McGovern (lineback-
ers), Keith Willis (defensive line), and our
players, it is a great pleasure to contribute
to the 2001 AFCA Summer Manual.
When game-planning we spend a great
deal of time analyzing offensive personnel
groupings and down and distance situa-
tions. We create a grid such that we study
what types of plays our opponent will run
out of particular personnel groupings on
specific down and distances, and attempt
to put ourselves in the best defense to
combat what the numbers tell us our oppo-
nent will do.
Like many of you, we number offensive
personnel groupings based on the number
of backs and tight ends on the field. Two
backs and one tight end is 21 personnel.
One back and one tight end is 11 person-
nel, and so on.
With regard to down and distance, we
set goals for particular down and distances.
It is imperative that we win first down and
10. Nobody runs the ball against us on first
and 10. Our goal is to allow two yards or
Bob Shoop less, and we aim to create negative
yardage plays to get a team off schedule.
Defensive Secondary Coach The bottom line for us on third down is a
win. We want to get off the field on third
Boston College down by whatever means possible. We
spend a lot of time in meetings and at prac-
Chestnut Hill, Mass. tice studying our third down package. Our
goals are to win third and long 75 percent
of the time, to win all third down situations
70 percent of the time, and to be three and
out 40 percent of the time.
Boston College Nickel Package
We base our nickel package out of
what we call our tight front. “Tight” tells
the three and seven techniques to align
to the tight end side, with our one and
five techniques aligning opposite the
tight declaration. Our secondary aligns
itself in a two-deep shell with the field
corner to the field and the boundary cor-
ner to the boundary. Our strong safety
aligns to the tight end while the free safe-
ty aligns opposite the strong safety’s
declaration. Our nickel back aligns to the
passing strength. The linebackers (Mike
and Will) base out of three techniques at
five yards deep with the Mike going to the
declaration of the nickel. Pre-snap, it is
our intent that the quarterback sees this
look all of the time.
• AFCA Summer Manual — 2001 •
Tight Two
Our primary zone coverage is a two-
deep five-under concept (Tight 2). Our
safeties are deep half players, working 4-5
yards off the hash, playing everything
downhill. We stress that they get a “hard
read” off the quarterback such that when
his feet get set we hope to get our safeties’
shoulders turned in the direction that his
shoulders are turned, getting a great break
on the ball. Our corners will jam or reroute
the No. 1 receiver denying the outside
release and reacting to the inside release.
They will cushion under all corner routes
and streaks while reacting to the flat or “no
cover” zone based on a threat of the No. 2
receiver and the look or shoulder turn of
the quarterback. Our Nickel and Will are #2
curl defenders working to 12-14 yards deep
and two yards outside the hash. Our Mike
is a No. 3 middle hook defender working to
12-14 yards deep stacked on No. 3. In
some scenarios, Mike will carry No. 3 all
the way down the middle of the field. It is
imperative that our under coverage disrupt
routes and throw off timing. By re-routing,
we enable our four-man rush to get quality
pressure on the quarterback, force trajecto-
ry on throws, and allow our safeties the
opportunity to play the ball or punish the
receiver. (Diagrams 1A and 1B).
Diagram 1A: Tight 2 vs. 2x2
Diagram 1B: Tight 2 vs. 3x1
Tight One
With our nickel personnel we will also
play tight cover 1. Pre-snap, we will align in
the same two-deep shell creating the illu-
sion that we are in two-deep coverage with
six defenders in the “box.” As the quarter-
back begins his cadence our strong safety
will yo-yo to the outside shoulder of the
tight end at linebacker depth. We have now
placed a seventh defender in the box vs.
six potential blockers. As the strong safety
stems down, our Mike and Will slide weak
such that the Mike aligns in the strong A
gap, and the Will in the weak B gap. We
now have seven defenders for seven gaps.
Our free safety yo-yo’s to the center of the
formation and becomes an alley player vs.
the run and a numbers-to-numbers player
vs. the pass. Our strong safety keys the
tight end such that should the tight end
block, he would force any run to him back
inside. On run away, the strong safety
holds the D gap for cutback and bootleg. If
the tight end releases, the strong safety
has him man-to-man maintaining outside
leverage and funneling him in to a maze
defender and post player.
Our Mike and Will are responsible for
the runningback man-to-man in a two-way
technique such that whichever way the
back steps, that linebacker has him man-
to-man while the other linebacker works as
the maze player cutting the most danger-
ous intermediate crossing threat by game
plan. Our corners have the No. 1 receiver
man-to-man from inside leverage and our
nickel player is responsible for the No. 2
receiver man-to-man with leverage based
on the receiver’s split in relation with the
No. 1 receiver and the end man on the line
of scrimmage, with the knowledge that he,
too, has help to the hole and the post
(Diagrams 2A and 2B).
Tight Charley 0
Our base pressure from our nickel pack-
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• AFCA Summer Manual — 2001 •
Diagram 2A: Tight 1 vs. 2x2
Diagram 2B: Tight 1 vs. 3x1
age is Tight Charley 0. In this pressure, we
will align pre-snap in our Tight 2 shell. As
the quarterback begins his cadence our
linebackers will prowl to a rocket alignment
and contain blitz from the outside. To the
tight side, our three and seven techniques
will execute a Tex stunt with the three tech-
nique getting upfield and the seven tech-
nique coming under to the A Gap. As the
linebackers prowl, our safeties will work
down to their man-to-man responsibilities.
Our strong safety has the tight end man-to-
man from inside leverage and will get his
key from that tight end filling the C gap fun-
nel from inside-out on the run, and playing
the tight end man-to-man vs. pass. Our
free safety will stem down over the running
back at linebacker depth, filling inside out
to the ball on any run, taking the back man-
to-man versus pass, and should the back
block, act as a maze player lending help on
the hot throw keying the quarterback’s
shoulder turn. Our nickel back has No. 2
strong man-to-man from inside leverage
and our corners have the No. 1 receivers to
their side man-to-man from inside lever-
age. Play downhill, do not press, expect the
ball to be thrown quickly, and drive the cut.
(Diagrams 3A and 3B).
Diagram 3A: Tight Charley 0 vs. 2x2
Diagram 3B: Tight Charley 0 vs. 3x1
At Boston College, we will be dominant
and opportunistic on third down by stopping
you and creating a turnover. It has been an
honor to represent our staff in writing this
article for the Summer Manual. If we can be
of any assistance to you, please contact
us. Good luck to you in 2001!