Nick Saban’s Cover 7 Defense Explained

Nick Saban is a heck of a coach. And he’s got a heck of a coaching tree. His defensive scheme has trickled both up and down with high school teams now running variations of his match quarters system and more and more NFL teams basing out of two-safety shells. His influence on the game – especially at the college level – has been immeasurable. He has produced a laundry list of big-name coaches at both the college and NFL level. Guys like Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, Jeremy Pruitt, Will Muschamp, Lane Kiffin, Jason Garrett, Dan Quinn, Mike Mularkey, Pat Shurmur, Steve Sarkisian, and many many more have coached under Saban. He is a fantastic recruiter and teacher.

Nick Saban’s Cover 7 uses zone with man-match principles. At its simplest, the Saban defense creates rules to allow defenders to attach in man coverage based on depth of route and receiver alignment. What’s more, no matter how many top tier players he loses to the NFL draft, his defenses keep on producing. It helps to have a string of 5-star recruits waiting in line, but that doesn’t mitigate the fact that his defensive scheme is incredibly sound.

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Twitter: @weeklyspiral
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[WeeklySpiral]

Saban is one of the best to ever do it.

[evrydayamerican]

Thank you for this. I will no longer cuss at my TV as much at these young men. This is super complicated and they have to make these decisions in seconds. Amazing

[kevinanderson]

Then let a bunch of 4 and 5 star recruits run this defense and it’s over😂

[jimcapps]

No wonder CNS is always yelling at his DBs. That's a ton of stuff to get right; but when they do, Good Lord!!

[kzgcyn]

I would like you to take a look at these new pressure packages this year that abunch of teams were using, especially the Colts and Vikings, where it was an evolved double a gap blitz but somehow there were 3 LB or DB in the middle, all walked up on the line of scrimmage, and one very wide defensive end. I'm sorry that I'm not explaining it very well.

I also notice more alignments where they are putting 3 of the DL in the gaps to the right of the center for example, and isolating the 4th DL, usually an edge rusher, alone on the left side of the offensive line in a 9 technique, almost inviting a double team from the left guard. Perhaps these different alignments could be part of an interesting video in defensive evolution.

[Greysky]

Can you do a breakdown of the Quarters defense of Iowa by Phil Parker? I would love to see that scheme played but with 5 star recruits

[nhonyte]

I don’t know who this guy is but he’s incredibly knowledgeable

[loganstolberg]

I would constantly run cover 9’s and 8’s all the time if I were a coach

[CoachBibbs]

One correction. Mod is “man outside deep” Quarters concept. Allowing inside breaking routes to be ignored. Zone off to rob 7 route from underneath

[Dr_Dan]

So Saban really been running a 4-2-5 and then when teams go into 3 wide he uses nickel, they barely went into a 3-4 the game had changed so many tight ends are days like wide receivers, so now you need safety LB type players with speed strength and to stay one on one

[drucartier]

I remember Bart Scott saying .. He took a ton of stuff from Rex

[eugenepoon]

Are MODs vulnerable to double moves by design?

[clayperry]

It's basic concepts in Cv 2 Cv 3 and C4. Nothing is new really but the terminology 😊 Aby kid can run it but you definitely need speed on the CB and OLB positions. It mks a difference...the rest is letting them GO with confidence 😊 Great analysis 👍

[Javen]

What are the core principles for split backs?

[mrmete]

Hey @weekly spiral would you be able to do Iowa State 3 high Safety scheme breakdown please? That would be greatly appreciated 👍🏾

[brianadams]

In Cone, is the corner a low-shoulder player or high-shoulder player? It appears a high shoulder player due to the corner staying high on a dig route while the safety comes down on it.

[evrydayamerican]

By time you said To keep things simple I was already lost lol.

[Gagan_S]

im trying to learn more about football so is zone defense just man with extra steps and rules?

[zemilio]

i thought MOD stands for Man Other than Drag route

[ayden]

Would his defense work against the Chiefs' last play to win Super Bowl?