Okay, I remember reading a few articles on PFF and other outlets about coverages that Wood's deployed around the 3/4 point of last season. It was something like we were in zone coverage for over 300 plays and in man for around 80. That's probably a fairly smart percentage due to how many rub routes there are in the NFL, especially in the red zone and in short yardage situations. I can even argue that a lot of first down plays utilize rub routes. Oh, in case rub routes isn't a familiar term, think about setting a pick in basketball.

The QB rating was around 100 in man. Around 80 in zone.

Yards per attempt were almost identical.

Completion percentage was about 8 points better [for the defense] in man than zone.

Sack rate in zone was better.

What else? 1st down was better for D on first down, worse on 3rd down.

So, consider this: We played some man, which is called Cover 1 or Cover zero. We really didn't play much cover 0. Cover 3 and Quarters were our main zone coverages, but of course, we played some other zone coverages or you would become too predictable.

Man is called Cover 1. That is where everyone but one guy [typically the FS] plays man and the FS provides help by rolling his coverage to a certain receiver.

Cover 3 is what I predominately ran when I coached. You divide the field into thirds. The safeties are in between the hash marks. You often play them high and low. The high is to roll coverages to a certain receiver. The low coverage is to cover the flat. Playing two high safeties is Cover 2. We did this some, but not as much as Cover 3. The corners in Covre 3 play outside the hashmarks. The sideline is their support and often a FS will provide over the top help and SS will help in the flat.

Quarters is not a prevent defense even though it is designed to stop vertical routes. On the other hand, it is very effective against the run because you have 4 guys in press coverage. Oh wait.......did I leave something out? Think Quarters. Four guys responsible for covering a 4th of the vertical field. It's way more complicated than that, but let's just get a visual. So, you have the aspect of press coverage like Cover 1 [man] provides, while having the advantage of zone coverage that can help reduce the potency of rub routes. Quarters also allow you to blitz more from the secondary. Think about how we brought guys like Hill on blitzes on 3rd and long.

I won't offer any opinions on our scheme right now. I would rather you guys just contemplate the information combined w/the real life results. Deduce your own conclusions and hopefully we can discuss football w/out all the BS. I will come back later and offer my opinions, but I am not certain if my opinions are worthy or not.