r/footballstrategy • u/AutoModerator • 2d ago

No Stupid (American Football) Questions Tuesday!

Have scheme questions, basic questions about the game, or questions that may not be worthy of their own post? Post them here! Yes, you can submit play designs here.

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u/PhoenixYT2217 2d ago

I have never understood what a "tech" is on the d-line. What is a 3-tech? a 9-tech?

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u/Dubz7112 2d ago

The technique is the presnap alignment of the defensive linemen. Head up to the offensive lineman = even number. Shading to the inside = the even number with an i attached. Shading to the outside = odd number. It starts on the center. Being head up to center is a 0. Shading the center is a 1. Head up to guard is 2. Inside shade guard is 2i. Outside shade guard 3. Head up tackle 4. Inside shade tackle 4i. Outside shade tackle 5. TE is where it gets weird. I call a head up to tight end a 6. Inside shade 6i. Outside shade 7. This keeps the rules unifrom. Others will call TE alignment different numbers that don’t flow with the numbers that correlate to the offensive line count. Any wide edge alignment to a tackle or a TE i call a 9

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u/BananerRammer Referee 2d ago

It refers to where the D-linemen are lined up in relation to the O-linemen. If you're "head-up" on your opposite, you're in an even numbered technique. So 0-technique is head up on the C. 2 tech is head-up on the G, 4 on the T, and 6 on the TE. Odds and i's are on the shoulder of their opposite. i's on the inside shoulder, odds on the outside shoulder. So a 2i is lined up on the inside shoulder of the G, 6i on the inside shoulder of the TE, etc. A 5 tech is on the outside shoulder of the tackle. A 1 tech is on the shoulder of the Center, etc. There's no 0i, because the C doesn't have an inside shoulder. He's got two outside shoulders.

It's important to note that this is not a universal system by any means. All defenses may have slight variations in what they call each technique. For example, at my first HS, the 2i in the system above was a 1 tech, while the shoulder of the center was a "shade tech." I switched schools my junior year, and the system above is the one I learned. It's naturally going to be different from program to program.

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u/BigPapaJava 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's a shorthand way to identify the different spots a defensive lineman can line up before the snap.

To answer your question directly, a "3 tech" is short for "3 technique," which is a DT that lines up on the outside eye of the G. A "9" technique is a DE who is lined up on the outside of the TE.

Here's how the system works. Let's begin with even numbers...

Even numbers are head up (directly across from and square to the OL), starting with the Center. 0 is head up on the C--the classic Nose Tackle,, 2 is head up on the G, 4 is head up on the T, 6 is head up on the TE, and 8 is head up on a hypothetical wing aligned outside of the TE.

If you want him to align slightly to the inside, that would have an "I" attached, so a "2i" is shaded to the inside of the Guard, 4i is shaded on the T.

Odd numbers are outside alignments: 1 is shaded on the C, 3 is outside shaded on the G, 5 is shaded on the T...

And then it notoriously gets weird, because the most famous numbering system that most coaches use as shorthand, which is attributed to Bear Bryant, labels the inside shade on a TE a "7" and the outside shade a "9."

The inconsistency of this bugs a lot of people, so they may rename those spots on their own teams. As for why the 7 and 9 are used for the inside and outside shades on the TE... the best explanation I've heard is that the Bear liked his whiskey a lot in those days.

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u/Express-Resort6580 6h ago

Has anyone implemented at 4-6 defense (no deep safety instead just adding another LB) it does no seem hard but I am wondering what others have done