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Wednesday, August 28, 2019 El Dorado News-Times 7D New coordinator brings defense 3-3-5 to El Dorado
By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
The 3-3-5 defense is the answer to the spread of- fense. Five defensive backs, three linebackers and only three down linemen is a formation designed to defend the pass and surprise the offense with stunts and blitzes.
El Dorado head coach Steven Jones said the Wild- cats’ new defense was his decision and a big reason he brought in Trey Outlaw to be his defensive coor- dinator.
“Coach Outlaw was head coach and athletic direc- tor at Bearden last year. He’s been a 3-3-5 guy since I’ve known him,” Jones explained. “Coach Outlaw and I have coached against each other. When I was the offensive coordinator at Searcy, he was the de- fensive coordinator at Wynne. Their defense at Wyn- ne, when I look back at it, we had a lot of trouble with Wynne, the different things they could do on that side of the ball. When you have an odd front with an extra defensive back in there, it can give of- fensive coordinators fits. Me, going up against that defense and knowing the trouble it brought to me in game planning each week is something I considered in hiring that spot. I’m very fortunate to get Trey Out- law on board. Trey is a phenomenal football coach, very passionate in what he does. He’s a very hard worker and if he doesn’t have a good answer, he’s going to go find one. He’s what we were looking for in that spot.”
Outlaw could probably teach a class on the princi- ples of the 3-3-5 defense. It’s something he believes in.
“It gives you an opportunity to put one more (de- fensive back) on the field. It allows you to have more speed on the field,” he said. “When you have under- sized guys on the defensive line like we have, they’re all guys who run sub-five flat forties, it gives them a chance to be protected and gives them a chance to use their speed instead of having to go and, basical- ly, beat their head into a wall over and over again. It gives us an opportunity to put more speed onto the field, to be more dynamic with our super ath- letic guys that we have, and we get to show a lot of different looks that will give offensive coordinators fits. It’s also something you don’t see every week, so they’ll have to spend a lot more time in practice working on our 3-3-5.”
In the era of the spread offense, defenses must be able to cover the entire field, especially with the short passing game.
“The neat thing about the 3-3-5, we keep six guys in the box at all times, but we’re also protected on the outside. We’re protected against the bubbles and tunnel screens. We’re also protected against deep routes, too. It’s something that lets us spread the field with spread offenses. It’s basically the mod- ern-day spread defense,” said Outlaw, who said El Dorado will be able to adjust if teams try to play power and run the ball down the throat of the three-
man front.
“Not really because we have answers to that. We’re
able to make some adjustments. The big thing is, our linebackers are protected. The offensive line doesn’t have a free shot on them. That’s something that can’t be stated enough. It’s going to be fun for those guys. Those guys don’t have to worry about a big 300-pound offensive lineman coming to block them because they’re tied up with the defensive line already. They get to pen their ears back and play.”
Basically, the Wildcats would like to eliminate the nickel-and-dime, dink-and-dunk offenses. The 3-3-5 is a big-play scheme, designed to force turnovers, even if it, from time to time, gets burned for a big play.
“I’ve known Coach Jones for over a year now. We’ve both coached against each other when he was at Junction and I was the head coach at Bearden. During one of our junior high games, we just sat and talked ball for awhile. He got hired here, we talked more about me coming and being the defensive co- ordinator,” said Outlaw. “One of the things that we’re in agreement on, we wanted the defense to match the offense. The offense plays at a tempo. They play aggressive. They want to score a lot of points. So, on defense we want to play fast. We want to be aggres- sive, too. We want to be a team that if you’re going to score, you’re going to have to take a shot because you’re not going to be able to dink and dunk us the whole way down the field.”
Kats, Razors and Bandits to play key roles for Wildcats' secondary
By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
El Dorado defensive coordinator Trey Outlaw insists this year’s defense won’t be the same old Cats. In fact, they’ll be the Kats.
Actually, they will be Kats and Razors and Bandits and Studs and Warriors. These are the names of the positions in El Dorado’s new 3-3-5 defensive alignment.
No, the game hasn’t changed. It’s still football and, on the field, the positions will be recognizable. The Razor is the weakside safety. The Bandit is the strongside safety. Stud is the strong side linebacker and Warrior is the line- backer on the weak side.
The Kat? Well, he’s the dude.
“This is what we ran when I was at Wynne as defensive coordinator. We had the Jacket there because we were the Yellowjackets. We changed it to the Cat, but we spell Cat with a ‘K’ just to make it a little more funky for our players. They kind of like it,” Outlaw explained.
“Our Kat will line up, traditionally, where you’ll see a free safety. But our Kat is so much more. He’s a hybrid linebacker-safety-type body. Usually, you put your dudes there. We have some pretty special Kats.”
Outlaw coaches the Kats himself.
“The reason why I coach Kats is be- cause our Kats, when we run inside, they’ll go with the inside linebackers. When we go pass skel, they’ll be with the secondary guys,” he said. “He’s got to be a guy who will come downhill and make a play in the run but can also defend the pass. That gives me an opportunity to see both the run and the pass during practice instead of just being with the secondary or the defen- sive line.”
El Dorado’s Kats include junior Jar- mel Love, senior Emon Ingram and sophomore PJ Dinkins. Love played receiver as a sophomore but, at 6-3, 209, he has the size to make an impact defensively both in the run and pass game.
“He’s got a D-1 body. He’s 6-3, right
at 200 pounds, looks really good,” said Outlaw. “He’s as big as any lineback- er we have and taller than most of our (defensive) linemen. You look out there and he looks like a created play- er out there. He’ll be fun to watch.”
Ingram brings experience and versa- tility to the secondary.
“He will play Kat, Bandit and Razor for us. He’s done really well. If he’s not at Kat, he’ll be starting at one of the
other three safety spots,” said Outlaw, who believes Dinkins could play a role as a sophomore.
“He’s done really awesome for us as well. PJ is a guy who can play all five secondary spots. He’s been getting lots of reps and Kat and lots of reps at Razor. For a 10th grader to be able to pick up the defense that quick, he’s got
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