Press Quarters the Pitt Way

Press Quarters is a coverage closely associated with the Pittsburgh Panthers. Are they the only team running it? Not even close. But if you start studying Press Quarters, you’re going to end up on a Narduzzi video or an article about his staff sooner or later.

So why do I like it? It’s simple, it’s versatile, and it’s limiting for the offense. It also gives you the freedom to play with a heavier box than you typically get in standard Quarters.

Playing Press

I’m a firm believer in a looser press technique. Press is way more about footwork than a jam. The goal is to force the receiver to extend his release, push the QB to go somewhere else, and compress the route toward the sideline or flat along the line of scrimmage. The general rule is simple: stay square as long as possible.

Here’s an example of opening the gate too soon, but the corner recovers and does the most important thing: squeezes the route into the sideline. Force a throw that has to be pinpoint accurate while giving yourself the best chance to make the play. The corner gives the receiver limited operating room, then plays through the hands for the breakup.

Here’s another rep from the same game. This time after opening the gate, the receiver does a better job and stacks the corner. The corner gets back into a semblance of phase but looks back a step too soon, loses his relationship with the receiver, and gives up a touchdown. That’s press coverage in a nutshell. When you don’t execute the little things every single time, the big things happen to you.

First, this is a great pattern match up top against the stick look. Second, the corner does a great job against the back shoulder throw. When you feel the back shoulder fade, you have to work back into the body before peeking.

The corner gets to his press look late and ends up caught in between, but this turns into another great example of working through traffic and making a play on the ball. When you play press, this is the effort level corners have to bring every rep.

Tunnel screens shouldn’t work against press. That’s part of why you play it. And it plays out exactly how it should here: a disaster for the offense.

Playing as the Safety

Here we get Press Quarters against a condensed set. This can be a tough look to play Press Quarters against, but the Pitt safety does a great job. He understands what the offense is trying to do. Against condensed sets, offenses want to either expand rapidly or run routes across the field. When he sees leverage breaking to the sideline, he works over the top of #1 and comes downhill to make the tackle for a minimal gain. Navigating traffic is one of the hardest things a defensive back has to do. This is a great example of doing it well.

Here’s a pre-snap switch on motion, followed by a nice pattern match by the corner playing as the safety.

The safety shows patience here, takes his read step, then breaks downhill hard on the speed out. Not a game-breaking play, but that’s the point. Press Quarters works because guys do the little things right, and the safeties have to be able to get downhill and make tackles in the run game and on short throws.

Remember what we said about safeties getting downhill? Here’s exactly what that looks like against a swing screen. The linebacker fits inside the slot, the safety fits outside. That’s how you want it to look.

I can’t tell whether this is a slot fade or a sluggo, but this is exactly how you want your safety playing against it. Great inside-out leverage, compresses the route, and completely erases the slot receiver.

And there’s that safety coming downhill again. This time he makes the Sam/Nickel right on a run fit.

These safeties play well out of that slow shuffle and read step phase. Great break, better tackle.

I’m going to keep showing these clips.

Playing as a Linebacker

We talk a lot about the corners and safeties, but the linebackers are a huge part of this scheme. Here we see the push on the tear motion, and the Mike sniffs out the screen. Heads up play by the interior linebacker, and a clear indicator of where his eyes need to be after pre-snap motion.

Here’s a textbook curl/flat drop. I always taught work to the curl, expand to the flat. That’s exactly what happens here. The linebacker works to #2, feels #2 working vertical, and expands to #1 for the interception.

Another great example of linebackers understanding their roles and identifying who is most dangerous. Typically that overhang works under #2, but understanding that stick is a favorite route out of trips, he sits on #3 and gets the pass breakup.

Curl/flat drop again, but this time the curl drop carries him to the flat and he adjusts his angle, nearly comes away with the interception, and settles for the deflection.

Final Thoughts

What makes the coverage work is not one position group. It’s all of them. The corners have to execute their technique on an island every single snap. The safeties have to be willing to get downhill and make tackles in space. The linebackers have to understand their drops, read their keys, and identify threats quickly. When all three do their jobs, the offense has nowhere to go.

The thing I keep coming back to when studying this scheme is the margin for error. Press coverage is unforgiving. One missed key, one early gate, one step in the wrong direction and you’re giving up a touchdown. But that’s also what makes it so effective when it’s repped correctly. You are limiting the offense’s operating room at every level of the field.

If you’re considering installing Press Quarters, study Pitt. Not just the splash plays, but the little things. The read steps. The traffic navigation. The curl/flat drops. The run fits. The scheme works because the details are coached and executed at a high level, every single rep.

That’s the standard Narduzzi has built at Pitt. And it’s a standard worth stealing.