Mastery Over Multiplicity: How to Strip Your Playbook for Defensive Pace
Western Michigan finished 11th in Points Per Drive (PPD) by trading "multiplicity" for "mastery." Here is the blueprint for shedding schematic bloat.
Over the past several years, as defenses at all levels have sought answers to the modern offensive onslaught, the playbooks within these systems have grown in size. Multiple fronts, coverages, and pressure paths have all been inserted into playbooks at every level. Defenses “need” answers.
During the expansion, play has degraded in some of these systems. More is more, but at some point, players will hit a wall; their mental “cup” will runeth over. When that happens, players can either become slow to react or bust the call altogether, creating explosive plays for the offense.
“Multiple” is a buzzword that is used by almost every defensive coach when asked what they want their defense to look like. In today's game, offenses are so good at identifying the foundational elements of a system and then attacking them with the “beaters.” Defensive coaches have been fighting back by increasing the volume on their call sheets.
In 2025, one of the major themes has been a shift from scheme-first philosophies to execution dominant schemes. Simply put, techniques over strategy.
In systems that have tried to disguise everything and “play the play” instead of focusing on the basic skills of how to “play football,” some cases have forced their top athletes to slow down, giving the offense the advantage back.
We saw these themes reiterated in bottom-tier defenses in the NFL, with the Cincinnati’s, Tennessee’s, and San Francisco’s schemes:
Bengals: Al Golden shed the passive disguises for a more direct man-centric five-man pressure system and doubled down on man coverage.
Titans: Newly appointed Giants DC Dennard Wilson frequently commented during his time with Tennessee about paring down play calls, eliminating complex disguises, and developing simpler game plans that could be executed effectively.
49ers: After the injuries to Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, DC Robert Saleh (now Titans Head Coach) pivoted to a streamlined call system that played more structured defenses, focusing on the nuances of scheme pedagogy and overall mitigation (containment) rather than call volume.
Finally, in Chicago, facing Green Bay for a third time in the playoffs, Dennis Allen shifted to a simpler, structured Cover 3 shell, which the Bears excelled at, rather than their season-long Boom-or-Bust mentality of pressure and man coverage.
O’Leary’s main goal for 2026 is to cut the clutter and unlock an athletic roster. The young coach this past season was the DC at Western Michigan, a team that won ten games, the MAC Championship, and a Bowl Game. In early October, as they headed into the meat of their MAC schedule, O’Leary stated he wanted to move away from “multiplicity” and focus on the “mastery” of the scheme.
At that point in the season, heading into their game with Ball State, the Broncos were 3-3, having lost to Michigan State, North Texas, and Illinois to start the season. In those three particular games, O’Leary had to “scheme” ways to compress offenses with better athletes. Though they were on a three-game winning streak, he felt the defense was making too many mistakes because of the scheme's volume.
The shift was built around O’Leary’s five “separators”:
