The 4-3 Defense

Probably the most interesting part of taking the defensive coordinator job at Nitro High is the learning experience. When I was asked by the head coach why I was interested in coming to Nitro I told him it was because of a growth mindset. To me, the growth mindset means that no matter what happens in life you are constantly pushing forward and trying to learn and grow from it. The most negative experiences can be turned positive if you learn something from them. I loved the school I was at, and I loved the coaches and kids I worked with. This was a huge opportunity to learn and grow, one that I could not pass up.

In talking with Coach Davis, the head coach of the Nitro Wildcats, I told him that I was a big fan of the 4-3 structure for its flexibility that it can provide. It is old school, yes, but taking a modern approach to it allows for it to open up to attack more modern offense. The 4-3 is a run-stopping first defense. By having 4 down linemen and 3 linebackers run-fits are no problem, all gaps are covered with an extra force player. because of this extra force player, and the four down linemen, a defense can get creative with what they want to do. If you want to send 5, that is no problem, if you want to send 6, play cover 1 or 0 behind it and send them. You want to send all 7, send them and have the OLBs peel to the back. The line has to be run stoppers. I like having those guys mirror to squeeze a zone away or fight across face to keep the edge and their gap. There are a million things that you can do, slant, twist, drop into coverage, with the linemen in the 4-3 if the athletes that you have permits it. Really, that's what everything boils down to. If I do not have the guys to run a defense, then there's no point in running it.

I love the 4-3, but the whole must be greater than the sum of my parts. If I can get better results out of a 4-2-5, 3-4, or a 3-3, then that's what I will run!

One of the biggest issues that people have with the 4-3 is that it is a static defense, especially in secondary. With two high safeties, there is no need to roll the coverage if the defense changes strength/sends a man in motion. There is beauty in that. I no longer have to worry about one of my players being out of position because I am trying to roll the safeties. Rather, I have two high who are always in position. 

The best way in my mind to beat the idea of a static defense is to stem. I know he did not invent it, but I picked the idea of stemming up from the DB coach at Poca High, Coach Fragale. He would stem his DBs to keep the QB guessing as to what coverage he was in. For example, as the offense lined up the safeties would be pressed giving a cover 0 look. Before the ball was snapped he would have them drop back to their typical cover 4 positions. Same for the corners, he would have them play pressed and then right before the snap of the ball drop. This would mess up in pre-snap reads that the QB made and would mess with the receiver, they never knew what to expect before the ball was snapped. I would love to apply that same mindset to every player on the defense. Perhaps I could have the DL line up in a heads up stack front (2s and 4s) and then shift to the actual front. I could do the same with my LBs, having them line up on the line as if they are blitzing and drop (or blitz) based on the call before the ball is snapped. This keeps the offense guessing before the ball is snapped. 

After the ball is snapped there are several things the defense could do to keep the offense guessing. Of course, the first thing the defense could do is send pressure. Pressure gets in the offense's head, even when it does not hit home. The QB's mental timer speeds up. At the end of the day, it is how well my high school kids can get into the head of the high school kid across from him. I can plan for months for the first game of the season, but if I am not matching up my scheme with the weapons I have on my team it is pointless. Pressure will always expose the cracks in an offense. The second thing I can do to be dynamic in the 4-3 is to mix up my coverages and play split field coverages. At its core, quarters coverage and man to man coverages are very similar to each other. The way I teach quarters is that once your man goes past LB level he is considered vertical and you are now man to man with him. So, for the DBs, quarters is essentially a man to man coverage unless your man stays flat. If he stays flat then the DB can help with everything over top. I am sure I will write a blog post on coverages. Because of the nature of quarters, you can easily play man to man coverages like cover 1 and cover 0. Just roll your safety or safeties down and play. We can also throw in changeups like 2-read against tight splits and teams that like to play high-low concepts and stack formations to defend it best. 

The biggest question that comes along is how to play trips. When I first started to design my defense for Nitro I over thought how to align against trips. I have finally settled on an answer after a few months of thought. Let's keep it simple, let our kids play fast, and just play our base concepts against trips. Quarters coverage against trips is simple. The only change that needs to take place is we move the FS over just a touch to where he can relate to the #3 receiver. All of the same rules apply. So PSC is responsible for #1 vert, $ is responsible for #2 vert, but now, the FS will carry the #3 vert. Sam, who will be flexed out a little bit, will be responsible for running the flats. My Mike will take the middle of the field short. On the backside, we can play a split field coverage and go man to man/ 2 read with the Will and the BSC. We could also go with our base quarters coverage rules on the backside. All DBs know that if their man is not vert they are helping and staying over top of everything. For example, #1 is vert but #2 bubbles, then the $ can help with either the #1 vert. We will work to take away the most dangerous man. We could also run cover 1 if we have confidence in our Sam to match up with a receiver. 

There is a ton that I could write about the intricacies of the 4-3, and I am sure that I will revisit some aspects in the future, but I feel like this has been a nice evaluation/reflection on the 4-3 as I know it. It is a run-stopping defense that can be as dynamic as you want it to be. It is also simple enough to help your kids avoid paralysis by analysis. The 4-3 is the ideal defense to me.