subject: The 4-3 Defense in Football [print this page] The 4-3 Defense in Football The 4-3 Defense in Football
The 43 defense may be one of the oldest defenses in the game and is still the most used defense in football today.
The 4-3 defense dates back to the 1950s and depending who you speak with it might have been the brain child of Tom Landry when he was a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. He would have needed a stout defense to try to contain the legendary Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns.
Others say it was the invention of Chicago Bears line backer Bill George and some give credit to Detroit Loins Defensive Coach Garrard "Buster" Ramsey. Regardless it seems this defense originated in the 50's and has endured to be the most used defense in North America, particularly in the NFL.
In this article we will look at the history of the 4-3 and its original base concepts.
In its original form, it had 4 linemen backed up by 3 linebackers to stop or contain the run. If Landry were the inventor, having seen Jim Brown play when I was a kid, he needed every edge he could get to slow down Brown, and that was the best you could hope for, just to slow him down.
When the defense was introduced the tackles line up over the offensive guards and the ends over the offensive tackles. The object was to stop the inside running game.
The middle linebacker or Mike was lined up over center and the outside linebackers were lined up outside the ends. With this formation the defenses hoped to contain the running game.
In the 19360's the 4-3 defense was first modified by Kansas City Chiefs coach Han Stram. His tweak became known as the Kansas City Stack. What he did was line up the strong side defensive end over the tight end and the strong side line backer over the tackle and moved the weak side over the center.
Next to innovate the 4-3 was Tom Landry, who by then was the head coach for the newly formed Dallas Cowboys. He had a stallion of a lineman in Randy White. He moved White all over the line and had his defensive linemen line up a half step further back from the LOS.
Since then this defense has been tweaked and modified many times but it a defense that has endured the test of time over the last 6 decades and is still the most used defense in today's game of football.
There are many 4-3 Defense Coaching DVDs available, use the links below to see what is around.
