The 4-3 as a high school defense: simple ways to install multiple fronts with five men on the line of scrimmage.

Most high school football coaches subscribe to some form of 4-4 or traditional 5-2 defense with variations. They tend to stay away from the 4-3 probably because they feel it is weak against the run--that it leaves too many lanes for ball carriers.

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They have a good point. Few high school teams have the talent to sit in a 4-3 Base (Diag. 1) for four quarters, especially vs the run-oriented offenses.

If, therefore, you intend to run a 4-3 with marginal talent, you would have to put five men on the LOS to defend the run and present different looks to offensive linemen.

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Check Diag. 1 (a 4-3 base): the personnel is defined as follows: Ends, Tackles, Sam (strong-side LB), Will (weakside LB), and Mike (middle LB).

The 4-3 defense employs a one-gap philosophy for the linemen (each is responsible for the gap in which he is aligned). Linebackers are usually twogap players whose gap responsibility will depend upon the front and its alignment.

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BASIC 5-MAN LINE VARIATIONS

The question that often worries coaches is: "Can we do this without making our kids think too much on defense?" The following package will provide several simple options for your players. Two basic variations of the 4-3 Base, the Stack and the Tough, are shown in Diags. 2 and 3. Notice that the only change in the two fronts is the position of the linebackers (M's).

Sam is playing a tough outsideshoulder technique (9 technique) on the TE and can be dropped into coverage, depending on his ability to read the TE's release, but he will predominantly function as a 5th rusher.

Notice also the slight change in the alignment of the Mike and the Will from the Stack front to the Tough front. The Stack literally stacks Mike and Will behind the two defensive T's with outside leverage, while the Tough gives you more of a traditional 4-3 look with Mike and Will.

TACKLES AND ENDS

Many 4-3 schemes designate the weakside tackle as the Noseguard or one of the ends as a Force or Quick End. This is not done in order to simplify what players have to learn in case of injury or position change.

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In this 4-3 scheme, if you have an End who is better suited to be the splitend side End, you can always designate him as the "weakside" End.

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But for teaching purposes in camp, the positions are taught as "right" or "left" Tackles and "right" or "left" Ends on their respective sides. This way, your End players get to learn both the weakside and strongside End positions; and your Tackles get to know both the weakside and strongside Tackle positions (should your personnel dictate such distinctions).

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In short, your defensive linemen are actually learning two positions at one time. As you will see, this philosophy makes it easy to install the multiple fronts, and when injuries or position moves occur, facilitates the transition in personnel switches.

SETTING DEFENSIVE STRENGTH

The 4-3 scheme actually has two strength calls--one for the front seven and one for the secondary. The strong safety will set the secondary strength according to eligible receivers, and the Sam will set the strength for the frontseven according to the tight end.

This may appear to complicate matters, but it actually gives the frontseven less to worry about in case of motion or backfield shifts. One of the advantages of the 4-3 is that the front seven and the secondary do not have to communicate strength to each other.

For example, the secondary can roll from Cover 2 to Cover 3 without any changes in the linebacker's coverage or gap responsibility. See Diag. 4.

The front-seven strength is determined by the alignment of the tight end. The Sam linebacker always aligns to the tight end side and makes a "Sam Right" or "Sam Left" call, depending on the tight end's defensive side. It is imperative for the Mike and the Will to echo the "Sam" call because the defensive linemen have to hear it.

STRONG AND WEAK SHIFTS

Observe the diagrams of Stack-Strong and Stack-Weak (Diags. 5 and 6). Notice that the position of the LB's has not changed, but the position of the Tackles has shifted. Both would be "Sam Left" calls.

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Check Diag. 5. The word Strong in the front tells the two defensive T's to shift a half-man toward the "Sam" call (A "Sam Left" call has the T's shift to the left).

Now check Diag. 6. The word Weak in the front tells the two defensive T's to shift a half-man away from the "Sam" call. (Since a "Sam Left" call was made and the front is Weak, the two T's shift to the right).

The Tough-Strong and Tough-Weak fronts (Diags. 7 & 8) follow the same concept of shifting the two tackles toward or away from the "Sam" call.

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Notice the slight changes in the linebacker alignments, depending on whether or not they are covered. This is something that can be easily adjusted, if needed, during game planning. The meaning of the Strong and Weak shifts should be taught in camp.

If the defensive Tackles can understand this concept, and get accustomed to reacting with a "Sam" call from both the right and left side, adjustments such as the designation of a full-time "noseguard" can be made smoothly.

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CONCLUSION:

This 4-3 concept of having five men on the LOS is nothing new, but I feel that this particular package will allow you to play a maximum number of defensive fronts, with a minimum amount of teaching time. I've tried to take a college/pro defense and simplify it so that high school players can understand it without too much thinking.

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At the high school level, with time constraints, injuries, and two-way players, saving time and keeping it simple are absolutely essential.

RICK ROTH 

Defensive Coordinator 

Butler Area (PA) High School