I believed, and still do, in creating upfield pressure from a 4–3 stack formation
— Jimmy Johnson, Johnson and Hinton, p. 87
The Miami 4–3, also called the 4–lslide, is a scheme closely associated with the Jimmy Johnson-led Miami Hurricanes, and taken by Johnson to the Dallas Cowboys. Built around Jimmy Johnson's notion of "upfield pressure", it is a penetrating, swarming defense, with a "get there firstest with the mostest" mentality.[1][2] The focus is to cause opponents to make mistakes, even if the defense might give up a big gain or two.[3] Compared to older 4–3 defenses, such as Tom Landry's 4–3 inside, the defensive line assignments are simpler. Linemen don't read then react, they act then read. Linebackers fill the gaps the linemen leave behind, ignoring gaps away from the play.[4] Coverages are simple, and the playbook small and easy to learn.[3]
Miami 4–3, Shade front. Yellow triangles are defensive linemen, yellow squares are linebackers, yellow circles are defensive backs.
The base Miami front is an "over" front, with a nose tackle shaded weak side to the center, a defensive tackle shaded outside the strong side guard, a defensive end shaded outside the tight end, and the weakside end outside the offensive tackle. Each lineman is assigned one gap. Linebackers are stationed about 4 to 4.5 yards behind the line of scrimmage.[5] This differs from the old Landry 4–3 defenses, in which linebackers are within 1.5 yards of the line of scrimmage.[6]
The Miami 4–3 uses smaller, faster players than other standard defenses.[3][7][8] Defensive ends for the Miami 4–3 are often former linebackers.[9] Outside linebackers are often converted safeties. Players are chosen for speed and aggression more than size and power. The middle linebacker is the one true linebacker, the tackles the two true linemen in this defense.
Influence of the new defenseedit
Once people realized it could be used to stop the college offenses of the day and also was successful at the NFL level, it became very popular, and started a resurgence in the use of the 4–3.[3][7][10][11] College coaches that felt overmatched by the increasing size of offensive lines often switched.[12]
The Miami front influenced all other 4–3 defenses that followed, including the Cover 2 and the Tampa 2 schemes.[7][10] By some accounts it is the most popular 4–3 played today, due to the simplicity and utility of the scheme.[11]
Bramel, Jene, Guide to N.F.L. Defenses, Part 2: Evolution of 4-3 Front. September 7, 2010. New York Times. retrieved June 25, 2013.
Brown, Chris Ode to the War Daddies. February 3, 2012. Grantland, retrieved July 22, 2013.
Golenbock, Cowboys Have Always Been my Heroes, Warner Books, 1997.
Johnson, Jimmy, and Hinton, Ed, Turning the Thing Around, Hyperion, 1993.
Kirwin, Pat and Siegerman, David, Take Your Eye Off the Ball, Triumph Books, 2008, pp. 113–118.
Lombardi, Vince, Vince Lombardi on Football, Volume 1, New York Graphic Society, 1973.
Novak, Joe, Choosing the 4–3 over the 50 in Defensive Football Strategies, American Football Coaches Association, 2000, pp. 71–73.
Simons, Tim, and Freeman, Mike, Coaching Football's 4–3 Defense, Second Edition, Coaches Choice, 2003.
Vanderlinden, Ron, Football's Eagle and Stack Defenses, Human Kinetics, 2008.
April 17, 2024
miami, defense, believed, still, creating, upfield, pressure, from, stack, formation, jimmy, johnson, johnson, hinton, miami, also, called, lslide, scheme, closely, associated, with, jimmy, johnson, miami, hurricanes, taken, johnson, dallas, cowboys, built, ar. I believed and still do in creating upfield pressure from a 4 3 stack formation Jimmy Johnson Johnson and Hinton p 87 The Miami 4 3 also called the 4 lslide is a scheme closely associated with the Jimmy Johnson led Miami Hurricanes and taken by Johnson to the Dallas Cowboys Built around Jimmy Johnson s notion of upfield pressure it is a penetrating swarming defense with a get there firstest with the mostest mentality 1 2 The focus is to cause opponents to make mistakes even if the defense might give up a big gain or two 3 Compared to older 4 3 defenses such as Tom Landry s 4 3 inside the defensive line assignments are simpler Linemen don t read then react they act then read Linebackers fill the gaps the linemen leave behind ignoring gaps away from the play 4 Coverages are simple and the playbook small and easy to learn 3 Miami 4 3 Shade front Yellow triangles are defensive linemen yellow squares are linebackers yellow circles are defensive backs The base Miami front is an over front with a nose tackle shaded weak side to the center a defensive tackle shaded outside the strong side guard a defensive end shaded outside the tight end and the weakside end outside the offensive tackle Each lineman is assigned one gap Linebackers are stationed about 4 to 4 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage 5 This differs from the old Landry 4 3 defenses in which linebackers are within 1 5 yards of the line of scrimmage 6 The Miami 4 3 uses smaller faster players than other standard defenses 3 7 8 Defensive ends for the Miami 4 3 are often former linebackers 9 Outside linebackers are often converted safeties Players are chosen for speed and aggression more than size and power The middle linebacker is the one true linebacker the tackles the two true linemen in this defense Influence of the new defense editOnce people realized it could be used to stop the college offenses of the day and also was successful at the NFL level it became very popular and started a resurgence in the use of the 4 3 3 7 10 11 College coaches that felt overmatched by the increasing size of offensive lines often switched 12 The Miami front influenced all other 4 3 defenses that followed including the Cover 2 and the Tampa 2 schemes 7 10 By some accounts it is the most popular 4 3 played today due to the simplicity and utility of the scheme 11 References edit Johnson and Hinton pp 87 88 Golenbock p 735 a b c d Bramel Patterson Brandon What is a Gap Sound Defense Pt 3 Archived 2013 07 06 at the Wayback Machine May 20 2013 retrieved June 25 2013 Simons and Freeman pp 14 15 Lombardi p 175 183 a b c Brown Simons and Freeman pp 10 13 Johnson and Hinton p 44 a b Vanderlinden p 78 a b Simons and Freeman p 9 Novak Bibliography editBramel Jene Guide to N F L Defenses Part 2 Evolution of 4 3 Front September 7 2010 New York Times retrieved June 25 2013 Brown Chris Ode to the War Daddies February 3 2012 Grantland retrieved July 22 2013 Golenbock Cowboys Have Always Been my Heroes Warner Books 1997 Johnson Jimmy and Hinton Ed Turning the Thing Around Hyperion 1993 Kirwin Pat and Siegerman David Take Your Eye Off the Ball Triumph Books 2008 pp 113 118 Lombardi Vince Vince Lombardi on Football Volume 1 New York Graphic Society 1973 Novak Joe Choosing the 4 3 over the 50 in Defensive Football Strategies American Football Coaches Association 2000 pp 71 73 Simons Tim and Freeman Mike Coaching Football s 4 3 Defense Second Edition Coaches Choice 2003 Vanderlinden Ron Football s Eagle and Stack Defenses Human Kinetics 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Miami 4 3 defense amp oldid 1094663763, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
