Difference in 4-2-5 Defense & 4-3?
Let’s look at the 4-2-5 defense today, but before we do we want to explain something. We try very hard here at FirstDown PlayBook to make sure you know that we are NOT trying to tell you how to coach your football team. We are trying to help you coach your football team.
Heaven knows that if you want to find some guru help on the internet, it’s out there for the taking. Most of it comes from people who have never coached more than a year or two if that. This is not what FirstDown PlayBook does.
When you speak with as many coaches as we do, there is a lot of different terminology out there. If you hold up a drawing of a play or a defense to one hundred coaches out there, odds are you will get one hundred different ways to call that play or defense. That’s just the way football is. There are a lot of different names for the same thing.
The Difference In A 4-2-5 Defense & a 4-3 Is Often One Player
However, there are some questions that we seem to repeatedly get that frustrates us to no end. One of the main ones is when a young coach seems to think there is some earth shattering difference in a 4-2-5 defense and a 4-3 defense. It is one of the most apparent examples of how internet coaching screws up young coaches in the name of acting like there is something new in football.
Offenses have obviously spread out more over the past 20 years. We know that. Offenses throw the ball more now than they did 20 years ago. We also know that. Defensive coaches have been forced to adjust to these things along with defending things like no huddle offenses and RPO’s.
Matching personnel is one of the most common ways this is addressed. If the offense is playing with 4 or 5 receivers then defenses have responded by playing 5 or 6 defensive backs. Where the defensive coordinator lines those defensive backs up seems to be where too much is being made of it.
FirstDown PlayBook Spread Beaters Package & Changeups
At the end of the day the secondary is going to play cover 2, cover 3, quarters, man or some combination of these. So there are only so many variations of where the 7 players on the back end can play. Are there unique schemes out there that fall outside the norm. Yes, but to act like these defenses are that different from a 4-3 nickel is often done so to act like a new defense has been created.
Don’t Fall Asleep On A 4-3 Under Defense
FirstDown PlayBook takes all of this out of the equation by allowing our coaches to edit their plays and defenses. Having said that, it is still always good to understand that if someone is trying to sell you that they have a “new” totally unique offense or defensive scheme…run.
Want to learn more about why you shouldn’t think a 4-2-5 defense is much different than a 4-3 nickel? Watch this short video…
