The 4-3 Defence An Athletes Defence

The 4-3 football defence seems to be a popular choice these days among many players and football coaches. But there are issues with it and for the most part a youth football coach should avoid it. First of all it’s a pro-style defence, that being, you need to be athletic and versatile in order to effectively play this defence. In other words you’re strong at every position and you’re not hiding anyone. The 4-3 can look intimidating with its 4 interior linemen and three hulking linebackers but its vulnerability begins versus the outside run game. If your contain players are not strong football players teams will run around the end all day. Usually your contain assignment in this defence would be your Defensive Ends and Strong Safety’s and if they’re not athletic enough then you’re in trouble. At the youth football level you’d be hard pressed to find four of these types of players that are athletic enough to step up and contain, and that’s where the problems begin. I refer to the 4-3 defence as the Athletes Defence, and with an athletic line-up it can be a very effective and dangerous defence to play against. However, the reality of it is that we don’t get these types of players all the time at the youth level. Cheers!