How To Adapt the Miami 4-3 Defense for Spread Offenses

Versatility. It’s what makes the Miami 4-3 Defense so great.

No matter what offense you’re playing, it adapts. 30 years of change. Nothing has stumped it yet.

Football just isn’t that complicated. Not when you set your defense up right, from the start.

What about all those spread offenses?

It’s true. The Miami 4-3 Defense was developed to stop Oklahoma’s Wishbone Option. And it’s great against 2-back offenses, too.

The true beauty comes in adapting to even more modern, spread attacks.

With the Tight End off the field, the Miami 4-3 Defense takes on the look of a 4-2-5 Defense.

Without changing anything, other than walking your Sam Linebacker out with the removed #2 Receiver, your defense is sound.

You can slide your Mike and Will Linebackers to make this look more traditional. But if you understand principles of the Miami 4-3 Defense, there’s no reason to move them.

Zone Read? No problem. Speed Option? We got this.

The 2-gap structure is what makes it so good against the Spread. Check out the formation above.

Mike and Will key the Running Back. If he attacks to the strong side, Mike has Strong A Gap. Will handles Weak B Gap.

For your Zone Read, traditional block-down step-down rules that we teach in the 4-3 Defense eCourse have the Weak End bend and take the weak B Gap. There’s a natural gap exchange that leaves the Will responsible for the Quarterback.

The 4-3 Defense eCourse is available exclusively as part of JDFB Insiders.

You can tag that, of course. Adjust it. End can squat for the QB. It’s good to give different looks.

What about Speed Option? The Running Back runs an outside path weak.

Your Mike can handle weak B (and help on QB) while the Will is there to corral the pitch man.

Now throw in the 2-high safeties. You can adjust this depending on whatever your opponent does best.

I love Quarter Coverage, and that’s the foundation of what I teach in the 4-3 Defense eCourse. It’s a split-field, 2-high safety coverage.

The beauty of Quarters is your ability to check the coverage to each side by itself.

One side is a big throwing threat? Use a check to take away the deep threat.

Not concerned about the long ball? Rock your guys down into the box. Shut ‘em down.

You can disguise coverage. Roll to a Cover 3. Zone blitz. Use line stunts to throw them off.

JDFB Insider includes my Dominating Football Defense with the Zone Blitz eBook too. Over 100 Zone Blitzes from multiple fronts.

There’s a ton of options with the Miami 4-3 Defense. Take the time to research and see if it’s right for your football team.

JDFB Insiders have full access to the 4-3 Defense eCourse, over 7 hours of coaching resources including the basics, the playbook, drills, game planning, practice planning and more. Click here for more details.