NFL Six-Pack: The Greatest Defensive Minds In History

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In a fast-moving world, fascinated by points and offensive production, the defensive wizards tasked to stop offenses finally get their due.

Defense wins championships, or so the age-old axiom states. In reality, that thought holds up. Without stout NFL defenses, offenses would rewrite the record book each year. Granted, it’s not for a lack of trying. The NFL Competition Committee ensures that the offense maintains a slight advantage and officials will flag just about every infraction. As a result, over the decades, defensive-oriented coaches. Below, are the minds that innovated defense, in theory, thought, and execution. Normally, this list would contain five names. However, these six names must sit atop any list.

6. Jerry Williams

Imagine you are stuck playing the Green Bay Packers juggernaut in the early 1960s. For Philadelphia Eagles assistant Jerry Williams that thought of the Packers throwing the ball at will needed his attention. As a result, Williams dropped a linebacker and inserted a defensive back in their stead. Thus, the nickel defense was born. Williams’ contribution continues to play an important role in today’s NFL. Teams struggle to find linebackers that cover, so substitute them for a corner or safety. In a league where the slot receiver began to carve out a more prominent role, nickel backs evolved from luxury to absolute necessity.

5. Tom Landry

If you are of a certain age, Tom Landry roamed the Dallas Cowboys’ sideline before Jerry Jones bought the team and fired him. Now, decades before, Landry, a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants. Before that, the Giants employed a 6-1-4 scheme, with the ends dropping back. In 1956, Landry sat at the chalkboard, with the thought of a complex, yet versatile scheme that would work versus the run and pass. Tom Landry invented the 4-3 out of necessity and forethought. He saw how the league would evolve from the run game. Landry’s 4-3 gave birth to the middle linebacker position, the heart, and soul, the signal caller of the defense. Meanwhile, upfront, the tackles told the story of what the defense wanted to accomplish. First, the defensive tackles, depending of cal would shift into a nose and three-technique, respectively. Or, in passing situations, teams would line them up over the guards and attempt to get home. And you probably thought Coach Landry was just the man in a fancy hat.

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4. Buddy Ryan

The scheme name has nothing to do with the amount of specific personnel used. Instead, the 46 represents the jersey number of strong safety Doug Plank, whose role served as a modified linebacker. In this scheme, the main goal is to pressure the passed in waves. With so many players near the line of scrimmage, you’d expect a jailbreak blitz on every down. However, Ryan wanted to send between five and eight rushes. This slammed the door on the run game as the guards and center remain contending with a nose and two tackles lurking on their outside shoulders. As far as the corners, it’s straight man, there is no help coming. So, prepare to play with no help. This scheme allowed the 1985 Chicago Bears to give up only 12.4 per game. In addition, Chicago held opponents to ten or fewer points fourteen times. Nowadays, the spread killed the 46, but when you see that safety walk up, somewhere in Coaches Valhalla, Buddy is smiling.

3. Bill Arnsparger

Chaos and mayhem, otherwise known as the zone blitz. Arnsparger created this scheme to show offenses something different. By dropping a linebacker or defensive lineman and blitzing someone else, the offense struggles to adjust to where the pressure started. Some quarterbacks will throw to what they believe is an open spot, only to have a lineman or linebacker sitting right there. Arnsparger’s innovation serves as the impetus of the Miami Dolphins’ back-to-back championship and undefeated season. Granted, most will credit Dick LeBeau for modernizing the zone blitz. LeBeau switched the coverages underneath, allowing for more chances for sacks and turnovers. Yet, you cannot make improvements without the original.

2. Bud Carson

While not a household name, Carson’s defense is the basis of what many defenders learn first: The Cover. In plain terms, Cover 2 relies on the MIKE dropping back into the middle of the field to shut down anything in his direction. The safeties dissect the field into halves. The five players immediately in front, two corners, and three linebackers operate in short zones. Meanwhile, the front four’s responsibility is to generate the rush with no blitz help. Rangy safeties and active pass rushers give this defense the teeth and flexibility. Under Carson, the Steelers won four Super Bowls. Years later, one of Carson’s former defensive backs, Tony Dungy, altered the Cover 2 into the Tampa 2, with an under front, that played one gap.

1. Bill Belichick

In the hundred-plus years of the NFL, coaches come and go. At the same time, Bill Belichick stands alone. Why? For one simple reason: specificity. For Belichick, no gameplan is the absolute same. Open-mindedness is his greatest weapon. Most coaches will stubbornly stick with their scheme. Every week, every opponent will see something different. Furthermore, this attention to a one-off scheme starts with the type of player. Forever, Belichick loves versatile players that can handle a myriad of looks. Belichick lives for taking superstars out of the flow of the game. Think about his three Super Bowl losses as a head coach. What three plays define those games? The throws to Tyree and Manningham, plus the Philly Special. His flexible defenses were felled by all-time great throws and a gadget play.

Overview

While offenses change frequently, schemes and the basic tenets of defensive football also vary. These six coaches’ innovations opened doors to the modern game that many still walk through. The offense is fun for fantasy football and video games, but the defense will always raise a Lombardi Trophy.