Why Use the 46

Whats up guys, I have spent a little time over at Coach Huey and an interesting question wasa brought up. So I thought I would share some of the first few reponses
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Coaches,
I have been in an internal debate with myself over using a 4-6. I know a little bit of it and I also know that it has been used against me successfully. Can anyone shed some light on why they use it, especially versus a spread offense

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shuts down inside run game, puts pressure on
qb.

we just didn't have the kids to shut down the run
when people spread us out (or when they didn't,
for that matter). if your front can't stop the
run, don't matter what happens in the secondary.

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IMO, this particular defense is solid if you're coaching in a league dominated with teams that run the ball out of heavy sets. It's a very good defense in this aspect as the base alignment can be hard to block. But, this isn't a very flexible defense in terms of coverages and adaptability. You could end up overloading the kids if you're seeing a wide variety of offensive schemes because you'll end up bouncing around alot.

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Here's what we wanted when we went to it Back in the Day:

1. Pressure QB
2. Solid on inside
3. Eliminate Option
4. Turn Sweeps inside or at least buy time
5. Take away quick passes
6. Ability to change up Secondary
7. Good blitz and stunt package
8. Pre-snap movement
9. Versatility to meet Offensive strengths (stunts)
10. Match up all alignments


When you start thread about "Why to move away from/not run '46'-Bear (at HS level)" I'll get back to you on my experience with that.

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We went to it originally for a few reasons:

1. It was different, yet still sound. Teams had to prepare for a different look than they saw every other week. Since we weren't blessed with talent, we felt this would be a benefit to us.

2. The defense adapts to personnel. You can run the basic schem with 3, 4, or 5 Defensive Linemen. After we literally ran out of linebackers in an injury filled season running the 44 I vowed that would never happen again.

3. We had a ton of kids who could take up space without being game changers. We thought of all that offenses and defenses these kids had the best chance to help our squad as the TNTs of the Bear Front.

4. It is a {censored} to block. The TNT alignment stresses some things as the natural order of combo blocks or pulling is disrupted.

5. We were in a run dominated league and wanted to stack the line.

After two years the results varied. Year one was a successful transition and we played fairly solid defensively. Year two we saw more spread and partially due to staffing issues we suffered a bit more.

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Ok you have read the reponses, hopefully the opinions of real life coaches have tought you something. It really made me think about things.

If you want to read the whole thing head HERE!!!!