Defend Todays Offenses with the 4-3

4-3 Defense - Defending the Spread,Tempo & RPO's

Utilize press quarters coverage in the 4-3 defense to defend against the pass!

Learn the benefits of the press quarters system and how it can prevent your team from getting beat through the air
Get a detailed look at how to coach the stance, alignment, technique, and reads of your players in the secondary
Adjust your coverage to 3x1 formations for when the offense tries to take advantage of favorable match-ups

Do you have a plan to adjust your 4-3 defense to a team that likes to pass the ball? In this video, Pine-Richland High School head coach Eric Kasperowicz shows how he utilizes press quarters coverage in his 4-3 system to ensure his defense doesn't get picked apart through the air.

Philosophy

Kasperowicz begins with an overview of press quarters coverage, including his belief of why it is effective against the pass. He also goes in-depth about which type of player he looks for at each position. As an added bonus, you'll get a detailed presentation on the technique of the press corner and what routes they should expect based on the split and type of release the receiver takes.

Position-by-Position

Coach Kasperowicz diagrams the alignment and pass responsibilities of each player that is involved in pass defense. Additionally, he describes how the linebackers and safeties match up against inside receivers, and how the corners match the outside receivers. You'll get examples of the responsibilities of each player using game footage. Kasperowicz shows:

The basic alignment and responsibilities for each defender that involved in pass coverage.
How to run cover 1 from the same look in order to confuse opponents.
Game footage examples of each position executing pattern reads and coverage responsibilities against a variety of offensive looks.
Scheme Adjustments

The presentation concludes with Kasperowicz diagramming how coverage can be adjusted to defend 3x1 formations. He also shows several ways to double cover a receiver, as well as how to add a player into a run fit with common adjustments. You'll learn:

How to play press quarters against 3x1 by utilizing the backside safety.
Coach Kasperowicz's "stress" adjustment to 3x1 formations that frees up the backside safety.
Several ways to utilize the backside safety to overload the running game or take away a certain receiver.
Coach Kasperowicz does an outstanding job presenting the press quarters coverage system. With this video, you will have your defense shutting down the opponent's passing game in no time!

Discover all of the in's and out's of setting up a championship 4-3 defense!

See how to set up a 4-3 press quarters defense in a way that's easy for players to understand
Get the base rules for each position in the 4-3 defense so athletes will be able to play with confidence
Adjust the 4-3 defense to several formations to counteract various offensive schemes

In this video, you'll see Coach Kasperowicz present on the 4-3 defense and its ability to control and run and pass in today's version of the game that features many Run-Pass-Option looks on offense. He will give you ideas for adjustments that you can use to help your players quickly counter any offense.

Defensive Philosophy

Kasperowicz begins by giving an overview of the defensive philosophy that helped his team capture a state championship. He describes the simple, but aggressive approach that allows his defense to defend modern offenses without having to change personnel. Kasperowicz also describes several turnover drills that he uses with his team, and shows several examples of these skills in action during games.

Base Rules and Responsibilities

Kasperowicz diagrams the base rules and responsibilities for each position group. Responsibilities against the run and pass in the base defense are explained, as well as demonstrated with game film. You'll get:

The basic alignment and responsibilities for defensive linemen, including: stance, technique, and run fits.
Alignment rules, run fits, and basic pass coverage responsibilities for linebackers.
Basic alignment and rules for the press quarters coverage that Kasperowicz uses with his 4-3 defense.
Adjusting the 4-3 Defense

The presentation concludes with a whiteboard session focused on common adjustments to the base defense against various formations. Kasperowicz describes how he can teach his players to align to virtually any offensive formation in a sound manner by teaching them a few simple rules. He includes:

How to adjust the secondary to 3x1 formations with or without a tight end.
The importance of setting the "3 technique" to the field against spread attacks.
Simple rules for linebackers to help them get aligned against any formation.
Coach Kasperowicz does an outstanding job presenting the base rules of the 4-3 press quarters defense. The Pine-Richland 4-3 offers solutions to stopping the run game while defending RPOs and spread offenses. Coaches looking to transition from an odd front to an even front defense will find this video very useful.

Chapters:

Description
Coach Eric Kasperowicz talks about his 3rd Down Package and 3 different fronts you can install and build from.

The base set up is derived from a 4-down front and how you morph into a 3-down, 3rd down package.  

Okie 5-0-5, Bluff 4-0-4 and Casino (Boss) Fronts are installed and discussed in detail with diagrams and video clips of each.

Philosophy

Kasperowicz begins with an overview of his 3rd down package and goes over the 3 different fronts he likes to use.

Position-by-Position

Coach Kasperowicz diagrams the alignment and pass responsibilities of each player that is involved in pass defense. You'll get examples of the responsibilities of each player using game footage. 

Discover all of the in's and out's of defending 10P, one of the most popular personnel groupings of offense in football today.

Coach Eric Kasperowicz spent the 2021season as an assistant coach with the ACC Champion Pittsburgh Panthers.
Coach Kasperowicz was at Pine-Richland High School (PA) Head Coach (85-18) for 8 years, 83% win percentage in Pennsylvania's biggest classification.

2020 Pennsylvania Class 5A State Champs (11-0 record)

2019 WPIAL 6A Finalists (10-2)

2018 WPIAL 6A Champions (11-3)(3rd title in 5 years);

2017 Pennsylvania Class 6A State Champs (16-0 record)

2017 Finalist for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Coach of the Year 

Eric Kasperowicz has a wealth of experience playing and coaching defensive football. As head coach of the Pine-Richland High School Rams, he won two Pennsylvania 6A state championships in 8 years.

In this video, you'll see Coach Kasperowicz present on the 4-3 defense defending the Spread Offense. He will give you ideas for adjustments that you can use to help your players quickly counter any offense.

Spread offense has evolved into a number of different variations that require simple, sound principles defensively. These defensive principles must have built in adjustments that counter great players, protect defensive liabilities, and have answers for offensive adjustments. These adjustments imperative of any great defense. Unwritten rules of defending the spread effectively are great eye control, sure tackling, and great effort.

Some of the most effective spread offenses use a “no huddle” or “check with me” pace that stresses defenses to get aligned. The way to offset tempo offenses are with the simplicity of defensive signals and a no-huddle defense. Using defenses that are called with one word that encompasses front mechanics, linebacker alignments, and coverage, will lessen panic and confusion. No-huddle defense makes players responsible for getting the signal from the sideline, then understanding the offensive formation and tendency with a high football IQ. 

Tweak your 4-3 defense to drastically improve its effectiveness against the run!

Teach your players to align against any personnel grouping to simplify the rules your athletes must remember
Adjust your front to take away what the opposing team does best and put your team in position to succeed
Read the position of the running back to help determine which plays the offense is likely to run.

The 4-3 defense is a fantastic option against teams that run the ball heavily because it can be flexible at the point of attack. You'll see how to make it hard for teams to pound the rock against your defense in this comprehensive video from Pine-Richland High School head coach, Eric Kasperowicz.

Coach Kasperowicz gives an overview of his defensive philosophy and why his version of the 4-3 press quarters defense is so tough against the run. He describes the ingredients necessary to build a run stopping defense, including alignments and individual responsibilities for each position.

Base Rules and Responsibilities

Kasperowicz diagrams the alignment and run responsibilities of each position in the 4-3. Stance, reads, and reactions for each position are covered. Additionally, Kasperowicz describes tags that change the alignment of each player to give the defense an advantage against a variety of formations and blocking schemes. He includes game footage of his defense that helps illustrate the 'how' and 'why' behind each rule in his system.

Adjustments and Automatic Calls

Kasperowicz brings everything together by diagramming how the defense adjusts to several personnel groups and formations. He also gives you some of the automatic calls that he uses against certain teams that are determined by the game plan. In all, you'll learn how to:

Adjust your defense while keeping run fits similar for all players.
Coach the field and boundary linebackers when they're taken out of the box against the run.
Use automatic calls to adjust the front based on the position of the running back.
This video from Coach Kasperowicz will help you learn how to maintain a balanced and structured defense that can adapt to defeat run-heavy teams. Improve your 4-3 today!

Eric Kasperowicz talks about how to best defend Stack & Bunch Sets.

Head Coach Eric Kasperowicz talks about how to defend one of the most popular concepts in football today...the Mesh concept. 

A SIM pressure appears to be sending five or more players only to drop defenders into coverage. SIMS can be paired with zone or man coverage. 

As the spread offense has become more popular, we are starting to see more teams utilize empty backfield sets. What has been the most difficult for our defense has been an offense that will stay in a traditional personnel grouping and then align in an empty set. We are a pressure defense at Mars HS (PA) that has to react to this type of formation through checks in our defense. Only one mistake can lead to a score or big play that could make the difference in a game. For this reason, we want to ensure that our defense is well-prepared for this set. The steps that we follow make sure that we are prepared to adjust and still have the opportunity to be aggressive on defense rather than reactive to the offense.

The first steps in preparation are to identify the type of empty set our opponent will utilize and evaluate the quarterback operating this offense. We do this by identifying the skills their quarterback may possess and what weaknesses we can take advantage of during the game. The following are three categories we use to determine the skills of our opponents’ quarterback.

- Is he an athletic quarterback with the ability to run the football?
- Is he an experienced drop-back passer that has the ability to read a defensive coverage and throw downfield as well as make good decisions under pressure?
- Is he a poor decision maker that tries to force the football?

Once we know what we have to defend, we will try to keep our checks simple. They fall into one of the following three defensive adjustments. Our ultimate goal is to get them out of the empty backfield set and back into their offense. 

This course includes breakdowns of: 

1. Anaylsis of a base 4-3 defense

2. Adjustments against Trips formations

3. Breakdowns of coverages such as

• Cover 1
• Quarters Coverage
• Man coverage