INTRODUCTION TO THE 46 GUTS DEFENSE

The “46” is not a “4-6” even front alignment. In fact, it more closely resembles a 5-3 defense with press
man coverage. Buddy Ryan is credited with morphing the old 53 Eagle defense into the pro “46” naming
the defense after #46 on his Chicago Bears roster, Doug Plank. Our 46 Guts package includes the base
46, simplified for high school and a goal line gap 8 look (“Gambler”) and a two safety look with man
under coverage (“Victory”)- It is the heart and soul of what we do on defense at East Catholic. At East
Catholic the Freshman team will run the GUTS PACKAGE 100% of the time. This includes VICTORY and
GAMBLER. The JV unit will be expected to run FIST cover 3 in addition to GUTS. The Varsity unit should
be expected to be “experts” in 46 Guts play and will continue to develop the FIST PACKAGE this year.
Guts is a pressure defense intended to dictate one on one pass protection inside, create edge pressure
and allow linebackers and the free safety to run free to the football to stuff the run game. All defenses
require discipline, hustle, desire to make plays and most of all, great tackling.

Basic Philosophy- Cover up the front 5 with your front 3. Keep the linebackers and free safety (The Hit
squad) free and running to the football to have that extra hat against the running game. Contain with a
very fast rush the pass, react to the run approach. Play man to man so that the free safety can be the
free backer free to make 120 tackles per season. Pressure, one one one blocking dicated inside.
Changes in base blocking rules, stealing practice time in preparing for something not commonly run,
these are all part of the philosophy of running the 46 Guts defense. The free backer can easily be joined
by a second safety to create man under cover two, or the falcon can blitz up front to create a gap 8 goal
line look. The defense is very flexible and simple and sound. This simplicity should allow us to be
MULTIPLE and add our 353 Fist package. It is very important to remember that this is a pressure
defense, you want pressure and disruption. You are in man to man coverage, you must attack!

Alignment

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Alignment rules:

The Nose counts four man over from the end man on the line of scrimmage. This allows him to adjust
properly to any unbalanced 7 man line. The Nose defends the two A gaps. The Dts adjust and defend a
B gap each. The Lion and Raptor(spurs/outside backers) are contain players, sometimes called FORCE
defenders because they force the ball back inside to the teeth of the defense. They align on air, two
yards from the near blocking threat. The corners always cover the number one receiver on their side.
They show press coverage every down and will be in press coverage unless coach calls something
different. The Shark and Wolf are to cover the number two receivers to their side and if the situation
calls for it, will flop to the other side to cover the number two and three receivers in any trips or quads
alignment. We refer to the shark and wolf as THE ADJUSTORS in the 46 Guts defense. The Moose, Shark
and Wolf will make their adjustments based on backfield strength, There are adjustments to be made
for one, two and three back sets. In short, if the offense has three backs, we have three backers. If the
offense shows two backs, we show two backers. If the offense shows one back, we show one backer.
The free safety in our system is called FALCON. He must vary is depth and alignment based on scouting
report, down and distance and will enjoy a variety of roles in our defense. His base alignment is ten
yards deep over the weak side guard. As a general rule, our corners will not flop to the other side unless
motion carries him there. We do expect to have a “cowboy” call where we do flop the corners vs a team
that employs lots of two back sets with twins. That is a game time, game week adjustment. You will
notice that we cover and press and jam any tightend so that he cannot release freely to get a block on
our linebackers.

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F (GUTS VS ACE SET)

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TNT BASICS

The nose guard, NICK, is to align head up on the center in a four point stance. He finds the “center” (not
necessarily the snapper) by counting from the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMLOS) and aligns on
#4 from either end. This ensures that we have the TNT adjusted properly to end over and tackle over
formations. He is to be “coiled up” in his stance, crowding the football and ready to spring into the
center, uncoiling and knocking the center back on the snap of the ball. We want three point contact,
face and both hands into the chest of the center, explode and lock out. This is his very first
responsibility, destroy the center. As he knocks the heck out of the center, he is to find the ball and go
get it. We call this HIT AND HUNT. We want to coach the center to CROSS FACE to the football chasing
inside out and taking away the cut back. The nose has to be taught to pick up pulls and chase the
direction of the pull. If the center and a guard double team, the nose is to fight the pressure from the
outside by thrusting and pressing his hip into the action and trying to split the double team. He must
hold his ground. If the nose feels that he will be put on skates, he should drop his outside knee and
make a pile. In most cases, one of the real benefits to running the 46 GUTS Defense is the one on one
blocking that is dictated by the alignment

The nose will be taught some moves to penetrate (swim, dip and rip) when combined with Inside A
blitzes by the linebackers or free safety. The nose must also be active and athletic enough to participate
in some defensive line stunts with the tackles. The ideal nose guard is strong and athletic with some
quickness. You will find that the nose can however be either very big and strong or small and quick- the
combination of size and quickness is best.

The defensive tackles- When the GUTS alignment is called for our defensive tackles will become “3
techniques” meaning that they will align on the outside third of the offensive guard and defend the B
gaps. The alignment landmark is taught as “Inside ear to outside ear” on the guard. This means the
defensive tackle is looking directly at the shoulder pad of the guard. THIS IS HIS KEY. I prefer an
elongated stance with the inside hand down and inside foot back. The defensive tackles key the
shoulder pad of the guard while honoring two rules: first, they must never ever get reached. That is, the
offensive guard must never block the outside arm and outside hip or leg of the defensive tackle. The DT
must keep that outside arm, leg and hip completely free so he can make plays in the B gap. We never
want to get reached. Getting reached allows the offensive tackle next to the defensive tackle to shoot
out and block the linebacker. This is very bad for a 46 defense. The second rule is that the DT should
never allow the offensive guard to JUMP THROUGH to the backer. If a left dt allows his guard to shoot
through and jump to the backer, the backside backer cannot become the extra hat on any play away.
This is very bad for a 46 defense. By keying the shoulder pad, the dt can read the intentions and release
of the guard.

The hand placement and hand attack by the defensive tackle is one of the most important
things we can stress as defensive coaches. The dt must shoot his hands into the guard with the proper
placement. The desired landmarks are: Inside hand to the bottom of the inside numbers, grab cloth.
The outside hand shoots high and to the outside of the biceps/upper arm. Grab cloth, run the feet and
PLUG AND TUG …what that means is run through the B gap, plugging it with your body and tug and turn
the offensive guard by yanking hard with the inside arm and pushing hard with the outside arm. Turn
the blocker. Then pursue to the football. If you feel pressure from the offensive tackle, thrust the hip
into the blocker and play football refusing to be knocked off the ball back into the linebacker level. The
defensive tackle should seek to first split the double team by pressing the hip into the down blocker, this
delays any sort of combo or chip block to the second level. If the offensive duo puts the tackle on skates
he should drop on his outside knee and make a pile.

With regard to the B gaps, we teach that the defensive tackles must be athletic enough to play
laterally to the outside not only into the B gaps but also 3 yards outside of the b gaps…b gap plus three.
This is important because the offense may choose to try and scoop the 3 tech with the guard and shoot
the tackle to the backer. If our dt defeats the block by the guard, he should have an outside arm free to
make the play in the b gap plus three area as the offensive tackle is chasing our lbers or fs.

The shoulder pad key works great when the guard tries to pull outside or inside away. If theres an
outside pull, the dt is taught to read the down block by the offensive tackle. If the OT tries to put his hat
in front to prevent penetration, the DT should club the back end of he tackle with the outside arm, then
swim over that block to chase the puller – swim over with the inside arm. If the OT put his hat behind
the dt , then getting skinny by dipping and ripping the inside arm to get into the hip pocked of the guard
works best. If the guard should pull inside away, the dt should seek to defeat the cut block by the OT
and the block back by the center.

Simple stunts for GUTS.

We use 4 stunts in our basic Guts package.

We use NUT= nose under tackle. It’s a gap exchange where our nose slants into one of the A gaps, the
tackle goes second and loops behind the nose. The now vacated B gap is blitzed by the call side backer.
We refer to this type of blitz as a “psycho blitz.” NUT is a base 6 man rush.

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WE use TWISTER- like the NUT, this is also a base 6 man rush. Now, our linemen hear the call “twister
right” or “twister left” and the nose and dts are going to the call side with the exception of the call side
dt twisting to the off side. So, twister right means that the line slants right, the right side dt is the
twister back to the left. Twister left means that the line slants left, the left side dt is the twister back to
the right. Again, the call side backer does his PSYCHO BLITZ through the vacated B gap.

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B TWISTER LEFT

TUN- Tackle under nose is yet another simple defensive line stunt for the 46 Guts package. Tun
is “heavy enough” and does not need a psycho blitz by the backer. It remains a base 5 man pass rush.

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B TUN LEFT B
What hurts us?

The nose getting pushed backwards hurts us. He gets in the linebackers way. This usually happens when
the nose doesn’t coil and explode into the center with face and hands. (standing straight up kills us)

The defensive tackles getting reached hurts us, now the playside tackle can block the linebacker. This
usually happens when a dt has his head down and doesn’t look at his shoulder pad key. Seeing the
shoulder pad tells you all you need to know.

The defensive tackle allowing the backside guard to jump through to block the backside backer. This
creates a weakness in pursuit to the playside. This happens when the DT fails to use his hands to defeat
the blocking by the guard. The DT should protect his linebacker!

Lack of gap discipline is a killer! Selfish players who play in the wrong gap is a killer. Two players in the
same gap is bad defense and these things hurt us. This happens due to a lack of discipline and
selfishness in our players. They need to be held accountable for failing to do what they are coached to
do.

Special Calls:

Shins- This is a signal to the DTs to cut the offensive tackles at the shins. Bloody the shins then
penetrate and play football. The nose should also cut the center, through the crotch, then play football.

Pile- This is a signal to the DTs to cut the offensive guards at the shins. Bloody the shins then penetrate
and play football. This nose should also cut the center, through the crotch then play football.

Vs Option- The DTs have the fullback vs triple option. If they play PLUG AND TUG properly, they will
cause the qb to PULL the football every time.

Moose Linebacker player in the 46 Guts defense:

Moose is your plugger on defense. He is a linebacker that may match up to the fullback skills on offense.
He should be stocky, have a low center of gravity and have speed, toughness and power. A better
athlete means a better 46 defense. The Moose is your middle backer. He has 3 possible alignment
positions. Vs any single or 3 back set, he will be stacked behind the nose guard at a depth of 4.5 yards.
We call this a “00 technique.” Against any 2 back set, he will slide to the two receiver side, aligning head
up on the offensive tackle at a depth of 4.5 yards. We call this a “40 technique.” The Moose is trained
to read through the line to the near back. That means that The first thing he learns is to mirror the
action of the near back. He is then taught to pick up guard keys. He is keying the near back for run or
pass and direction while picking up guard pulls which trump the back key. Any time the back key sets up
to pass block, the Moose should attack and “hug up” on his key, sack the qb on the way if possible. If
the back key releases on a pass route, the Moose should cover him. If however, the near back key were
to go away from the Moose, the Moose should peek to see if there is any action coming back to him.
The far back and far guard are always deal breakers that the Moose will respect so that we don’t get
burned by misdirection. Any time the Moose reads a pull away toward another backer, he is taught to
communicate by yelling “PULL!!!” to alert his neighboring linebacker.

The Moose linebacker has to have the skills to attack and destroy lead blocks, the skills to recognize a
key blitz opportunity, sniff out a screen, pick up a back out of the backfield, adjust to motion and
shifts…and be a physical football player. We teach the linebacker to know where his help is. He should
always take on lead blocks with his help side flipper/shoulder/forearm while keeping the non help side
arm free. When in a 40 tech, that translates into OUTSIDE ARM FREE. This philosophy forces the ball
back to the free safety and backside linebacker. This is the very premise of the 46 defense as the
backside backer and free safety (Falcon) should make most of the tackles in the run game.

The Wolf and Shark backers (formerly Will and Sam) are a bit more athletic than the Moose typically.
They match up well to halfbacks, tailbacks, wingbacks and slots. Rather than a Butkis type, think more
about a smaller, faster linebacker who can play in space. This does not mean weak. The Shark and Wolf
also play in 40 tech alignments vs 2 and 3 back sets while being the adjustors. When the offense
presents only two backs, either the Shark or Wolf must adjust to cover the number 2 receiver to the 2
receiver side. If the offense presents an ACE look, then both the Shark and Wolf will adjust to pick up
those two additional receivers. ( Trips or double slot for example). This means the Shark and Wolf are
Hybrid type players, as much safety/dback types as they are linebackers. They must have the training
and athleticism and physical stature to cover a back out of the backfield, attack a lead block, cover a slot
and blitz. They will also press tightend.
In short, the linebackers mirror the backs, the backfield flow and react to “alarms” such as pulls and pass
reads. The Shark and Wolf have to be ready to adjust and play in space when the backfield strength
dictates it. They must be tough and physical and have speed and quickness. They must have the
strength to cover a tightend and pres s him at the line of scrimmage. When the Shark or Wolf has
adjusted to the #2 receiver to their side and is forced out of the tackle box into space, playing as a
defensive back, either pressing a tight end or covering a slot, it is critical that they jam and reroute the
release of the receiver. We seek to force all routes OUTSIDE and never allow an inside release. We want
to protect the inside backers. If motion goes outside or inside across the formation, the backer simply
gives chase. For this reason it is important to always mirror the depth of the receiver, so that the backer
does not trip over the legs of the defensive linemen .

When the Shark and Wolf are faced with trips, they should make a “Mayday” call calling the other
backer over to their side.

The Wolf has to flop to the right side when its trips right, the shark flops over to the left side on trips
left.

If the offense goes empty, 4x1, again it is a flop situation. A 3x2 set will not require a flop.
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Against an empty set, because we do not allow our MOOSE to be formationed out of the middle, the
Falcon must become the adjustor and pick up a receiver.

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46 GUTS VS EMPTY
The Corner backs in the 46 Guts defense ALWAYS show press coverage. We would like to mix THUNDER
(press) with LIGHTNING (loose man.) The 46 is a man to man defense in my opinion. It is best with a
base 5 man rush with the occasional 6th man rushing. With 5 men on the rush, the Falcon is able to play
Free over the top( cover 1) or double cover a talented receiver (Ice). If a 6th rusher is sent, the Falcon
must assume coverage on that defenders man. (cover 0)

The press reroutes the receivers and disrupts timing. The spurs, Lion and Raptor, are to get a
tremendous burst into the backfield as they rush the pass and react to the run. This goes completely
hand in hand with the bump and run coverage. To combat this pressure and press coverage teams will
seek to throw quickly over the top of both the rush and the coverage throwing fades. By bailing and
leaving a cushion, the defensive back discourages the fade. We would like to disguise our intentions by
showing press every down while we are in the GUTS defense. Because we are in man to man coverage
the spurs should never be coached to “stay home” on the line of scrimmage. WE need to get pressure
on the quarterback.

Quickness, swagger, speed and toughness are requirements to play cornerback in Guts. At times the
corners will man press on a tightend and give up size and weight. Using perfect technique and leverage
is critical.

A pair of Revis Island guys backed up by Ed Reed would do the trick!

The Falcon defender is a real FEATURE PLAYER in the Guts defense. The Falcon will be moved around,
depth varied, key varied and skills utilized in a variety of ways. With proper coaching and discipline,
great fundamentals, the Falcon should contribute with 100 tackles, half a dozen interceptions, 3-5 sacks
and several fumble recoveries and big hits in this defense. Great players at the Falcon position can lead
to several defensive touchdowns which is always a goal on defense- SCORE!

What is critical and essential in a defense like GUTS is the discipline. Each player has a job to do and we
stress, “4 words for 4 quarters” and they are DO YOUR OWN JOB.

The linebackers and corners must learn the CRACK REPLACE concept. At times our spurs, our force
players, will get sealed or pinned inside. They get “cracked” and blocked to the inside. When this
happens, the coverage man on that blocking player, must step up and contain and force the ball inside.
You cannot run this defense successfully without mastery of the CRACK REPLACE concept.

There has to be two plans versus the triple option. The base plan is for our spurs, the Lion and Raptor to
“slow play” the qb while favoring the pitch. What that means is that the spurs have to be taught to delay
and contain the qb, if he pitches, they must have the proper technique to still make the tackle on the
back taking the pitch. The delay tactic buys time for the Falcon to arrive in a very bad mood to lay a
smack on the qb. The Dts and playside backer will take the dive phase of the option in our base plan.
Any good defense has a “changeup” for an option team. (sometimes more than one when the coaching
staff is strong and the kids are capable). Our base changeup is simply our “STAB” call for either or both
of our spur players. On a stab call, the stabber plays across the line of scrimmage but DOWN THE HEEL
LINE of of the offensive line, keeping the ball on the outside flipper, rather than the usual inside flipper.
We call this WRONG ARMING everything. Any block comes, we take it on with the WRONG ARM
(outside arm) rather than the usual inside arm. This will give us big hits and force a quick pitch by the
qb. When we STAB our playside backer no longer has to concern himself with the dive, he can overrun
the action to replace the crashing spur, playing to the pitch along with the Falcon. IN most cases, if the
spur has any speed and aggression, he can blow up the dive portion of the offense by himself. The
Falcon is still playing the qb to the pitch.

The Lion and Raptor are our “spurs” or outside linebackers. They are essentially glorified defensive ends
with a bit more responsibility in our overall 38 special package. Our Spurs are pass rush artists, experts
in contain. We give them CRABS training. That stands for counters, reverse, bootlegs, sweeps. They also
learn, as explained, how to slow play the option as well as stab and spill the ball. We teach the spurs to
play explosive and fast, reading on the run while putting great pressure on the edge of the
offense/defense. The spurs will make many big plays. Ideally, they have a natural disdain for
quarterbacks and ball carriers in general. They must be sure open field tacklers.
A pair of Lawrence Taylor pass rushers sure would be fun!

SIMPLE BLITZES: There are many call that we can add through the season. The first one is always the simple BAT
call. Bat just tells us that we are blitzing the coverage defender that is aligned on the tight end (if there is one) and
the Falcon will assume coverage. At times there will be two tightends and we must have the Falcon declare which
side the Bat will come from. In rare cases we are forced to really gamble and DOUBLE BAT with the falcon playing
center field. Other simple blitzes include blitzing any of the second level defenders from their alignment. Moose,
Shark, Wolf all blitz the near A gap when they are in their 00 or 40 Tech alignments. We can also send the Falcon,
he will be sent right or left A gap and the nose slants opposite the blitz as always. The Fire/Flame calls allow us to
crash the Falcon down the heel line (it’s a Falcon stab) with the spur containing outside. This is an option buster.
This document serves only as an introduction to the base 46 Guts package.

The defense is SIMPLE. About as simple and flexible as you can get. It is still about discipline and tackling!
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