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 This website is dedicated to coaches who want to learn the 46 Defense. The 46 Defense that was made famous by Buddy Ryan with the Bears in the mid 80’s, the Eagles in the late 80’s, the Oilers in 1993, and the Cardinals in the mid 90’s. It is also the defense that Rob Ryan used at Oklahoma State in the late 90’s, and Rex Ryan used at the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Oklahoma. The REAL 46 Defense. Not the defense that people line up in, cover both guards and the nose, play man free and say “hey, we are in the 46.” We are going to give you the total package, and video. No fluff, just football.

When people hear “46 Defense”, they think the Bear front. While this is a major part of the overall scheme, the Ryan’s use a variety of fronts to blend in with their coverages and blitzes. The rotation coverages are probably one of the biggest differences that the Ryan’s use in their defense that most defensive coaches don’t use, don’t know, and don’t understand. The rotation coverages are basically a Man Under / 2-Deep concept. But, since it is done with an inverted safety, or 2, it allows the defense to roll another guy into the box, and concentrate on the run, similar to quarters, but the force player does not have deep responsibility. Most of you know it as robber coverage, and we will show you how to run it as both man under, and zone. The entire coverage principal is based on pattern reading. It is a “match-up” defense. Another misconception is that the defense is hard to learn. That is not correct. Once you have learned the concepts and techniques used, all of the rules carry over to every front, coverage, and blitz. It is a simple scheme that can match-up week to week with different offenses and different personnel packages. You can make the blitz scheme as simple or as diverse as you like.

Many people believe the 46 has fallen out of favor because of the spread offenses that have now emerged in football. We absolutely disagree with this. This defense is designed to work against any offense. We believe that offenses give us an advantage by running the spread, because as a defense we can give them so many looks and do so many things, that it will disrupt what they are trying to do.

The 46 Defense is a scheme, but more importantly, it is an ATTITUDE! Pressure is the name of the game. Load up to stop the run, and don’t give the QB a chance to throw the ball. While many NFL teams now incorporate the zone-blitz scheme, along with man-blitz schemes, most of the blitzing done in the 90’s was man blitzing. If they wanted to bring extra guys, there was a lot of “SPY” blitzing in the scheme. This is a way to get 5 / 6 rushers, while still allowing the defense to play 2-Deep / Man Under, or Man Free with a low-hole dropper. This concept is beginning to make a comeback, as offensive teams are starting to adapt to the zone blitz concepts. We will show you how to do this.

Since this defense is an attitude, practicing properly is the key. For the most part, the beginning of most practices is going to incorporate a pursuit drill, a tackling circuit, and a take-away circuit. D-Line and LB’s will work on block destruction at least twice a week. They will also work on reads and slants. Learn to Play Fast! DB’s will work on hip movements, footwork, ball friendliness, and a lot of man-to-man. Inside Run, 7-on-7, and Team round-out a practice. We will cover the drills used to run this defense.

Since putting this package together, we have had 3 different nationally ranked Collegiate Defenses, and been a part of one of the biggest turn-arounds in NCAA history. We have been able to improve the defensive numbers everywhere we have gone. We are going to give you all of the information you will need to run this total defense effectively. It is information that we gathered from spending time with and discussing the 46 Defense with both of the Ryan brothers, studying the defense, and running it ourselves. While we incorporated mainly an “Over-Bear-Even” front philosophy, we will show you the “Under” front concept, along with an “Odd” front. Also included in the package is the "JET" Defense, used to shut down I-Option teams. The "JET" Defense was employed by Rob Ryan against Nebraska in 1998 to shut down the high-powered Husker I-Option offense. In 2013, Western Kentucky used it against the Navy Flexbone, and held them to 7 points, after Navy had averaged 46 PPG prior.  We are also going to give you ways to implement the 46 into your current package. Unlike most instructional videos, this one will not leave you with more questions than when you started. It is a total video set. If you do have questions, anyone who buys the videos will be given the ability to send questions to us to be answered, year round, as we will act as a Defensive Consultant for your team. Your questions will be forwarded to the appropriate real46defense staff member, and an answer will be sent directly back to you. If you want to talk about defending zone read, option, air-raid, everything to wing-T, we will be there for you.

This is a complete DEFENSIVE PACKAGE!  This is not one front and a couple of coverages and blitzes.  We give you everything you need to run this defense at every level.

*Special thanks goes out to the Ryan brothers for the time they spent helping us learn the 46. Also a special thanks to all of our coaching friends who have encouraged us through this process, and for helping us with the decision making process. You guys are awesome.