Some coaches insist on using a certain system without regard to personnel. Others will adopt the system to match the skills of the players already under contract.
For new Dolphins coach Adam Gase and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, the decision has been made to stick with the system already in place.
“I’ve been a 3-4 guy most of my career,” Joseph told Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. “But when you come to a place like this and see the defensive personnel you’ve got and, in my opinion, it’s not broken, you can’t all of a sudden go to 3-4 where you have to re-draft to a defense. That takes time. That takes too much time.”
Gase experienced that last year in Chicago, where coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio dumped the 4-3 and installed a 3-4.
“I don’t want to be a guy who as a coordinator, I’m a 3-4 guy with 4-3 personnel-driven team,” Joseph said. “I’m not going to say, ‘Well, let’s change it,’ and set us back two or three years. That’s not smart in my opinion. That’s not coordinating. If this team had 3-4 personnel, we’d be a 3-4 defense. I can do both. For me, it’s not a big deal to be a 3-4 or 4-3 defense, it’s just numbers. It would be a shame to come to a place that’s close to being good on defense and then flip it, then you’re three years away again. I didn’t want to do that.”
There’s another reason for sticking with a 4-3 defense. His name is Ndamukong Suh.
In 2009, Washington signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth when the team had a 4-3 defense. In 2010, Mike Shanahan became the head coach -- and he installed a 3-4 defense. Haynesworth hated the change, sparking a battle of wills between player and coach and greasing the skids toward Haynesworth becoming one of the greatest free-agency busts of all time.
Since Miami has made the financial commitment to Suh, it makes sense to do what’s necessary to get the most out of him. Including not dramatically changing the defense and/or Suh’s role in it.
Even without Suh, the challenge remains configuring a defense and an offense to get the most out of the players under contract. For the Dolphins, it means sticking with the 4-3. It also means that the Dolphins will be better off in 2016.
