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Having reviewed the basics of gap assignments, it’s time to consider the greatest variables to any coach’s plan – his personnel and the opposing team. It is simple to say the nose tackle is assigned both A gaps, but the intentions of the offense will actually dictate how (difficult) the nose tackle and defensive cohorts will complete their assignments. The opposing offense will have their own plans for attacking the line of scrimmage and defense, so a 2-gap assignment can suddenly become a three man job. Actually, that is how I have come to define the distinction between a 2-gap nose tackle and 2-gap defensive tackle/end. If they face a double team (common for nose tackles) can they routinely power through and hold both their gaps? A defensive coordinator will scheme and shift and plan a dozen things by the time the ball is snapped, but will never truly know how effective the defense will prove until they see how it is attacked by the offense and if the defenders succeed in their duties – the moment the games of X’s and O’s become motion-picture mayhem, when every coach and most every player and fan holds their collective breath.

The reason to be excited about Rob Ryan’s style of football is because of how creative he can be within a single formation, how active the defense may be pre-snap, not to mention all the things he tries to do after the snap. Shifting and blitzing and scheming, oh my!

It sounds a simple task: identify a coach’s intentions and deduce the personnel that best fit their schemes – much simpler than it sounds when the coach is like Rob Ryan. He will try a little of everything. Ryan will attack the line of scrimmage in various ways with varying defensive fronts, and he’ll also use blitzing backs from the secondary to rule the line of scrimmage and pressure the quarterback. Ryan will not only attempt to read and stop the offensive game plan, he will also try to drive the offense crazy by disguising and feigning his own plans of attack. And Ryan will need appropriate pieces for his defensive puzzle.

They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In the case of the Ryan coaching family, this means a creative use of an active and shifting defensive front. It is actually the same tree of knowledge Tom Landry tasted when he developed a defense that led to the modern definition of a linebacker. It is what drove Buddy Ryan to create the 4-6, and what has led to creative 3-4 defensive schemes like those favored by the Ryan twins. So it seems safe to assume that Rob Ryan’s Cowboys defense will likely share some of the same principles Rex Ryan has discussed:

Rex offered a detailed breakdown of his philosophy in a 2005 coaching clinic, where he began at the beginning, stating the objective for any quality defense is to deny the opponent points, while scoring some yourself, creating turnovers and creating superior field position for your offense.

With regard to how this is done, Rex’s presentation listed several objectives:

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