What type of defense will the Cleveland Browns deploy under new defensive coordinator Joe Woods? Based on the coordinator’s own words, it’s going to be a base 4-3 with a lot of variability built around the formation.
The 4-3 is what the Browns ran under defensive coordinator Gregg Williams in 2017-2018 and most of the personnel is still in place to operate it. Last year, Steve Wilks changed to a base 4-2 front. Woods likes the core pieces to shift back to having three LBs on the field.
“I have coached in both systems – the 3-4 when I was with Denver and the 4-3 really, for most of my career – but the personnel is set up to run a 4-3,” Woods responded when asked about base scheme. “I think we have the right personnel. I think it is a natural fit. For me, it is very easy to do.”
It’s how those players operate where Woods will have his own style. He aims to be adaptive and attack the offense with pressure.
“Just putting packages together, the first thing you want to make sure you are doing is trying to stop what the offense is trying to do,” Woods said. “Then when you get to third-down situations, you want to make sure you are attacking with pressure. We will have different ways to do that, but I think just trying to coordinate it all together and try to help it work better.”
He also talked about his roots and all the different styles and schemes he’s coached in his lengthy NFL career. Woods has drawn from all those mentors and stops along the way, including Wade Philips and Robert Saleh.
“Really it is a mixture of everywhere I have been, going back to Tampa, to Minnesota, a little bit of Oakland, Denver and San Fran. Really, everybody kind of runs the same defenses. It is just they get to them different ways. The San Francisco three-deep is a little different in terms of how the coverage works, but I am going to try to run a little bit of that, along with the stuff I have done at the other places. Really just kind of mixing it all together.”
How exactly that will look remains to be seen, but it should be a difficult one for opponents to plan for under Woods.