Why No Browns Identity?

Captain Cheesedick

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns new defensive coordinator Ray Horton made it clear Thursday during a radio interview that he plans to run a 3-4 defense here instead of the 4-3 Dick Jauron ran for the past two years.

"It'll be a 3-4 defense, the same defense we ran (in Arizona),'' Horton told 910 AM in Arizona. "It won't be a hybrid unless you're playing golf.''

He also said his scheme will mirror that of the Steelers, where he worked from 2004-10 under defensive genius Dick LeBeau, who runs an attack-minded 3-4.

Our owner is a off shoot of the Steelers, now this.

We need a Browns identity. We need to be a team that other teams try to be like, NOT THE EXACT OPPOSITE!

This organization needs to LEAD, not follow!!!

D Bone

This organization needs to WIN, not lose!!!

ClevelandBigDawg

So we don't want to be like a team that ranked 4th 9th 1st 1st 5th and 2nd in yards those years. Or like a team that ranked 3rd 11th 2nd 1st and 12th in points allowed during those years. I guess I am not sure what you want then?

What's the saying, "Don't re-invent the wheel"...

Kosarfan

Not sure the defensive theme defines the Browns as copying anyone, nor the statement 'like the Steelers did'.

The west coast theme was started by SF and we talked about that for a few years.

Once the Browns get on the map for winning with consistency, thedefensive or offensive formations will likely not be seen as copying but formation options they chose.

Need to face it, until this team shows any kind of track record, they'll be 'doing what someone else has done'. Bottom line though, regardless of formations, it's the leadership of the team, players, etc., that will make the browns be recognized. They could have the best themes in the game and lousy players and be nobody.

The Gipper

To assuage the OP, here is the data about the origin of the 3-4:

The 3–4 defense was originally devised by Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma in the 1940s. Chuck Fairbanks learned the defense from Wilkinson and is credited with importing it to the NFL.[5] The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the first team to win a Super Bowl with the 3–4 defense, going undefeated and using number 53, Bob Mathison as a down lineman or rushing linebacker. When the Oakland Raiders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, it marked the first Super Bowl in which both teams used the 3–4 as their base defense. Also notable, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew, the defensive unit for the 1986 New York Giants who won Super Bowl XXI, was a 3–4 defense and featured all-time great Lawrence Taylor as outside linebacker. By the mid-1990s, only a few teams used a 3–4 defense, most notably the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers.[6]

So, I wouldn't worry about it being a "Pittsburgh thing" per se. Though it has been Dick LeBeau who has made the most successful use of it, and adapted variations of it, it was not originated by the Steelers.

It is like the WCO....hell, the WCO was invented in Cleveland really....in the 40s, and run by Otto Graham and Paul Brown.

There is nothing wrong with the WCO...or the 3-4, if you coach it right and have the right players.

The Browns WCO the last couple of years was just executed and coached poorly....and perhaps did not fit the talent.

beefjerky

Damn.. I was hoping we'd keep the 4-3. Oh well. At least Benard can produce again I guess. But what happens to Sheard and the like?

I HATE that Heckert drafted players suited for the 4-3 and now a lot of those draft picks might be straight up wasted. What garbage. I'd rather stay in the 4-3.

USFBrown

Unfortunately we don't have much of an identity. We change coaches, gms, players far too often. We have had losing seasons for far too long. Our identity is losing. It sucks but until things get stable thats what the Browns will be known for. I hope this new regime turns this franchise around.

Unsympathetic

Ray:

It's called the 4-3 Under, and looks an awful lot like a 3-4 with the 2 OLB's walked up to the line. Make the scheme fit the players rather than the other way around.