Anybody have any experience with using these? Thinking of making some kind of combo D with them. I know about the passing hole in the 5-2 and the deep pass fault in the 4-4 but I still want to experiment with it.

Not to say there are not faults in this game with passing being the thing that most people win with, I believe this game also is similar to the real life game. If you have better players, you will win 9 out of 10 times regardless of what scheme you are using.

I applaud you for going against the grain and wanting to figure out how to use other schemes and make them work for you.

I am not gonna lie, I have done what "everyone" else has done scheme wise at D3 and I have won 3 Natty's that way. But at the same time, when I have won, my players have been better and I think that matters more when you play people who have talent that is similar to yours.

With my experience with actual "real" football coaching one thing I have been told on several occasions when asking other coaches about "How do I stop the wing T" or how do I stop the "veer option." They say, "Have better players." I think this game is similar in that way

frmrd3coach I agree with everything you said..... its all about talent...but damn it Im tired of 4-3 nickel defense on EVERY team!!! Or pro set ...good lord , like 85% of teams run pro set it seems. I run Notre Dame Box with my Wayne State team in Stagg and I have for about 20 seasons now and I LOVE IT! I run a base 3-4 as my D and Im just looking to change things a little in regards to the run D. Been reading everything I can about 4-4 and 5-2 D online, although Im not really sure if ANY of it applies in this game...but Im gonna find out. Thanks for your comments.

Posted by raginirish on 11/15/2018 7:06:00 PM (view original):
Anybody have any experience with using these? Thinking of making some kind of combo D with them. I know about the passing hole in the 5-2 and the deep pass fault in the 4-4 but I still want to experiment with it.

Could you explain what you mean by faults and holes? I use a 4-4 at times. Never ran a 5-2 because I don't see any advantage to it, and it hamstrings your options imo

I won some NC's with the 5-2 / NI back when the running game was prevalent. Used 5-2 against run & NI against pass.

Won my first NC with a 5-2 and Nickel D. Course that was many moons ago with Beloit D3 in Stagg. Still , I agree it's mostly talent. But I am also convinced that if you have the talent then you have to learn best way to use your formations. Best way to recruit for them.
Currently use 3-4 and Nickel. Used to use just 3-4 and won my share of NC's with it . But still convinced that adding Nickel has helped me.
I would think with a mostly or all 4-4 that you would want fast LB's since you will never get the extra db in the game.

4-4 with 2 lb's on line, 2 convert db's as outside lb's, and blitz FS.... it could be nasty. You've got me wanting to try it.

Realist....the 5-2 has a natural "passing hole" that is to say because your missing a linebacker in the middle of the field you have a "hole" that a team that short or medium passes alot can exploit. The 4-4 is a great D for pressure but if the qb has time you only have 3 db's to defend the deep pass , thus the "fault" in the defense . Again I have no idea if ANY of this applies to this game...these are real life examples.

Posted by raginirish on 11/16/2018 8:12:00 AM (view original):
Realist....the 5-2 has a natural "passing hole" that is to say because your missing a linebacker in the middle of the field you have a "hole" that a team that short or medium passes alot can exploit. The 4-4 is a great D for pressure but if the qb has time you only have 3 db's to defend the deep pass , thus the "fault" in the defense . Again I have no idea if ANY of this applies to this game...these are real life examples.

Alright, I thought you were talking about the game flaws and exploits. Real football theory doesn't really apply here.