Former Cowboys and 49ers defensive end Charles Haley isn’t too worried about Dallas making the transition from the 3-4 defensive alignment to the 4-3 under Monte Kiffin in 2013. As a matter of fact, the should-be Hall of Famer believes that “It’s going to be awesome.”
Haley, who played in a 4-3 system when he was in Dallas, discussed the shift with Norm Hitzges on 1310 The Ticket on Tuesday and said that the Cowboys seem to have the personnel in place to thrive under Kiffin.
“They have a strong secondary and they got a strong linebacking corps, and then they got mobile and agile defensive linemen,” Haley said, via the Dallas Morning News. “It simplifies the defense a lot. It makes you be able to react and not think. When you think, somebody’s getting up in your chin. When you’re in that reaction mode, if someone moves, you move.”
Indeed, one of the bangs on ousted defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was that he often tried to get too fancy with his defense, which led to a lot of pre-snap confusion for Cowboys defenders. With the 4-3 in place, Haley believes the Cowboys best defenders--like, say, DeMarcus Ware, who will move to defensive end--will be freed up.
“I don’t know who’s going to be the two ends but for Ware, I think he’s going to be totally awesome because all of that other crap he can just throw out,” Haley said. “He doesn’t have to think about it. In a 4-3 there’s only so much a d-lineman has to think about.”
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