Cleveland Browns: A Guide to Ray Horton-“isms”

Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton has a talent for communicating his vision in pithy one-liners. Here is a guide to the most common.

The Cleveland Browns desperately need improvement on defense. The past two seasons they were ranked 32nd and 30th in overall defense. Seeing the need for a change in style and scheme, head coach Hue Jackson turned to Ray Horton as the new defensive coordinator.

“He likes hitting the quarterback when they’re getting off the bus if he could,” Jackson has said. “He understands we like quarterbacks that stand in one place — and (if you do that) in pro football — you’re going to get exposed.”

Horton has more than 22 years of NFL experience as a coach and player. He has spent 19 seasons with London, Ohio, native Dick LeBeau as both a player for six seasons and for 13 years as a coach. Even though his defensive philosophy and scheme was learned from LeBeau, like any good student, Horton has taken what he has learned and developed his own brand of defense.

“I love his phrase: ‘Have a plan,’ and he applies that to everything in your life.” – Paul Kruger on Ray Horton

Horton describes his style a “suffocating, championship defense.” Horton brings back to Cleveland the 3-4 defensive scheme that saw the Browns finish ninth in overall defense and forced 29 turnovers in 2013, the last time Horton was in charge.

Horton employs a hybrid 3-4 defense that uses multiple fronts, combined with exotic blitzes and coverages, in order to stop the run and consistently pressure the quarterback. His defensive scheme looks to overwhelm the offense physically with speed, strength, power and outstanding technique.

Mentally, Horton seeks to confuse the offense with multiple looks that create mismatches and busted assignments, which puts the defense in a position to succeed.

Like Jackson, Horton brings an intense demeanor to the defense. His defenses play with a nasty edge and will attempt to get after people to change the tone of the game. Horton also brings a much-needed schematic and attitude change to the defense in Cleveland.

But the best thing about having Horton back as the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator is the return of Ray Horton -“isms.” Horton has a talent for summarizing his defensive philosophy in pithy one liners.

Here is a breakdown of his most prominent sayings and what it means for the Browns defense this season.

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