Here is something I learned from coach Heacock ..a long time ago when he was still the DC. The game of football changed when they allowed teams to pass the ball in a forward direction. Now opposing football teams have two ways they can score against you. The only way that you can be consistently successful on defense is to shut down one of these two options ..the pass or the run. This is known as a team's defensive "style". Although a good "swarming" defense can do both of these in a game, there still has to be a constant focus on one or the other.
1. Run-focused defense: a defense that stops the run is built from the front, to the back. Your most crucial point is up front; yet your secondary is "flying solo" so they need to be the best, while you front needs to bring pressure.
2. Pass-focused defense: a defense that stops the pass is built from the back to the front. Your most crucial point is in the secondary. There is an extra man in the back, and the middle plays more coverage, which forces the opposing QB to run or throw it away.
Of course I am over-simplifying it above. However, right now our focus, or style, on defense is wrong for our conference. Our secondary is all speed, but no skills ...INT's, break-ups, tackles. Are we ever going to turn our heads to see where the ball is at? I mean there are some experienced receivers out there, and they are going to know that our CB's are watching only the eyes. In the middle, are our LB's ever going to be able to stop playing the line, and cover a slant-pass over the middle? Are our DE's ever going to be able to develop enough to read a QB and cover the run vs the pass?
I see a great deal of talk about more time. Yes, that is true ...we all need to remember that coach W must have his time. However, we lost an enormous number of starters 2-years ago (not to cry over spilled milk, but far more than we should have), now we are talking about how young they are this year once again. Now I am hearing he needs a couple more recruiting classes. We can go to any high-school in the country, and we are going to see the same thing ...high-school players. These guys need to become college players. These next classes should be for depth ...not for replacements. This is an indication to me that a system is still not in place. Although "Pride" is upset in his post (and with good reason in my mind), to me he is "spot-on" when he says that coach W better evaluate staff. Are we playing the right defense for the MVFC? Forget the Missouri Valley ...are we playing the right football for the Mahoning Valley?
