difference in the defense

[aubiefifty 16,740]

Difference in Auburn's defense 'night and day' from last spring

Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

Through six spring practices, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn can detect a noticeable difference in the Tigers' defense from this time last year.

He can see it in the group's actions, in its play on the field and in the way the players have carried themselves this spring.

"From last year this time to now, it's night and day," Malzahn said. "Just from a standpoint they know, they know who they are. They know who they are, they know how coach (Kevin) Steele, his expectations, his staff's expectations and it's just a confidence. They're off to a good start."

That good start is due, primarily, to the fact that the defense hasn't had to hit the reset button in the spring for the first time since 2014. Auburn returns its defensive coordinator -- and the majority of its assistant coaches on that side of the ball -- for the first time since Ellis Johnson was entering his second season in 2014.

The result: No drastic changes for the players. No having to learn a new scheme. No having to adjust to new coaches and what they expect of players in every facet of the game.

"Man, it's really, really different," linebacker Deshaun Davis said. "When you come in this spring you don't have to learn new terminology and new plays and get the vibe for a new coach. It's really about time we've had the same defensive coordinator."

It has made for a much more productive, and comfortable, spring as the Tigers try to build off last year's defense, which improved almost across the board in Steele's first year. While last year laid the foundation for Auburn's defense, however, the Tigers have made it clear that they are leaving 2016 behind them and starting fresh -- just with a healthy amount of experience returning and minimal changes to the defensive scheme.

 

In Year 2, Kevin Steele trying to build Auburn's defense 'as if it hadn't existed'

Kevin Steele led a dramatic defensive turnaround for Auburn in 2016 but is starting from scratch this spring despite returning several key parts.

 

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know what I'm saying," linebacker Darrell Williams said. "We of course improved a lot over the years of our defense. I mean Coach Steele had a great plan for us. Really the biggest thing is once you have a plan, everybody buys into it. And I feel like everybody bought into it and just really trying to do the same thing. It was about a year ago he told us, he like laid everything on the table when he first came in, first introduced himself. It was about that same time.

"Getting all the younger guys that just came in and the guys who played scout team or redshirted last year -- getting all those guys to buy into the same plan and just build on what we already accomplished."

While Auburn's defense is benefitting from having Steele back for a second year and keeping the same scheme, Steele said earlier this spring that he's approaching this spring just like he did last year's -- as if he's building the defense from scratch again.

That's not an indictment of Auburn's returning defense, by any means. Steele just wants to make sure every player -- both veterans and newcomers, impact players and scout team members alike -- are on the same page and up to the standard he and the rest of the staff expect of them. The difference this time is that many of those players already understand the expectations and are looking to build upon last year's success.

"Everyone is really comfortable and by the older guys already knowing what the guys expect, we said it last year that we're just trying to stack on top of things," Davis said. "Last year's defense was last year's defense, and we've already made that clear. That house has already been built and sold, as Coach Steele would say. What we're trying to do now is built our own legacy for the 2017 defense."

[gr82b4au 5,568]

This defense will be interesting to watch. The top 2 DL are gone from last year, but there is talent there. I think we will get production from Brown and others on the inside. Hopefully Cowart will start to blossom in his new position. Marlon is very good, but I wonder who the speed rusher will be? Holland?

The linebackers should be very good this year. With the addition of some elite freshman talent, this area of the football team will be good for years.

The big question is the secondary, especially safety. It is a veteran group - a mix of talented and scrappy players. But there is very little depth. Tray has shown he can be pretty good at defending the run game but he struggles at times in coverage. Roberts is good. I have no idea who is behind them - Character? Also make sme wonder what we are going to do when the 2 starters graduate next year. Brown has his work cut out for him. 

[WFE12 9,191]

1 hour ago, gr82b4au said:

This defense will be interesting to watch. The top 2 DL are gone from last year, but there is talent there. I think we will get production from Brown and others on the inside. Hopefully Cowart will start to blossom in his new position. Marlon is very good, but I wonder who the speed rusher will be? Holland?

The linebackers should be very good this year. With the addition of some elite freshman talent, this area of the football team will be good for years.

The big question is the secondary, especially safety. It is a veteran group - a mix of talented and scrappy players. But there is very little depth. Tray has shown he can be pretty good at defending the run game but he struggles at times in coverage. Roberts is good. I have no idea who is behind them - Character? Also make sme wonder what we are going to do when the 2 starters graduate next year. Brown has his work cut out for him. 

I wonder if Markeviest Bryant can have a Marlon type year and step up as second string buck and be that speed rusher.

[mikeholiday 132]

13 hours ago, WFE12 said:

I wonder if Markeviest Bryant can have a Marlon type year and step up as second string buck and be that speed rusher.

The biggest thing is that Marlon came in with an sec body and Bryant still needs a lot of work to get there.

[WFE12 9,191]

4 minutes ago, mikeholiday said:

The biggest thing is that Marlon came in with an sec body and Bryant still needs a lot of work to get there.

Yeah some people say he could put on 40 pounds

[milehighfan 1,240]

I'm hoping Cowart can ramp it up from his new DT position. I hope everyone on defense can ramp it up in 2017.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

On 3/23/2017 at 9:07 AM, gr82b4au said:

This defense will be interesting to watch. The top 2 DL are gone from last year, but there is talent there. I think we will get production from Brown and others on the inside. Hopefully Cowart will start to blossom in his new position. Marlon is very good, but I wonder who the speed rusher will be? Holland?

The linebackers should be very good this year. With the addition of some elite freshman talent, this area of the football team will be good for years.

The big question is the secondary, especially safety. It is a veteran group - a mix of talented and scrappy players. But there is very little depth. Tray has shown he can be pretty good at defending the run game but he struggles at times in coverage. Roberts is good. I have no idea who is behind them - Character? Also make sme wonder what we are going to do when the 2 starters graduate next year. Brown has his work cut out for him. 

Seems Holland has turned the corner this spring. AU's starters on D are as good as anyone's not named uat in the country. Depth is a huge huge concern though. 

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

On 3/23/2017 at 10:51 AM, WFE12 said:

I wonder if Markeviest Bryant can have a Marlon type year and step up as second string buck and be that speed rusher.

No. Bryant is going to have to put on some weight and get into the weight room and add some muscle. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

4 hours ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

Seems Holland has turned the corner this spring. AU's starters on D are as good as anyone's not named uat in the country. Depth is a huge huge concern though. 

It should be. We have more 1-deep talent than they did, but we all saw what a lack of depth did to Ole Miss over the past few seasons. Talented starters, with nothing behind them. I'm not comparing our current situation to any Ole Miss team, necessarily, just pointing out how an extremely talented team can still go 9-4, mostly because of depth issues. 

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

50 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

It should be. We have more 1-deep talent than they did, but we all saw what a lack of depth did to Ole Miss over the past few seasons. Talented starters, with nothing behind them. I'm not comparing our current situation to any Ole Miss team, necessarily, just pointing out how an extremely talented team can still go 9-4, mostly because of depth issues. 

Agree.