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Chris Ash Defense

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Good info on defense vs UTEP...  Thanks @satyanash 

(Ian Boyd) Inside the gameplan: The Longhorns show off their schematic makeover 

After a tumultuous offseason, we finally got to see the Longhorns take the field on Saturday night. Following the hiring of new coordinators on both sides of the ball, Texas received what proved to be a fairly extensive makeover and finally gave the reveal to their fans. The new look was striking.

Mike Yurcich has finally dragged Texas all the way into the world of pass-first offense, eschewing the option of trying to establish the run against a UTEP team clearly anticipating that approach and instead empowering Sam Ehlinger to fling the ball around. When Texas threw the ball on a vertical RPO to the wide side of the field for a touchdown on the first play of the game they broadcast a loud message to the rest of the Big 12.

Chris Ash’s defense wasn’t quite what I envisioned but was certainly in line with practice reports. They rarely gave the quarterback a clean pre-snap look but used a lot of clever, well-timed coverage shifts, achieving the “look complicated but be simple” model Ash emphasized in the offseason. After reviewing the game I was able to get a solid sense of how the base schemes work and what to expect from Texas in 2020.

Ash’s base defense

I was thrown off by how much cover 3 Ash played early in the game. They’d start from a two-high/quarters look but then always roll into a single high coverage. It was typically one you wouldn’t guess from the initial alignment.

I’ve been watching how teams rotate coverages for years now and sometimes you can tell pre-snap what’s really coming because of the offensive formation and alignment rules out all but one option. Not so with this unit, they’d show a coverage that would make sense against the formation only to shift into another one (that also made sense). Here’s an example:

Before the snap it looks like the sort of trips coverage in which the boundary safety helps rob the post from the boundary receivers while the nickel has to play like a corner to the field. Instead, the field safety rotated down late to help the middle linebacker with the slots and the boundary safety rotated deep, leaving the boundary corner in man coverage.

Eventually they played more of the press-quarters we expected, but they showed more in this game than just one base coverage. The apparent diversity and commitment to disguise should be encouraging to Texas fans. Philosophically it’s much closer to the approach by teams like 2019 Kansas State, putting an emphasis on having multiple options to leverage receivers rather than using valuable practice time to nail down a gazillion pressure packages. In the Big 12 you need options to clamp down on top receivers, if you’re utilizing a four-down front then you’ve already made a lot of concessions to the needs of the pass-rush. You don’t double down against an ace.

The big question every team faces is how to handle trips formations, a topic we’ve covered here extensively in the offseason. When the offense loads three receivers to one side of the field, then another (maybe the best one) alone on the boundary, how do you handle the spacing? Texas had three answers in this game. The base approach in their press-quarters scheme was “solo,” a coverage which asks the field safety to help the nickel over the top, the boundary safety to help over the top for the middle linebacker, and then leaves the boundary corner in man coverage on the backside.

If the boundary safety isn’t occupied by the need to catch that third receiver going vertical, or if he’s really good with his eyes, he might be able to help the boundary corner on a post route. He’s not helping on fades or comebacks though, that’s all on the corner. You’ll notice in both of these instances Texas had Josh Thompson on the boundary (he stays on the left side) and he made plays. UTEP took a shot on Thompson when he was left alone on a deep post to the wide side of the field as well. The boundary safety (B.J. Foster) wasn’t aware and didn’t get depth to help him out, but Thompson still shut it down.

Texas had two other trips coverages in this game. One was “cover 3-buzz mable,” which has the strong safety rotate down to help the middle linebacker, the boundary safety drop to the deep middle, and the corners and even nickel potentially isolated. Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” made this one famous, buzzing down Kam Chancellor and dropping Earl Thomas deep while asking Richard Sherman to hold up in man coverage on the backside. The other trips coverage was a more extreme version of the same thing, fire zone coverage with man or match coverage everywhere and then a single deep safety over the top. Texas brought a fire zone on the first defensive snap of the game, perhaps to troll me.

Those blitzes will be useful in attacking the Big 12 offensive lines that can’t handle 1-on-1 matchups. As defensive mastermind Bill Belichik says, you blitz bad lines and you drop eight against good ones. You want to attack the enemy on the worst possible turf for him. I’m sure Sun Tzu has some quote or another expressing this concept. You don’t want to blitz the better lines as much. I think we’ve all seen enough now to understand why not.

The next big question on defense should be pretty well answered by the Texas Tech game. The coverages Texas showed against UTEP usually gave corners help on the post route but they would concede the slot fade to the nickel in the single-high coverages (see the near touchdown against Chris Adimora) and they trusted Thompson and Jamison to hold up against fade routes. Texas Tech is going to go after those defenders and coverages with those exact routes executed by a big, dangerous receiving corps. We’ll see if Ash has some coverages in the playbook to help Thompson out or if the redshirt junior is simply good enough to play on an island regardless of the opponent.

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TwiceHorn
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Agreed on those slightly excusing Ash, but then there's this.

LTtxfan
LTtxfan

Guess it's time to start this thread... CHRIS ASH RESPONSIBLE FOR MOVE TO RUGBY TACKLING  (Ohio State) https://www.elevenwarriors.com/comments_load/62319/anon/0/nojs   Urban Meyer,

JBJ
JBJ

That's the play I was referencing above.  Got the players mixed up. This is a Sky 4 coverage.  Green is playing Match 1-2.  He is supposed to top #1 until #2 runs something vertical and out.  He

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Thanks @satyanash 

Humidor:  

We‘ve been asked a lot about linebacker Juwan Mitchell. We try to leave the locker room stuff where it belongs. We’ll just say he’s been in the doghouse some and it’s up to him how long he’s in there. The staff is high on what he brings to the table and would love to start him. That should be versus Tech, but it should have been versus UTEP too. One of the early themes of the new era is the restoration of meritocracy. If a talented guy is suspended for something that doesn’t require a mandatory suspension, that’s probably a good thing.

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Thx to @satyanash 

Nahlin:

It’s game week yet again and Texas Tech is just what the doctor ordered to give the Texas defense a much better test than UTEP did. One thing to watch is how the corners hold up. When asked who the best corner is right now, we heard Josh Thompson and D’Shawn Jamison go back and forth. Those two are starting because they deserve it. The coaches are excited to see how they hold up versus the vertical passing game and lengthy receivers like TJ Vasher and Erik Ezukanma. Both Vasher and Easy wouldn’t look out of place at Texas. How the corners hold up down field will be one of the storylines to watch.

BJ Foster has been in the rotation like he never left. We‘d be a bit surprised if he wasn’t suspended for at least a half against Tech, but we’ll see. Juwan Mitchell has been practicing with the ones and should be good to go on Saturday. The feeling around the program is the more Alfred Collins plays, the harder it’s going to be to keep him off the field. Could he really jump senior Ta’Quon Graham? It’s possible, through no fault of Graham’s.

Jacoby Jones has been back and practicing after his family tragedy. He should get a lot of opportunities to show what he can do versus the Tech passing game and a decent Tech O-line. On the other side of the 7-on-7 aspects of this particular game, look for a big day from the UT wide receivers. The Tech defensive backs are bad and there’s no attempt to pump them up as anything else.

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On 9/21/2020 at 10:59 AM, LTtxfan said:

 

 

Similar article... Thanks to @Dbeasy for finding this.

https://thespun.com/big-12/texas-longhorns/urban-meyer-names-the-top-coordinator-hire-in-college-football

September 21, 2020 @ 12:00pm » Tzvi Machlin

Urban Meyer Names The Top Coordinator Hire In College Football

In his two decades as a head coach, Urban Meyer had a number of staffers go on to be head coaches or higher-ranking assistants at schools across the country.  But as we get into the thick of the 2020 college football season, Meyer identified one former staffer of his who has made a big difference for the team that hired him. Appearing on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff College Football Extra, Meyer called Texas’ new defensive coordinator Chris Ash the “top coordinator hire” in all of college football.

“The top coordinator hire, to me, in all of college football was Chris Ash,” Meyer said, via 247Sports. “He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever been around. What he’ll give to the Texas staff, he’s been a head coach. He was much more than a defensive coordinator. He was our defensive coordinator the year we won a national championship. I hired him. He came in and changed a lot of things on defense. Brought in rugby tackling. But beyond that, every player issue with things, I would always lean on him. He’s that good of a coach. He’s, by far, the best coordinator hire of the year. They’ve recruited well. I don’t know if they’ve recruited elite, but they’ve recruited well. You put Chris Ash, and I’ve talked to him a couple times, he’s impressed with the personnel on defense. I think we’ll see big-time improvement on Texas’ defense.”

Ash spent two years on Meyer’s staff at Ohio State before becoming the head coach of Rutgers in 2016. But after 3.5 seasons and an 8-32 record, he was fired.  The Longhorns moved quickly to sign the former Scarlet Knights head coach. They signed him less than three months after Rutgers fired him.  Since signing on with Texas, the Longhorns defense has looked sharp. They gave up just three points to UTEP on September 12, but will face a slightly tougher challenge this coming weekend against Big 12 rival Texas Tech.

We’ll see if Chris Ash and the Longhorns defense can put their money where Urban Meyer’s mouth is.

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247 Jeff Howe:  Defensive Depth Chart for Tech

DEFENSIVE LINE

End

1. Moro Ojomo (Soph.)

2. Jacoby Jones (Sr.)

3. Vernon Broughton (Fr.-HS)

Nose Tackle

1. Keondre Coburn (Soph.)

2. T'Vondre Sweat (Soph.)

3. Sawyer Goram-Welch (Fr.-HS)

Tackle

1. Ta'Quon Graham (Sr.)

2. Alfred Collins (Fr.-HS)

3. Daniel Carson (Soph.)

JACK

1. Joseph Ossai (Jr.)

2. Reese Leitao (Jr.) — OR — Jett Bush (Soph.)

Key Quote: "Yeah, us big guys don't get, really, a lot of praise unless you get a sack, a TFL. We get graded off of: did you stay in your gap? Do you use your hands right? Did you have pushback? Did you run to the ball? Every team you play you've got to run to the ball, so they really take care of the loafs. If everybody's running to the ball, they want to see 11 hats to the football and if you don't, you get a minus for that. In a situation we played this weekend, did I  get my hands right? Did I stay in my gap? Did I not get pushed out of my gap? Did I do the right assignment, my right job? You can get graded off of that." — Coburn on how the coaching staff grades defensive linemen in a game outside of recording standard statistics

LINEBACKERS

MIKE

1. Juwan Mitchell (Jr.)

2. Cort Jaquess (Jr.) — OR — Ayodele Adeoye (Soph.)

WILL

1. DeMarvion Overshown (Jr.)

2. David Gbenda (RS-Fr.)

3. Jaylan Ford (Fr.-HS)

Key Quote: " In the spring, I was actually working out with the safeties. I went up to Coach (Chris) Ash after one day when we had like a voluntary little workout and I asked him, 'where do you see me as? What do you think is best for me?' That's when we started chopping it up, started talking about my weight, talking about, at the next level, what are they looking for in an athlete like me. We just went from there... What I like about Will linebacker is in this defense, it's basically just playing safety closer to all the action. That's what I like. I like to be involved in the action and I like to get physical." — Overshown on his move from safety to linebacker and what he likes about his new role on defense

SECONDARY

Cornerback

1. D'Shawn Jamison (Jr.)

2. Jalen Green (Jr.)

3. Jahdae Barron (Fr.-HS)

Cornerback

1. Josh Thompson (Jr.)

2. Kenyatta Watson II (RS-Fr.)

3. Kitan Crawford (Fr.-HS)

Key Quote: "Obviously, you've got to play well to be a good leader and he came out tonight — we'd seen that throughout training camp him. He did a heck of a job act. Everybody wants to talk about the interception. That was a heck of a play. We needed it, but while he was in, played the game — not just that one play, but he every play that he was in, played it really, really well." — Herman on Thompson's performance in the win over UTEP

Safety

1. Caden Sterns (Jr.)

2. Montrell Estell (Soph.)

3. Jerrin Thompson (Fr.-HS)

Safety

1. Chris Brown (Sr.)

2. B.J. Foster (Jr.)

3. Tyler Owens (Soph.)

Key Quote: "B.J. obviously let his frustrations get the best of him and was very contrite, very apologetic. We'll handle the discipline in-house. He knows what he did was wrong, letting his frustration get the best of him. It's OK to be frustrated, but we've got to be able to control our actions and he realizes that and, again, is very apologetic and will serve as penance internally and it'll be water under the bridge for us and his team." — Herman on Foster's status with the team after he left the field early in the win over UTEP

SPUR

1. Chris Adimora (Soph.)

2. Anthony Cook (Jr.)

3. Xavion Alford (Fr.-HS)

Key Quote: "It's one of the more difficult positions, in my opinion, because of what we're asking that guy to do. He's got to have a really unique skill set. He's got to be tough enough and physical enough to fit the run. He's got to be athletic enough and quick enough to play some man-to-man on a slot. There not a lot of guys that can do that, so we really had to spend a lot of time going through our roster, identifying individuals that would have that skill set to do both of those things. That's not easy to do: fit the run, play zone, play man, blitz. I feel really good about where we're at right now with that position. I like the guys that have been repping there. I think we were lucky, we hit the right guys when we made this switch with guys there." — Chris Ash on what the defense needs out of the SPUR position to be successful

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17 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Where is Byron Vaughns? Injured?

Last thing that I've seen on Byron Vaughns:

Late August...

Humidor:  "Depth behind Ossai is unsettled.  Vaughns missed some time for non-football related issues. He’s still expected to be a valuable contributor this year. My source continues to rave about Bush’s ability." 

 

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Damn autocorrect
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Notes for Tech thanks to @satyanash  

Humidor

DL: Still the team's strength and it’s a motivated group because they know Tech is sound up front, especially in the interior. What comes to mind when we ask about the d-line, “Size, speed, they play pissed off, vets, youth, Sweat, Little Alfred. Jacoby Jones is back. It’ll be fun to watch them this week.”

LB: Demarvion Overshown is getting more comfortable with each practice. A little in-game experience goes a long way when playing a new position. He’s already thinking less and reacting more. Juwan Mitchell has been running with the 1s. It surprised nearly everyone when Cort Jaquess got the start versus UTEP. Jaylan Ford — he’s going to be a factor next year if not sooner. The position could use some competition.

Spur: Chris Adimora is a mean son-of-a-gun but sources are curious to see how he holds up in the passing game. He’ll blanket tight ends but if matched on a receiver things could get a little interesting.

CB: D'Shawn Jamison and Josh Thompson have a solid grip on starter status but expect Tech to throw it around a lot necessitating fresh legs. Jalen Green and Kenyatta Watson II should also play a fair amount of snaps. Sources are excited about Thompson but want to see him against the better competition Tech presents. The feeling is he’s becoming a real player and everyone wants it for him. He’s a respected figure in the program.

S: Starters remain the same but BJ Foster should play too. The team loves BJ which made it a certainty he would be welcomed back. This group knows it’s in for much stiffer competition than in the opener. Our source wanted it known he was predicting a pick for Sterns. Ha ha.

Team Notes:  This team is coming together. Players are starting to coach each other. Position groups are spending a lot of extra time on film study, when in the past we would hear about select individuals. Buy-in is at an all time high. Now, let’s see if the product on the field backs those sentiments up.

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On 9/18/2020 at 11:08 AM, LTtxfan said:

Thanks @satyanash 

Humidor:  

We‘ve been asked a lot about linebacker Juwan Mitchell. We try to leave the locker room stuff where it belongs. We’ll just say he’s been in the doghouse some and it’s up to him how long he’s in there. The staff is high on what he brings to the table and would love to start him. That should be versus Tech, but it should have been versus UTEP too. One of the early themes of the new era is the restoration of meritocracy. If a talented guy is suspended for something that doesn’t require a mandatory suspension, that’s probably a good thing.

Bump... just a reminder on Mitchell

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