I think a lot of this commentary is directed at the back 7 or 8. I recall a media guy at the SEC Media Days saying Chavis’s defenses routinely get torched on the back end. But I think the Aggies had a ton of bad secondary injuries last year. Maybe our back 7/8 talent is a little better. Regardless, we have no way to go but up.
I remember watching a couple of A $ M games last year and the announcers repeatedly talked about how they had one upperclassman safety and the rest back there were either true freshmen or first year starters. The upperclassman was a good player, but hardly a quarterback for the secondary. It’s harder to be multiple when you lack experience.
They were lousy last year on pass defense. In addition to being young in the secondary, they also lacked, for the first time in maybe forever, enough good pass rushers. The lack of numbers on DL and the generally lousy defense was part of the whisper campaign that Chavis had lost it as a recruiter and maybe was just gliding toward retirement.
I would expect we will know by about mid-October just how multiple the defense will be. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Chavis still has the fire as a recruiter, based on the commitments so far. He has coached a lot of great defenses, so maybe he did not suddenly get dumb on the Xs and Os last year either.
Given our recent success with defensive recruiting, including in Texas, you just wonder if a piece like this was prompted by a couple of coaches calling Ben Baby, the Aggie beat writer, or the DMN and asking them to write something like this. Or at least giving him the idea for the story. I hear Texas Tech and its fans were PO’d about losing Enoch Jackson. And we know Kingsbury has no love lost for Arkansas. No telling what sort of Rambo that Jimbo is about recruiting. I bet a lot of this goes on – trying to taint recruiting through the media. We’re probably naive to think it doesn’t. The timing of this story is just odd to me. Surely there are better things to talk about in Texas Aggie football coverage than John Chavis’s past defenses at A&M.
I think our secondary can be special Tamu has always had great pass rushers and its yet to be seen if we do that will define this defense, well and if we can keep teams from running right at us(concern of mine).We have more deep talent than Tamu had I think so hopefullly we can get pressure and create some TO’s
If you play freshmen in the back end, they will get torched, especially at safety. Cornerback is the lone position on defense where there is a chance that you can slide by with a freshmen. It’s cover. But, having said that, I felt badly for Kamren Curl as a true freshman last year. He was targeted on every pass play. He had to learn on the fly. And, as I’ve learned now, he hadn’t played much corner in high school. He’d played more safety, his position now. He’s a natural safety. He tried hard at corner and what he went through will help him this season. Chavis told me almost immediately that his thought was that he was a safety. The other players say he’s better at safety, too.
Go back and look at what happened at Texas A&M last year. They played lots of freshmen in the secondary. Some of that was because of graduation. But they lost three starters (at the time) to injuries at cornerback from the middle of the spring to the first game. That is devastating. Think if you’d lost Ryan Pulley, Kamren Curl and Henre Toliver. And, you replaced those three with three true freshmen. That’s what Chavis had last year.
There may be some simplicity in what they are doing now over some of the things they did in the past, but I do know that alignment issues at safety will still beat you in this defense. Chavis told me that’s the number one thing that he preaches, that you must be lined up right and at every position on the field. He notices if the ends are 6 inches off with a hand placement, or the safeties are a step one way (wrong) on the hash. It will leave a gap and good quarterbacks will take the gap. I’ve heard that from the first day I studied defense. Alignment is the key.
And, technique is important. I know that Steve Caldwell demands proper technique. His technique fits what Chavis is going to do, or vice versa. How ever you want to say it. I know Caldwell was tough on Jake Bequette to make him play the proper technique and it paid off.
There was one point in the Florida game last year where Texas A&M had six true freshmen on the field at the same time. That is not a good thing. Six.
This defense hasn’t played well in the last couple of years. Part of that was growing pains and part of it was lack of talent. Part of it was lack of experience. And part of that was changing systems.
It’s another year of changing systems, but there is much more buy in from the players this year than playing the “catch and hold” system up front that last year’s team tried. They are going to get to cut loose more. We heard they were going to cut loose last year in the 3-4. I don’t know if they couldn’t play that way or someone wouldn’t let them play that way. But they are going to play that way this year. Players are confident and happy. And, they are working hard.
I love the fact that we are going to more aggressive up front and aren’t read and reacting.
I can assure as an OL coach you got your hands full with an a good aggressive DL becasue you’re steps have to be perfect or you will be what I call half body blocking and leads to penetration very hard to square up a aggressive stunting DL and with not many team running the inside trap anymore they have no fear up getting upfield too much.
I am concerned about our DT because we have no proven bellcow,Sosa is a load speed wise but not sure he can take on these 330 OG if they run right at him.I hope we can make team have to pass where we can turn lose our pressure and get some TO’s.
IIRC the Aggies still led the SEC in sacks last year. So it may have been a case of either the rush gets there or the pass gets completed because the DBs can’t cover
Being cut loose could be a big deal. Once they started losing close games, again, what you saw last year was several players freelancing in that passive system. The result was a passive defensive often with assignment issues as players went for their’s at times when they weren’t supposed to do so. That led to being gashed and some older players checking out.
I think there’s some talent on this defense at each level. If they can avoid crucial injuries I think the defense will be much improved.
After watching the defense today there is more depth and more talent. The second team defense is much better than the last two seasons. There is true talent with the twos on defense now. Players like Brito Tutt and Montaric Brown are quick twitch defensive backs with length. They are going to be good players.