In the last decade, the Texas Longhorns have found their greatest success on the field when the defense was playing at an elite level. While the 2005 and 2009 teams were headlined by offensive stars like Vince Young, Jamaal Charles, Colt McCoy, and Jordan Shipley, those teams reached the BCS title game on the effort of stingy defenses.
Following the 2009 season, the Longhorn defense started to wobble. In 2012, under new coordinator Manny Diaz, the wheels came completely off as the Horns reached new lows on the defensive side of the ball. The midseason takeover by Greg Robinson proved that the talent is there, as the unit saw drastic improvement.
However, a defensive mind, like Charlie Strong, will demand the very best out of his defense. The cliché is that “defense wins championshipsâ€, and while a national championship might be out of reach for this Texas team, the defense will still be vital to the success or failure of Coach Strong in year one.
The 2013 defense started off as poorly as one could imagine with a horrifying night in Provo, UT. BYU’s running attack, led by Taysom Hill, racked up over 400 yards rushing on the Texas defense. That performance brought an end to the short lived Manny Diaz era and ushered in former Texas Defensive Coordinator Greg Robinson in the interim. Robinson’s guidance quickly improved the defense and turned them into a respectable unit by the end of the season, but he was not retained when the new coaching staff took over.
Fortunately for Texas, Charlie Strong and defense are synonymous with one another. It’s where he has coached his entire career, and he made a name for himself as the head of some of the most elite defenses in recent college football history. Strong knows that his defenses were the backbone of Florida’s two National Championship runs.
The current Longhorn team is lacking firepower on offense and is still looking for a proven quarterback. In order for Texas to succeed this year, they will need to field a defense that can slow down the high octane Big XII offenses, and provide field position and game changing plays. It may be a tall order from the looks of things, but Greg Robinson proved the talent is still there to make something happen. Strong’s task will be to continue that improvement and build on Robinson’s foundation.
Defensive Line
The Texas defensive line is the surest bet for success on the entire 11-man unit. Led by Senior Cedric Reed, this group has the ability to set the tone where it matters most in football. Reed proved to be a destructive force last season in all phases of the game, and turned down a chance at the NFL to return for his final season.
The interior will most likely be manned by Desmond Jackson and Malcom Brown. Jackson has been a solid contributor for his entire career, but will need to take the next step in his development to improve the defense. Jackson has been mentioned as one of the strongest players on the team, and his quick first step will allow him to disrupt both the running and passing games of opposing offenses. Brown looks to be primed for his coming out party on the national scene. The junior from Brenham has flashed enormous skills throughout his first two years and has the tools to be a first round NFL draft pick.
The biggest question on the defensive line will be at the defensive end spot opposite Reed. Defensive line coach Chris Rumph calls this position the “Fox†role, and Shiro Davis appears to have the inside track on the position. His main competition will come in the form of Caleb Bluiett who ran with the first team during spring practices and was a standout in the Orange and White game. Davis has the edge in the competition due to the fact that he plays the run a little better, but Bluiett will see considerable playing time as well and should be considered the top reserve at defensive end.
Hassan Ridgeway is the name to watch as a reserve at Defensive Tackle. Though he is a massive human being, Ridgeway has experience as a former defensive end and has the talent to be a true breakthrough player this season. Texas will also need contributions from the younger players on the line including true freshmen Poona Ford and Chris Nelson. On his high school film, Ford looked like a player that could contribute in his freshman season, while Nelson is a bit more raw and could take some refining in a redshirt year. Ultimately the depth throughout the season will dictate the need for Nelson to play or redshirt.
The talent on the Longhorn’s defensive line is more than enough to cause a lot of havoc in opposing backfields. If the starters stay healthy and play to their potential, the line will be the key ingredient of success for the 2014 defense.
Linebackers
While the Linebacker corps is less heralded than the front four, this unit actually has the potential to be a big time group this season. The likely starters are composed of a group of players that haven’t yet reached that tremendous potential. Jordan Hicks returns on a medical redshirt, and the former five star recruit has never put together a consistent season. Injuries and off the field troubles have plagued this talented player throughout his career. There are times when Hicks looks like a bona fide NFL player, and the biggest hurdle he will face is his health.
Steve Edmond is another player that looks like he is built for the professional game, but took Blake Gideon’s spot as the scapegoat on many busted plays against the Horns. The encouraging thing with Edmond is that he looked to be improving consistently before an injury sidelined him last season. Edmond’s big frame and bone crunching hits have always been neutralized by his lack of instinct and poor reads. The question with Edmond is whether he could not learn a system or if Manny Diaz’s inability to coach and scheme was the culprit?
Peter Jinkens figures to be the third starter, and in his freshman season he played well enough in a few games to show fans a glimpse of what he might have in him. Unfortunately, Jinkens had a major sophomore slump and was a non-factor when on the field for the most part. Jinkens can be a key contributor for this group because he has a defensive back’s athleticism in a linebacker’s body and is a good matchup in a pass happy league.
Dalton Santos, Tevin Jackson, and Tim Cole all figure to be key reserves and could log significant time in a league that demands depth and substitution. Also keep an eye out for DeMarco Cobbs. The long forgotten linebacker who suffered numerous injuries and inconsistency in his early career is still around and could make an impact under a new staff. True Freshmen Andrew Beck and Edwin Freeman could see early playing time if the depth demands it, but will have a tough time beating out the experienced upper classmen ahead of them.
While the talent is there for this group to be successful, there are far more hurdles in their way than there are for the defensive line. This group will need to stay healthy and consistently execute their assignments to find any success. They are pivotal because of their role against both the pass and run, and will need to support the defensive line. Most big plays are broken because of a mistake on the part of a linebacker, and for this defense to succeed it will need strong play from this unit.
Defensive Backs
For the last decade The University of Texas has been known as “DBUâ€. In recent years the secondary suffered a bit, but this season is the most uncertain this unit has looked in recent memory.
Senior corner and team leader Quandre Diggs is one of the better defensive backs in the conference and provides steady play on the boundary or in the slot. While Diggs has been prone to some mistakes in coverage, his good plays have outnumbered the bad. Outside of Diggs there are a lot of questions with few answers. Duke Thomas will factor in at corner where he played in rotation last season. Thomas has been a low impact player thus far, but could turn the corner this season. Safety Mykkele Thompson is cross training at corner and everyone is awaiting the switch to turn on for him. Thompson’s speed and fluid athletic ability is there for everyone to see, but he’s best known for shying away from contact and making poor reads that have gotten him beat in coverage. It could be said that, like Edmond, Thompson suffered from some poor schemes during Diaz’s tenure and looked improved and more certain under Greg Robinson.
The recent suspension of Josh Turner might hurt the Longhorn’s depth early in the season. Turner was an experienced player who showed some upside and was probably in line for a starting spot at safety. Once Turner is reinstated, he will have a legitimate chance to play his way back to a starting role, but it might be too late at that point. It remains to be seen if Mykkele Thompson will stay at safety or as previously mentioned make the switch permanently to corner; but, the suspension of Turner and dismissal of Chevoski Collins really thinned out the free safety position. The safe bet is that Thompson will stay at safety.
The most fascinating story in the secondary has to be that of walk on Dylan Haines. Haines emerged during the spring and recorded an interception in the Orange and White game. Thus far Haines has seen a lot of practice repetitions with the first team unit and is pushing Adrian Colbert every inch for his starting position. While Haines doesn’t have the athletic ability of Colbert, he’s shown a good understanding of the game and an ability to limit mistakes.
The depth in the secondary, especially at safety is paper thin, so reserves should play a big role this season. Redshirt freshman Antwuan Davis could see time at corner along with Sheroid Evans if he returns healthy from a season ending knee injury suffered last Fall. Bryson Echols has impressed the coaches early on and could figure in the nickel package and work in rotation. This will be an all hands on deck situation, so expect true freshmen John Bonney and Jason Hall to work in as depth at safety and Jermaine Roberts to backup at corner.
This unit is a mixed bag full of inexperience and is perilously thin in depth. The most important thing the secondary can do is stay healthy. They simply do not have the depth to sustain injuries to starters in that unit. The second thing to do is hope that everything clicks for the more inexperienced players. The bright side is that a good pass rush can make a struggling secondary look good, and the Longhorns have the makings of a stellar pass rush. The secondary will need big time play from the front seven to slow down offenses like Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma. There is a lot being asked of this group to perform up to standard, and they could prove to be the Achilles heel for the Longhorns.
I think we can see that, currently at least, the theme of the day is “It remains to be seen†for the Texas defense. Texas looks ready to roll on the front four, and optimistic at linebacker, but a lot will depend on the play of the secondary. As mentioned, a great pass rush can cover up deficiencies in the secondary, but there will be times during this season that the Longhorns will need all eleven on defense playing well to win.
The concerning point is the depth and inexperience at safety. This could be a position that burnt orange faithful look back on at the end of the season and wonder “what ifâ€. It will be up to Vance Bedford to have that group of players prepared for the frying pan they are about to be thrown into…the question is, will it be enough?