ESPN: Strong's Defense-first Recipe will test Big 12

[primal defense]

All this talk about running the football, is bringing me back to the DKR days. Vance Bedford is becoming my favorite UT assistant coach to listen to.

Strong's defense-first recipe will test Big 12

AUSTIN, Texas -- We're all a bunch of suckers.

We fell for a powerful form of distraction during the first eight months of Charlie Strong's debut year at Texas: The misdirection.

We got fixated on changes, some real and many inconsequential: Strong's media savvy, his muscles, the throwing of horns, the bus ban, the deposed smoothie bar, the gadgets, the breakfast club, the Moncrief four, the helmet decals, the roped-off logo, the dorms. You know, the low-hanging fruit.

Reporters, fans, critics, everybody. We fell for it because it was easy, and because Texas hadn't seen this kind of different in 16 years. And in the process, during this excruciatingly long offseason, it seems we overlooked a question that matters now: How will this Longhorn team line up and play? What's the mission and identity on offense and defense?

Basically, we took our eye off the ball.

What seems clear, upon some deeper digging, is Strong intends to bring his own style of ball to the Big 12, one with a complementary vision for both sides of the ball. And no, this has nothing to do with the offseason buzzwords like "toughness."

This is about the chess match that's about to begin, the one where we find out if what Strong has planned can change the Big 12, or if the Big 12 will force him to change.

Strong has played coy on this topic. The idea that he might have the element of surprise on his side seems, at least to him, dubious.

"Football is football. It's still about fundamentals and technique and that's what it comes down to," Strong said. "Everyone thinks it's about scheme. When you have players, scheme looks really good. It doesn't matter. If our kids go out and do what we ask them to do, you always have a chance."

What Texas players will be asked to do could resemble what Stanford, Alabama, Michigan State, LSU and even Big 12 foe Kansas State have come to master. Those programs are winning on old-school beliefs about running the ball, defense and power.

Texas players say the offensive philosophy is build on a downhill run game. The tag team of a potentially elite inside runner (Malcolm Brown) and a true all-purpose back (Johnathan Gray) must win the day. Run the ball, run the clock, run the pace. And then quarterback David Ash must capitalize when he sees a stacked box.

"It's very multiple. You probably hear that about our offense a lot, but it's multiple," Ash said. "We're going to do every tempo you can out of a huddle and every tempo you can out of a no-huddle. We're going to try to keep teams off-balance."

Joe Wickline coordinates the run game. Shawn Watson oversees the passing. They'll share the playcalling duties in some fashion, with Watson having final say. And recent history says this offense, for all of its fast-paced ideals, should fall in lockstep with Strong's defensive vision.

Louisville's offense wasn't just No. 2 in time of possession nationally last year. The Cards had 17 scoring drives extend 5-plus minutes (second-most in FBS only to K-State) and 21 exceed 10-plus plays. This was, on average, a two-plays-per-minute offense, one of the comparatively slowest in the country, and it won 12 games.

Watson's offense kept Strong's defense off the field. The Louisville D played 779 snaps in 2013. Texas' defense played the same number of games and finished at 966. The rest of the Big 12 averaged 937.

When you're playing 200 fewer snaps on defense, you get fresh and physical players. You get to attack. And Strong has never been afraid to do that. Defensive coordinator Vance Bedford recalls one game at Florida when Strong called six straight zero blitzes, rushing everyone who wasn't locked in one-on-one coverage.

"It worked six straight times," Bedford said proudly.

Bedford has been studying Big 12 film since the day he took the job. He knows the rest of the conference has been watching Louisville and Florida film.

"People are gonna know what we're gonna do," Bedford said. "Coach Strong came back from a Big 12 Conference thing (this summer) and they said, ‘What you guys did at Louisville, you can't do that here.' They're exactly right. I totally agree with what they're saying."

And then Bedford grinned and kept going, each line more facetious than the last.

"So what we're going to do: We're going to rush three, drop eight. Rush two, drop nine. Sit back, keep the inside in front and we'll have a chance. We're not going to pressure anybody, anytime, anywhere. We're just going to slow ‘em down.

"I'm not full of it. I'm telling the truth. Listen to me, all of you out there," he said, turning his gaze to a bank of TV cameras. "We're going to play it safe. No pressure. We don't want any quarterbacks hurt."

And while that last sentiment rings especially true of Texas, Bedford is merely offering a friendly warning. He knows that in Malcom Brown, Cedric Reed, Quandre Diggs, Jordan Hicks and several others, he and Strong have the weapons they need to pair with an offense that understands its duty.

While we were obsessed with everything else this offseason, Strong and his staff were quietly busy preparing a plan and a roster for what promises to be a fascinating four-month battle. Against North Texas on Saturday, finally, Texas gets to line up and play.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/97431/strongs-defense-first-recipe-will-test-big-12

 

[Juan]

Today's ESPN piece --
 
http://espn.go.com/blog/colleges/texas/post/_/id/24022/stats-that-matter-north-texas-texas

Stats that matter: North Texas-Texas August 27, 2014 9:00 AM ET

No. 1: 101.6 

Charlie Strong admitted on the Big 12 coaches' teleconference Monday there's one number he cares about (after the final score) when he's handed the postgame stat sheet: Rushing yards allowed. 

His defense at Louisville led FBS in run defense last season, allowing just 81.5 yards per game. Texas gave up an average of 183.1 rushing yards per game a year ago. You better believe Strong and defensive coordinator Vance Bedford intend to close that 101.6-yard gap as much as possible in 2014. 

In the past four years, only one Big 12 defense has given up fewer than 100 rushing yards per game: The 2011 Longhorns, who held teams to 96.2 yards per game on the ground. 

For what it's worth, and maybe not much, Georgia's defense did hold North Texas to 7 total rushing yards on 25 attempts last year. 

No. 3: 434 

When you talk about David Ash's best games as Texas' starting quarterback, his 2013 season opener against New Mexico State doesn't usually get brought up. But in his only compete game of that injury-wrecked season, Ash accounted for 434 total yards (343 passing, 91 rushing) and offered an appealing glimpse of what he might've been able to do had he stayed healthy. 

Texas struggled to get rolling until late in the second quarter, but Ash got the offense to open up from there. He threw for four touchdowns, busted off a 55-yard touchdown scramble and showed poise in the second half to guide an offense that put up a school-record 715 total yards. 

North Texas should be a better foe than NMSU, which went on to finish 2-10 with the fourth-worst scoring defense in the country. But will we see a version of Ash that's as good or better than the one that showed up in last year's opener? 

 

[Topstarr]

Ok...lets do it....#LetsRide

 

[primal defense]

Longhorns hoping new leader is Strong enough

In the eight months since Charlie Strong stepped into the University of Texas powder keg, several prominent characterizations have emerged.

There’s Charlie Strong the disciplinarian. Charlie Strong the CEO. Charlie Strong the defensive tactician.

One not as known — Charlie Strong the comedian.

Well, OK, perhaps Strong wouldn’t reach the finals of “Last Comic Standing,†but his new players happily reveal that there is a lighter side to the coach’s hard-nosed exterior. He apparently spins tales of his own playing days or his time as a defensive coordinator at Florida, sprinkling the stories with some good-natured trash talk.

“He’s one of the funniest guys I know,†said offensive lineman Dominic Espinosa. “He’s hilarious. He loves to talk football, has great stories to tell. I don’t think he’s as serious as all the media portrays him to be.â€

At Texas, Strong may find his sense of humor tested. Strong’s predecessor Mack Brown rose to iconic status in his 16-year run as Longhorns coach, then was axed after a 2013 season in which the Horns finished a game shy of winning the Big 12.

Then again, Strong entered the fray in Austin with his eyes open. He understands the pressure, even welcomes it. Nothing he experiences on the field could be any tougher than his childhood in Batesville, Ark. He and his 12 siblings all took jobs as teenagers, with Charlie doing yardwork and pumping gas to help put food on the table.

There is undoubtedly a hard edge to Strong. It’s evident when you first meet the man, as he seems to be sizing you up beneath a granite veneer.

“My first impression of him? Probably real serious,†Espinosa said. “With anyone, you want to come in and make sure you stand your ground, show what you want to make out of these guys. The one thing I can tell you — he was the real deal from day one.â€

Strong, 54, wants his Longhorn players to take ownership of the program and accountability for their own actions. He has forbidden them from flashing the “Hook ’Em, Horns†hand sign until after victories, declaring that a privilege that must be earned. During fall camp, the team practiced with plain white helmets, the Longhorn logo conspicuous by its absence. Hadn’t been earned yet.

In the end, there is no confusing who is in charge.

“He doesn’t leave it up to us anymore,†defensive end Cedric Reed said. “We used to handle (a lot of discipline) in-house, the seniors and stuff. But he’s pushed it to another level. He came here, and he gave guys one or two chances. But that’s it.â€

Since arriving at Texas, Strong has dismissed or suspended no fewer than 10 players for various team violations. It may seem like a hard line to take for UT fans — three of the suspended players were projected starters — but Strong has little sympathy for the castoffs.

They knew the rules and they broke them, he said. No excuses are warranted.

“They don’t get a chance to sit back and say, ‘But, hey . . .’ There’s no discussion,†Strong said. “I tell them what needs to be done. There’s no discussion, no you get to raise your hand and tell me what you think.â€

Before landing his first head coaching gig at Louisville, Strong worked as an assistant at the likes of Florida, Notre Dame and South Carolina. He considers Urban Meyer, Steve Spurrier and Lou Holtz both friends and mentors in the profession.

Still, no one who knows him would espouse that Strong is anything but his own man. His personality and appreciation for discipline and structure were shaped more by the way he was raised than the list of coaches for whom he worked. “It’s not like I can just look at one guy and say, ‘He taught me a bunch,’ †Strong said.

He’s a family guy, and wants his players to treat one another like brothers. From his first days on campus, he began quizzing players about one another. He might sidle up to Quandre Diggs and ask the names of David Ash’s parents. Real Denzel Washington-kind of stuff, but it’s not just for show.

“It’s almost Remember the Titans-ish, but I think he believes in that a lot,†Espinosa said. “I think a lot of the guys are starting to believe that. . . . We start to realize it as teammates: ‘Hey, we need to pick this guy up, need to go hang out with this guy more.’ It happens, and I think that’s why he’s good at it. He doesn’t have to talk about it. He just makes things happen, and brings it out of us.â€

Ultimately, all the good vibes and team bonding will mean little to Texas alums unless Strong’s teams win games and compete for national championships. Brown’s teams were sometimes criticized for what was viewed as a sense of entitlement. But fans really didn’t care much, so long as the Horns were going 11-1 and playing on New Year’s Day.

Strong won at Louisville — the Cardinals were 23-3 in his final two years there — and he steadfastly believes he’ll win at Texas. But to get there, he wants things done a certain way.

“When I tell them that they’re not allowed to put the Horns sign up, it’s special,†Strong said. “It’s all about pride, putting the pride back into the program. We want to put the ‘T’ back in Texas.â€

So Strong preaches about togetherness, and tries to practice what he preaches. He demands order and responsibility, but not from afar. Sometimes that might mean sitting in the film room showing tailback Malcolm Brown a series of plays that need to be corrected from last year, other times it could be charging behind Diggs during a run and “encouraging†the cornerback to pick up the pace.

Perhaps the truest characterization of Strong is that of a father figure. He’s willing to laugh with you, to show he cares for you. But there’s no denying that he’s the boss.

“It’s not fear. It’s more of an understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong, man,†Reed said. “Some guys, I think, kind of got that mixed up. In order to build a good team, Coach Strong knows how to do that. Guys are finally latching on.â€

http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/baylor/football/longhorns-hoping-new-leader-is-strong-enough/article_371435b7-3ba7-5568-a8bb-06047aa34254.html