August '22 - Blitz of the Month
August '22 - Blitz of the Month
Louisiana's BOSS Back Check 1 and a preview of what's to come in Gainsville.
Newly appointed Florida Head Coach Billy Napier was a transcendent presence at Louisiana. Napier's resume includes stints with Dabo Sweny (Clemson) and Nick Saban (Alabama). The man got a Ph.D. in program building and did just that in southwest Louisiana. The Cajuns went 40-12 under the Gators’ new ‘ball coach, with 33 coming in the last three years.
Napier built a juggernaut that challenged the king of the Sun Belt in Appalachian State and routinely battled the other ascending program in the conference in Coastal Carolina for conference supremacy. Offensively the Cajuns were routinely in the top third for efficiency. But, standing alongside the offense, the Cajuns’ defense also made waves.
Napier assembled one of the best G5 staffs upon arrival in Louisiana. The Cajuns’ original offensive coordinator, Rob Sale, would depart in ‘21 to join the ill-fated campaign of Joe Judge in New York (Giants) but will return to Napier’s side in Gainsville. Sale’s counterpart in Will Hill is now the Head Coach at Southern Miss, whose DC, Austin Armstrong, was the GA for the Cajuns in ‘17 (left to be DQC at Georgia in ‘19 and then came back as a full-time coach in ‘20).
His original defensive coordinator, Ron Roberts, would leave to work with his protege, Dave Aranda (Baylor), upon Aranda’s hiring in Waco (‘20). OLB/STC Coach Matt Powledge is now the co-DC alongside newly appointed HC Dan Lanning (DC/Georgia) and followed Roberts to Baylor. Louisiana's original staff was loaded.
One original staff member, Patrick Toney, was an essential piece in the continued development of the Cajuns’ defense. With Roberts leaving for Waco, Napier turned to the rising star to coach his defense. Toney has worked two stints with Roberts and was the current ‘Bama DC’s (Pete Golding) Safeties coach at UTSA in ‘17 (ranked 7th nationally in total yards). Toney has connections all over the college landscape, and his scheme is in step with what most top defenses are attempting to do.
Toney’s apparent connections with the Roberts’ tree give him a unique advantage of being “ahead” of the game regarding schematics. The Pete Golding hire at ‘Bama was no surprise, as the Saban system had been picking the brains of Aranda/Roberts disciples since the Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio St. in ‘14. Entering the ‘22 season, Toney is primed to become a name to remember moving forward and one of the best young DCs in the college game.
Last season’s Cajun defense, though not dominant (50th in DFEI), matched the offense's production and was a top 20 defense in EPA per game (28th per play). Most notably, Louisiana was 21st in EPA versus the Pass. The overall scheme Toney implemented was a hybrid four-down front with most coverages stemming from a two-high shell. Sound familiar? It should be because this is the trend we see across the college landscape and the NFL.
Notably, Georgia and Alabama, the two behemoth defensive programs, both played more four-down fronts in ‘21. The trend towards a four-down is due to the increased importance of the passing game. As more teams become pass-first systems that are much more QB friendly than decades previous, defenses have to counter by creating a pass rush. Combined with the higher volume of Wide Zone offenses, a good defense needs edges, and a four-down front provides that. Additionally, the addition of Creepers and Sims and the defense can bounce between even and odd spacing run fits, making the offenses work extremely hard to figure out what the defense is doing down-to-down.
The Tite Front that dominated just a few years ago is not dead. However, the game's evolution has a natural ebb and flow. Once the defense adjusts and normalizes, the offense has already moved on to the next thing. Static Tite alignments are being morphed into “fluid” four-down fronts that can utilize even and odd spacing. Mixing a static four-down front (which all OCs love) and odd spacing fit structures through reductions or blitzes keep the modern offense off balance. Add a two-high pre-snap structure, and you now have the leading trend in defensive structure (that and the Staley 5-1).
Coinciding with the move to four-down fronts is the apparent usage of box LBs in the blitz game. Louisiana didn’t have a high blitz rate (28% via PFF), but most of those blitzes were from the “box” LB position. Another trend that pairs well with the four-down even/odd spacing fluid defense is the use of five-man pressures. Dave Aranda, in an interview with 247Sports, commented on the dominant ‘21 Georgia defense,
“…Georgia had a really strong front seven and a d-line a year ago as evidenced by the draft. There was more five-man rushes from Georgia than I’ve seen since Kirby has been there. I don’t really know since I haven’t asked the question, but I think some it was you’re getting your d-linemen one-on-one blocks when you’re sending five. You’re trying to get a mismatch there and give them an opportunity to win.”
The front structure plus a dominant front seven allows the defense to create one-on-one matchups on every down. The Cajuns had five 2nd and 3rd Team All-Sun Belt front-seven defenders. Toney aligned his ‘21 campaign philosophy with his counterparts and colleagues at Georgia, Baylor, and Alabama. Five-man pressures are a great way to create one-on-ones for a dominant D-lineman or blitzing box ‘backer. Add protection manipulation on passing downs, and you have a scheme with legs.
