PonyFans.com 2015 preview: Defense preparing to attack
New coordinator Van Malone unveils new scheme Friday
Posted on 09/01/2015 by PonyFans.com
New defensive coordinator Van Malone said that what he sees on film from each opponent predetermines much of the way he will call defenses (photo by PonyFans.com).
For the SMU Mustangs, the 2014 season was one that is hard to sugarcoat: simply put, very little went right. There are a number of reasons or excuses, but most importantly, the season is in the rearview mirror.

Defensively, the numbers tell a story that is tough to hear: the Mustangs surrendered 496 points (41.2 per game) and 5,993 yards (499.4 per) last season. In 12 games, the Mustangs generated 16 takeaways. Opponents successfully converted more than half (55 percent) of their fourth downs and scored a touchdown 62 percent of the time they reached the red zone.

Almost as soon as he was hired, new defensive coordinator Van Malone began the process of overhauling the system. Before watching film with players, he insisted that they spend ample time with strength and conditioning coach Trumain Carroll. He and his staff, before they could teach their new players how to play, had to teach them how to practice, how to prepare. He immediately changed the team’s base defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3 system.

“Well, that’s what I know,” Malone said of the scheme change. “That’s what the (coaches) we brought in here — that’s what they know and that’s what they’re confident in. Now, there are some things with the 3-4 sets and systems that we’ll use, and our players who relished in that — they’ll have fun. But really, when you look across our roster, we may fit the 4-3 system a little bit better with the guys that we have now. The guys, of course, that we’re recruiting, will have the opportunity to continue to get better and mold this team, this defensive team, to fit that. So more than anything, it’s what we knew. It’s what we feel comfortable with, it’s what we feel comfortable teaching.”

Malone, a former safety with the Detroit Lions, is unapologetic about his focus on the secondary, but like most defensive coaches, he realizes that an effective defense starts with the pressure that can be generated up front.

Senior Zach Wood is moving from defensive end to defensive tackle after a 2014 season in which he led the Mustangs with four sacks (photo by SMU athletics).
“I’m a secondary guy by heart, by nature, by birth … but I feel like it starts up front, it starts with the defensive line,” Malone said. “I always say, ‘you’re the biggest guys on the team! You guys have got to be the dominant guys.’ But it starts up front. If you can control the line of scrimmage — offenses will say it, too — if you can control the line of scrimmage, then you give yourself a chance. If you can’t control the line of scrimmage … this is football — football is a will-imposing sport, (and) wills are imposed on the line of scrimmage.

“So for the morale, for the mentality, for all the things that we want to try to do, we feel like we have to put great emphasis on the defensive line and that’s why (defensive line) Coach (Buddy) Wyatt and (defensive ends) Coach (Keith) Gunn are great coaches. (They are) able to instill the confidence, the mentality, the athleticism … all those things … the proper technique that we talk about on the defensive front. Those guys do a great job of it, and they believe, like we believe, that it starts up front.”

The defensive line will have familiar faces, although some will be in unfamiliar roles. Senior Andy McCleneghen and sophomore Justin Lawler are expected to start at the defensive end spots. Sophomore Mason Gentry, recruited as a defensive end, has bulked up enough to take over the nose tackle spot, while senior Zach Wood slides inside from his familiar defensive end spot to play defensive tackle, having added more than 20 pounds of muscle to make the move.

“So defensive linemen? We don’t expect a whole lot from them,” Malone said. “We just expect them to dominate the line of scrimmage.”

McCleneghen will be backed up by former linebacker Robert Seals, Wood will junior Zelt Minor, Gentry by South Carolina transfer Deon Green and Lawler by junior Jarvis Pruitt.

The linebackers will feature a blend of youth and experience. Senior Jonathan Yenga returns as at the WILL linebacker spot after a season in which he finished fourth on the team with 65 tackles, while senior Shakiel Randolph mans the STAR linebacker spot on the other side after playing in the secondary — mostly at safety — in his first three seasons. Junior Nick Horton and sophomore Anthony Rhone will man the middle.

Malone said Randolph, with his rare combination of size (6-4, 216) and speed, should have an immediate impact.

“Shak — just by his mere presence on the team, the fact that he has played multiple positions, the fact that he’s one of our more athletic guys, the fact that he’s a senior and has a lot of experience — he stood out (during spring workouts) to us,” Malone said.

Horton is listed as the starter heading into Friday’s season opener, but Rhone spent much of the spring and preseason camp working with the first-team defense, and was given the responsibility of making the calls for the defensive front seven. Both will play, but Malone said he was impressed by the way Rhone basically demanded a key role in the defense.

Shakiel Randolph will spend his final season at SMU at his third position: STAR linebacker (photo by Patrick Kleineberg).
“Rhone — he’s not the biggest, he’s not the strongest, he’s not the fastest, but you’re never outworking him,” Malone said. “In his second-place run, he looks like he’s running for an Olympic gold medal, and you have to appreciate that guy. So he was able to jump in with that first group, and he wouldn’t be that guy, from a body make-up, from a 40-yard dash time … he wouldn’t be the guy that you would choose, but when he jumped out there, he took the reins.”

In the secondary, Horace Richardson and Jesse Montgomery are the likely starters at cornerback, while Jordan Wyatt and Darrion Richardson should start at safety. Malone employs a number of secondary packages, however, based on what the offenses show, and will rotate other players — including safeties A.J. Justice, Troy Castle and Rodney Clemons, and cornerbacks Ajee Montes, Will Jeanlys and Missouri transfer David Johnson — in the lineup to match up with opposing personnel groups, utilizing either man-to-man or zone schemes.

“I think the game is called — really, the game is called before the game, because the offense tells you what they are,” Malone said. “I’m not an offensive coach, but from an offensive (perspective), they have plays that they run because you’ve shown them who you’re going to be. Well, our focus is to find out who they want to be and take that away. Be it man, be it zone, we really want to make sure we’re doing the best thing — not necessarily a philosophical thing for me or the staff, but what’s best for our team. What can we do best? We always will focus on that, but with an emphasis on taking away what they do best, making them operate in an uncomfortable position. So there’s nothing philosophical about how we will attack … but we will always be attacking.”

Malone’s new-look SMU defense gets anything but a warm-up game to start the 2015 season, jumping into the fray against a Baylor team that for several years has had among the most potent offenses in the country.

“It feels the same, no matter who we play,” Malone said. “It’s that competition. You jump in, and start rolling, and you figure out ‘OK, we play Baylor.’ Well, great — let’s go. Let’s go get ’em, because more than worrying about Baylor, we’re going to worry about ourselves right now. We’re going to worry about these kids and worry about getting these kids and giving them a great opportunity to get lined up, teach them the fundamentals of defense, how to tackle, continue to stress the importance of turnovers, and those things … and then, we’ve got to play all of those games, week after week after week.”

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