How improved can Vandy's defense be?

[BrentVU]

The word coming out of the last week's practices is that Vandy's defense has caught up with the offense a bit and is causing some turnovers. That's good, because in the spring game the defense (by Coach Lea's admission) simply did not "turn preparation into performance." The offense had a field day, and the D was embarrassed.

Last year the D had a pretty good performance in the opener at A&M, and a decent day in Starkville; the rest of the time it mostly rolled over and played dead. Vandy was 13th out of 14 in scoring defense, 12th in total defense. (And it didn't even play Georgia.) The Dores got only two interceptions the whole season. It was a nightmare of a year, with experienced players opting out or entering the transfer portal in midseason, and inexperienced and unprepared players being thrust unexpectedly into starting roles. It was set up for failure.

[Some of the blame for this can be placed at the feet of Malcolm Turner, IMHO, who forced Mason to fire both his coordinators at the end of 2019 in order to keep his job. OC Gerry Gdowski badly needed to go, but forcing Mason to fire DC Jason Tarver was never going to end well. Mason turned over everything to Ted Roof, who changed the scheme and was unpopular with the players, leading to the mass exodus of defensive players. A few weeks after doing this, Turner was gone-- but I digress.]

New DC Jesse Minter's job is to install a new scheme (which one player said is not that different from Mason's/Tarver's) using the players that stuck it out. The good news is, there is a lot of depth on the D-line. (Recruiting there is one thing Mason did pretty well toward the end.) There is some experience there (Daevion Davis, Malik Langham, Rashaan Wilkins) as well as some 2019 guys coming back (Elijah McAllister, who will try to fill Dayo's shoes), and some exciting newcomers like Nate Clifton, Marcus Bradley, and Ohio State transfer Alex Williams.

But linebacker and DB were both problem areas last year. We badly need team leaders Anfernee Orji and Dashaun Jerkins to have All-SEC type seasons if the D is going to make a leap. Getting B.J. Anderson back at corner should help a lot, but it remains to be seen what Minter's D will do against pass-happy teams. Last year Matt Corral was 31-of-34 against us; Connor Bazelak was 30-of-37; that's sick.

In July I listened to Minter do a presentation of what he hoped to do with this defense. The style will be very multiple, with a solid mix of 3-man and 4-man fronts, a mix of man and zone coverages and pressures. He stresses pursuit, solid tackling, and ball disruption (probably as all DC's do). But he brings four years of experience with the NFL's Ravens, as well as six years as a DC at lower-level schools. And he's the son of longtime Cincinnati Bearcats coach Rick Minter.

Here's a little-known fact: CB's coach LaMar Morgan was a defensive grad assistant on the James Franklin teams of 2012 and 2013, and the secondary play those years as I recall was outstanding. Morgan coached players like Andre Hal, Kenny Ladler, Trey Wilson, and Javon Marshall. There was great pride in that unit. So maybe there's reason to think Morgan can bring with him a little of the magic from those years.

[CPerk]

I feel they'll be greatly improved. Think this season will have us scratching our heads about the 'defensive genius' out on the plains.

[BrentVU]

Just for fun, here is a list of guys who played for Vandy last year on defense and opted to transfer or do a graduate year other places:

Tae Daley - projects as a starter at Virginia Tech (didn't play last year, but was on the fall roster)
Donovan Kaufman - likely starter at Auburn
Dontye-Carriere Williams - will play a fifth year at Texas State
Kenny Hebert - will play a sixth year at Arizona
Dimitri Moore - at Missouri State, two years of eligibility left
Frank Coppet - will play a sixth season at Murray State
Tre Douglas - at Coastal Carolina, two years of eligiblity left
Colin Anderson - entered the portal last September; not sure where he wound up, if anywhere.

You don't want to lay too much blame here; all these guys have their lives to live and personal decisions to make. But in my mind, collectively, it adds up to a significant loss of experience and leadership. If Vandy's defense struggles out of the gate this season, keep in mind: these guys could have helped.

*****
And that's just the defense. I'll also be watching to see what Keyon Henry-Brooks does at Louisiana Tech; and whether Ja'Veon Marlow lands somewhere. OL Devin Cochran is poised for a big senior season at Georgia Tech and is an NFL prospect.

[VandyPhile]

If I recall correctly, the decline in the defense coincided with the departure of Kaufman due to injury. He was very much a surprising presence (as a frosh) and huge disruptive force in the defense, as well as being stellar in punt returns.
Of everyone who left, I think he was the biggest loss.

[Seadog73]

Great write-up Brent, thanks!

[BILTMORE]

The Orji brothers are two highly recruited and talented LBs. If they live to potential, look out.

I'm extremely high on McCallister and it sounds like the coaches are as well. He missed most (all? ) of last year, but I think he would've had a break out year last year. I think we're going to like him a lot this year.
I also like Owusu. He's tall and has a little nasty in him. I think with the extra physical maturity, he'll be ready to do battle in the SEC and make a bigger impact.
Meanwhile it sounds like Afemui (who's logged some quality minutes) is stepping up his game and Ethan Barr played a bunch as a Freshman so again, a little older and bigger and he could be very productive for us. Also don't sleep on MIchael Spencer. He played in a few games a freshman and he's big: 6'4" 260!

Then I really like our D-linemen. Davis, Langham, Wilkins, Clifton, Green, Reitmeier are stout guys with experience but I'm interested in the freshmen Sugick and of course our big get Bradley

So I think our front 7 should be solid to very good. To me, the success of this defense all hinges on the defensive backfield.

[doredane]

The Orji brothers are two highly recruited and talented LBs. If they live to potential, look out.

I'm extremely high on McCallister and it sounds like the coaches are as well. He missed most (all? ) of last year, but I think he would've had a break out year last year. I think we're going to like him a lot this year.
I also like Owusu. He's tall and has a little nasty in him. I think with the extra physical maturity, he'll be ready to do battle in the SEC and make a bigger impact.
Meanwhile it sounds like Afemui (who's logged some quality minutes) is stepping up his game and Ethan Barr played a bunch as a Freshman so again, a little older and bigger and he could be very productive for us. Also don't sleep on MIchael Spencer. He played in a few games a freshman and he's big: 6'4" 260!

Then I really like our D-linemen. Davis, Langham, Wilkins, Clifton, Green, Reitmeier are stout guys with experience but I'm interested in the freshmen Sugick and of course our big get Bradley

So I think our front 7 should be solid to very good. To me, the success of this defense all hinges on the defensive backfield.

I noticed a few days ago that Reitmeier wasn't on the roster. Not sure what is going on there.

[alathIN]

If I recall correctly, the decline in the defense coincided with the departure of Kaufman due to injury. He was very much a surprising presence (as a frosh) and huge disruptive force in the defense, as well as being stellar in punt returns.
Of everyone who left, I think he was the biggest loss.

Agree, just would ammend to say Kaufman and McAlister were the two biggest losses. McAlister is another disruptive force and the defense missed him when he was injured.

[BrentVU]

'm extremely high on McCallister and it sounds like the coaches are as well. He missed most (all? ) of last year, but I think he would've had a break out year last year. I think we're going to like him a lot this year.
I also like Owusu. He's tall and has a little nasty in him. I think with the extra physical maturity, he'll be ready to do battle in the SEC and make a bigger impact.

Another guy not to "sleep on" is De'Rickey Wright. I think he'll be the guy at that new Anchor position in the 4-2-5; if not him, probably Owusu.

So I think our front 7 should be solid to very good. To me, the success of this defense all hinges on the defensive backfield.

Yep! This is probably the place where recruiting under Mason has been most deficient. We just haven't recruited the kind of elite corners that the elite programs all seem to have.

[wbl]

I guess I'll agree to disagree everyone knows our last coach was a defensive genius!

[commadore]

I guess I'll agree to disagree everyone knows our last coach was a defensive genius!

[BrentVU]

One other ex-Commodore on another college's roster is Mo Hasan at USC... here's what he looks like in cardinal and gold...

https://usctrojans.com/sports/football/ ... asan/12087

Unfortunately, Hasan tore his ACL in the spring game and will likely miss this season.

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/04/19/u ... -torn-acl/

Hasan is a grad transfer who got his degree from Vandy in 2020.