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Oregon Ducks’ new defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Eugene, having spent five years at Alabama under coach Nick Saban, as well as three years in the NFL.
However, he’s not looking to immediately implement the exact same defensive sets from his days with the Crimson Tide, but rather, he is looking forward to collaborating with the rest of the staff, including defensive guru and head coach Dan Lanning, while also getting a sense of this team’s personnel.
“Just the growth and understanding and what we did at Alabama, I think it’s a collaborative effort,” Lupoi said on Thursday after Oregon’s spring practice. “But what’s most important [sic] is not really who we want to be, but who we can be. So you know, it’s our job and what I think makes a great coach is assessing the personnel and not be doing something because your past system did or you know, past technique fundamentals. So that’s what we’re in the process of doing right now.”
Lupoi relished the opportunity to rejoin the college ranks after three seasons in the NFL with the Browns, Falcons, and Jaguars, and is happy to be back out west after beginning his career in California and making a stop in Washington as well.
Now he takes over a defense that returns star linebackers Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe, and Lupoi’s expertise should help turn this unit into one of the best defensive teams in the country.
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“So it’s a blast, you know, we’re finding out who we are and who we can be, rather than who you know,” Lupoi continued. “We’re not going to be the Atlanta Falcons or Cleveland Browns or Jacksonville Jaguars. We’re not going to be Georgia. We’ll be Oregon, and this is going to be our brand of football and we’re building that together right now.”
Lupoi did offer a little hint as to what the defense could look like, explaining his love for certain styles of applying pressure and blitzing the quarterback.
“We love simulated pressures. We love five-man pressures. We love blitzing, you know, we’re gonna drop eight. We’re gonna, you know, rush four so we’re going to be a versatile defense at the end of the day.”
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