Su’a Cravens was an All-American and two-time first-team All-Pac-12 linebacker at USC playing from 2013 through 2015. Currently he is a sports analyst for CBS 2 Sports Central with Jim Hill. He is a current member of the USC radio broadcast team. In a recent ESPN radio interview Cravens explained the differences he sees on defense that USC’s new defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn, has brought to the Trojans.
“At the spring game I saw upgrades on the defensive side. (Defensive backs) actually playing the hands of a wide receiver and not looking lost,” he said. “Guys lining up pre-snap showing coverage shells and not necessarily giving away the defensive call. Those are things we didn’t see a lot last year. Coach Lynn brings confusion; he has a special way of lining up in three, to four, five different formations a game. He runs a multiple defense, but you never know what coverage he’s in or what zone blitz he’s bringing.”
Lynn joined Chip Kelly’s staff as the defensive coordinator for the Bruins last year and turned around a defense that was near the bottom of the Pac-12. Lynn turned UCLA into one of the top defenses in the country. He did so even after getting a late start and joining the team in the spring. He explained after one practice during the Trojans’ spring camp that he was able to get the defense ready by following a very slow and methodical install of the core concepts of the scheme before adding wrinkles in fall camp and throughout the season.
Too often over the past two seasons, poor coaching and the defensive scheme left players not knowing coverages or assignments, making elite players look lost and producing some of the worst defenses in Trojan history.
Lynn’s keys:
-Keep offenses honest and off balance
-play fast
-let players make plays
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