Tag: Todd Orlando

How bad is Nick Saban’s Alabama offense? Clay Helton’s former defensive coordinator stopped it

Remember how bad Todd Orlando was at USC? Orlando, whose South Florida defense struggled in Weeks 1 and 2, shut down Bama in Week 3.

This is like saying a dentist can’t figure out how to treat a cavity. This is like saying a doctor doesn’t know whether a patient has a cold or a fever. This is like saying a judge doesn’t know what the actual law of his jurisdiction is. It’s shocking and wild, but it’s true: Alabama coach Nick Saban, regarded by many as the greatest college football head coach of all time and undeniably a brilliant architect of the modern Alabama football dynasty, couldn’t figure out how to solve a defense coached by Clay Helton’s former failed defensive coordinator at USC, Todd Orlando.

It’s a plain fact. Saban and Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees went up against South Florida and its Orlando-led defense this past Saturday. Alabama won the game, but only because the Crimson Tide allowed only three points to the Bulls’ offense. The Alabama offense played terribly. Todd Orlando had a great day in Tampa, as USF bottled up Bama for 60 minutes.

USA TODAY Sports did not have good news for Alabama in its re-ranking of every FBS team.

We have facts, notes, and reactions from the public after a terrible (and hard to watch) but truly remarkable football game in which Clay Helton’s former assistant made Nick Saban look bad:

Five potential names to consider for defensive coordinator

Could one of these coordinators get the call from Brian Kelly?

The clock is ticking on Brian Kelly to finalize his staff and get to work on the 2022 recruiting class and beyond.

The names we heard for both offensive and defensive coordinators both decided to stay in South Bend with the Fighting Irish. This isn’t unheard of, when Nick Saban left for LSU none of his coordinators followed him to Baton Rouge. I think he did alright for himself.

The names outside of Marcus Freeman that will be discussed at defensive coordinator include current Texas A&M DC Mike Elko. He has a history with Brian Kelly from his time at Notre Dame. It might be a long shot to see him leave the Aggies but as we know, money talks.

Here are five names to consider.

5 possible candidates for defensive coordinator at Penn State

5 possible candidates to replace Brent Pry as Penn State’s defensive coordinator

For the first time since becoming a head coach, James Franklin is searching for a new defensive coordinator. Franklin’s long-time defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, accepted an opportunity to become a head coach with Virginia Tech and that leaves a big hole on Franklin’s staff he has never once had to fill during his years as a head coach. Pry was on Franklin’s staff with at least a share of the defensive coordinator responsibilities since Franklin’s first year as a head coach at Vanderbilt, and Pry followed Franklin to Penn State to continue leading the defense.

But with Pry off to Blacksburg, and possibly taking a couple of assistants and staffers with him, Franklin must find a new coach to lead the defense in 2022. And, if history is any indication, Franklin will have some interesting names worth considering for Pry’s successor in Happy Valley. There is even a chance the next defensive coordinator could already be on the staff, but there could be some names worth exploring from outside of the Penn State football family as well.

Here are five names Penn State fans will likely be hearing about to some degree or another as Franklin looks to find his next defensive coordinator.

Texas Football: Xavion Alford commits to USC

Texas Longhorns freshman safety Xavion Alford recently put his name in the transfer portal. On Friday, he announced where he would go.

Recently 2020 safety signee Xavion Alford decided to throw his name into the transfer portal. Reports being that he was unhappy that the Texas Longhorns staff were pursuing a defensive back in the transfer portal. Alford was the No. 8 safety in the country according to 247Sports composite rankings.

Alford will now head to the USC Trojans to join with former Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.

“USC had a great year in my eyes making it to the PAC-12 championship,” Alford said. “Although they came up short, they played great and showed flashes of becoming a problem In college football. I’m glad I get to add to that problem.” – Alford to 247Sports

There was some hope that the Longhorns could talk Alford into staying with Texas but he opted to head out west and announced it on Friday morning. Another talented member of the 2020 recruiting cycle heads to the Pac 12 Conference much like Ja’Quinden Jackson, who is now at Utah.

With Alford gone, plus Chris Brown and Caden Sterns heading to the NFL, the Longhorns have some soul-searching to do at the position ahead of the 2021 football season. Who will be in the mix at safety? B.J. Foster, Jerrin Thompson, and others currently on the roster will be in the mix. Don’t rule out 2021 signee J.D. Coffey to try and work his way into the rotation.

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Texas Longhorns Football: Missed tackle numbers are alarming

The Texas Longhorns defense has been an issue for years. Under Chris Ash hasn’t improved. Until it does, this team won’t contend.

The Texas Longhorns struggles for years have come on the defensive side of the ball. While the defense played much improved against the Oklahoma Sooners, their red zone defense is cause for concern. On the season they sit 38th in total defense. They are giving up 400.3 yards per game and have surrendered 18 touchdowns through three games essentially. Out of the 76 FBS teams that have played this year, the Longhorns rank 66th in scoring defense.

Year Total Defense Rank Scoring Defense Rank
2017 365.6 41st 21.2 29th
2018 392.8 67th 25.9 57th
2019 431.5 97th 27.5 65th
2020 400.8 38th 36.3 66th

For the Longhorns defense, they have given up 36.3 points per game and that includes limiting UTEP to just three points. If you remove that game and focus just on the conference games, Texas is giving up 47.3 points per game. That is the third worst total in FBS. The 53 points against Oklahoma could be skewed given the two teams went to four overtimes to achieve that goal. Removing overtime periods, Texas is surrendering 40 points per game which is the 10th worst total.

So how did we get here? Well head coach Tom Herman mentioned in his Monday press conference that the team needs to be better with their red zone defense. While that is commendable, they need to focus on not allowing opponents into the red zone to begin with. The defense has had issues with allowing chunk plays and it starts with tackling ball carriers at the first opportunity.

Herman’s former boss Urban Meyer stated on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff that when you allow double-digit missed tackles, the win probability plummets. For the Longhorns this has been an issue before Herman arrived, but it hasn’t been trending in the right direction. In 2017 the first year under Herman the team had their best missed tackle numbers. That year they also surrendered the fewest points per game. In most cases they have been around league average but that can’t be something that is allowed to continuously happen.

Year Ash Longhorns Big 12 Average
2014 111 132 128.4
2015 85 130 132.9
2016 136 125 135.1
2017 117 92 121.7
2018 108 139 140.5
2019 121 157 141.8
2020 150* 60 32.6

*denotes a projected total for a 10-game schedule

The missed tackle numbers are provided by Pro Football Focus premium stats. As a whole, Chris Ash’s defenses have performed better than the Longhorns dating back to 2014 when he joined Ohio State. The first year with Todd Orlando at the helm it was better, however it has been a steady decline. This year Texas is on pace to matching the 2019 total in less games, even surpassing 2018 when the team played in 14 games with a Big 12 Championship and bowl game.

While the defense as a whole hasn’t been up to expectations, this is one area that needs to be improved immediately. If the Longhorns can limit those second and third chances by ball carriers on missed tackles, maybe then the defense can be more of an improved unit. If the goal is to be on the level of an Alabama or even Ohio State, those missed tackle numbers need to be closer to 99 or less. Thats what they accomplished in 2019 and both were playing in the College Football Playoffs.

 

Texas ranked a top 20 underrated defense by 247Sports

247Sports comprised a list of underrated defenses in the country. They say UT was not one of the worst in the country as it seemed.

Texas’ defense struggled mightily last season, surrendering 27.5 points per game. Injuries did not help the Longhorns, who were also thin across the front seven.

Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was fired at the end of the season, leaving Tom Herman with his first major hire as head coach. He retained former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash, who had been with the team as an analyst.

247Sports compiled a list of the most underrated defenses in the country, naming the Longhorns. While they do not say Texas has an elite defense, the website says it was not one of the worst in the country as it seems.

Elliott’s take: “Texas’ defense was not good in 2019 by any measure. And the performance resulted in a change in coordinator, as Todd Orlando is out and Chris Ash is in. But was the Texas defense really as bad as its 97th ranking in yards/game allowed suggests? YPP says yes, as the Longhorns finished 98th! But SP+ tells a different story. The reason is clear when perusing the schedule. Texas had to play a standard slate of opposing Big 12 offenses plus a game against LSU, perhaps the most dominant offense in college football history. It did not do a good job against that slate, but in no way should the Texas 2019 defense be regarded as one of the worst in the country. It was simply an average unit.”

The 2020 skinny: Not to make excuses for the Longhorns, but Texas rarely played with a full deck defensively last season. With a plethora of starters back in 2020, this should be Tom Herman’s strongest unit on defense during his tenure.

Returning nine starters is going to be the biggest key for Ash’s defense this season. Stars such as Caden Sterns, Joseph Ossai, and D’Shawn Jamison are waiting to break out in their junior season.

Ossai will be the leader of the defensive line, the unit that will determine the improvement for the defense. Texas’ pass rush only produced 27 sacks, sixth in the Big 12. Five of them came against Utah in the Alamo Bowl, totaling for 18% of their season tally in one game.

With Sam Ehlinger going into his senior year, the Longhorns’ offense is going to be consistent under new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. If Texas wants to finally compete atop the Big 12, Chris Ash must turn the defense around.

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How much better can the Longhorns defense be in 2020?

With Chris Ash taking over the defense, just how much better can they be? We took a look at Ash’s previous gigs for an answer.

In 2019 it wasn’t the Texas Longhorns offense that was a huge problem for the team, it was the defense. Led by defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, the team finished 65th in the nation in total defense. That is smack dab right in the middle of 130 teams. This is according to Sports-Reference. The year prior the Longhorns were 58th and in Herman’s first year in Austin they were 30th.

Each season under Orlando, the teams defense was worse than the year before. An obvious issue that the Longhorns had to rectify, their only choice was to relieve Orlando of his duties. In response the defense allowed just 10 points to the Utah Utes, 126 yards passing and 125 yards rushing. Not to mention they sacked the quarterback five times while allowing a QBR of just 26.5. So can they tap into that performance in 2020?

Chris Ash was brought in to fix the defense. One unit with talent at all three levels but just haven’t been able to consistently put it all together. If you look at the last four year under Ash, his defense at Rutgers didn’t do much better.

Year Total Defense Ranking
2016 116th
2017 76th
2018 89th
2019 123rd

After seeing a huge increase between 2016 and 2017, Ash’s defense at Rutgers fell into a tailspin. Coming in as one of the worst defenses last season. One could argue that the level of talent at Rutgers isn’t near the talent at Texas. The average recruiting class talent for the Longhorns finished with an average recruiting ranking of 91.71 in the Herman era. In that same timeframe, Rutgers finished with 84.28. Will the level of talent make a difference for Ash?

At Ohio State where Ash was co-defensive coordinator from 2014-15, their defense finished 26th and 3rd in total defense. The level of talent between Ohio State and Texas is much closer. The Longhorns have had a top 10 recruiting class each year of the Herman era so one can argue the gap isn’t too large. Development will be key.

Going back to 2011 when Ash first received a defensive coordinator role with the Wisconsin Badgers, his defense finished 13th and 17th. He would join the staff at Arkansas for one season before joining Herman at Ohio State. With the Razorbacks they finished 88th.

Overall when you look at his stops, where there is tremendous talent Ash has done well with three top 20 defenses. Bringing the Longhorns up from 65th last season doesn’t feel like insurmountable odds. Ash has experience working with top pass rushers as well.

At Wisconsin he coached the eventual NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt and at Ohio State he coached Joey Bosa. One should believe that if he can tap into the potential of Joseph Ossai that this defense will be much closer to a top 20 defense than they are now.

Texas Defensive Coordinator Chris Ash among most important hires

New Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Chris Ash named the sixth-most important hire this offseason by Football Scoop.

Football Scoop writer Zach Barnett is writing a series of the 20 most important hires in college football. At number six he listed new defensive coordinator, Chris Ash. Head coach Tom Herman brought Chris Ash on after relieving Todd Orlando of his duties prior to the Valero Alamo Bowl against Utah. Ironically enough, Orlando made the list of most important hires at number seven.

So why is Ash so important to the success of Texas?

You never want to draw too many conclusions off of one game, particularly a game where the coach we’re talking about didn’t even coach. But let’s examine the 2019 Alamo Bowl.

As the clock (literally) wound down on the worst decade in the program’s modern history, Texas put together one of its best defensive performances of the 2010s. The ‘Horns limited Utah to 3.5 yards per rush, 5.5 yards per pass attempt, collected five sacks, racked up 21 yards in TFLs on rushing downs, won 10 of 14 third downs, permitted just 15 first downs and just generally kicked tail in a 38-10 win.

After playing off the ball all season, rising junior Joseph Ossai generated first-round hype in moving to an edge position in the ‘Horns’ new 4-down front, earning game MVP honors with nine tackles, six TFLs and three sacks.

The Longhorns were in desperate need of a change. The team made the Sugar Bowl the year prior and defeated a very talented Georgia Bulldogs team that was coming off a National Championship appearance the year prior. It was clear that Orlando had worn out his welcome. Following the season, defensive lineman Malcolm Roach claimed that the scheme under Orlando who came over with Herman from Houston actually did the team a disservice.

That style of play didn’t transfer to the NFL and the NFL didn’t understand what type of player this guy was. Or what type of player they would be getting because of the scheme we ran. I just feel 3-4 didn’t let us showcase our abilities the way we wanted to. But we understood why we were running it. I feel the 4-3 will help those guys to show their talents and more people will come out of Texas.”

We have already heard about the changes on the defense with DeMarvion Overshown moving from his safety spot to the weakside linebacker. Joseph Ossai will move from linebacker to more of an edge rusher. In the game against the Utes, Longhorns staff and fans saw just how impactful he can be when getting into the backfield.

For this reason alone, the Ash hire is extremely important. With the offenses in the Big 12, the Longhorns need to find a way to slow them down a bit. With an emphasis on getting to the quarterback this offseason, the Longhorns defense could be a huge difference maker and the man leading that charge will be Chris Ash.

USC Hires Former Longhorn Assistant Craig Naivar

USC has hired former UT assistant Craig Naivar as their safeties coach. With UT, Naivar was the co-DC, safeties coach, and ST coordinator.

USC has hired former Texas assistant coach Craig Naivar as their safeties coach. With the Longhorns, Naivar spent time as the co-defensive coordinator, safeties coach, and special teams coordinator. He had been on Tom Herman’s staff since he was hired as head coach in 2017.

After firing Todd Orlando after the season, Naivar took over as the defensive coordinator for the bowl game against Utah. It was the best performance of the season for the Texas defense, only allowing 11 points to a high powered Utes offense.

Naivar follows Todd Orlando to Southern Cal as he was hired as their defensive coordinator earlier this month. It will be the pair’s sixth consecutive season working together, going all the way back to their time at Houston.

The Trojan defense struggled last season, giving up nearly 30 points a game. The USC pass defense was the main issue as teams were able to throw for 246 yards per game against them. Orlando and Naivar will have a big task on their hand, trying to turn around a struggling defense in 2020.

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Former Texas Defensive Coordinator Todd Orlando named USC’s DC

After being hired by Texas Tech to be the LB coach, Todd Orlando has been hired by USC as their DC. He will be replacing Clancy Pendergast.

Nine days after being hired by Texas Tech to be their linebackers coach, Todd Orlando has left the Red Raiders in favor of taking the defensive coordinator job at Southern California. This being his first job in the Pac 12, Orlando will be replacing Clancy Pendergast in Los Angeles.

The Trojans defense struggled in 2019, giving up 29.4 points per game this season. Giving up over 400 yards a game, teams were able to run all over USC last season, letting up 162.8 rushing yards per game. The final straw for Pendergast came in the bowl game against Iowa, where the Hawkeyes scored 49 points.

This will be Orlando’s fifth different defensive coordinator job. It will be an uphill climb for him though, as USC has had a difficult time recruiting, ranking 10th in the conference.

Hopefully for Orlando, his defense will suite the Pac 12 better than it did in the Big 12. The Trojans are a ticking time bomb, being on the brink of firing their head coach Clay Helton. If Orlando can improve the defense, maybe USC won’t have to make any of those moves.

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