On Thursday, Dec. 21, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko took another critical step toward finishing his 2024 staff, hiring former Florida inside linebacker coach Jay Bateman as the program’s new defensive coordinator.
While the initial reactions to Bateman’s hiring have been varied, any negative feelings likely stem from a lack of understanding regarding the veteran assistant’s scheme, which, on its face, is very similar to what Mike Elko deployed as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator from 2018-2021.
Spending just two seasons (2022-2023) under Florida head coach Billy Napier, it was Bateman’s successful four-year stint as Army’s defensive coordinator that led to an incredible turnaround, taking the Black Knights from 81st defensive ranking to 9th in the county during the 2018 season.
One of the highlights of Bateman’s time at West Point came against the then-quarterback Kyler Murray led Oklahoma Sooners, presenting one of the only challenges in limiting the prolific air raid offense to 355 total yards. Due to his efforts, Bateman was named as a finalist a finalist for the Broyles Award (top assistant coach in college football) in 2018.
On paper, Bateman’s 4-3 scheme focuses on producing negative plays (tackles for loss) and preventing explosive plays in the passing game while not sacrificing players in coverage, mainly rushing just four to five defenders. During the 2019 Angelo Football Clinic, Bateman, going into his first season as North Carolina’s DC (2019-2022), explained his philosophy, which he has implemented throughout his coaching career.
“It’s simple math – every time you add one more rusher, you take away from the coverage,” Bateman stated. “So if you’re rushing four and dropping seven, you can play all of the coverages known to man. If you rush five and drop six, well, now there’s starting to be holes in the coverage. And then if you rush six, now there’s major holes in the coverage …
“It’s my job to try to find a way to bring the least amount of players and have the most in coverage and create the most havoc.”
Knowing that Bateman will now possess the athletes to run this scheme properly, Mike Elko’s heavy influence, especially on third down, should make his job easier while calling defensive plays for the first time in three years.
Again, nothing is set in stone, but limiting big plays to make an opposing offense drive the field is much more sustainable than simply recording sacks at a sporadic rate, as A&M’s struggles in pass coverage were never truly covered up by the productive pass rush when it mattered during the 2023 season under then-defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin.
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