The Three Most Important Words
posted by Scott Hood on Sunday, January 27, 2008
But after eight years of serving as a defensive coordinator at two different SEC schools, he should.
In my opinion, Johnson is a good, solid defensive coordinator, and an excellent pick by Steve Spurrier to replace Brian VanGorder, who made a hasty retreat after less than a month on the job.
Johnson is not flashy or particularly charismatic, but the numbers over the course of his career show he knows how to get the job done.
This past season with Mississippi State was a perfect example.
The Bulldogs finished fifth in the SEC in total defense (331.8 yards per game) in 2007 and sixth in scoring defense (23.2 ppg), as well as third in pass defense (174.9 ypg).
Not overwhelming numbers, but pretty good.
If you’re looking for a reason why the Bulldogs won eight games this season, Johnson and the MSU defense were the primary reason.
The fact MSU went 8-5 despite have the least productive offensive unit in the SEC in terms of total offense (297.2 ypg) is a testament to the job Johnson did with the Bulldog defense.
All Steve Spurrier asks from his defense is finish in the top half of the league in the major categories. If you do, you’ll stay in his good graces. If you don’t, you’ll likely be shown the door.
USC? The Gamecocks were ninth in total defense (378.1 ypg) and 12th in rushing defense (209.3 ypg) this past season. That’s why Tyrone Nix is no longer the defensive coordinator for USC.
In the Liberty Bowl, the Miss. State defense rose to the occasion by limiting UCF running back Kevin Smith, the nation’s leading rusher, to 119 yards, nearly 70 below his season average.
The fact Miss. State went 20-30 in his four years in Starkville had little to do with the Bulldogs defense and a lot to do with an inept offense.
The bottom line is Ellis Johnson is a rock-solid football coach who focuses on the fundamentals and installs a system that allows his players to execute. In that regard, he’s not much different from new special teams coordinator Ray Rychleski.
Granted, Johnson won’t be as much fun watching on the sidelines as VanGorder would have been, since he doesn’t have that type of personality, but the results are comparable.
With most of its players returning, including Jasper Brinkley, I expect USC to be a solid defensive team next season.
But Johnson won me over during last Thursday’s hastily called press conference when, asked about his philosophy, he uttered the three most important words any defensive coordinator in the SEC can say. In short, he said he keyed on three things as a defensive coordinator:
1. Speed;
2. Speed;
3. Speed.
My response? Halleluiah.
One of Johnson’s best quotes came when he said, “You don’t win on defense with diagrams and playbooks.” In the SEC, that’s very true.
Instead, the formula for success in this league is tremendous speed combined with great athleticism, proper fundamentals and a good scheme. Johnson is an advocate of a seven man front (4-3 or 3-4 depending on personnel).
But, frankly, it’s all about the speed.
As in, if don’t have it, you’re sunk. If you haven’t gotten he message yet, just remember this simple piece of advice - the ‘S’ in SEC stands for speed.
Johnson summed it up this way: “It’s speed, fundamentals, proper pursuit angles and tackling, and the rest of it will take care of itself.”
That’s coachspeak for give me some guys who can run fast, fly to the football and tackle the right way and I’ll have a pretty good defense.
USC had decent team speed last year, but not enough to beat most SEC teams. That’s a major reason the Gamecocks went 3-5 in the conference for the second year in a row.
In case you haven’t noticed yet, this conference is all about speed on both sides of the football. The teams that possess the most speed typically are the ones that win the most ballgames.
And the SEC is, team-for-team, the fastest conference in the country.
Just how important is speed in the SEC? In my opinion, the USC coaches must ask themselves this question when they're deciding whether to offer a scholarship to a recruit - Is he fast enough to play in the SEC?
While there are certainly other qualities to consider, that question trumps all others.
I still vividly recall two years ago at SEC Media days when someone asked Florida head coach Urban Meyer what his number one priority for the Gators was. He didn't talk about winning championships.
He said he wanted Florida to become the fastest team in America.
There’s a good reason the SEC went 7-2 this past bowl season, the highest number of victories by a single conference in college football history.
Most teams in other conferences simply can’t keep up with the SEC in terms of overall team speed.
Just ask Ohio State if you don’t think speed matters. The last time I looked the Buckeyes are 0-9 all-time against SEC teams in bowl games.
But speed doesn’t just matter, speed kills.
Welcome to the SEC.
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It didn’t long to figure out Ellis Johnson gets it.
But after eight years of serving as a defensive coordinator at two different SEC schools, he should.
In my opinion, Johnson is a good, solid defensive coordinator, and an excellent pick by Steve Spurrier to replace Brian VanGorder, who made a hasty retreat after less than a month on the job.
Johnson is not flashy or particularly charismatic, but the numbers over the course of his career show he knows how to get the job done.
This past season with Mississippi State was a perfect example.
The Bulldogs finished fifth in the SEC in total defense (331.8 yards per game) in 2007 and sixth in scoring defense (23.2 ppg), as well as third in pass defense (174.9 ypg).
Not overwhelming numbers, but pretty good.
If you’re looking for a reason why the Bulldogs won eight games this season, Johnson and the MSU defense were the primary reason.
The fact MSU went 8-5 despite have the least productive offensive unit in the SEC in terms of total offense (297.2 ypg) is a testament to the job Johnson did with the Bulldog defense.
All Steve Spurrier asks from his defense is finish in the top half of the league in the major categories. If you do, you’ll stay in his good graces. If you don’t, you’ll likely be shown the door.
USC? The Gamecocks were ninth in total defense (378.1 ypg) and 12th in rushing defense (209.3 ypg) this past season. That’s why Tyrone Nix is no longer the defensive coordinator for USC.
In the Liberty Bowl, the Miss. State defense rose to the occasion by limiting UCF running back Kevin Smith, the nation’s leading rusher, to 119 yards, nearly 70 below his season average.
The fact Miss. State went 20-30 in his four years in Starkville had little to do with the Bulldogs defense and a lot to do with an inept offense.
The bottom line is Ellis Johnson is a rock-solid football coach who focuses on the fundamentals and installs a system that allows his players to execute. In that regard, he’s not much different from new special teams coordinator Ray Rychleski.
Granted, Johnson won’t be as much fun watching on the sidelines as VanGorder would have been, since he doesn’t have that type of personality, but the results are comparable.
With most of its players returning, including Jasper Brinkley, I expect USC to be a solid defensive team next season.
But Johnson won me over during last Thursday’s hastily called press conference when, asked about his philosophy, he uttered the three most important words any defensive coordinator in the SEC can say. In short, he said he keyed on three things as a defensive coordinator:
1. Speed;
2. Speed;
3. Speed.
My response? Halleluiah.
One of Johnson’s best quotes came when he said, “You don’t win on defense with diagrams and playbooks.” In the SEC, that’s very true.
Instead, the formula for success in this league is tremendous speed combined with great athleticism, proper fundamentals and a good scheme. Johnson is an advocate of a seven man front (4-3 or 3-4 depending on personnel).
But, frankly, it’s all about the speed.
As in, if don’t have it, you’re sunk. If you haven’t gotten he message yet, just remember this simple piece of advice - the ‘S’ in SEC stands for speed.
Johnson summed it up this way: “It’s speed, fundamentals, proper pursuit angles and tackling, and the rest of it will take care of itself.”
That’s coachspeak for give me some guys who can run fast, fly to the football and tackle the right way and I’ll have a pretty good defense.
USC had decent team speed last year, but not enough to beat most SEC teams. That’s a major reason the Gamecocks went 3-5 in the conference for the second year in a row.
In case you haven’t noticed yet, this conference is all about speed on both sides of the football. The teams that possess the most speed typically are the ones that win the most ballgames.
And the SEC is, team-for-team, the fastest conference in the country.
Just how important is speed in the SEC? In my opinion, the USC coaches must ask themselves this question when they're deciding whether to offer a scholarship to a recruit - Is he fast enough to play in the SEC?
While there are certainly other qualities to consider, that question trumps all others.
I still vividly recall two years ago at SEC Media days when someone asked Florida head coach Urban Meyer what his number one priority for the Gators was. He didn't talk about winning championships.
He said he wanted Florida to become the fastest team in America.
There’s a good reason the SEC went 7-2 this past bowl season, the highest number of victories by a single conference in college football history.
Most teams in other conferences simply can’t keep up with the SEC in terms of overall team speed.
Just ask Ohio State if you don’t think speed matters. The last time I looked the Buckeyes are 0-9 all-time against SEC teams in bowl games.
But speed doesn’t just matter, speed kills.
Welcome to the SEC.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.