Innovation comes from desperation, and in the offensive gauntlet that is the Big 12, it has created an evolutionary playground for defensive (and offensive) football. After the Sun Devils started to have success on the ground midway through the second quarter, USC started employing a 4-3 front at times. Thinking about becoming a VIP subscriber to Owls247? Theres no backside meetings. Orlandos defensive turnaround in Austin stems back to that interview in Columbus. There's no better way to demonstrate that than to look at howTexas defended the run. If you go out there and you dont know what youre doing after meeting with someone for seven months, that pretty much explains how much you care, Orlando said. He also spent two years covering preps for the Orange County Register and Torrance Daily Breeze. USC coach Clay Helton says hes noticed benefits from the Trojans unprecedented start to an unusual, pandemic-shortened season. Having a base, four-man pass-rush is less valuable for attacking any of those schemes, so Orlando determined that it was a worthy trade to give up a pass rusher up front in exchange for more coverage and blitz flexibility and disguise potential while also gaining a "free hitter" in the form of the robber. Like Iowa State, Texas has a three-safety Dime package that they utilize against pass-heavy offenses (think Kingburys Tech) or in obvious pass downs where Orlando wants to drop eight and flood the zones. One of those games came in a 13-10 victory over Texas. It was during his time at Utah that he learned to assemble the 3-4 pressure package that made him an attractive hire for Herman and then a successful coach at Houston. Scrimmages will be over. At Texas, Orlando oversaw a defense that improved from 80th to 24th in points allowed. What is the current state of play for one of the elite QB prospects on the board? Since L.T. Once the guard pulls (the 4is key), he can chase and climb to the mesh. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. But full contact could always force further change. Its a testament to what a normal offseason has done for second-year coordinator Todd Orlando and his ability to install the defense and instill the mentality he wants from his players. FAU brings back a solid core talented defenders in their front seven and have also added numerous former blue-chip transfers to solidify their front seven. When youre giving up that many rushing yards, thats not a good thing with us, Orlando said. Gone were the experienced players in the secondary who could force the quarterback to hold the ball for an extra second or two. That wasnt happening before Hermans arrival in Austin. Hell then put on a video with several examples. Except Hermans questions were constantly put on pause so that he, still serving as Ohio States offensive coordinator, could run out of the room to take care of some crisis or another as the Buckeyes prepared for the 2014 College Football Playoff final against Oregon. Until you go against live, at the end of the day youre not going to trick everybody in terms of your scheme, Orlando said. Heres the cool part about this, every night after practice we watch every rep of every play that we have. 16.2ASU19.6Washington21.8Oregon23.0Utah23.2OSU23.8Colorado24.8WSU26.5UCLA27.0Stanford27.3USC27.6Cal31.6Arizona, SportsPac12 (@SportsPac12) October 10, 2021. One need only look at Texas Oct. 21 matchup with Oklahoma State for an example. One of the areas in which Orlando has excelled as a teacher is in the art of disguising pressures and dictating to opponents with stop calls. USCs defense got two hits on Daniels and forced three incompletions on those three plays. He is the defensive coordinator at the University of South Florida . Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. In turn, this could mean the end of the road for Orlando in Southern California regardless of who takes the job as head coach of the Trojans. Pili underwent surgery last week on some broken fingers, which forced him to miss the game. There are a lot of questions about how the Trojans offensive line will perform, but having Brett Neilon at center and Alijah Vera-Tucker at left tackle should help. Most offensive schemes in the Big 12 didn't have many built-in answers for a versatile safety floating in the middle of the field and thwarting their route combos or coming unblocked against the run game. It comes as no surprise that in a league that is at the forefront of the evolution of the Spread would feature unique defenses within the league to counter the offensive onslaught. Practice your tail off and youre going to be playing on Saturdays. If you bring four and they have six back in there to block, its not good numbers for you especially if youre covering the heck out of everybody. Orlando said he's already adjusted his scheme, which relies on mixed fronts and aggressive blitzing, to fit USC's personnel. It took defenses a while to catch up, but Orlando is at the cutting edge with his defensive packages that can disrupt the process and even the playing field. USC, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Missouri each rushed 34-plus times against Texas but averaged only 4.2 yards per carry. Owl fans had seen this defensive scheme recently when defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer coached FAU in 2019 as part of the 11-3 Conference USA and Boca Bowl championship season. If the guard stays on the 4i (double team), both the Mike and Will are left free to flow with the play and what DC doesnt want is ILBs free-flowing to the ball? Todd Orlando (born March 24, 1971) is an American football coach. Snow, at his fifth FBS post as defensive coordinator, has evolved his scheme to become more multiple and detailed. Texas finished 7-5 and Orlando was fired as part of a staff overhaul. Thats where adaptability comes into play. The Times first reported his hiring Monday. We have the same mentality, Orlando said. Todd Orlando - MatchQuarters // #ArtofX Orlando sorts film breakdown by position. You have to use those guys. Todd Orlando seems very confident that the extra time they were afforded to work on film, to work on installing that scheme, really did help them. The Tite Front works because it forces the offense to bounce everything outside. With Drake Jackson now listed as a linebacker and primarily playing in a standup role, USCs base is essentially a 3-3-5. If that sounds like the start of a football romantic comedy, it isnt you wont find two more hard-nosed personalities than Orlando and Herman. LOS ANGELES Under normal circumstances, first-year USC defensive coordinator Todd Orlando would have just finished the in-person evaluation portion of the recruiting calendar. The way you practice is the amount of plays youre going to get. A good run defense has been a calling card of. On several occasions, the Trojans walked a safety up into the box, mainly Talanoa Hufanga, in order to have seven players near the line of scrimmage for run support. A safety begins with his role in installation before even glancing at another spot. In this particular instance shown above, the Jack backer walls the play by climbing to the RB. The notion that the Big 12 doesnt play defense is false. We see how he got his start c. Aggressive DCs like Orlando weren't having that for long, and his response is to teach his players to show a blitz to trigger the sideline glance and check from the offense before bringing another call entirely. - Rudolphs Cowboys managed a season-low 13 points (All-American wide receiverJames Washingtonmanaged just 32 yards in the win). Theyre helping us as a coaching staff and that stuff, you cant put a price on those things.. In the illustration above, the play side offensive tackle will either have to handle the 4i by himself or rely on the guard for a double team. Orlando used it during his media availability on Wednesday, too. While the scheme is expected to adjust, the possibility of changes to USCs defensive staff is still up in the air. He joined The Times after six years with the Southern California News Group. 2. At Utah State, where he worked in 2013 and 2014, Orlandos defenses also finished in the nations top 20 in fewest points allowed. Orlando's new USC defense set to debut after pandemic delays Hands-on coaching was limited to distanced learning. Orlando was fired by head coach Tom Herman on Dec. 1 and Naivar the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the Longhorns who has worked with Herman across four different stops (Sam. Since Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman dismissed defensive coordinator Todd Orlando two and a half months ago and even before, to some extent its become clear just how much defensive line recruits and players disliked the front used by Orlando in his 3-3-5 defense. Herman knew within 10 minutes of talking with Orlando hed found his defensive coordinator. Former Texas DE Malcolm Roach criticizes Todd Orlando's scheme The pairing, if things break right, could bring Texas back to where it expects to be annually. Junior Chris Steele was an unquestioned returning starter, whereas it was an open competition for the second job, with Isaac Taylor-Stuart seeming like the leader entering game week. The point behind that question is not that hard to grasp: Is a complex scheme necessary to give USC a winning edge, or should a simplified scheme be used in Week 1, to not load players with too many assignments, reads, or details? Youre in this area and theres some really good high school players in this area, the top guys. Yet, because of the way the Longhorns fly to the ball, it doesnt much matter that the numbers are pushed back. A look at how Texas defenders fit in Todd Orlando's scheme He brings a passion, energy, toughness and discipline to his coaching, Helton said, and those characteristics were evident in our discussions. But those arent the only areas that were to be evaluated starting Wednesday. And Charles Omenihu won the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year award in 2018 with 9.5 sacks playing in the same scheme that ultimately limited Orlandos last defense in Austin. A Pasadena native, he currently lives in the South Bay. Todd Orlando's defense has been getting exposed all year long Share this article 31 shares Matt Wadleigh October 13, 2021 4:15 am PT After the opening weekend for USC, things looked good for. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. Chase Williams has turned into a leader at the position while delivering physical blows when he attacks the ball. A simplified picture combined with an athletic QB who could improvise if things got hairy made the spread offense absolutely deadly. USC has officially found the new face of its defense. He was also inheriting a schedule that included Sam Darnold and USC, Jesse Ertz and Kansas State, Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma, Mason Rudolph and Oklahoma State, Kenny Hill and TCU, Will Grier and West Virginia and ultimately Drew Lock and Missouri -- essentially, some of the cream of the crop in terms of modern spread offense and spread quarterbacking. Herman wanted a coordinator capable of calling a multiple defense, and Orlando fit that bill. So no matter the look, USCs run defense needs to get better. The guy could be a linebacker coach. The odd front (three defenders) gave Orlando flexibility. Most people know what to expect from USCs offense from game to game. Orlando, 50, previously was a defensive coordinator at Texas Houston, Utah State . https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/2020/11/06/todd-orlando-vs-arizona-state-a-central-pregame-question-for-usc/. However, Orlando was stubborn in keeping his defensive ends playing heads up on opposing offensive tackles instead of giving them early-down opportunities from the five technique like James Lynch enjoyed at Baylor. (213) 740-4204. He finished with three tackles and one tackle for loss, which counts as a quiet night for the sophomore linebacker. Against the more run-heavy approaches from USC, Oklahoma and Kansas State, Orlando utilized his traditional blend of nickel defense, moving quarters coverages and zone blitzes. The inside LB corp consists of a Mike and what is referred to as a B backer. Through it all, Orlandos stayed on Hermans staff. But structurally, in our opinion, its still so sound.. . Preparing for his first season as defensive coordinator at No. The defense made the final stand to seal the victory, but it also gave up some big plays and surrendered 258 rushing yards to the Sun Devils. 3 overall pick),Baker Mayfield(No. From a core principle perspective thats not too far off. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Winter storms ease drought conditions in California, report shows, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78. This "lightning" package was built off a "robber coverage" and an alignment that looked like this: Basically, the Longhorns traded a man up front for the ability to play Cover 2 to either side of the formation with a "robber" in the middle who could read the play and then serve either as inside help against the dreaded double-post combinations that Oklahoma State liked to run or as an extra man coming just a touch late in the run game. Orlando first will bring up a picture to show the correct placement for a player. There were times when we said the same thing together at the same moment. How you practice around here is going to be how many reps you get, Orlando said. The Trojans results against Arizona State were mixed. What I think were all starting to learn defensively theres some four-down stuff thats really good but the number of people you can get off the ball based on how the offense is attacking can be advantageous to you.. Drake Jackson will man the hybrid outside backer position again this season. Or what type of player they would be getting because of the scheme we ran. As of Thursday morning, it has apparently filled out the rest of its coaching staffit has apparently filled out the rest of its But while Herman's motives started from a simple "What gave me fits as an offensive coach?" USC names Todd Orlando its new defensive coordinator in the 80s, most NFL defenses also carry a hybrid DE, regardless if basing out of a three or four-down defense. Gambling problem? If you take what he says at face value there, maybe they shouldnt be too worried about the additional wrinkles making things confusing or leading to miscommunications. Contact drills were reduced to virtual cues. In an effort to get more speed and versatility on the field, Orlando moved Jefferson to mac linebacker, inserted Johnson, a sprinter, at rover and replaced senior B-backer Naashon Hughes with a sixth defensive back. The Trojans were also missing Brandon Pili, an experienced senior who would have definitely been in the rotation, on Saturday. Find out which 3 #USC players go to the Bears in an NBC Sports Chicago mock draft. He knows the tendencies of the receivers, the quarterbacks, the linemen, what they have to offer. However, although Hill called Orlandos scheme gimmicky, thats not really true Baylor and Iowa State both had highly productive defenses in 2019 with similar schemes. In Orlandos scheme, the Mike is the plugger and will go away from the Nose. Orlando has always been multiple, but it seemed like in the end there was just too much going on which was evident by Head Coach Tom Hermans decision to go with Chris Ash as the DC who is known for a simpler style reflecting Ohio State (with more of a Quarters base). MQ takes a look at Texas 3rd Down pressure package versus Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The result was a hurried throw from Daniels, an incompletion on fourth down, and a victory for USC. The Longhorns sessions reflect that. Pac-12 reporter and columnist Jon Wilner, on the first episode of our USC Trojans: Wired Podcast, responded to those questions as follows: The two units that require the highest level of cohesiveness take quarterback out are the offensive line and the secondary. Herman isnt shy about issuing compliments to his defensive lieutenant. Defensive Coordinator & Linebackers. Orlando's rover is typically one of the team leaders in sacks as a result of this strategy. Though Todd Orlando's (DC, USC) time at Texas came to a screeching halt after the 2019 regular season, one thing is clear, the man can create pressure. 9 Texas hosts No. Before that, his inaugural Utah State defense ranked seventh in points allowed. I dont know how theyre going to play it, but thats going to be worth watching against a quarterback (Jayden Daniels) who is a veteran.. There has been a critical error on this website. The more you put in, the more you get out.. When interim defensive coordinator Craig Naivar finally allowed Ossai to play that role, Ossai produced three of his five sacks in the Alamo Bowl. But beyond those six players, USC has question marks. The coaches threw the entire . Thats important to me. The 2019 National Championship saw a battle of Spread teams that featured two of the most efficient offenses in the country (and two of the best QBs as well).