Front Four Ready to Win the Line of Scrimmage
August 29, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC's defensive line ready to reignite its haunting ability for opposing quarterbacks.
One of the consistent messages throughout Boston College's preseason football camp centered around the concept of energy. Head coach Jeff Hafley made it well-known that he wanted his team to push the envelope when called upon, and the resulting schedule dialed up and dialed back the Eagles in a series designed to build the team's readiness for its season.
A great example of how the philosophy impacted a single unit came along the defensive line. It entered camp looking for a bounce back from its 2019 season, and with its position coach, Vince Oghobaase, running the show in drills, the front four are utilizing an attacking approach to revitalize its production.
"It's a clean slate," defensive tackle TJ Rayam said. "We have a chance to work with great defensive coaches who understand the game. From a defensive line standpoint, the techniques that we're learning, we can see it working at other levels. Everything that we're learning is working, and everybody is trying to get this playbook down to help us have a successful season."
Over the last decade, BC's defensive line was one of the most feared units in college football. Opponents respected its ability to strike fear into offensive drives, and a rotational lineage handed torches from Connor Wujciak and Truman Gutapfel to Harold Landry and Zach Allen. Interior linemen like Ray Smith clogged offensive lines, and the scheme and infrastructure disrupted backfields and drives.
It made 2019 all the more shocking when one of the nation's top sack units lost its signature explosiveness. The ability to consistently get to the quarterback evaporated, and numbers slumped as opposing offenses posted loud numbers. Signature moments existed, but they felt like flashes over consistency. By the end of the season, a stalwart defense took a step back and surrendered more than 30 points per game for the first time during the ACC era.
It didn't sit well with the personnel in the linemen room, and it's why Oghobaase started 2020 by reinforcing already-existing DNA. He emphasized the attacking mentality baked into each player and started with the basic understanding of the team's job role within the larger defensive effort.
"We focus on a lot of things (on the line)," Marcus Valdez said. "If we get the quarterback, that gets pressure off the secondary, and we can call different things. If we can't get to the quarterback, that gives (opponents) more time to throw. All of that is based on how good our rushes are and how well we're playing against the run. If we can reset the line of scrimmage two or three yards back, that gives us a little bit more freedom."
He then built off of those ideas by recognizing his own understanding of the position within the ACC and collaborating it within defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu's greater scheme. He harnessed the linemen by advancing their strengths and went to work building up the things they already did well.Â
"As a defensive line, we didn't understand the back end completely," Rayam said, "but now we have to know what the safeties are doing, how many are deep (in coverage), what their drops are. (The coaches) want us to understand every detail of the defense, so we understand how to do it faster."
"Something we need to do is maintain the pocket," edge rusher Brandon Barlow said. "We need to make (the quarterback) feel like he's throwing in a phone booth. Coach Vince stresses 'ball hand up' because we know that balls are out fast. So we want to get our hands up to bat the ball down. When it's third-and-long in man coverage, we have to go and get to the quarterback. We rush the ball. Our main goal is to get the ball. Every time I'm rushing, I'm targeting the ball.
"We want to use our quickness and speed to our advantage," he continued. "We need to have the violence and technique to (avoid having) hands on us. You don't want 300 pounds (of an offensive lineman) draped all over you. So if it's a swim move, swipe or a ghost, I like to get hands off and get to the quarterback - rip through and get hands off of me."
That meant further underlining quickness of players who lack a natural size. Rayam, for example, entered camp under 300 pounds, as did fellow tackles Kyiev Bennermon and Ryan Betro. Both Marcus Valdez and Brandon Barlow weighed in around 260 pounds to play an edge role, and graduate transfer Chubueze Onwuka stepped into a tackle role at 285 pounds.
"This is the best I've felt since I've been at BC," Rayam said. "This whole (time period), I came in every day to work as hard as I could with the strength staff. I'm seeing what happens if I put in work every day, and it's the best I've felt in years since I started playing football."
It highlights an individual's role within Jeff Hafley's concentrated approach to teamwork and how that intensifies across position groupings both on the field and in the film room. The head coach preaches partnership among players and coaches, which is why he sought to surround himself with staff members with whom he already fostered personal relationships. In Oghobaase, Hafley knew he had a defensive kindred spirit with a passion for the game.
"(We) were together in San Francisco my first year out there," Hafley said. "He was the assistant D-line coach, and he did a lot. He coached those D-linemen hard. He didn't care whether it was an All-Pro guy like DeForest Buckner or Arik Armstead or just a free agent. He would coach them all hard. He was very technical. He had a great relationship with those players. The players respected him. I sat in meetings with him, and he brought up great ideas (for the) pass rush or for stopping the run."
The biggest asset, though, is the team's energy and how it quickly gelled the linemen and their position coach. Like previous position coaches and coordinators, Oghobaase developed mutual respect with his charges in a way that pushed players beyond their limits. He improved the players techniques by coaching them up and pushing them beyond comfortable expectations.Â
In return, the players performed and produced immediate improvements. The dividends on the field fostered a willingness to continue pushing, and the two sides of player and coach just kept building throughout the entire camp process. It has them primed for a return to previous glories in 2020 with the expectation that 2019 would become an anomaly that never defined the legacy of the past decade.
"He gives energy every day," Barlow said. "He comes locked in, and he's ready to give us the most. As a player, I feel compelled to give it right back. Coach Vince loves to push us past where we're comfortable. He wants us to push to uncomfortability, and he's not willing to accept mediocrity. He wants us to reach our maximum potential, and I have a lot of respect for him."
"He's a really smart guy and a great human being," Hafley said. "I knew if I ever had a chance to hire a defensive line coach, he would be the guy I wanted to hire. When I got to Ohio State, all those guys spoke highly of him as well, so it just reaffirmed everything I thought about him in San Francisco. Now that I watch him every day on the field, he's an outstanding, outstanding football coach."
A great example of how the philosophy impacted a single unit came along the defensive line. It entered camp looking for a bounce back from its 2019 season, and with its position coach, Vince Oghobaase, running the show in drills, the front four are utilizing an attacking approach to revitalize its production.
"It's a clean slate," defensive tackle TJ Rayam said. "We have a chance to work with great defensive coaches who understand the game. From a defensive line standpoint, the techniques that we're learning, we can see it working at other levels. Everything that we're learning is working, and everybody is trying to get this playbook down to help us have a successful season."
Over the last decade, BC's defensive line was one of the most feared units in college football. Opponents respected its ability to strike fear into offensive drives, and a rotational lineage handed torches from Connor Wujciak and Truman Gutapfel to Harold Landry and Zach Allen. Interior linemen like Ray Smith clogged offensive lines, and the scheme and infrastructure disrupted backfields and drives.
It made 2019 all the more shocking when one of the nation's top sack units lost its signature explosiveness. The ability to consistently get to the quarterback evaporated, and numbers slumped as opposing offenses posted loud numbers. Signature moments existed, but they felt like flashes over consistency. By the end of the season, a stalwart defense took a step back and surrendered more than 30 points per game for the first time during the ACC era.
It didn't sit well with the personnel in the linemen room, and it's why Oghobaase started 2020 by reinforcing already-existing DNA. He emphasized the attacking mentality baked into each player and started with the basic understanding of the team's job role within the larger defensive effort.
"We focus on a lot of things (on the line)," Marcus Valdez said. "If we get the quarterback, that gets pressure off the secondary, and we can call different things. If we can't get to the quarterback, that gives (opponents) more time to throw. All of that is based on how good our rushes are and how well we're playing against the run. If we can reset the line of scrimmage two or three yards back, that gives us a little bit more freedom."
He then built off of those ideas by recognizing his own understanding of the position within the ACC and collaborating it within defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu's greater scheme. He harnessed the linemen by advancing their strengths and went to work building up the things they already did well.Â
"As a defensive line, we didn't understand the back end completely," Rayam said, "but now we have to know what the safeties are doing, how many are deep (in coverage), what their drops are. (The coaches) want us to understand every detail of the defense, so we understand how to do it faster."
"Something we need to do is maintain the pocket," edge rusher Brandon Barlow said. "We need to make (the quarterback) feel like he's throwing in a phone booth. Coach Vince stresses 'ball hand up' because we know that balls are out fast. So we want to get our hands up to bat the ball down. When it's third-and-long in man coverage, we have to go and get to the quarterback. We rush the ball. Our main goal is to get the ball. Every time I'm rushing, I'm targeting the ball.
"We want to use our quickness and speed to our advantage," he continued. "We need to have the violence and technique to (avoid having) hands on us. You don't want 300 pounds (of an offensive lineman) draped all over you. So if it's a swim move, swipe or a ghost, I like to get hands off and get to the quarterback - rip through and get hands off of me."
That meant further underlining quickness of players who lack a natural size. Rayam, for example, entered camp under 300 pounds, as did fellow tackles Kyiev Bennermon and Ryan Betro. Both Marcus Valdez and Brandon Barlow weighed in around 260 pounds to play an edge role, and graduate transfer Chubueze Onwuka stepped into a tackle role at 285 pounds.
"This is the best I've felt since I've been at BC," Rayam said. "This whole (time period), I came in every day to work as hard as I could with the strength staff. I'm seeing what happens if I put in work every day, and it's the best I've felt in years since I started playing football."
It highlights an individual's role within Jeff Hafley's concentrated approach to teamwork and how that intensifies across position groupings both on the field and in the film room. The head coach preaches partnership among players and coaches, which is why he sought to surround himself with staff members with whom he already fostered personal relationships. In Oghobaase, Hafley knew he had a defensive kindred spirit with a passion for the game.
"(We) were together in San Francisco my first year out there," Hafley said. "He was the assistant D-line coach, and he did a lot. He coached those D-linemen hard. He didn't care whether it was an All-Pro guy like DeForest Buckner or Arik Armstead or just a free agent. He would coach them all hard. He was very technical. He had a great relationship with those players. The players respected him. I sat in meetings with him, and he brought up great ideas (for the) pass rush or for stopping the run."
The biggest asset, though, is the team's energy and how it quickly gelled the linemen and their position coach. Like previous position coaches and coordinators, Oghobaase developed mutual respect with his charges in a way that pushed players beyond their limits. He improved the players techniques by coaching them up and pushing them beyond comfortable expectations.Â
In return, the players performed and produced immediate improvements. The dividends on the field fostered a willingness to continue pushing, and the two sides of player and coach just kept building throughout the entire camp process. It has them primed for a return to previous glories in 2020 with the expectation that 2019 would become an anomaly that never defined the legacy of the past decade.
"He gives energy every day," Barlow said. "He comes locked in, and he's ready to give us the most. As a player, I feel compelled to give it right back. Coach Vince loves to push us past where we're comfortable. He wants us to push to uncomfortability, and he's not willing to accept mediocrity. He wants us to reach our maximum potential, and I have a lot of respect for him."
"He's a really smart guy and a great human being," Hafley said. "I knew if I ever had a chance to hire a defensive line coach, he would be the guy I wanted to hire. When I got to Ohio State, all those guys spoke highly of him as well, so it just reaffirmed everything I thought about him in San Francisco. Now that I watch him every day on the field, he's an outstanding, outstanding football coach."
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