DeBerry's Strikes Are More Than Just Hits

Last season's 41-34 victory over Missouri in overtime stuck out for a number of reasons amidst Boston College's 2021 football season. It was the program's first win over an SEC opponent in over 20 years, and it moved the Eagles to an undefeated, 4-0 record for the first time in 15 years. That it occurred before a sellout crowd heightened the moment, and many of the Eagles' faithful stormed the field as head coach Jeff Hafley punctuated the win with his pride for his team and his adopted city and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

That game offered an electric atmosphere, but two plays stuck out from BC's defensive performance against quarterback Connor Bazelak. Somewhat ironically, neither was Brandon Sebastian's interception to seal the victory in overtime, and both occurred with the Tigers running the exact same play out of an identical formation.

Both involved Bazelak operating a play action fake to his running back before looking downfield for a receiver. In each instance, he shrugged a glance to the receiver who swung out of the backfield before throwing to his receiver. In the second quarter, he delivered a 16-yard completion to JJ Hester that moved Mizzou into BC's red zone, but in the third quarter, the result was very different after defensive back Josh DeBerry read the play and adapted from the earlier success.

DeBerry didn't bite on the second play, and he stayed back in the defensive backfield to cover a receiver. He opted to cut off the throw instead of attacking the backfield, and he leapt into the air as Bazelak put a little too much air under the throw. He came down with the interception, and that adjustment stood out the next day when Hafley broke down the game.

It was that kind of play that illustrated exactly how BC's defense evolved over the course of a full game, but it's that kind of play that illustrates more why Josh DeBerry is one of the most feared predators roaming ACC defensive backfields as the 2022 season draws closer to its start.

"His development, from a read standpoint, from a hit standpoint, from a tackle standpoint, and most importantly from a human standpoint, has matured," Hafley said last week, "and he's become a leader. There's a level of seriousness and focus about him right now that he needed to get to. I've seen him grow up, which is one of the cool things about being a college coach. When he came here, he was injured, but I've seen him become a good football player, and now I've seen him grow into one of our leaders."

DeBerry's development has long been a source of pride within the Boston College coaching staff, but last season played on those themes when the Eagles built a defensive backfield around his presence. He earned All-ACC Second Team honors for the first time in his career and finished the season with starts in each of his 10 appearances. His 53 tackles included a team-high eight tackles-for-loss, and the pick against Missouri was one of two interceptions he grabbed against opponents, while he later had a career-best 10 tackles in BC's bowl-clinching win against Georgia Tech.

That it built on his sophomore year performances helped convert BC's defense into a new base model after he was an All-ACC Honorable Mention in 2020. The modern game itself shifted over the past 10 years to include a larger presence in the defensive backfield, but the Eagles almost always appeared in a base 4-3 model prior to Hafley's arrival. As DeBerry improved as both a hitter and a coverage defensive back, he morphed into the nickelback that was central to the installation of a five-back formation.

"He's instinctive and tough," Hafley said. "He can tackle, and he sees [the play] well. Now he's learned how to study the game, and he's taken a more serious approach. That's a violent guy. He's not afraid of anything, and he plays the game that way."

The nickelback itself is a unique position because it combines the coverage abilities of lockdown cornerbacks with the physical, hard-hitting nature of safeties and linebackers. Where traditional corners draw outside assignments against downfield threats, nickels find themselves protecting the middle against both smaller, shiftier slot receivers and larger, bulldozing tight ends.

They often replace linebackers in the formation, and in four-down or three-down sets, defenses trust nickels to both rush the passer and cover over the top. Their flexibility then requires them to develop the ability to alternatively run downfield in between delivering feared, bone-crunching hits while simultaneously trusting their mentality to know the difference between the two situations.

"I just do whatever the coaches need," DeBerry said. "Whether it's nickel or corner or some safety play here and there, whatever the case may be like, I just pride myself on being able to do everything. Whether it's covering or tackling, it's not just being a jack of all trades; it's being a jack of all trades to do whatever I need to do to help this team out."

The role itself increased in regularity and popularity when more offenses went to formations with three, four, or even five wideouts on a regular basis, but DeBerry grew into the role after matriculating to BC as a consensus three-star recruit. He wasn't undersized, but his methods of finding more punch in his hits turned him into a feared hitter by the end of his freshman year. He earned two starts, and his propensity for the big hit earned him a reputation as a player to watch.

He just had to mature into a player who did more than run over opponents, and Hafley and position coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim seemingly found the formula over the last two seasons. They continually stressed the need to finish violently, but they tempered it opposite a meaning that included fundamental tackling. It was more than simple hitting, they said, and unleashing a hard tackle at a high rate of speed with heightened agility and vision required intelligence and awareness to harness strength and horsepower.

"With today's football, it's a little harder not to just put your head down and try to run into somebody," DeBerry said. "You think about it as you're trying to make a tackle or a good hit. You try to make [ball carriers] fumble, but at the same time, you're trying to make sure you're going to be able to play the next snap. There's a fine line, and there's still a little gray area, but that's our coaches doing a good job of teaching us how to tackle with our heads up to see what we hit, rather than just [leading] with our heads."

DeBerry's Strikes Are More Than Just Hits

Players Mentioned

Josh DeBerry

Brandon Sebastian

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