A take on the Don Brown defensive philosophy from the Coaches Clinic, FWIW

Knowing Don Brown, probably to apply pressure!

Hard to tell with BC.  Clemson put up 30+ on them last year (as they did on Alabama BTW).  

Do you consider teams like FSU tempo?  Not sure if I do.  BC shut them down, FWIW.

It's not like he's faced a slew of tempo teams to evaluate against.

It may be more instructive to see how he did at some of his earlier coaching stops. 

 

Best counter to tempo is to never let them get going.  Like a 240lb RB, you hit them behind the line of scrimmage and they are much easier to stop.  Up tempo offenses have a philosophy very similar to Brown's for defense, impose their will on the opponent, get them uncomfortable and reacting instead of playing their game. 

 

Edit:  Just looked it up, and according to S&P tempo stats, the two fastest teams they played were Duke (15th), and Clemson (10th).  They gave up 34 to Clemson, but it appears they got beat by deep passes from far superior athletes.  Only 3.1 ypc and lots of 25+ yard completions.  Duke they held to 9 points with .9 ypc but Duke had a below average offense even though they were relatively high tempo. 

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth

Depends on the tempo. Most teams that run tempo just hurry to the l.o.s. to prevent defensive substitutions, then stand around waiting for the play call based on the defensive alignment. Brown has typically shown flat or neutral looks to the offense, then waited for their play call to come in, and right before the qb claps the defense shifts and lines up tight. He still uses a lot of misdirection in his final lineup before the snap, as well. Blitzing guys will fall into coverage, press corners will blitz, linemen will stunt. Speed and execution are what set his defenses apart. They all seem to be very fast and very disciplined, so a speed offense looks pretty one dimensional by comparison.

which was hugely compounded by the fact that RR's defense couldn't stop anybody with a pulse.

physically dominant defenses manhandle the O

And, boiled to its essence ... defensive penetation and disruption of the play before it can take shape.  True in college; true in the NFL.  The offensive counter is to get the ball out before the penetrating defensive player can disrupt the play (see Brady, Tom).

I think this is why dominant defensive linemen are so valued nowadays.  And why QBs that have quick releases are so valued.

The problem there, is that Rich Rod recruited micro-athletes. Even when he recruited OL (which was rare), they were often undersized. Having athletes with any type of decent size was an issue under RR. So it was easy for our lines to be manhandled. Ohio State for example, runs a power spread. Sure, they'll spread the field on you. But they'll do so behind a team of 4/5* linemen at 310+ lbs and throw a 230 lb RB at you to boot. By the time you try to manhandle the line, the back has already run you over. Indiana is similar. Not as highly athletic, but they'll still spread you out and throw a 230 lb RB at you. To put it simply, there's a difference between Fitz/Vincent Smith running at you, and Elliot/Howard. So it was much easier to simply man handle RR's offenses than it is to manhandle the spreads of the Big Ten today. They may all be spreads by name, but they are vastly different.

Yeah, I love it too. It's playing Defense with an Offensive mindset. They'll be on their heels, trying to stop what we're doing instead of implementing their own gameplan. I can't wait to see it fully operational.

I don't think the word impressive does justice to what is coming...

 

Maybe the term "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" defense might work here?  This defense has the potential to be one of the best in Michigan/collegiate history.

 

I feel like if Jeff Spicoli ever played college football this would be the team for him.

Love this.

it would be like drinking from a shot glass.

When you see a skull do you assume it's a male?