By: Mike Brohard
There is a reason for new leadership in the Colorado State football offices.Two consecutive losing records will force a change at the top, and that will lead to some sweeping alterations. But not everything has to go in the recycle bin.
Quite the contrary from what Chuck Heater watched on film.
The Rams' new defensive coordinator paid particular attention to the final seven weeks of the 2019 season. What transpired in that time was a revitalized effort on defense as the Rams allowed 400 or fewer yards of total offense to opponents in that span. A single-season run like that had not occurred against FBS competition in Fort Collins since 1995.
"I watched a team the second half of the season play a Wyoming, an Air Force and a Boise, and they competed like crazy. They were tough, they were physical," Heater said. "It is a credit to the guys who were here before, and it was impressive to me. You've got a season that isn't going well, and you're not going to a bowl game, but guys are really competing. That's why I thought we had a decent chance on defense; it's yet to be determined."
Again, the numbers were better, but not everything was perfect. The Rams still allowed more than 30 points in three of those games, and when teams reached the red zone, the scoring percentage was too high, especially when it came to touchdowns.
But the effort, Heater and his staff can work with that. And the momentum, the players returning can ride that wave right into the teeth of a new defensive system.
"Most definitely. We consist of most of the same guys," said linebacker Dequan Jackson, the leading returning tackler with 87 stops. "It's a new system you have to learn, but at the end of the day, you have to make plays and do your job. I think that momentum has carried, and that's a great thing. We'll be good going into this year."
Feeling a sense of pride in one's work isn't something to mess with. The Rams have struggled on the whole defensively for a decade, but the end of 2019 represented a turn of the page. And Jackson is correct, a good chunk of the defense returns.
Starting with seven of the top 10 tacklers and six of the top 10 in regards to tackles for loss. Ellison Hubbard and Manny Jones represent 10 sacks. There are tools to work with. More than that, some pride.
As Hubbard noted, why there are new wrinkles to the defense, the core of defensive football has remained unchanged through the years. Using that as a base, picking up the new aspects has felt more like carryover, not an overhaul.
"We might have added an odd package in, but that's kind of the same as what we did last year," he said. "There's a difference, but it's still the same mentality – stop the run, get sacks, do what we have to do from keeping them from getting in the end zone.
"We already have most of the same stuff from last year implemented into this year's defense. There's not much of a gap we have to jump to get used to this defense."
Which pairs well with confidence. The pandemic abruptly cut the teaching moments of spring football in half. There have been starts and stops since a return, but the familiarity of it all can pay dividends. So too, can the attitude which developed the final two months of last season.
Feeling good can mean a lot, and Heater said the guys he inherited have good reason to puff their chests out and hold their heads high. The rest is up to him and the molding done by his staff.
It was a start in need of a continuation.
"That defense at the end of the season was an above-the-line defense, and now those guys are back," Heater said. "Our responsibility now is to carry the ball and take it one step further."
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