Gopher Football
Many of the problems on defense in recent years have been the result of a substandard pass rush. For those of you looking for any glimmer of hope, there is a little bit of that at defensive end. Steve Davis led the Gophers in sacks last year with six, despite being undersized at 230 pound, despite being a true freshman, and despite missing a couple games due to injury. Mr. Davis has a “˜big upside’ as they say, and he is the foundation that the Gopher defensive line will be built around the next few years. Opposite Davis will be sophomore Willie VanDeSteeg, another talented sophomore. Last season VanDeSteeg was not a starter, but he did see his playing time increase as the season wore on.
The presence of Davis and VanDeSteeg at defensive end appear to make Minnesota relatively solid there, but the trouble spot this spring is inbetwen those two at defensive tackle. The graduation of Anthony Montgomery & Mark Losli, past transfers and lost recruiting battles in recent years have left the Gophers razor thin at tackle. Senior Eric Clark will attempt to help fill the void this spring by moving from end to tackle. Clark is a little undersized for tackle, but the skills he has shown thus far as a Gopher suggest he might be a more effective player in the middle than the outside. His game experience makes him the most likely to emerge from spring as a starter. The other listed starter this spring is junior Todd Meisel. Meisel is a former walkon who has made great strides thus for in his career, and like most walkons the coaches are in love with his work ethic. Challening Clark and Meisel are junior Neel Allen and sophomore Nhemi Theodore. Even though Theodore could have the most talent of any of the Gopher tackles, it seems like he is always in the coaches doghouse. Allen will be in the mix after being stuck behind afore mentioned Montgomery and Losli for the last couple years. The best case scario for the Gophers this spring will be for Theodore to prove he is serious about competing, Allen to use his experience at this position to make some things happen, and for Clark and Meisel to respond to the challenge and work hard.
Back in the secondary there has been some shuffling going on. The most noticeable is the swaps of Trumaine Banks and Keith Massey between cornerback and safety. The move of Banks is a bit surprising considering he has been a starter at cornerback for three years, but as Mason alluded to in his press conference this week he made the switch to try and get the four most talented guys in the defensive secondary on the field. Banks will be competing with junior Dominique Barber for the starting free safety spot. What I like about this move is that it would give the Gopher safeties more of a pass defending presence at a position that has typically been more of a run stopper role.
Listed at first-string cornerback right now in place of Banks is redshirt freshman Keith Massey. Expect the coaches to give Massey every chance to keep the starting job. He is a talented kid with good size (6’1″ 200 lbs). Massey’s high school teammate Dominic Jones is back at strong safety after being prematurely pressed into that position last year. Jones was too young and inexperienced for any big expectations last year, but you have to admire his courage and confidence in the difficult situation. Expect much better things from young Dominic this spring.
All in all this could be the most young talent in the Gopher secondary in several years, but there is a lot of learning to do. Banks is the only senior of the bunch, but as of right now is listed as a backup to Dominique Barber. Hopefully the experience of the new secondary coach will accelerate the learning of the young guys this spring so the talent that is back there will be ready to shine by this fall.
Speaking of the new coaches, for the second year in a row the Gopher defense heads into spring practice with hopes of improvement under two new assistant coaches. After the end of 2005 season, outside linebackers coach Moe Ankeny retired and secondary coach Kerry Cooks took a similar position at Wisconsin. The two coaches who were hired to replace them are Mark Criner (linebackers) and Craig Bray (secondary). Criner is an up and coming coaching prospect who is about to embark on his first job in a top conference, and Bray is a brings 30 years of coaching experience with him, most recently as a secondary coach at Colorado. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing just yet. It could be good because any change is probably okay after a season like the 2005 defense had, but it could be bad because I don’t know if a four coach turnover in a just over a year is the best way to foster consistent improvement. In any case, the next few weeks are the beginning of a new relationship and it will be key for things to get off on the right foot.
Spring development priorities:
1. DEFENSIVE TACKLE EMERGENCE. This is, in my opinion, the single biggest concern on the defense at this point. The loss of Montgomery and Losli was the loss of 7 years of starters, which means there is not a lot of experience behind them. There isn’t a lot I have to say (that hasn’t already been said) about the players filling in, other than everyone one of them needs to take it upon themselves to become better players. If they don’t, this position will be a spot that will be exploited by every team that we play. If they do improve, not only will it make this position better, it allow the more talented defensive ends to do their thing just a little better as well. This will be the biggest opportunity yet for every one of our defensive tackles, so by the end of spring practice I hope to hear reports of at least two of these guys stepping it up and impressing the coaches.
2. SECOND YEAR IMPROVEMENT. After years of searching for reasons to get excited about the Gopher defense, there could finally be something. On paper, the defense has more young talent than at any point in the last several years. Players like Steve Davis, Alex Daniels, Keith Massey and Dominic Jones are all starting their first spring practice, and are all young talented prospects we can legitimately get excited about. Last year Davis made a big impact on the defensive line and Jones made the same kind of impact as a punt returner (fumbles aside!) These players could be the foundation of the defense for years to come, and since this is their first spring practice the opportunity will be there to start to build confidnence and start establishing themselves as leaders.
3. TURN THEM LOOSE. After having an anemic team pass rush for much of the last five years, the defense got a much needed shot of pass rushing young talent last year with Steve Davis. What’s even better is that Willie VanDeSteeg could be an excellent compliment to Davis on the other side. Having two good pass rushers is a good start, but it’s not enough. Rushing the passer is a team effort! It’s time for positions like linebacker, defensive tackle, and even safeties and cornerbacks to start becoming better pass rushers and/or blitzers. Having a good pass rusher is so key, I don’t even know how to emphasize it enough. It’s time for the coaches to teach the rest of the defense how to get to the quarterback as well. Do that, and it’s amazing how much easier other areas of pass defense become (though I’ll admit it is much easier said then done”¦).
Pre-spring Starters:
(bold denotes returning starter)
DE ““ Steve Davis (SO)
DT ““ Todd Meisel (JR)
DT ““ Eric Clark (SR)
DE ““ Willie VanDeSteeg (SO)
LB ““ Deon Hightower (SO)
LB ““ Alex Daniels (SO)
LB ““ Mario Reese (SR)
CB ““ Jamal Harris (JR)
FS ““ Dominique Barber (JR)
SS – Dominic Jones (SO)
CB ““ Keith Massey (FR)
Pre-spring Backups:
DE ““ William Brody (SO)
DT ““ Jeff Tow-Arnett (FR)
DT ““ Neel Allen (JR)
DE ““ Matt Stommes (FR)
LB ““ James Tindall (SO)
LB ““ Mike Sherels (JR)
LB ““ Patrick Cheney (JR)
CB ““ Desi Steib (JR)
FS ““ Trumaine Banks (SR)
SS ““ John Carlson (SO)
CB ““ Michael McKelton (FR)
Other Notes:
* Linebackers John Shevlin, Mark Mullaney and safety Brandon Owens will all miss spring practice due to injury. Shevlin is expected back by the fall, but Mullaney and Owens are not at this point.
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