Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Heater Wants Herd Defense to Channel 2015
3/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Chuck Heater has been a college football assistant coach for four decades. He learned long ago not to judge a book by its cover.
So, when the Marshall defensive coordinator approached the 2015 season having lost six starters from Coach Doc Holliday's nationally ranked Conference USA title team, he wasn't going to fret about the fact that most saw 2015 as a rebuilding year on defense.
The Herd had lost NFL-bound players like linebacker Neville Hewitt, cornerback Darryl "Swagg" Roberts, dominating tackle James Rouse, ends Ra'Shawde Myers and Arnold Blackmon and linebacker Jermaine Holmes.
The result?
Marshall's 2015 defense was better than the 2014 version ââ'¬Â¦ and it had to be that way for the Herd to get to 10 wins for a third straight season, since the offense was dealing with a major change at quarterback and injuries and the resulting flux at running back and on the offensive line.
Now, as Marshall points toward the opening of spring practice on March 29, Heater is looking at a unit that lost even more key personnel from 2015 - seven starters in Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year Evan McKelvey and D.J. Hunter at linebacker, corners Corey Tindal and Keith Baxter, tackles Jarquez Samuel and Steve Dillon and three-year starting safety Taj Letman. You could also add in top backup tackle Rico Williams.
Heater is hoping the transition from 2015 to '16 can be like the one from 2014 to '15, because last season's Herd defense ranked in the top 10 in seven categories. The coordinator is big on statistics and goals - and his side of the ball met plenty of them last season.
"You never know," Heater said of the 2015 performance. "We were in the top 10 in a bunch of categories, including average gain per play, which I think is an important number because you can't control the number of plays to some degree, with these tempo offenses.
"We were fourth in pass efficiency, fourth in red zone defense, eighth in three-and-outs. And turnovers were something we focused on a year ago. We wanted to get better creating turnovers, and we ranked ninth. Those are all good things, and I'm encouraged by that. That's one area where we said had to get better, takeaways. We emphasized it, and we got better. You get what you emphasize, and we got better."
That was true in more than getting 28 takeaways.
"Why were we better? We had good players," Heater said. "We had guys step up, frankly. Every year is a new challenge because we lost - again - some really good players. It's all reflected in Doc's recruiting. We've been able to retool it every year. This year, again it will be a challenge. We need that quality defense.
"Last season, we had to make sure we replaced Swagg, and Corey Tindal had a nice year for us at corner. We needed to replace Neville, and McKelvey had a really nice year. So, the difference-maker players, you do need to be able to find someone to approximate their performances, because those are special guys."
There's another statistic that reflects how strong the Herd defense played for a club that won the St. Petersburg Bowl, 16-10, over Connecticut in - appropriately - a defense-first contest.
In 13 games, Marshall's defense was on the field for 997 plays - tied for No. 113 nationally (among 128 FBS teams). Only 15 teams in the country faced more snaps. However, the Herd's 4.69 yards per play was tied for No. 11.
Another way to look at it ââ'¬Â¦ Thirty teams faced 965 or more plays. Of those 30, the only team that allowed fewer yards per game than Marshall's 360.0 was once-beaten and College Football Playoff runner-up Clemson (313.0).
The 2016 defense has a tall order to live up to last season's standards. Heater is ready for the challenge, and offered a spring preview.
"Up front, with our rotation, you lose people there but we're usually playing a lot of people up there," Heater said. "We lost some good players, but with the rotation, you really don't ever lose 'starters,' so to speak because so many guys are playing.
"I feel like at end we'll be a year better because those guys are back - Gary Thompson, Ryan Bee, Blake Keller. They all played a lot. Bee came out of nowhere. Inside, Nyquan Harris is a good player, a guy who can really make plays at nose. Jason Smith is in there, too. (At tackle) Tomell One, Malik Thompson - he was out last year after labrum surgery - he's good to go.
"I think up front we'll be comparable to what we've been. Two years ago, Rouse was as difference maker, Last season, 'Jock' (Jarquez Samuel) made a lot of plays.
"I think our challenge will be replacing linebackers and corners. Those are our two biggest issues. D.J. (Hunter) brought a whole lot to the table. McKelvey was outstanding; we had a lot of speed on the field with those two. It's a challenge to replace them, a challenge to get corners who can play well for us."
Heater said as spring begins, Chase Hancock and Frankie Hernandez will man Hunter's former outside linebacker spot, with returning starter Tre Tyler and Raheim Huskey at mike. Shawn Petty and transfer Davon Durant will be at McKelvey's former weakside home.
"They're all guys who for one reason or another have a chance to contribute," Heater said. "Those six all have a chance to be very productive players for us. Is there a McKelvey or Neville Hewitt there? I don't know. They were special players. Tyler came in last year and played really well, better than we might have expected. We'll see what we have."
In the secondary - where Heater is the position coach - he is looking for depth. Cornerback Antavis "Skip" Rowe will miss spring ball while recovering from surgery for a leg fracture. Heater said Chris Williams-Hall "is still recovering and hasn't been cleared" to play after suffering a neck injury in last season's opening win over Purdue, followed by surgery.
"We lose Tindal and Baxter at corner and Skip will be back in August, but not in spring," Heater said. "Rodney is on one side and we've got Chris Jackson who just came in as a midyear (signee). TJ Griffin is on the other side, and we've also got Michael Johnson and Chocolate Wilson - five guys this spring. We've got two freshmen who will be here this summer (Jaylon McClain-Sapp, Jestin Morrow) so help is coming, but you never know.
"At safety, we lose Letman, who had a really nice year. We've got Tiquan Lang, who will be a senior, and
Kendall Gant came along a little bit last season and helped us. A guy impressive in offseason workouts is (former Virginia Tech and junior college safety) CJ Reavis. He's done a nice job - seems like he's got some skills.
"Next, we've got to get (senior) Corey Neely to come along, and we've added Jeremiah Maddox, a midyear guy. Lang and Gant will play a lot of football and Reavis looks like he's capable. Add Neely and Maddox and we've got five guys there."
Asked if he were surprised by any development on defense last season, Heater nodded and said it was a repeat from the 2013 and '14 Holliday teams ââ'¬Â¦ and a mantra the head coach repeats consistently.
"We always talk about senior guys playing their best football and I think that was evident again last year," Heater said. "McKelvey, DJ, Taj, Dillon, Rico - all seniors -- played well.
"Guys develop and they figure it out, like a couple years ago, Holmes, Blackmon, the year before 'Pac' (corner Monterius Lovett) ââ'¬Â¦ a bunch of guys, they kind of culminated their careers by playing their best football. They kind of figured out it was finally time to totally get focused.
"And I think that's been a key for us and will be again. We're still a relatively young defense, but the seniors have to step up -- Tre Tyler, Gary Thompson, Petty, Lang, Neely.
"I think that's been seniors having their best year, and then guys playing significant roles, like a Ryan Bee. We didn't think he'd become what he did so soon. Tre Tyler came in and we didn't necessarily anticipate that. You're always hoping they're going to come through. And those two guys played beyond the anticipation we had for them last season. That helped us.
"Last August, Bee was the fifth end, he was (where) Milan Lanier is now, third on that side. We were just hoping he was good enough to go in and play 10-15 plays a game. He ended up being an entirely different player, made (C-USA) All-Freshman. Do we have another Bee or Tyler?
"I think the Reavis kid is interesting. I don't know much about him other than what we've seen in the offseason. He's a guy you're hoping is that person (who emerges as Bee did last season). Hernandez, at times, shows a skill set at linebacker that's promising. Malik Thompson sat out with the labrum last year, and we kind of like his approach to it all - his mindset - based on what we know from the winter."
If the Herd opens the 2016 season Sept. 10 versus Morgan State with the names penciled in by Heater as the "ones" when spring drills begin, Marshall will have only four senior starters on defense. So, it's a younger group than Heater has had, and one that begins with a new point of emphasis ââ'¬Â¦ as takeaways were for 2015.
"We're always looking," Heater said when asked about changes in his fourth season in charge of Holliday's defense. "Really, we don't feel like we've been a solid run defensive team. We've probably been top 10 in every defensive category of some significance one time or another in the last three years. But we've never been, statistically, in run defense."
Marshall allowed 168.1 ground yards per game in 2015, ranking 64th in FBS. A 3.99 per rush average ranked No. 43.
"If you're a good run defense, you're 3.2 yard average per carry. We were second in league, 4.0, but we're trying to evaluate that. We need to be better against the run. We feel like we've been OK. But there have been a couple games in the last three years where if we'd have been better against the run - where physically, we needed to be better - it might have been different.
"There was Middle Tennessee (in 2013), Rice two years in a row. They got after us. I don't feel like physically anybody since then has totally dominated us, but the numbers are the numbers, so we're trying to address that right now - offseason research.
"Schematically, we're trying to analyze how to better defend the run. We feel like if we had good enough players and good enough coaches - and we've been that team that's pretty relevant in terms of statistics and what they're worth - then it should be reflected in the run defense, too.
"We all say' stop the run' is the most important thing and we all agree to that, but we've not done it as well as we think we can or should have. We're taking a really hard look at that. We want to change that."
