Talkin' Ball – Addition of William Gay + Look Into the 2024 Secondary

[CJ Vogel]

Lifetime Longhorn Rod Babers and I get together for the latest episode of Talkin' Ball.

Texas hired a new defensive analyst with the addition of William Gay. Plus the portal pursuit carries on with the recruitment of Jabbar Muhammad. Rod and I also get to talking about how an increase of swagger can help the Texas secondary with on-field play. 

Special thank you to our sponsor John Donovan at Longhorn Wealth Management Group for supporting this week's Talkin' Ball!

 

View full news

[beachhorn]

Bringin back that SWAG!!!!

[CJ Vogel]

8 minutes ago, beachhorn said:

Bringin back that SWAG!!!!

Gotta have it!

[codaxx]

I wonder what William Gay can offer to the staff. He obviously has a lot of experience in fire zone schemes that Pittsburgh/LeBaeu made famous. Maybe he can bring a little more variety and disguise to the coverages. With an infusion of speed at safety, assuming Makuba/Williams are back there, I wonder if we see more single high looks this year. You can add an expected downgrade to the front 7 rush defense, as a reason to for more single high looks also. 

[Bobby Burton]

2 minutes ago, codaxx said:

I wonder what William Gay can offer to the staff. He obviously has a lot of experience in fire zone schemes that Pittsburgh/LeBaeu made famous. Maybe he can bring a little more variety and disguise to the coverages. With an infusion of speed at safety, assuming Makuba/Williams are back there, I wonder if we see more single high looks this year. You can add an expected downgrade to the front 7 rush defense, as a reason to for more single high looks also. 

Ced Griffin made the point that it wasn't so much about scheme with Gay as it would be aggressiveness, and how to be aggressive, at corner that would be helpful in his opinion.

[BevoTurd]

I remember Rod talking about the bad leverage that we deployed most of the season. Earlier in the season he was talking about coverage 101 and Akina preaching db fundamentals that Texas was ignoring/not coached or something. Is that Gideon as a coach, PK’s philosophy or what? You could argue that despite our run, the defensive backfield was the reason for our struggles in every game that was close or a loss. Was that a coaching problem, defensive scheme problem, or the coaches doing the best they could with the players they had? 

[codaxx]

56 minutes ago, Bobby Burton said:

Ced Griffin made the point that it wasn't so much about scheme with Gay as it would be aggressiveness, and how to be aggressive, at corner that would be helpful in his opinion.

I am thinking more about the versatility behind the CBs with the 2024 secondary and probably over-thinking it (it is the off-season). Having a FS with range, allows secondary to run more Single high looks and variety of coverages. Speed at BOTH spots, allows you to be very versatile in your calls and disguises (Makuba and Williams have that athletic ability). Here is Mike MacDonlad talking about one of PK's favorite blitzes and how he dresses it up (Nickel blitz).. 

 

the main take away is this quote ""Anytime you're changing the picture on the QB post snap, it's an easy way to stress the offense over the course the game. If you continually put pressure on them & make them execute & read it out post snap, that's going to create positive plays." Baltimore Ravens DC Mike MacDonald.. This aligns very well with LeBeau ideas that Gay was is very familiar with. 

[Bobby Burton]

1 hour ago, BevoTurd said:

I remember Rod talking about the bad leverage that we deployed most of the season. Earlier in the season he was talking about coverage 101 and Akina preaching db fundamentals that Texas was ignoring/not coached or something. Is that Gideon as a coach, PK’s philosophy or what? You could argue that despite our run, the defensive backfield was the reason for our struggles in every game that was close or a loss. Was that a coaching problem, defensive scheme problem, or the coaches doing the best they could with the players they had? 

Corners are Joseph. Safeties are Gideon.

I think Texas didn't want to put its corners in big play situations. They stopped doing that later in the year.

[Bobby Burton]

38 minutes ago, codaxx said:

I am thinking more about the versatility behind the CBs with the 2024 secondary and probably over-thinking it (it is the off-season). Having a FS with range, allows secondary to run more Single high looks and variety of coverages. Speed at BOTH spots, allows you to be very versatile in your calls and disguises (Makuba and Williams have that athletic ability). Here is Mike MacDonlad talking about one of PK's favorite blitzes and how he dresses it up (Nickel blitz).. 

 

the main take away is this quote ""Anytime you're changing the picture on the QB post snap, it's an easy way to stress the offense over the course the game. If you continually put pressure on them & make them execute & read it out post snap, that's going to create positive plays." Baltimore Ravens DC Mike MacDonald.. This aligns very well with LeBeau ideas that Gay was is very familiar with. 

First of all, love the video.

Second, I hear what you're saying about what Gay might bring. But I don't necessarily think they're going to be mining him for big picture ideas. I really think it'll be more individual player work and technique.