STARKVILLE — Geoff Collins wants his Mississippi State University defense to create more havoc and mayhem.
Those are new words the Bulldogs’ new defensive coordinator will value as he tries to develop a unit that is capable of attacking. To his players, especially his linebackers, mayhem is everything defenders can do before, during, and after the initial hit or tackle.
“The one stat that is not talked about a lot, but one I’ve been talking to guys a lot, is a stat called defensive mayhem,” Collins said. “It’s tackles for loss, sacks, passes broken up, interceptions. That stat we’ll hopefully see a great improvement.”
Before he was asked a follow-up question looking for him to elaborate on his definition of mayhem, Collins explained how he and his coaches will monitor the Bulldogs’ ability to wreak havoc.
“Aggressiveness is the key to defensive mayhem with guys flying around, making plays, and creating negative plays on the offensive side,” Collins said. “Beyond a tackle or tackle for a loss, you can also force a turnover, be the product of a turnover, get a sack, get a quarterback pressure. Those are what I want to see beyond just getting a stop.”
To help the players understand how Collins wants them to play with havoc, he has increased the intensity and the chatter in drills this spring. During a practice last week, Collins, who is more of a group-think philosophical coach than former defensive coordinator Chris Wilson’s one-on-one approach, asked redshirt freshman middle linebacker Richie Brown a question.
“How did it get so quiet around here?” Collins asked with a smile. “When did it start being OK to be quiet over here?”
After hearing the rhetorical question, the four-star recruit from Long Beach
encouraged each member of his front seven on the third-team defense.
“Coach Collins wants us to talk on the field, off the field, coming off the field, whenever we want,” MSU senior linebacker Deontae Skinner said. “If he needs to say something, he’ll tell us to shut up, but a lot of the talk is questions from player to player trying to figure this out. I take pride in knowing this defense at every linebacker spot, so if the new guys want to know something, they know they can come to ask me.”
Hours before kickoff on New Year’s Day, MSU coach Dan Mullen announced Collins would be the defensive play-caller for the first time in his two seasons at MSU. Collins then was promoted to defensive coordinator days after MSU returned from its loss to Northwestern University in the 2013 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.
“I know he is going to be aggressive in coming after people, in blitzing people, and showing some different looks, and I think trying to confuse people,” Mullen said, “especially the teams running the no-huddle stuff — that stuff you face, the ability to make changes within the call while they’re looking and making their checks.”
In 2009, Collins was defensive coordinator at Florida International University. His unit led the Sun Belt Conference in total defense, scoring defense, pass efficiency defense, and turnover margin. For his efforts, Collins was a finalist for the Broyles Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach. Earlier this year, Collins’ name was linked to the open defensive coordinator position at Georgia Tech University and the head coaching vacancy at FIU in several reports.
“(In 2012), we played the spread, no-huddle offenses, and a lot of times our feet weren’t set and, therefore, we were kind of in a panic. We were kind of in a rush,” Collins said. “The biggest thing we tried to do as a staff was get our guys’ feet set, get them lined up, see the formation, and recognize what they’re going to do out of it and just play. If they made an adjustment, they made a check, we would do the same thing.”
Last season, MSU was tied for first in the Southeastern Conference in turnover margin (plus-16). However, if the Bulldogs didn’t get a turnover, opponents were able to keep possession, as MSU ranked 13th in the league in third-down conversions (42 percent).
Since Mullen’s first season in Starkville in 2009, a period that has included four defensive coordinators, MSU hasn’t finished higher than seventh in sacks in the SEC.
Tempo is the biggest difference MSU veterans on defense noticed early in the first week of spring practice. Collins knows the transition from what MSU has run in the past to his style won’t require an overhaul in understanding and technique, but he believes the philosophy and style are different. From running to the football, making substitutions, and calling switches before the snap, Collins wants the Bulldogs to think, to react, and to play fast to counter offenses, especially spread attacks.
“We’re not doing much of anything different as we’ve done in the past, but it’s about doing it in a faster and quicker way,” Skinner said. “Coach Collins knows if he wants to put pressure in the backfield he can turn to us as linebackers to cause that havoc.”
This new pace of play gives the linebackers added responsibility. MSU returns two starters and has five of six players on its two-deep roster who received significant playing time last season. The Bulldogs will have to replace Cam Lawrence, who led the team in tackles the past two seasons and will try to make an NFL roster this spring.
“They’re rolling guys through their depth chart in the top defenses in the SEC,” Mullen said. “We’d like to get that way, and I think linebacker position is one where we might have the opportunity to be able to play seven or eight guys in a game this season.”
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