Schemes aside, Orlandos defense is built on one thing above all his players flying to the ball. By Coachlamons @nukeit1981 Dec. Herman clearly agrees. Stilleto Boy wins the Santa Anita Handicap for trainer Ed Moger Jr. Sierra Canyon girls basketball team is two wins away from perfect season, Practical Move gives trainer Tim Yakteen a win in the San Felipe Stakes, Sam Farmers crystal ball: NFL mock draft 2023 version 1.0, UCLAs freshmen living up to the hype, carry Bruins into Pac-12 title game. Practice your tail off and youre going to be playing on Saturdays. Their rotation would be a bit deeper, too. Find out which 3 #USC players go to the Bears in an NBC Sports Chicago mock draft. Boca Raton will not be the first time Orlando coaches in South Florida. Herman said Orlando would be the first assistant in his foxhole. Through it all, Orlandos stayed on Hermans staff. He also coaches the linebackers. He joined The Times after six years with the Southern California News Group. Orlando is a linebackers coach in a defense that asks the linebackers to be the primary playmakers on the team. Every time USC football scrimmaged, there was one side of the ball that dominated much of the live periods: the defense. The Longhorns created four total sacks (averaged 2.33 a game). The numbers back up that decision, as Texas tied for 66th nationally with 27 sacks in 2019, down five from 2018. One key element I talked about in my latest book, Hybrids: The Making of a Modern Defense, is the use of a more positionless defensive gameplan going forward into the future. Is USC defense ready to take a leap in Year 2 under Todd Orlando? Want to keep up with all the latest FAU football and recruiting news? USC needs more size, speed and athleticism at every level of its defense. The Longhorns base out of a 3-4 that utilizes the Tite Front (404) and a stand-up hybrid DE to the weak side, or away from the passing strength (this is Mint in Saban-speak). Those four-man fronts are great at plugging gaps and helping a team defend the run, but they also mean one less defender on the second level to stop the pass and run to the football. The defense made the final stand to seal the victory, but it also gave up some big plays and surrendered 258 rushing yards to the Sun Devils. Some of the stuff he was about to say, I was already thinking. The Big 12 is not new to the concept of smaller faster players playing on the defensive side of the ball. It wont get any easier, either, with the trojans facing Notre Dame right after their bye and still have games against UCLA and Arizona State on the schedule. Last year, Orlando helped the Longhorns shed more than 10 points per game allowed on defense despite working with 10 of the 11 starters from2016's porous unit. Theres no backside meetings. While some players struggled to learn virtually, he said the extra time spent installing and discussing the defense led to an especially sharp first week. Todd Orlando, defensive coordinator, Houston. The Cyclones and Longhorns most notably did it while using a 3-safety Dime package for parts of the season. Since then, the USC defense has been getting torched time and time again, with their worst performance arguably against Oregon State as the Beavers ran for over 300 yards to upset them in Los Angeles. With Drake Jackson now listed as a linebacker and primarily playing in a standup role, USCs base is essentially a 3-3-5. A fourth linebacker released off the line can more easily pursue the football on outside runs and defend quick passes on the edge. The Longhorns seemed to never really find a home base on defense. The Tite Front works because it forces the offense to bounce everything outside. Thats where adaptability comes into play. The notion that the Big 12 doesnt play defense is false. In an interview posted on the schools Twitter account, Orlando promised that his USC defenses would be aggressive and attack people., I really believe that in todays game, creating negative yardage plays, attacking the quarterback, turnovers, all those things go into creating explosive plays on defense, Orlando said. Before that, his inaugural Utah State defense ranked seventh in points allowed. Thats important to know, because Orlando turned down an opportunity to be Pittsburghs DC in his hometown that offseason. Orlando believes the only way a team will play fast and hard is if they do so in practice. I let you guys down. Johnson said Orlando repeated these words for two days straight. Most recently, Orlando coached at USC for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. There were times when we said the same thing together at the same moment. Email. Orlando said USC utilized 70 to 75 percent of its defensive package against the Sun Devils. Not all of its issues were alignment-related though. Its going to be exciting.. Mason Rudolph, a third-round pick of the Steelers, failed to clear the 300-yard mark only twice in 2017. Former Texas DE Malcolm Roach criticizes Todd Orlandos scheme, Quick thoughts from No. Texas goal is to play fast on defense, forcing opposing QB to play slow. Preparing for his first season as defensive coordinator at No. When interim defensive coordinator Craig Naivar finally allowed Ossai to play that role, Ossai produced three of his five sacks in the Alamo Bowl. In the concluding 2019 Pressure Tape review, MQ will breakdown three Longhorn pressures against the now-famous LSU offenses (one of the best in history). The inside LB corp consists of a Mike and what is referred to as a B backer. Orlando, 50, previously was a defensive coordinator at Texas Houston, Utah State . But Orlando paid Herman, a former QB coach, an even higher compliment than that. It was during his time at Utah that he learned to assemble the 3-4 pressure package that made him an attractive hire for Herman and then a successful coach at Houston. Phone. The Aggies also ranked fourth in the country in sacks in 2014 with 50. It wasnt all about the front either, the use of Match 3 (Rip/Liz) and the rebirth/redesign of the (Dime) Tampa 2, was a big contributor to how teams attacked the Longhorns, Cyclones, and Bulldogs. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. If you bring four and they have six back in there to block, its not good numbers for you especially if youre covering the heck out of everybody. His defense consequently has two main types of base pass rush, one in which the B-backer works off the edge like in a normal 3-4 defense and another in which the B-backer drops into coverage while the rover blitzes suddenly through the interior. Its a testament to what a normal offseason has done for second-year coordinator Todd Orlando and his ability to install the defense and instill the mentality he wants from his players. Overall, the rotation was much shorter than what was utilized last year. One question I am asking to college football experts is this: Should Todd Orlando emphasize complexity of scheme or simplicity of scheme against Jayden Daniels and the Sun Devils on Saturday? How you practice around here is going to be how many reps you get, Orlando said. One need only look at Texas Oct. 21 matchup with Oklahoma State for an example. Todd Orlando, who has 16 years of experience as a collegiate defensive coordinator, was named USC's defensive coordinator in January of 2020. The Iowa St. Cyclones rose from #103 in 2016 to a respectable #32in BCfToys efficiency rankings in 2017. Texas run defense didnt suffer in that time either. Theyre the best in the country. LOS ANGELES USC has its new defensive coordinator, Todd Orlando. So in addition to having a blitz package, Orlando teaches his rover how to disguise insert blitzes through the A and B gaps. This is something, until this year, fathomable only on a 3rd and Long or an end of a half situation in the NFL. Were trying to stay very consistent in terms of our message so we can get better throughout the year.. A four-run fourth inning broke the game open for the Longhorns, but they gave it all back and dropped the series opener. The former is built on repetitive contact. LOS ANGELES It was clear for most of fall camp. Arizona State realized that early, and its two main running backs, DeaMonte Trayanum and Rachaad White, rushed 24 times for 160 yards against USC. But after successfully rebuilding the Texas defense in his first season, the Longhorns experienced a sharp defensive downturn in 2019. Now they brought in a new staff, giving those guys the opportunity to rush the passer and show what they have.. The Tite Front was all the rage during the 2017 season. Herman knew within 10 minutes of talking with Orlando hed found his defensive coordinator. Without a Spring Camp to provide real first-hand understanding of Todd Orlando's defensive scheme as well as Vic So'oto's preferences as defensive line coach, these are best guesses. Thats what practice is about. Those disguised blitzes cause an opposing quarterback to think, which is critical against tempo. Most people know what to expect from USCs offense from game to game. Once at Texas, though, Orlando was inheriting a defense with great athletes but disparate pieces that hadn't been put together into a cohesive unit. Thats where our emphasis is going to be this week.. College football was temporarily revolutionized when hurry-up spread teams began to perfect the art of sending signals from the sideline to the field, allowing coordinators to make audibles and adjustments on behalf of their players. Herald-Times. Herald-Times. And that might just be the way it is moving forward. He is an experienced and successful defensive coordinator who has made an impact everywhere he has coached.. Theyre not only making plays, but theyre trying to help other guys. And Charles Omenihu won the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year award in 2018 with 9.5 sacks playing in the same scheme that ultimately limited Orlandos last defense in Austin. This offseason, there were more than a few reports potentially linking Orlando to head coach jobs. Or what type of player they would be getting because of the scheme we ran. Some offense will come out and run the triple-option, which is really different and as a defense really strains us, Orlando said. This "lightning" package was built off a "robber coverage" and an alignment that looked like this: Basically, the Longhorns traded a man up front for the ability to play Cover 2 to either side of the formation with a "robber" in the middle who could read the play and then serve either as inside help against the dreaded double-post combinations that Oklahoma State liked to run or as an extra man coming just a touch late in the run game. USC coach Clay Helton says hes noticed benefits from the Trojans unprecedented start to an unusual, pandemic-shortened season. The defense has numbers and is plus-one on the pulling guard. Orlando did present Arizona State with several different looks on Saturday. But for now Orlando is sticking around in Austin to work with Herman. Though Todd Orlandos (DC, USC) time at Texas came to a screeching halt after the 2019 regular season, one thing is clear, the man can create pressure. We continue to progress in the pass, Orlando said of the group. We just had to learn to embrace it, and now we look forward to it.. After all, he fired Orlando and brought in Ash as an agent of change. (213) 740-4204. What is the current state of play for one of the elite QB prospects on the board? While the scheme is expected to adjust, the possibility of changes to USCs defensive staff is still up in the air. Follow Antonio on Twitter @AntonioCMorales. He spent just two weeks as an assistant in Lubbock, before Helton and USC came calling. Orlandos players have a different term for that distinction. This is where the separation begins.. His defensive system poses an extreme challenge to offenses., You cant practice soft and play hard.New DC Todd Orlando is looking to up the physicality on the USC practice field. Two Former NBA Players Receive Prison Sentences For Fraud Scheme. Aggressive DCs like Orlando weren't having that for long, and his response is to teach his players to show a blitz to trigger the sideline glance and check from the offense before bringing another call entirely. Coach Orlando is a real guy, Johnson said. On several occasions, the Trojans walked a safety up into the box, mainly Talanoa Hufanga, in order to have seven players near the line of scrimmage for run support. The trickle-up effect is in full swing. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Through spring and summer, the physical, hard-nosed brand of defense Todd Orlando promised to bring to USC remained strictly theoretical. Their camp D was a 3-4, but once the season hit, the packages started to proliferate. If the offense doesn't even know where the overload is coming from or who's dropping into coverage unless they can figure it out after the snap, they're more likely to have their own weak spots exposed than they are to hammer a favorable matchup with a pinpoint pass or run. Orlando, despite his concessions against the pass, said the beauty of the lighting package is Texas numbers up front still cover up against the run. Then, facing the ultra-explosive Oklahoma State offense, he made a big change to his defensive structure that probably revolutionized his own philosophy and perhaps changed prevailing best practices across the college game from here on out. 9 Texas pummels No. This positionless style of play allows hybrid players, primarily at linebacker and defensive back, to play a larger role. Orlando took a job as the linebackers coach and assistant head coach at Texas Tech soon after. It's a blitz defense that uses eight defensive backs, two. The result was a hurried throw from Daniels, an incompletion on fourth down, and a victory for USC. Owl fans had seen this defensive scheme recently when defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer coached FAU in 2019 as part of the 11-3 Conference USA and Boca Bowl championship season. Facing an offense that averaged 45 points per game, fourth nationally, Orlando reversed one of the core principles of his defensive philosophy. What I think were all starting to learn defensively theres some four-down stuff thats really good but the number of people you can get off the ball based on how the offense is attacking can be advantageous to you.. Drake Jackson, who spent last season as more of a strict defensive. Coach Todd Orlando of the USC Trojans during USC football practice at the University of Southern California on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. 9 Texas hosts No. And as Saturday showed, thats a group with a long way to go. Orlando served as Hermans DC for two years in Houston, coaching a pair of top 30 defenses. Then the injuries and attrition reduced depth at linebacker while inexperienced players tried to fill in, resulting in Orlando moving his best natural pass rusher, B-backer Joseph Ossai, to multiple positions around the field that kept him from attacking downhill. Tackling has been an issue, (as has) lots of defensive miscommunication. But while Herman's motives started from a simple "What gave me fits as an offensive coach?" Todd Orlando (born March 24, 1971) is an American football coach. Heres the cool part about this, every night after practice we watch every rep of every play that we have. Herman isnt shy about issuing compliments to his defensive lieutenant. One it has practiced against every day for months. Get full team previews, schedules, scouting reports, conference predictions, and national rankings. With his ability to teach fundamentals to raw athletes, train and equip defenders to attack offenses with disguise and pressure and adapt his tactics around the strengths of his roster, Orlando is proving to be a cutting-edge coordinator. With Gary Anderson and Dave Aranda's exit to Wisconsin in 2012, the door opened for then Offensive Coordinator Matt Wells to ascend to the Head Coaching position. Its a pretty substantial change in terms of what theyre doing on defense. As I wrote in early 2019 after Texas defeated Georgia, Orlando's defense uses hybrid players and different alignments to put pressure on offenses. Todd Orlandoremembers feeling bad forTom Herman. Practices under Herman and Orlando are hard. He said on the first day of practice that it was clear these guys knew more than they would have coming into a fall camp in a normal year, which is quite a statement when you consider they didnt have a spring. The Trojans run defense would be better with defensive lineman Jay Tufele, who opted out of the season a few months ago and entered the NFL Draft. Weve got to be mindful of the stuff were doing or asking him to do. Arizona State just out-executed the Trojans defense in the run game. That much was clear on Saturday, and its why losing a player like Tufele, who possesses all three traits, hurt so much. Echols was the extra linebacker who came onto the field in those scenarios. Considering how long players have had to learn the scheme, Orlando made clear he wont be as forgiving when it comes to forgetting assignments. Will Alabama transfer Ishmael Sopsher be healthy enough to do so? One was down and distance. Texas finished 7-5 and Orlando was fired as part of a staff overhaul. Odds & lines subject to change. Orlando said he's already adjusted his scheme, which relies on mixed fronts and aggressive blitzing, to fit USC's personnel. Orlando's favorite scheme against the run in his multiple 3-4. Except Hermans questions were constantly put on pause so that he, still serving as Ohio States offensive coordinator, could run out of the room to take care of some crisis or another as the Buckeyes prepared for the 2014 College Football Playoff final against Oregon. USCs defense got two hits on Daniels and forced three incompletions on those three plays. At Texas, Orlando oversaw a defense that improved from 80th to 24th in points allowed. That pair figures to start at the two end positions, with either Jamar Sekona or Stanley Taufoou at tackle. - Mayfield completed a season-low 63 percent of his passes in the Red River Showdown. - Grier hurt himself early in the contest against Texas, but Locks 52.9 completion rate in the Texas Bowl was one of his worst of the year. Aside from one spring practice, the intricacies of his scheme were installed only over Zoom. To me, thats recruiting. Once the guard pulls (the 4is key), he can chase and climb to the mesh. Injuries limited the two best blitzers in the secondary safeties BJ Foster and DeMarvion Overshown while the inexperienced cornerbacks also struggled with injuries and the baptism by fire in the pass-heavy conference. 2005-2023 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. After that hell usually return to the picture one last time before moving to the board to draw different concepts out of the same look. looks seen in many Power Spread offenses. Jefferson went on to lead the team with 110 tackles, including 20 run stuffs, while anchoring the interior of the Texas defense in a 3-2-6 dime package that Orlando unveiled to the bewilderment of Texas' spread-oriented Big 12 opponents. In fact, Gary Johnson and Anthony Wheeler combined for 10.5 sacks, nearly a third of the teams total. Most offensive schemes in the Big 12 didn't have many built-in answers for a versatile safety floating in the middle of the field and thwarting their route combos or coming unblocked against the run game. Defenses that base out of the Tite Front dont mind the bounce because their speedy (and usually free)LBs can now chase down the RB while its overhangs box everything back inside (think of them like the Double Eagles wide-9s). Orlandos defensive turnaround in Austin stems back to that interview in Columbus. Orlando was fired by head coach Tom Herman on Dec. 1 and Naivar the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the Longhorns who has worked with Herman across four different stops (Sam. There are a lot of questions about how the Trojans offensive line will perform, but having Brett Neilon at center and Alijah Vera-Tucker at left tackle should help. You look toward the tail end of the game, our intent was to bring enough guys we could go at least six (defenders) for six (blockers) on them and force them to throw the football.. I feel the 4-3 will help those guys to show their talents and more people will come out of Texas.. In fact, they often had little to no idea how to defend the run in Texas' exotic defenses, and the Longhorns were regularly trashed by teams with multiple run games that could cause confusion. Boca Raton, Fla. - Just over 24 hours after FootballScoop.com first reported that FAU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops was heading to Kentucky to coach with his brother Mark Stoops, the Owls have quickly found his replacement in former Southern California defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Todd Orlando, per Bruce Feldman. Hes got that mindset. If you take what he says at face value there, maybe they shouldnt be too worried about the additional wrinkles making things confusing or leading to miscommunications. Orlando used it during his media availability on Wednesday, too. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) Herman wanted a coordinator capable of calling a multiple defense, and Orlando fit that bill. Click here to buy a copy today or visit your local newsstand! The rotation should expand when Pili returns, but at the moment USCs defensive personnel is what it is. https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/13/todd-orlandos-defense-has-been-getting-exposed-all-year-long/. At Utah State, where he worked in 2013 and 2014, Orlandos defenses also finished in the nations top 20 in fewest points allowed. After the Sun Devils started to have success on the ground midway through the second quarter, USC started employing a 4-3 front at times. If the Trojans are going to take a step forward as a program this season, its going to need its defense to make some serious progress.