Kaufman plans versatile defense
A Google search of new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive coordinator Tom Kaufman brings up numerous results for former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
Kaufman, Coughlin. So no, no relation. But Kaufman is not surprised about the confusion, especially after spending his most recent coaching stint in Syracuse, N.Y.
“I got that a lot,” Kaufman said at his introductory news conference. “When I would introduce myself, I’d say my name fairly fast, and they’d ask, ‘Oh, are you his son?’”
Kaufman arrives at UTC with 14 years of coaching experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision, Championship Subdivision and Division III levels. In 2008 he was the defensive coordinator at the University of Chicago, where he coached seven all-conference players and had a defense ranked 28th nationally.
Having spent last season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and also having worked in the Big 12 at Kansas and Texas, Kaufman has experience going against a number of styles of offenses. Last season he was the linebackers coach at Syracuse, and two of his players, Zaire Franklin and Parris Bennett, earned All-ACC honors.
The Southern Conference offers different types of offense. The Citadel and Wofford each runs a variation of the triple option. Samford’s high-powered attack was one of the best statistically in the country last season, and Western Carolina could have the most potent offense in the league next season, with all key players returning. Furman’s new offense could feature multiple looks, although reportedly it focused more on the run.
In his brief offseason stint as UTC’s defensive coordinator, before becoming the outside linebackers coach for the Chicago Bears, Brandon Staley had worked on a versatile approach that was expected to use a 3-4 base formation. Kaufman didn’t specify a single defense he planned to use but spoke of the need for versatility.
“You have to find the players that can play multiple positions and have different roles within the scheme,” he said. “If you’re limited, offenses are going to expose that. In a lot of ways it’s a matchup-oriented game nowadays, so we have to find people that are able to play the run, play the pass, rush the passer, drop back into coverage, play man, play zone and have some intelligence and a high football IQ.”
The Mocs could have as few as four returning starters on defense for the 2017 season opener, but with a number of talented players on the roster, the cupboard is far from bare.
“Any time you come in with a new head coach, it makes it more special,” Kaufman said. “Everything is brand new, and so far I’ve been really impressed with the players. They’re asking great questions and coming in on their own.
“It seems that they want to be really, really good.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@ timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.