Defense defies easy answers
Strong’s resolve for a crackdown will not include coordinator’s job
AUSTIN — With blond locks too long and too flowing to be contained by any hat or hoodie, Breckyn Hager is the most easily recognizable member of Texas’ defense. Sometimes, that works in the sophomore end’s favor.
But Sept. 17, Hager’s conspicuousness was a punishment.
Everywhere he went in the days after the Longhorns’ 50-43 loss at California, Hager said, he was grilled with the same questions. Whether it was people he saw in class, walking across campus or headed to lunch, everyone demanded to know what happened to the UT defense.
Backing for Bedford
“You can’t give an answer people want,” Hager said. “You’re like, ‘We just didn’t do our job.’ But they’re not happy with that.”
At his weekly news conference Monday, Texas coach Charlie Strong didn’t offer many more concrete answers than Hager did. But seven days after declaring every assistant on his staff would be evaluated during the Longhorns’ week off, Strong is not planning to demote embattled defensive coordinator Vance Bedford.
Bedford, who has worked with Strong since both were assistants at Florida in 2008, has been viewed by some fans as the main culprit for the team’s recent defensive woes. UT allowed more yards per game in 2015 than any team in school history and put up little resistance in the Longhorns’ loss to Cal.
Strong called Bedford “an outstanding coach” who Strong knows “is going to do a good job.”
“You look at his track record,” Strong said. “It’s not like he just all of a sudden forgot how to coach defense. … He’ll own up to it. It’s not like he’s running from it.”
Staff under microscope
That being said, Strong isn’t going to be shy about voicing his opinion as No. 22 Texas prepares for Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State. Strong has “a lot of ideas” on how the defense can improve, both in terms of personnel and scheme, and he vowed to be more adamant about implementing those ideas as UT begins nine consecutive weeks of Big 12 play.
Strong will push for promising younger players — a list presumably including Hager, end Malcolm Roach and safety Brandon Jones — to see more playing time. And he will look to shore up the repeated examples of blown coverage that led to open receivers repeatedly getting behind UT’s defensive backs.
“I’ve coached defense,” Strong said. “I know defense. I know how to stop people. That’s why it’s on me, also.”
Strong said he had a candid meeting with his staff during the week off and warned his assistants it would be brutal.
“I needed to get involved,” Strong said. “That’s why it was just so key and so important that we just sat down and just a self-evaluation. Just look at yourself. Just check your ego at the door. Some guys, you’re going to get your feelings hurt, but it is what it is right now, and we’ve got to get it better.”