Tomlin’s impact on defense increases
After 11 consecutive years of doing it one way under Dick LeBeau, the Steelers defense will have a different set of fingerprints on their schemes and coverages this season. And they won’t just belong to Keith Butler, the new defensive coordinator.
Mike Tomlin has been more actively involved in what the defense will be doing in 2015, and it’s already been evident at training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Tomlin has spent periods of several days this week working with the cornerbacks and safeties on zone coverages similar to what he employed when he was the secondary coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It’s the first time since he became head coach in 2007 that Tomlin outwardly has put his imprint on the defense and changed the way the Steelers play in the secondary. He didn’t do it his first eight years out of deference and respect for LeBeau, a Hall of Fame player and one of the greatest assistant coaches in NFL history.
But he feels more comfortable doing it with Butler, with whom he coached at University of Memphis and Arkansas State in the 1990s. Butler was the defensive coordinator at Arkansas State when Tomlin was a secondary coach, and he is quite content to have Tomlin working with the defensive backs and trying to improve a secondary that has been hemorrhaging long pass plays the past two seasons.
“I think he’s enjoying it,” Butler said. “The hardest thing about being a head coach is you don’t get the opportunity to do it. This is his opportunity. He’s happy doing it and he’s good at doing it. It’s going to help us a lot.”
Playing more zone coverage in the secondary — which allows the defensive backs to read the quarterback rather than deciphering route assignments — is not the only change in the Steelers defense
under Butler.
They will play more of a penetrating, one-gap style in the defensive line designed to disrupt more plays in the backfield, especially against zone-blocking teams such as Cleveland, Baltimore and Denver that run the stretch play.
That is a departure from the long-time two-gap style the Steelers employed for years where the linemen read the play before reacting. The idea is to take advantage of young, aggressive defensive ends Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt and the number of talented No. 1 picks at linebacker, including Ryan Shazier.
“It simplifies a lot of things,” Butler said. “If you’re reading routes, there is some stuff people can do when reading routes that gives you problems and, mentally, it taxes you. If you drop back and read the quarterback, how simple is that? I think it simplifies our defense, lets us be more aggressive and helps us use our speed.”
The Steelers defense slipped to 12th in the NFL in 2013 and to 18th a year ago, including 27th against the pass — the lowest they ranked in back-to-back seasons since LeBeau became coordinator in 2004.
That was the spark for Tomlin to make changes and insert more youth into the defense, including Butler.
“We’re definitely younger and a lot of guys are still learning the defense, but we’re faster, we’re more agile, and I think we’re more athletic than we’ve been,” said outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, one of five No. 1 draft choices in the front seven. “Coach Butler knows that and he’s going to use that to the best of our ability. He’s going to put us in great situations to make plays, and we got guys who can make plays all across the board. It’s exciting to see.”
Just several years after they were accused of being old and slow, the Steelers are anything but that on defense. Only one starter — cornerback William Gay (30) — is over the age of 29. Seven others are 26 or younger.
That is what Butler will try to utilize … with some help from Tomlin.
“I don’t think too much will be different,” said outside linebacker James Harrison, the only member of the defense over the age of 30 (37).
“He’s going to add his twists and turns, and we’ll see how it goes when we get on the field. The transition makes it easier when you have a familiar face. But for the most part, it’s still the same defense.”