Revamped system is a go for Owls defense

New coordinator Spencer’s scheme bringing fun back

BOCA RATON — Last year was not a fun season for FAU’s defense.

After a strong 2017 campaign in which the team allowed more than 30 points just four times, it regressed last year and surrendered 31.8 points per game as the Owls stumbled to a 5-7 record.

But with the 2019 season a couple weeks away and new defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer at the helm, the defensive players aren’t just performing better. They’re finally having fun.

“We’re excited to even go to practice just to go against our own teammates,” senior safety Da’von Brown said. “Every day we’re on the field, we’re excited just to attack the field with that defense that he [brought] here.”

Spencer, who was hired away from the same role at Charlotte, is ready to lead a defensive renaissance for the Owls this year. After last year’s collapse, he has opened things up for his unit, which has consistently outmatched the offense in fall camp.

“Coach [Spencer] gives us a lot of freedom,” Brown said. “As long as we get to where we have to be, he lets us move around and lets us just play free. And that’s what everybody likes.”

Spencer is just a year removed from elevating another Conference USA defense.

At Charlotte, he inherited a squad that had given up an average of 32.8 points per game en route to a 1-11 season. But in his single year with the 49ers, he propelled the defense to the point that it allowed just 26.6 points per game, moving up from 102nd to 61st in the nation.

Spencer is confident he can lead a similar boost in performance at FAU.

“I think the kids did a great job in the summer of getting out there on their own and just recalling, re-repping all our calls, all our base calls,” he said. “So when we started in fall, we were so much more ahead than where we were the first day of spring. Because of that, I think we were able to pick up and play with a lot more confidence early on than we did when we first implemented the defense in the spring.”

Of course, a strong performance in practice doesn’t always translate to success during the regular season. After the team’s scrimmage last weekend, coach Lane Kiffin implied that the defense’s good day might have been due to the offense’s struggles, and it’s true that the Owls’ offense is not the most formidable unit to

practice against. But Spencer doesn’t think the real relationship between an offense and a defense is properly understood.

“It really bothers me when one side of the ball gets singled out because people have no idea … the offensive play and what they do and how it affects us, and vice versa,” he said. “All of a sudden we get the offense some short fields and it all works together. They get some drives, burn some clock, we rest. We get a couple quick three-andouts, we give them field position. So people need to examine that before they start chirping about one side of the ball to the other.”

But with the opener against Ohio State on Aug. 31 approaching, one thing is clear: Under Spencer’s leadership, the defense finally feels like a family and is ready to compete.

“Last year everybody felt like the defense chemistry wasn’t together as much,” senior cornerback Chris Tooley said. “So now, this whole summer, the main part was coming together. That was the main goal: to come together and make sure that we all, as a family, clicked tight.”