After rough season, defense hoping for a paradigm shift
Cal inside linebacker Raymond Davison reported to spring camp with a lofty goal: help change the “paradigm” of the Bears’ defense.
Seven weeks later, he’s hoping the progress will be obvious during the team’s spring game at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“It’s definitely starting to change,” said Davison, who was Cal’s third-leading tackler last season. “We definitely have a way to go, but you’re starting to see the change in communication and effort.”
The communication and effort actually started well before the Bears’ 14-practice spring session opened March 15. Justin Wilcox was hired as head coach in January, and, after a brief recruiting period, he huddled with new defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter and the rest of the staff.
They pored over video of Cal’s defense, which has finished among the country’s worst 20 in total yards allowed the past four seasons and among the nation’s worst 10 in total points allowed in three of the past four years.
The new staff saw plenty to fix on a unit that allowed 518.3 yards, including 272.8 on the ground, and 42.6 points per game last season.
“I like the strides we’ve made,” DeRuyter said. “There have been some ups and downs, as you can imagine, but guys were really willing to learn something new and put the time and energy into doing it.
“When you’re moving parts, sometimes the pieces don’t all fit, but we’ve had guys busting their tails to make it fit.”
Cal is switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 front, meaning some defensive ends are moving to outside linebacker and some defensive tackles are moving to nose guard. But before the Bears could make the overhaul, they had to first get a handle on the basics.
They’ve worked on the fundamentals of tackling every practice — even when they’re not in pads — and have gotten so detailed with instruction that defensive backs now know what percentage of weight to have on the balls of their feet when backpedaling.
“If you’d asked me the first couple of practices, I would have been a lot more nervous than I am today,” DeRuyter said a day ahead of the spring game, which is expected to include about 80 plays of 11on-11 practice in front of as many as 5,000 fans at Memorial Stadium. “I’m hoping our guys play with a ton of energy, really chase the ball and get some takeaways. …
“We’ve got some great skill on offense, so it’ll be a great test for us.”
Cal has long been regarded as an offense-led program, but that started to change upon the hiring of Wilcox, who had successful stints at five schools during an 11-year run as a defensive coordinator.
He brought in DeRuyter, who has three decades of college coaching experience, including the past five as the head man at Fresno State, and defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro, who has been coaching since 1982.
Wilcox also tabbed outside linebackers coach Tony Tuioti and defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander, who played five seasons in the NFL.
“I want excellence out of this group and for them to bring a culture of greatness,” Alexander said.
That would be a true paradigm change.