Change in the works
Newberry plans to bring aggressive mentality to Navy defense
Brian Newberry has already reviewed film of every single Navy football game from 2018 and is now moving on to previous seasons.
Navy's new defensive coordinator has a basic philosophy and his early analysis is that it can be implemented here in Annapolis.
“What I want to do has worked at a couple different places so the overall philosophy doesn't change,” Newberry told during a phone interview on Sunday evening.
“That being said, you can't be stubborn and try to fit a square peg into a round hole. You have to figure out your personnel and what the players can do then go from there. There certainly has to be some flexibility to the system.”
Make no mistake, there will be changes. That was the whole point of bringing someone from outside the program to replace Dale Pehrson, whose retirement was announced in December.
Newberry, who served as defensive coordinator at Kennesaw State the last four years, has always believed in having an aggressive and attacking mindset.
“We're going to be dynamic. We're going to do a lot of things pre-snap and post-snap. We're going to mix up coverages and design,” Newberry said. “We want it to look chaotic to the offense, but be simple to the players on defense.”
Newberry played an instrumental role in transforming Kennesaw State from a start-up program into a Football Championship Subdivision contender. Head coach Brian Bohannon, a former Navy assistant during the Paul Johnson era, has led the Owls to consecutive appearances in the FCS quarterfinals.
Because he was in a solid situation professionally and factoring in that his wife is pregnant, Newberry didn't just jump when Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo called.
“It certainly wasn't an easy decision. I was very content being at Kennesaw State and we were going to be better on defense
next year than we ever have been,” Newberry said. “For a lot of coaches the move might have been a no-brainer just because it’s Navy and it’s FBS. For me, there were other considerations.”
Trusted assistants
Ranking at the top of the list was that Newberry enjoyed working with Bohannon, who he called “a really great guy.” It didn’t take long to realize that Niumatalolo, who is beginning his 12th season at Navy, fits into the category of high character, quality individual.
“Once I came up there and met with Coach Niumat, who is one of the very best in the business, I decided this was the right move to make,” Newberry said. “Who I work with is just as important as where I work. So it was a combination of the Naval Academy and the head coach.”
Newberry spent most of last week on the Annapolis campus and was able to interact with numerous Navy football players while getting settled into the football offices on the third floor of Ricketts Hall.
“Not only is this an incredible institution, but the type of kid you get to work with is second to none,” he observed.
Another factor in Newberry’s decision to accept the Navy defensive coordinator position was the ability to bring two trusted assistants along with him. Kevin Downing and P.J. Volker were also hired away from Kennesaw State and their presence will enable Newberry to install his defensive schemes faster.
“Being able to bring two of my best friends in the business was definitely an important component and helped me with the process,” he said.
Downing will coach the defensive ends and the outside linebacker position that is most involved with putting pressure on the quarterback. Navy has previously called that spot, manned in recent seasons by D.J. Palmore and Nizaire Cromartie, the “raider.”
Newberry refers to that position as the “rush” outside linebacker and it is a hybrid role requiring a multi-talented performer. Sometimes, the “rush” linebacker must walk up to the line of scrimmage and play like a defensive end while other times they must drop into coverage.
Meanwhile, Volker will coach the inside linebackers, a pair of positions Newberry dubbed “critical” to his defensive strategies.
“What we do with the inside backer position is rather unique because we’re so multiple. It is a difficult position to coach,” Newberry said. “Kevin and P.J. know how I think and what I expect. We work really together and I am very happy to have them here with me at Navy.”
Stealing from the enemy
Newberry initially came to Navy’s attention because of his association with Jay Bateman, the former Army defensive coordinator who now holds that title at North Carolina.
Niumatalolo has expressed admiration for the job Bateman did in transforming the Army defense, which completed the 2018 campaign ranked eighth in total defense and 10th in scoring defense – allowing an average of 295.5 yards and 17.7 points.
Newberry served as secondary coach at Elon from 2007-2010 while Bateman was defensive coordinator and acknowledged the two believe in some of the same principles. However, Newberry does not think it would be accurate to call himself a “Jay Bateman disciple.”
“I’ve got a ton of respect for Jay, who is a really smart guy and a brilliant football coach. I definitely learned a lot from Jay,” Newberry said. “If you watch what Jay did at Army, it is somewhat similar to what we did at Kennesaw. Of course, I’ve added my own wrinkles and ideas.”
At Kennesaw State, Newberry employed a multiple defense featuring 4-2-5 and 3-4 principles. Last season, Kennesaw ranked first in the FCS for fewest first downs allowed per game (13.5) and second in total defense (263.7 yards per game). The Owls finished seventh nationally in scoring defense (15.4 points allowed) and 11th in third down conversion defense.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of creating takeaways and getting off the field on third down. I think those two components are absolutely crucial,” Newberry said. “We want to get opponents into third and long situations so we have a better chance to get them off the field. We’re also going to be a lot different on third down, a little more exotic in terms of personnel groupings.”
Aggressive and smart
Buddy Green, who served as Navy defensive coordinator from 2002 through 2015, believed in a bend-but-don’t-break philosophy. Green tried to force opposing offenses to drive the field incrementally by keeping the ball in front of the defense and not giving up big plays.
Pehrson took over as defensive coordinator in 2016 and initially attempted a more attacking philosophy, blitzing and using single coverage more often. Navy wound up backing off that strategy after failing to generate enough pass rush and getting beat on the back end.
Newberry knows the Midshipmen may be somewhat over-matched athletically by the high-powered offenses in the American Athletic Conference, but said that is all the more reason to be aggressive and unpredictable.
“We’re certainly not going to be a static defense. You have to do things to disrupt and keep the offense off-balance,” he said. “If good offensive teams know what you are doing they are going to pick you apart. So we are not going to sit back and react. We are going to be disruptive. You have to keep the offensive line and the quarterback on their toes these days.”
As Army demonstrated under the direction of Bateman, there are ways to confuses conventional offenses without putting your defense under duress. It’s all about constantly changing defensive fronts and play calls.
“You can be aggressive and still be smart. There are ways to bring pressure, yet still be conservative and keep the football in front of you,” Newberry explained. “You can utilize what we call perceived pressures. You can show pressure then drop eight and play pass defense. I’m going to take calculated risks, but not unnecessary ones.”
Newberry is quite comfortable with the two position coaches that are holdovers from the previous staff – Justin Davis and Steve Johns. Those two will have new assignments with Johns switching from inside linebackers to overseeing the outside linebacker position known as “striker” and Davis coaching the interior defensive linemen after working with the raiders the past two years.
Navy made a philosophical change a couple years ago with regard to the responsibilities of the two outside linebacker positions. Strikers needed to be capable of covering slot receivers and therefore the position group was comprised entirely of converted defensive backs. Raiders were mostly setting the edge on running downs and rushing the quarterback on passing plays.
“We’ll be built somewhat similarly, but we may start to recruit a little bit different body type for all the linebacker positions,” Newberry said. “What Navy calls the striker we call the SAM, but it’s basically the same type of body you want out there. We’ll do a little more with that outside backer we call the rush. Also, I like to have more athletic players at the inside linebacker spots because we’ll spin those guys back in coverage at times.”
Niumatalolo pulled off somewhat of a coup by convincing Brian Norwood to join the defensive staff. Norwood, who has worked at Power Five schools such as Penn State, Baylor and Kansas State, was given the title of co-defensive coordinator and will coach cornerbacks.
“Brian Norwood is a tremendous coach and phenomenal human being,” Newberry said. “Brian brings a wealth of knowledge and I will be looking at him as somewhat of a mentor.”
Newberry held a meeting in Ricketts Hall with all the returning defensive players and sent a very simple message.
“We didn’t talk about scheme or philosophy. We talked about playing with elite effort,” he said. “I think the thing that is going to separate us and give us a chance to win is playing with elite effort.”
In reviewing film of this past season, Newberry believes the Navy defense as a whole can play harder while taking smarter angles and tackling better.