His defensive coordinator would be Todd Orlando., hiring him from Florida International. As the season progresses, look for true freshman Raesjon Davis to sneak his way into the starting lineup. Heres the cool part about this, every night after practice we watch every rep of every play that we have. While the scheme is expected to adjust, the possibility of changes to USCs defensive staff is still up in the air. He joined The Times after six years with the Southern California News Group. You hear about soggy eggs and burnt toast, but its the pad popping thats the real story of these daily efforts. There were times when we said the same thing together at the same moment. The 2015 and '16 Texas defenses had been defined by what could be called "youthful" linebacker play from former five-star recruit Malik Jefferson and former four-star Anthony Wheeler. Tackling has been an issue, (as has) lots of defensive miscommunication. There are a lot of questions about how the Trojans offensive line will perform, but having Brett Neilon at center and Alijah Vera-Tucker at left tackle should help. Today will be the day, Orlando said Wednesday morning. He would have. DeForest left last month to coach at North Carolina State. Orlando, 47, is considered a rising head coaching candidate, and his contract reflects that. 3 Kansas on Saturday to close the regular season. Thats where our emphasis is going to be this week.. Orlando said hes already adjusted his scheme, which relies on mixed fronts and aggressive blitzing, to fit USCs personnel. The main difference here is Jackson is playing as a standup linebacker instead of lining up with his hand down like he did most of the time in 2019. One it has practiced against every day for months. Theyre helping us as a coaching staff and that stuff, you cant put a price on those things.. Get full team previews, schedules, scouting reports, conference predictions, and national rankings. Once at Texas, though, Orlando was inheriting a defense with great athletes but disparate pieces that hadn't been put together into a cohesive unit. He wants his defenders to fly to the football. The point behind that question is not that hard to grasp: Is a complex scheme necessary to give USC a winning edge, or should a simplified scheme be used in Week 1, to not load players with too many assignments, reads, or details? - Rudolphs Cowboys managed a season-low 13 points (All-American wide receiverJames Washingtonmanaged just 32 yards in the win). Tuli Tuipulotu, one of the stars of spring football, brings similar flexibility to the position. Los Angeles. Most recently, Orlando coached at USC for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Two things generally forced USC to shift out of its base defense. Now they brought in a new staff, giving those guys the opportunity to rush the passer and show what they have.. It made it a lot easier for me to make that decision (to stay).. The biggest breakthrough of the spread offense was in creating a clearer pre-snap picture for the offense and the QB in particular so that he had a narrower menu of options and threats to scan through after the snap. The Longhorns were putrid in 2015 and 2016, allowing the third- and sixth-most rushing yards in school history. He is an experienced and successful defensive coordinator who has made an impact everywhere he has coached.. He did some things out there that were pretty special.. The Trojans results against Arizona State were mixed. Practice your tail off and youre going to be playing on Saturdays. Its a combination that spurred a defensive transformation at Texas. Figueroa served as the single down lineman and was joined on the line of scrimmage by Jackson, Echols and one USCs more traditional linebackers, either Ralen Goforth or Palaie Gaoteote. But while Herman's motives started from a simple "What gave me fits as an offensive coach?" In an effort to get more speed and versatility on the field, Orlando moved Jefferson to mac linebacker, inserted Johnson, a sprinter, at rover and replaced senior B-backer Naashon Hughes with a sixth defensive back. USC had problems getting aligned on Saturday, and one of its alignment busts led to an Arizona State touchdown in the second quarter. Its really hard to screw up a run play. Safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Isaiah Pola-Mao are expected to take on more active roles in directing the defense. Orlando served as Hermans DC for two years in Houston, coaching a pair of top 30 defenses. Lack of preparation, scheme and just overall performance is all tied in, but it hasnt been a good effort whatsoever. The Cyclones and Longhorns most notably did it while using a 3-safety Dime package for parts of the season. Orlando, despite his concessions against the pass, said the beauty of the lighting package is Texas numbers up front still cover up against the run. Todd Orlando (born March 24, 1971) is an American football coach. Not all of its issues were alignment-related though. That was the biggest thing that we got caught up in, not using our weapons to our full advantage. It took a toll on our bodies, Locke said. In watching ITS throughout this fall camp and knowing that he has a sense of urgency to really capture that position as well as be elite at it has been really nice to see.. "We are excited to have. Examine Texas schedule last season, and youll see a murders row of quarterbacks:Sam Darnold(No. Orlando believes the only way a team will play fast and hard is if they do so in practice. Its a testament to what a normal offseason has done for second-year coordinator Todd Orlando and his ability to install the defense and instill the mentality he wants from his players. But the Trojans just had a full, traditional offseason, from spring football to summer conditioning, creating Continue reading Attacking the Tite Front. perspective, he's found Orlando to be a gem of an assistant for a variety of reasons. We are excited to have Todd join our Trojan football program, USC coach Clay Helton said in a release. Arizona State realized that early, and its two main running backs, DeaMonte Trayanum and Rachaad White, rushed 24 times for 160 yards against USC. At Texas, Orlando was inheriting a linebacker crew that was long on talent and exceptionally short on know-how. Theres no backside meetings. But after successfully rebuilding the Texas defense in his first season, the Longhorns experienced a sharp defensive downturn in 2019. Texas would not allow more than 29 points the rest of the season in regulation. Orlando has previously doubled as linebackers coach, a position that USC split last season between Johnny Nansen, who coached inside linebackers, and Joe DeForest, who coached outside linebackers. Texas run defense didnt suffer in that time either. Facing an offense that averaged 45 points per game, fourth nationally, Orlando reversed one of the core principles of his defensive philosophy. I dont know how theyre going to play it, but thats going to be worth watching against a quarterback (Jayden Daniels) who is a veteran.. - Darnold completed 57.1 percent of his passes against Texas (third worst of the year) and threw a season-high two picks. Eventual Florida defensive end signee Princely Umanmielen cited the three-man front as one of the reasons why he decommitted from Texas back in October. One key element I talked about in my latest book, Hybrids: The Making of a Modern Defense, is the use of a more positionless defensive gameplan going forward into the future. Orlando used it during his media availability on Wednesday, too. With Gary Anderson and Dave Aranda's exit to Wisconsin in 2012, the door opened for then Offensive Coordinator Matt Wells to ascend to the Head Coaching position. In fact, Todd Orlandos defense is towards the bottom of the conference in points allowed per game, per SportsPac12s latest. In an interview posted on the schools Twitter account, Orlando promised that his USC defenses would be aggressive and attack people., I really believe that in todays game, creating negative yardage plays, attacking the quarterback, turnovers, all those things go into creating explosive plays on defense, Orlando said. Except Hermans questions were constantly put on pause so that he, still serving as Ohio States offensive coordinator, could run out of the room to take care of some crisis or another as the Buckeyes prepared for the 2014 College Football Playoff final against Oregon. Orlandos defensive turnaround in Austin stems back to that interview in Columbus. And with depth limited at linebacker, Ralen Goforth and Kanai Mauga have emerged as top candidates to start alongside Palaie Gaoteote in roles theyve had to learn on the fly. Were trying to stay very consistent in terms of our message so we can get better throughout the year.. Orlando now resides in Los Angeles with the USC Trojans and it will be interesting to see how the PAC 12 chooses to attack the Orlando system. Thanks to some help from the Cyclones and Mountaineers, the Longhorns trashed the Jayhawks to land the No. You look toward the tail end of the game, our intent was to bring enough guys we could go at least six (defenders) for six (blockers) on them and force them to throw the football.. Orlando sorts film breakdown by position. Be sure to follow us on Twitter at: @Owls247, @MarinelliShane, and @TheKevinFielder. In this years (2018) THSCA Football Lecture, Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart attributed his use of the Tite Front and how he played the secondary behind it to his meeting with Texas own, Todd Orlando. Before joining Tom Hermans staff at Texas, Orlando was viewed as a rising defensive mind in college football. Here is where USCs struggles against the run and its short rotation, particularly on the defensive line, tie together. Safeties coach Craig Naivar, whos been working with Orlando since 2015, described the defense with that exact word a few weeks ago. It's only once that information is digested when a defender will hear how his role factors into the overall play call. At Texas, Orlando oversaw a defense that improved from 80th to 24th in points allowed. In the illustration above, the play side offensive tackle will either have to handle the 4i by himself or rely on the guard for a double team. Orlando said the Big 12 is unparalleled nationally when it comes to offensive playcalling. Its going to be real interesting to see how that unfolds in the Pac-12 with USC and everybody., Its a legitimate question in terms of how Orlando is going to play it early in the season, right? They also began to move Hager into different alignments that made the most of his ability to drop into coverage or work around the edge in conjunction with his ability and willingness to crash into tackles from an inside alignment. As I wrote in early 2019 after Texas defeated Georgia, Orlandos defense uses hybrid players and different alignments to put pressure on offenses. Orlando's rover is typically one of the team leaders in sacks as a result of this strategy. After leaving FIU, Orlando went north to coach Utah State, where their defense ranked 7th and 12th in scoring defense during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, respectively. Orlando took a job as the linebackers coach and assistant head coach at Texas Tech soon after. Gone was Omenihu, who proved himself capable of producing in Orlandos scheme. 1 teach us about the units new direction? https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/13/todd-orlandos-defense-has-been-getting-exposed-all-year-long/. It has been an awful showing for USCs defense, and the coaching has to be the sole reason for the blame. He has a system that allows his talented players to play freely, said Baylor head coachMatt Rhule. The only two Pac-12 schools behind them are Cal and winless Arizona. Orlando is known run the 3-3-5 defense, which has grown in popularity in college football with the evolution of the spread offense. If the Trojans are going to take a step forward as a program this season, its going to need its defense to make some serious progress. He wants to stop the run and make a defense one-dimensional. As I wrote in early 2019 after Texas defeated Georgia, Orlando's defense uses hybrid players and different alignments to put pressure on offenses. Schemes aside, Orlandos defense is built on one thing above all his players flying to the ball. The Chargers based out of it for a whole game! A Pasadena native, he currently lives in the South Bay. When youre giving up that many rushing yards, thats not a good thing with us, Orlando said. The timing between Daniels and his receivers was off all game. He also spent two years covering preps for the Orange County Register and Torrance Daily Breeze. Cornerback is a different situation. To me, hes a special player, Orlando said. Overall, the rotation was much shorter than what was utilized last year. USC defense has different feel in camp after full offseason Due to the pandemic, USC was unable to implement new defensive coordinator Todd Orlando's scheme in person before the 2020. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. It left a big void in our defensive line, experiencewise, Pili said. Previously, he spent three years at the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi, where he covered Ole Miss for two seasons and Jackson State for another. His $1.7 million annual salary is the highest in Texas history for an assistant, and only two assistants nationally earned more in 2017, according to USA Today.