Courtesy: Beverly SchaeferHead coach Roger Hughes sat down with GoPrincetonTigers.com recently
for his seventh annual spring chat; in part one, he looked back at some
of the positives and negatives of the 2008 season and looks at the some
of the key defensive players and their roles for the 2009 season.
1) You had a 2-1 record, tied with Colgate and had the ball at midfield with two minutes remaining. From that point, you lost games you could have won late against Colgate, Harvard and Penn. Were those losses more about personnel or execution?
I think, when you look back at it, it was execution. I thought we had guys in position to make plays, and for whatever reason, we didn’t make them. We didn’t come up with the key play to turn the tide or the momentum of the game. So that has been a major focus of our offseason, to make sure we find ways to make plays. We need to continue putting guys in position to make plays, and now we need to go out there and do it.
One of the things I have really been pleased about this spring is that the team recognizes just how close we were in a lot of games, and they feel that an added work ethic, which we saw in the offseason, and an added commitment will clearly give us a chance to make a difference next fall.
2) Defensively, you forced only 12 turnovers throughout the season. How much of that was the youth of your linebacking corps, and what other factors affected that?
Things go in cycles. One of the things we made a major emphasis in a year ago was reducing our own turnovers. We led the league in turnovers with 30 on the offensive side, and this past year we only had 12. It’s a remarkable reduction in turnovers, and it gives you a chance to win. We’re not beating ourselves. On the flip side, we caused 22 turnovers two seasons ago and got only 12 last year. We placed a big emphasis on the spring on creating turnovers. Make sure you swat at the ball. Make sure you make the ball come out. When we’re in position on coverage, take chances on the ball instead of being conservative and just making the tackle. Go up and try to tip the ball. We made a big emphasis to our linemen to get their hands up and get a tip. And even though we led the league in sacks, we continue to emphasize that the ball can’t come out on time.
When you look at the sack totals, the fact that we led the league shows that we have been in good coverage, because the quarterback has to hold on to the ball. But when the ball is out, we have to do a better job making a play it, and when we tackle, we have to work harder on getting the ball out. It is a major factor for us; turnover ratio and explosive plays continue to be two of the highest-correlated factors in winning games. It’s been a major emphasis in the spring.
3) At what point did you get a sense of just how special Jordan Culbreath would be?
He had those two big games against Cornell, a team that has allowed only a couple of 100-yard rushers in the tenure of Jim Knowles, who is a great defensive mind. For him to do that, and then the game against Colgate, when he outrushed the leading rusher in the NCAAs (Jordan Scott), that kind of gave us a clue into the caliber of player he was. Jordan Culbreath is sneaky efficient, and he is sneaky fast. You watch him in person and you say, “wow, how did he get there?” Or maybe you say “boy, that wasn’t a great run,” and then you realize he got nine yards. Then you put the film on, and he looks even better. He has such great vision and such a great work ethic. There is nobody on this team that outworks him. More importantly, while he is a very nice kid to talk to, he is ultra, ultra-competitive. He wants to win everything he is in, from writing his paper at night to playing tiddlywinks. Anything he does, he wants to win. I think that competitive drive started to show itself more and more as the season went on.
4) Having gone back over the film from last season, is there anything else that has jumped out at you as an issue you believe this team can fix over the offseason and put in position to make a run at the league?
Again, it comes down to execution. Clearly, we ran the ball better than everybody else. We sacked the quarterback more than anybody else. But we have to be more consistent at making the plays to win games. That includes special teams; too many times, our defense started a drive with their heels on the 45-yard-line or midfield. It seemed that too many times, either after we scored or at the start of the half, we were giving up good field position. That stops the momentum you just worked hard to generate, whether it’s a scoring drive or scoring before the half. We have to do a better job on special teams, whether it is placing the ball on our kicks, going down and attacking the wedge on kickoffs, or making sure we are covering on punts. Ryan Coyle did a great job last year of punting teams inside their own 10. We had 10 different times where we had teams pinned inside the 5, and we did not hold them to a 3-and-out once. That turns the field position. We led the league in scoring inside the red zone. Now we need to do a better job scoring outside of it, and it’s easier to do that when you are getting short fields. Back to the turnover ratio, we only got the ball on the other side of the field twice last year.
So back to the question, yes, there are a lot of little, correctable things that I think make a huge difference in games. We tried to make our kids aware of that, and I think that’s how we’ve been practicing this spring.
5) Let’s look at this season now. Start with the defense. You lost two All-Ivy linemen, but maybe Tom Methvin’s injury is now a blessing in disguise because at least you have experience returning in Joel Karacozoff. How does that position shape up right now?
I’m really excited about our defensive line for a few reasons. One, while Matt Koch was a great technician and got everything possible out of his body, at the end of the day, he isn’t 6-foot-4 and he doesn’t weigh 270 pounds. When you are using a three-man front, that nose guard position really has to command a double-team. I’m not saying anything negative about Koch, because he really gave us everything he could. Next year, we’ll have Matt Boyer and Kevin DeMaio, and both guys are about 270, and that will help us. At that position, every time the ball is snapped, you have a couple of 300-pounders in on you. Because of that, you need to have great depth. Methvin’s injury did allow guys like Karacozoff and Boyer to get more experience last year. I think that will help us. We also increased the length of our offseason program to get bigger and to get stronger, and I thought [strength & conditioning coach Jason] Gallucci did a great job with that.
To go back to the question, I do think we will be better in that position next year. Despite the losses of Matt Koch and Pete Buchignani, who were both great players, I think overall we will be better there, based on what I saw in the spring.
6) With the linebackers, Steven Cody came out of nowhere to rank among the top Ivy tacklers. With the great linebackers that have been part of this program over your tenure, is there one he reminds you of the most?
Actually, he reminds me of two guys I didn’t get to coach, and those would be Tim Greene ’98 and Dave Patterson ’96. Patterson was a Bushnell Cup winner, and from competing against him at Dartmouth, he used to show up out of nowhere on plays you thought were going down the sidelines, plays you thought were going to be great ones, and he’d make the stop. Cody plays with a lot of passion. He understands leverage, and he always plays at a high level. There is no such thing as a play off to Steve Cody. He is playing at 100 percent all the time. He loves the game and has a real passion for it. Clearly, he has room to improve. He made what I thought were some inexperience-type mistakes; sometimes, I thought he was so eager to make a play that he pursues to quickly and allows a cutback. Sometimes, he is supposed to drop in coverage, but he’ll second contain just because he wants to hit somebody. As he improves on his assignments, coupled with his great physical ability, I think he can become one of the premier linebackers we’ve ever had here.
7) Can the tandem of Cody and Scott Britton become the top run-stopping pair in Ivy League football, and who else will factor into that linebacker mix?
I think those two have to do that. We have to play better defense, and those two guys are the key components to that. But it’s not all on them. I spoke of the defensive line, and those guys have to do a good job keeping people off Cody and Britton so they can make plays. I thought Jon Olofsson had a good spring. Jeff Jackson was a little hampered by his back, but he showed great toughness last year when he played with an injured MCL. I think he has to play well, and we’re eagerly anticipating the return of John Callahan. He really didn’t play a snap last year, but he should give us great speed off the edge and some great pass-rushing ability. I think those guys can be pretty good, and somebody who just has a knack for pass rushing is Brad Stetler. He came in and had four sacks last year, and he has really made himself into a viable linebacker. So we feel pretty good about the number of linebackers we have.
8) How many linebackers do you feel like you need in the rotation to be confident you will have quality play at the position in the fourth quarter?
We’ve used as many as nine before, but I would say at least two full sets. Now, our defense is arguably a 3-5, with five linebackers being utilized, including a strong safety/linebacker. I think, if you have seven to nine who can play, you’re in good shape. Not all will have the same characteristics, so what I think our defensive staff has done a very good job with is using the talents of each to develop personnel packages for down and distances or opposing personnel. It’s becoming a spread-oriented attack in football, so that creates a lot of matchup issues that you have to deal with. So hopefully you have enough diversity in your linebackers to make those matchups work in your favor.
9) Two personnel questions. Will Jonathan Meyers and Dan Kopolovich have full-time roles next year, and if so, which side of the ball will they be?
I don’t see Dan Kopolovich going back and forth again. At the time we decided to use him at both quarterback and defensive back, it was the right decision for the team based on our depth. In retrospect, we probably got less productivity out of Dan in the secondary because of that. To Dan’s credit, he never once questioned the decision, nor did he back down from the challenge. It was all, ‘Coach, whatever I can do to help the team.’ That’s just the type of kid he is, and that’s why I’m so proud of him. After the season, I called him in and told him we probably did a disservice to him by asking him to play two positions, and we’ll keep him at safety, or some field cornerback, this season. I want to get the most out of him there, and he was great with the decision.
As far as Jonathan Meyers, by my conversation with him early in the spring, it sounds like he wants to remain at running back. But with the return of Kenny Gunter, and the play of Matt Zimmerman and Ryan Smith at fullback, it may be better for him to go over to the defensive side. We’re still having that discussion, and I know he isn’t opposed to that. He’s another type of kid, just like Dan, that is all about getting on to the field and helping the team. It’s nice to have that luxury to be able to play him at either spot, depending on how people return from the summer.
10) You have experience at the safety spots with Kopolovich and Wilson Cates coming back. You have also had strong positive feelings about some of your young cornerbacks, but do you know if any of them are ready to be a fulltime player next year, opposite of Cart Kelly?
Well, one of them has to be. I think Blake Clemons and Weston Palmer both showed signs of being very good. Blake had the interception at the end of the Dartmouth game last year, which was great to see. He is maturing into quite a player. Jaiye Falusi had a good spring. He is primarily a safety, but he can play some corner. Glenn Wakam is getting more comfortable and starting to understand when you take chances and when you don’t and becoming a more complete player. Trevor Wilkins has shown some signs of potential as well. If you look at the depth chart, Glenn is backing up Cart, but they could play either side, and we have Blake and Weston on the other side. So I think we have a handful of guys who could play corner, but we’ll need somebody to step up because, quite frankly, I think teams will throw away from Cart.
11) Were you able to do anything this spring to specifically focus on forcing more turnovers next season?
Absolutely. We tried to do turnover circuits every day. One is being in position to make tackles and pursuing the ball the whole time. A lot of times, a fumble comes after the initial hit, when the next person comes from behind and strips the ball. We try to do all those things, along with consistently preaching, ‘Get the ball out. Get the ball out.’ On the flip side, we’re consistently working with the offense to keep up what we worked hard on last year. For us to only fumble four times with how often we pitch it is incredible. So we work on ball control, how to hold the ball, things like that to manage our own turnovers.
