Bo curious to see how hybrids hold up to Big Ten heft

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Nexus

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Bo Pelini owns one of college football's brightest defensive minds. But Pelini rarely gives the public a glimpse inside his head — what intrigues him, what challenges him, what he envisions in the future. (Unlike Bill Callahan, Pelini shies away from recruiting talk).
Tuesday, I asked Pelini about DeJon Gomes and Eric Hagg.

This time, Pelini engaged. He elaborated. He even made an unprompted reference (the first time he's done so publicly) to Nebraska's move to the Big Ten.

What about Gomes and Hagg sparked his interest? Simple. They embody the trait that makes Pelini's 2010 defense so filthy:

Versatility.

When Jake Locker takes his first snap Saturday in Seattle, he'll look at Nebraska's lineup and see six or seven defenders weighing 195 to 210 pounds.

Speedsters like Hagg and Gomes might man up on receivers. They might drop back in zone and snatch an errant throw. They might blitz from a linebacker spot. They might fill a hole and blast a running back.

The beauty is in the mystery.

But my question for Pelini was about the future. Have Gomes and Hagg influenced what Pelini looks for on the recruiting trail? Has their success motivated him to go after more hybrids?

“Absolutely,” he said. “I like having guys that can do a lot of things — big, tall, long, athletic guys that can do multiple things.

“But the interesting part of it, thinking about going beyond this year, is how will that relate to the next conference that we play in? That's part of the evaluation that we're doing.”

Look at the top five programs in the Big Ten: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Their 15 starting linebackers average 236 pounds. All but one of those 15 tips the scale at 227 or more.

Nebraska's starting linebackers last Saturday: Hagg at 210 pounds, Lavonte David at 210 and Eric Martin at 240. (In passing situations, Martin went to the sideline.)

Does NU have to be bigger defensively once it goes to the Big Ten?

“Depends on the guys,” Pelini said. “Sometimes bigger isn't better.”

Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said he looks for three characteristics in recruiting: “Aggression, physicality, speed.”

If a kid meets those conditions, who cares what he weighs or what position he plays? Get him on the field.

“The days of the 270-pound middle linebacker who just runs A gap to A gap are over,” Carl Pelini said. “Guys got to be able to cover downfield. They've got to be able to cover tight ends and at times cover receivers and running backs and still be physical against the run.

“The more versatile you are with your personnel, the more creative you can be as coaches.”

Bo Pelini put it another way. Take a guy like Lavonte David, he said.

“He's athletic enough and instinctive enough that he could play multiple spots. I just think guys like that really help you.

“These days in college football, even teams that are going to hammer you and come downhill at you, they're still going to have some sense of spreading you out at times.

“You have to have easy ways to adjust your schemes and still be sound. If you've got guys that can cover, it sure helps your football team.”

Collecting hybrids isn't a new concept. Tom Osborne's staff recruited safeties and turned them into linebackers. Their speed transformed his defense.

But Pelini has more of them — and he's more creative moving them around the field. The key now is identifying recruits who fit the profile. Guys who break on the ball like Gomes. Guys who hit like Hagg.

“You recruit the athlete, the body type,” Bo Pelini said. “Then you train them to do what you want them to do. That's kind of how we go about it. There are a couple guys we're recruiting this year that are very similar to that.”

Daimion Stafford comes to mind. He's a 210-pound juco hybrid from California. So does David Santos, a 195-pound high school star from Texas.

Once they arrive, who knows how Pelini will use them.

Hagg began his career at safety for Callahan, then moved to corner. Now he's at a hybrid position that coaches call the “Peso.” Gomes was a junior-college cornerback. He hasn't played corner since, Pelini said.

“Recruit good athletes, good football players, and then plug them in where you see fit,” Pelini said. “And then also, adjust your system accordingly to make sure that you give them the opportunities to have success. Don't ask somebody to do something that's not their strength.”

Carl Pelini said this specific scheme — with this many hybrids on the field — wasn't always the plan. The Pelinis came to Nebraska knowing they had to stop spread offenses. They had a philosophy.

“It took time to learn about our guys and their skills and how we could adapt them to our philosophy,” he said.

The Pelini Way will be tested in the Big Ten, where offenses run more between the tackles.

Can Nebraska recruit a 210-pound Lavonte David and put him at linebacker? Can the Huskers continue with nickel and dime packages on first and second downs? We'll see.

Bo Pelini grew up in the Big Ten. Doesn't mean he won't try to change it.

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Ohio State now runs a lot of what they call their "Star" defense that is very similar to our "Peso" defense. It works well for them, no reason it won't be effective for us as well.

 
The article mentioned 2011 JUCO commit Daimion Stafford. If you haven't already, check out his highlight reel. It reminded me a lot of LaVonte David's JUCO

. They're both fast, instinctive and appear to possess high football IQ on film. Stafford is set to enroll at NU in Jan. 2011. I think he'll be an immediate impact player next season, especially if he makes it to campus for Spring ball.
Had David made it to campus in January 2010 like he was supposed to, he'd be further along in his development in the system, but the mere fact that he's already making his presence felt right out of the gate with only a month of preparation in learning a complex defensive system speaks volumes about his natural ability as a player. IMO, Stafford will be the same way, except he'll benefit from having Spring ball under his belt by the time the 2011 season begins.

 
With Tmart and the offense that Bo/SW/TO are creating I think the Big10 is going to have their hands full.

 
I really think/have this feeling that after Watson leaves for a different coaching job (he's looking for a Head Coaching job, just not actively) that the first person we go after will either be someone in house or we're going to try for Scott Frost (or just bring Frost in to replace the promoted OC). I really think that as long as we have Martinez or similar QBs running our offense (Carnes and Turner, Green and Starling are too tall with different running styles) we'll see an offense that's a mix between downhill running and Oregon's zone read/spread option.

 
Nexus said:
The article mentioned 2011 JUCO commit Daimion Stafford. If you haven't already, check out his highlight reel. It reminded me a lot of LaVonte David's JUCO

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Great highlight reel! I hadn't checked that out yet. Stafford is a burner alright. Tons of speed. He looks smaller than 6'0 210. But he can really hit. He looked like a missile on that hit at 1:35 of the film.

Daimion Stafford will fit in well in the Pelini defensive scheme.

 
I've been wonderng about this for awhile. But back in 95, we had Farley and J. Williams who both weighed in about 210 pounds. Maybe David plays the Peso and we have 2 more "tradionally" sized lb's at Mike and Will. The difference was that in 95, our D-line had different responsiblities and were more pocket wreckers. That, and we were normally up by 3 td's in the first quarter, so teams went to 4 and 5 wr's.

I guess we'll see next year, but I'm not really that concerned about it now. We have 12 more games to worry about this year.

 
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