In His Own Words: DBs coach Rick Smith on the secondary

[Mama_Bull]

I'm glad to see that Mark Joyce may get a shot to play this year.

In His Own Words: DBs coach Rick Smith on the secondary

Posted August 19, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Aug 19, 2010 at 05:12 PM

When the Bulls opened camp earlier this month, the secondary was one of the biggest question marks surrounding the team.

After USF concluded its final practice here in Vero Beach earlier today, I chatted with assistant head coach/defensive backs coach Rick Smith about the unit’s progress.

Here is Smith’s assessment when I asked him to update the battles in the secondary:

â€(Mistrel) Raymond has had a real good camp. He is working at strong safety, nickel and boundary corner. So he’s got a lot to learn, but he’s done a great job.

(Jon) Lejiste, I’ve moved him from strong (safety) to free. Right now he is starting there. He’s backed up by Chris Lane, who is a walk-on, and a freshman in Reshard Cliett.

At strong safety is Jerrell Young; he’s backed up by a freshman in Mark Joyce.

At the boundary corner, you’ve got a battle still going on between Quenton Washington and (Mistrel) Raymond, and the third guy is a true freshman in Terrence Mitchell.

When (Raymond) is at safety, those two (Washington and Mitchell) are at corner.

At field corner, we’ve still got a battle going on between Kayvon Webster and George Baker, who has just had a tremendous camp, and so has Kayvon.

A guy who has come out of nowhere (at cornerback) is Ricardo Dixon, who was redshirted last year with a shoulder surgery and did not go through spring.’‘

So there you have Smith on the secondary as USF enters its second scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday.

Based on the depth chart at the end of spring practice, the starting lineup was LC Washington, SS Young, FS Raymond and RC Webster.

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/comments/in-his-own-words-dbs-coach-rick-smith/

[HappyHourHero]

Glad to hear Ricardo and George had a good cap and are giving the starters some competition

[DELdaBull]

That sounds like a lot of corners. What's a border corner? What's a field corner? I'm confused. I guess Mitchell is the shiznit for real.

[RSSMOOTH]

That sounds like a lot of corners. What's a border corner? What's a field corner? I'm confused. I guess Mitchell is the shiznit for real.

Its boundary corner not border corner, but the difference is that the boundary corner generally plays the the side of the field that is less wider or shorter while the field corner does the opposite. You generally have your number one corner play field corner which is what Mike Jenkins played for us while Trae played boundary corner. Depending on the play and scheme, you have your field corner play a little bit further from the receiver because there is more ground to cover and you have your field corner play a little closer.

Last year we ran a base cover-2 defense and both corner positions were interchangeable. They generally lineup at the same distance from the receiver.

[DELdaBull]

Thanks Smooth. I think I understand. So does this mean our base D is a nickel?

[RSSMOOTH]

Thanks Smooth. I think I understand. So does this mean our base D is a nickel?

This is a common misconception stemming from last year. Nickel only means that there are 5 DBs on the field. We faced a lot of teams that liked to spread us out but only 2 major teams in the country as far as I know run a nickel defense. That is Michigan and WVU, both run a base 3-3-5 which is a nickel sub-package. The normal nickel is a 4-2-5.

We will run a base 4-3 as our primary defense, which is the same thing we ran in 2007 and last year as well but we mostly ran Cover-2 out of that scheme. I read somewhere, that we will also run some 5-2 packages but I assume that will only happen on first and second downs and in running situations...I hope that clears up anything for you

[Orlando Bull]

The nickel we ran the last two years can go to hell. I hated seeing 5 DBs on the field because we do not have the DL to stop the run, taking a LB out of play and you're left with a DB trying to tackle a RB with a full head of steam. Take out the Lejiste hit on the FSU RB, and it normally not a good result for the defense. Of course, in my mind, Lejiste earned a starting position somewhere based on that alone.

On the DBs, I think Kayvon and hopefully Mitchell will be a great combo for us. I am not sure about Washington. Raymond will be serviceable, but we need someone to seriously step up to give us that Jenks/Trae type combo where the DL and LBs can tee off and make some good things happen.

[slowdown]

he did not mention jaquez jenkins.  i think he is ahead of mark joyce

[Fold FB Invest in BB]

The nickel we ran the last two years can go to hell. I hated seeing 5 DBs on the field because we do not have the DL to stop the run, taking a LB out of play and you're left with a DB trying to tackle a RB with a full head of steam. Take out the Lejiste hit on the FSU RB, and it normally not a good result for the defense. Of course, in my mind, Lejiste earned a starting position somewhere based on that alone.

On the DBs, I think Kayvon and hopefully Mitchell will be a great combo for us. I am not sure about Washington. Raymond will be serviceable, but we need someone to seriously step up to give us that Jenks/Trae type combo where the DL and LBs can tee off and make some good things happen.

Baker had a real nice open field tackle on Richard Kelly in the spring game, so that either says a lot about George, or tells you something abour Richard Kelly. I think Baker might be your man to "step up" this year. Kid was all sorts of fast coming out of High School and he's had a couple of years in the weight room. I would like to see what he can do.

[The Great 8]

Baker was one of the coups of his class. He and the kid that chose VT. I hope he proves to be good enough to see the field soon. I'm not thrilled with Q Washington out there, I hope GB can step up and replace him (or that Q steps up obviously).