Interesting read from free 247 article:
“Ted is one of the most experienced coordinators and one of the best teachers in all of college football, and he's done it in some of the premier conferences in the sport—the SEC, Big Ten and ACC," Venables said. "He has a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience, most of which has been in the southeastern part of the country where he is very well connected. He's been a head coach, is a fabulous recruiter and is one of the most revered players in Georgia Tech history from his time as a linebacker there. We're fortunate to have a person of his stature lead our defense, and he's going to make us stronger and tougher on that side of the ball.”
The connection obviously makes sense. Even from one year in the Clemson program, Roof figures to know the ins and outs of what Venables expects on the defensive side of the ball.
“On defense, again, I believe that it all starts up front, and you’ve got to recruit great players there and develop them,” Venables said during his introductory press conference on Monday. “Length and speed, guys that have position flexibility is ideal. It helps create additional depth. The way offenses operate you’d like to be able to, from a package standpoint, not have to get in-and-out of some packages. You want to do it when you want to do it, not when somebody forces you to do it.
“And so you want to be able to play with the same personnel as much as you can, but again, have flexibility. You want people to feel like they’re seeing a lot, but keeping it simple. But fundamentals on both sides of the ball, not trying to out-trick—when it’s all said and done, I love deception, I love deception on both sides, but at the end of the day it comes down to fundamentals and physicality and guys playing with uncommon effort. And I think those have got to be non-negotiables.”
I post this because so many fonts don't realize how important the D-line is. I have been saying for a decade or so we need more and better DL. Also of note is how much this sounds like Collins' philosophy (length, speed, position-flexibility). Yes we have obviously had coaching issues on that side of the ball, and particularly in the secondary, but this remains THE fundamental problem (DL). We must have disruption and folks who can win 1:1's and not let QBs sit back there all day.
3 great DT prospects signing (hopefully). Need portal help, need a recovered, healthy Keion White, need further development from existing guys. Unless some of the tr-fr can develop quickly, White returns to form, and some existing guys make a leap and/or we bring in a stud or two from the portal I don't see much improvement coming on the defensive side.