West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley believes some metrics are more important than others when it comes to measuring a great defense in college football.
And at the top of that list is points per possession.
Because different offenses play at different paces, it alters some statistics such as yardage but points per possession gives a snapshot of how a unit is performing regardless of opportunities.
Alley also puts a lot of stock in disguising his defense and he has the data to back it up as two years ago he studied the top ten defenses in the country and eight of those were in the top 12 in disguise rate.
“Anytime you can change the picture pre to post snap on a quarterback, you make him indecisive. You make him slower in his reads, his progressions in the run game and the pass game,” Alley told the 3 Guys Before the Game Podcast. “You can affect the way they play.”
That’s why Alley wants his defense to be multiple and look complex in order to make things challenging for the opposing offense.
“We’re going to look like we do a million things but in reality I’m going to think the linebackers do 10 total things on defense,” Alley said. “Once you know what those 10 go with what calls it starts to become real simple.”
Alley’s defense is built around being aggressive and multiple. Over the past several seasons, his units have ranked inside the top five in blitz percentage for rather obvious reasons.
“I want to knock guys backwards, I want to create sacks,” he said.
The focus is to make it difficult for opposing offenses to prepare for what Alley does on the defensive side and the focus is always on what his players can do instead of plays.
“Part of the reason we’re so diverse is we’re able to match up the best players and put them in the best position to be successful,” he said.
“How do we take the 11 guys that are the best players on defense, put them out there in positions they can be successful and then the scheme is dictated around what they do well,” he added.
And with what comes the ability to be able to understand the scheme enough to have the diversity across the board to help others step into new roles and be able to handle those jobs if there are injuries or other things that occur to affect the line up.
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