Today’s football game has evolved into a complicated choreography of schemes, packages and audibles. Offenses rarely just line up and run a play without coming to the line of scrimmage then checking with the sidelines first. As the offense shifts the defense adjusts. It’s all in an effort to call the perfect play or defense each and every snap. Often times in the whirlwind of “check with me’s” and myriad of hand signals, the basic fundamentals of the game are sacrificed.
That is not Chuck Heater’s style.
“I’ve always believed in fundamentals and technique,” emphasized The Herd’s new defensive coordinator. “I believe in getting guys lined up and not slowing them down with a lot processing or with a lot of checking, I’m not in to that. I want guys to play fast.”
Just getting guys lined up and in the right position was often a challenge for Marshall’s defense in 2012. Throughout the season defensive players talked about “getting on the same page” and “communicating with each other” out on the field. In fact, even as late as nine or ten games into the season that was still an issue.
“I have no threshold for confusion,” insisted Heater. “I’ll dummy it down as much as I have to to get all 11 guys on the same page.”
A return to an emphasis on fundamentals will be a refreshing change of pace for Herd fans that groaned and grumbled watching missed tackles cost The Herd dearly throughout the season. In games against Ohio, Tulsa, UAB and East Carolina, missed tackles on 3rd and 4th downs allowed drives to continue that ultimately led to points and Herd losses.
“I am more of a believer that you’ve got to whip the guy in front of you.” – Chuck Heater
Heater has an old school approach to defense. Rather than running around trying to get into the perfect alignment, Heater wants his players to just whip the guy in front them and go make a play.
“If you think you’ve got to call the perfect the defense every snap and that’s going to require reaction to what the offense does in a formation, I’m not oriented that way,” explained Heater. “I’m not really trying to cheat, there are times we should be better than the offense.”
Heater’s no-nonsense approach could be the remedy Marshall’s ailing defense needs. Heater, an aggressive teacher, wants his unit to be fundamentally sound, play hard and if necessary simply be physically tougher than the opposition.
“I demand that they play hard. We expect that when that play is going on guys are making effort to get off blocks, to make plays, to finish plays.”
Chuck Heater’s defense may not be overly complicated or come with all the bells and whistles of a more complex scheme but if it is successful and Marshall rises to the top of C-USA in 2013, no one will care.