Coordinator's Corner: Saluki defense made improvements across the board during spring

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois defensive coordinator Lee Pronschinske reviews the individual and collective improvement the defense made during the spring season, as well as off-season plans to prepare for the 2026 season.

StrongDawgs Q&A with Lee Pronschinske

SD: What was your overall approach to spring ball, especially in light of the rules that limit how much live tackling you can do?

LP: It all started with our self-scout from 2025 and fine-tuning things to get better. We kind of scaled back the install a little bit this spring. We wanted to make sure we were getting a lot of reps at base downs and the tools and principles we need for our third-down and red-zone packages. It created an opportunity for guys to play faster, to trust in their alignment, their assignment, their communication. A lot of guys were able to get 300 to 500 extremely valuable reps.

We took some time to fine-tune technique and movement skills, and took a lot of pride in how we practice. Whether it's Thud, Tag, Off, or Live Tackling, making sure we're in positions to be a really good tackling defense, because good teams tackle at an extremely high level. It's not as easy as people think on the outside looking in, because like you touched on, you're only allowed to tackle live three times in the spring. During OTAs, you're not in pads, so you don't ever tackle. In fall camp, you're only tackling about three times as well. So going into the first game, you only get to live-tackle about six times. We're putting a premium on making sure that our drill and our Indy time is giving us an opportunity to really get good at tackling.

SD: You added two new position coaches to the defensive staff this offseason. What was the process to get them acclimated to your system?

LP: As we went through the 2025 cutups as a staff, we did a little deeper dive into why we’re doing things – the scheme and technique we’re teaching players — than we might have if we had maintained our whole staff. It was a great opportunity for us to grow as a staff, because you have some new voices that don't necessarily understand why you were calling certain things and they’re asking good questions. A guy like (Tom) Reb(holz) has sat in the DC seat and brings a mindset of seeing things from the big picture. I think the process was really good for us as a whole.

SD: As you make adjustments to your scheme, where do those ideas come from?

LP: First, every adjustment we make is going to fall from that tree of who we are, our identity. It’s a collective staff effort to fine-tune those wrinkles.

When you're looking at other teams, you're always trying to find teams at the highest level that are performing really well, and you want to find teams that have a similar identity to you. Obviously, now with NDSU leaving the Valley, we’re able to have open lines of communication with those guys and hear what they're doing.

It can be tricky at times, too. Third downs is an area we have to be better in ’26, and then you start turning on some of these really good third-down defenses. The first one I turned on was Texas Tech, and it's just a four-man rush, but they have four future pros up front, too. So you got to take some of that with a grain of salt, but it's about finding teams that have a similar identity.

SD: Speaking of the front-four, how is that group shaping up for 2026?

LP: We graduated five guys up front that played a lot of snaps for us, and I think we did a really good job of retaining guys who were a big piece of that unit last year, and added some key, new pieces to that room. I think we're getting to a good spot, especially with the high school class we signed. You'd like to have a lot of homegrown guys because it's a big developmental position. It takes guys a couple of years in the system and a couple of off-seasons with Coach Meade (Smith) to build up the physical strength to withstand this league.

Making sure we're really sound up front in our four-down is always going to be a big priority for us. If you want to play late into December and early January at the FCS level, you have to be able to win at the line of scrimmage, whether it's on the offensive line or the defensive line.

SD: You were able to retain key players across the defense. How important is the leadership of that group of veterans?

LP: I think the leadership has really shown up out of those guys in a couple different ways. Guys like Jake (Parrella), Amir (Dwight), Beamer (Andrew Behm), (Chris) Presto, Vinny (Pierre Jr.), Gavin (Shepard) — those are guys that are all high-level IQ players who have mastered our scheme and understand situational football. They’re a beacon for the young guys and transfers in the room to help speed along the learning process.

They also have really good practice habits. Those guys know how to go about their business. The one you have to shine a light on is Andrew. Whenever Beam’s out there, he’s foot down on the gas, ultimate hustle, ultimate effort. You have to match his tempo. We have guys who are not only vocal leaders, but also lead with their actions.

SD: You saw quite a few younger players make big jumps during spring ball. Talk about the progress of some of the young guys on defense this spring.

LP: I think it's really exciting. When you look at the teams across the FCS that have been extremely successful for a long period of time — NDSU, South Dakota State, Montana State, Montana — it's a lot of homegrown talent — high school guys that they do a great job of developing. When you can take those young guys and invest in them, they develop a deep love for the place.

Lucas (McDaniels) and (Nate) Tronzo had a really good spring ball up front. Tronzo showed the versatility to play three of the four spots up front. DO (David Obadein) is really stepping into his own. I think he can be as good as Presto was as a young ‘backer, and that can help take a little off Presto's plate. Then you got guys like (Ben) Fiegel and Charlie (Whelpley). Fiegel’s played a good amount of defensive snaps, but Charlie is going from playing mostly special teams last year to his first year of fully playing defense at the college level. He's starting to really look natural out there and is going to be a really good football player for us. (Cornerbacks) Cam Cason and Naz (Hill), Denym (Mitchell) have been in the program for a full cycle and are starting to show that maturity and understanding of how the pieces around them fit. Clayton (Lakatos) had a really good spring, too. He's extremely talented and is learning a lot from Vinny.

SD: How do you feel about your position, the safety group?

LP: With two full years under my belt, I think the room's starting to get close to what I want it to look like. I think we have about five guys who could go out there and start. There’s a good blend of homegrown guys such as Vinny, Clayton, Grant Thompson, who came here as high school guys, and then a good mix of some transfers with Rue (Jackson) and Matt (McLelland). People forget that Matt's played about 1,700 snaps as a Division I football player, and he's coming off of injury, but he’s a really mature player who knows how to go about his business and has really good communication skills. I think we're in a really good spot right now at the safety position.

SD: You were selected to participate in the AFCA’s 35-Under-35 Coaches Leadership Institute. What did that mean to you?

LP: It's a cool, full-circle moment to look back and think about how it all started with some of the long hours, the dirty work, doing laundry, breaking down film. The event itself was a really good networking opportunity. There's some guys that I would have never connected with, otherwise, who have become good friends. It’ll be fun to look back at in a couple of years that I was able to be a part of that event.

SD: What do your summer months look like?

LP: Summers have evolved a lot since I first got into the profession, and I'm not that old. The summer OTAs are extremely important to fine-tune the install and have the guys work with Coach Meade to make sure they're getting ready for in-season.

Then it's starting to look at your upcoming opponents, especially the three new teams that we haven't seen before. Samford has a brand-new staff, so now it's going to take some digging around to get an idea of their schematics. West Florida is new to us and then, obviously, the issues that Illinois will present. I grew up watching Wisconsin football and some of my earliest football memories were watching Wisconsin-led teams by Bret Bielema. So that will be a cool, full-circle moment to play Illinois.  Then you start looking at conference opponents, and we didn’t play South Dakota State last year. We’ll break down all their games from last year because we won't have as much familiarity with them as the rest of the league that we played last year.