Coordinator’s Corner with Lee Pronschinske

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Each week, we’ll visit with defensive coordinator Lee Pronschinske for his evaluation of how the defense is playing and what to expect from the upcoming opponent.

StrongDawgs: What areas of growth did you see from the defense from the start of camp to the end?

LP: I think we saw a lot of growth across the board with guys playing collectively as one. We saw the maturity start to show with our communication, whether that was alignment, assignment or checks before, during plays. It was really fun to watch those guys progress throughout camp.

Camp was full of a lot of really good competition with the offense, and they have a really good unit over there, but I saw a lot of really good reps against wide receivers, tight ends, O-linemen, running backs, quarterbacks, all of camp.

SD: It looked like the defense played fast. Is that a good measure of how well they’re grasping the system?

LP: Yeah, we talk about it all the time as a defensive staff, we don't want to be whiteboard warriors. It doesn't matter what we can draw up and execute on a whiteboard. With all of our teaching, our installs, we talk about bucket items, rules and principles. We can interchange people, but it stays the same. That allows for us to manipulate looks that an offense might see on a week to week basis, but for our guys, it's very simplistic, because at the end of the day, being able to play really fast, communicate at a high level, I think it's going to lead for us to play some really good defense this year.

SD: You mentioned playing against this offense. How does a dual threat guy like DJ Williams help prepare you?

LP: The problems we see are not only from DJ, but from a formation standpoint, pre-snap, post-snap, and then you add DJ’s ability to extend plays as scrambler. It's probably a good thing for us on defense at times, that it's not live, because I'm sure there's more than a handful of times DJ would have made us look pretty silly on a QB run. Throughout our schedule, we're going to see quarterbacks that are very active with their feet, being able to extend plays, not only just designed runs. So I think it gives us a really good look at what we'll see throughout the season, because one of the hardest things to simulate in practices is a really good running quarterback.

SD: Do you have a goal for how many explosive plays that you would like to limit an opponent to in a game?

LP: It's funny, we actually just talked about our goals as a defense, and we have a couple categories we look at, and explosive-plays-allowed is not one. I think that kind of creates a bad imagery in our guys' heads, talking about explosives. So a couple of categories we look at is taking the football away, our efficiency stopping the run, efficiency on third down, and then affecting the quarterback, one sack every 15 dropbacks. A big one for us is just looking at our total explosives defensively. We talk about hitting 20 big plays, so that's TFL, sacks, interceptions, PBUs, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, quarterback hurries, quarterback hits, and scores on defense. So a little bit of a mind-flip, instead of talking about what we could potentially allow, we like to talk about what we could potentially cause.

SD: Two linebackers were voted as team captains by their peers. Talk about the leadership that you expect from Colin Bohanek and Andrew Behm.

LP: That's how we opened the defensive meeting this afternoon. It’s really cool to see those guys earn that. When you talk about a captain, no one deserves to be a captain. People earn the right to be a captain in front of their peers, and that's what we talked about. There's probably not two guys that you'd rather have in your foxhole, dark alley, guys that are going to have your back 24/7. Those are the first two names that are going to come off the tip of your tongue.

SD: Donnie Wingate is a transfer who has stood out since Day 1. What are your expectations for him this year?

LP: Donnie’s a home run, man. He embodies what we want to be on this team. I can still remember his official visit when Coach Hill and I took him to lunch and it was obvious that he was our type of player, our type of dawg. Back in the truck with the head man, it's like, we got to do whatever it takes to get this guy.

Then just seeing him put in that work in the off-season, his production in practice, the way he carries himself, his high motor. You know his on the-field product's going to match what he's put in and it's going to be pretty exciting to follow. And I think that whole group is going to play extremely complimentary of each other. They've done a really good job of buying in, playing together as one, all four of those pieces. So I think his production isn't even going to be a concern for himself. Donnie, I think, just wants to see that group succeed.

SD: This program has been so good at developing its younger players to where they gradually pick up bigger responsibilities. This year, you look at guys like Amir Dwight, Nate Tronzo, Gavin Shepard. How important is their development for the defense?

LP: I think in today's college football world, people are losing sight of that a little bit. I think it's really exciting when you have those guys that are homegrown, high school guys that can rise through the ranks because they're dawgs through and through. They're guys that come in, cut their teeth on scout team, go through that first spring ball where they're in live action, and then with the offseason workouts in the summer you see those guys develop with coach Meade (Smith) in the weight room, then the coaching staff upstairs, and then translate it to the field. That's how you build a program — really good high school classes and guys that stick together, even with the changing landscape.

SD: What are you expecting to see from the Thomas More offense on Saturday?

LP: They have a veteran line up front, and when you can return four or five starters up front that have played together, that'll lead to a lot of good things. They return a young quarterback who played a bunch of snaps and has a lot of arm talent, does a great job of throwing the vertical ball, and he returns three of his targets that he was throwing the ball to. I think they're going to present some different looks and have their playmakers come out and try score some points.They're going to put together a really good game plan for us.

SD: In terms of playing rotations, how deep you go, and how many reps certain players will get, have you sorted that out yet?

LP: That's been an ongoing conversation in full staff and defensive staff meetings. Hopefully, there's not too many long drives on Saturday, knock on wood, but there's nothing like going out there and actually having to play a 12, 13-play drive that physically and mentally exhausts you. So I think it will be good to see these guys get those drives underneath their belt.

At the end of the day, our job is to go out there and put together a really good product of guys playing together, playing fast, playing hard. The guys that, throughout fall camp have earned the opportunity and the trust from their peers and this coaching staff to go out there and compete on Saturday, they're going to find that opportunity if they keep taking care of their business.