Miami DC Corey Hetherman Adjust Defensive Mindset Without Two First Round Picks
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Adjusting a defense after losing four key contributors is a task that Miami Hurricanes' defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman has tackled this offseason.
While he has primarily the same secondary, the defensive line has adjusted, as has the linebacking unit, which Hetherman has kept a close eye on.
Everything is progressing in the right direction, but Hetherman is still working to get the group to trust each other at every step.
“I think we’re getting better every single day," Hetherman said at Wednesday's practice. "I think little steps, but I think we’re playing faster. I think our guys are communicating a lot better and I think we’re playing together as a unit. And every day, we’re just growing closer together and you can see guys really trusting it, trusting each other, and playing fast with one another every day.”
After revitalising the Hurricanes' defense after one season, some players are feeling at ease with the systems that have been put in place.
Star safety Zechariah Poyser is one of many who learned on the fly in Hetherman's system last season after transferring in from Jacksonville State. Year two of the system has been easier to pick up, even with some new defensive adjustments.
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“Yes, of course it’s easier," Poyser said. "It’s like second hand nature because, obviously, this is my second year in the defense. The communication has gotten way better from day one to whatever day we’re on now. So, I most definitely can tell the difference in the communication, and it’s gotten way better and we [still] have a lot of work to do, but it’s getting there to where we need it to be.”
Moreover, Hetherman sees that without his two first-round edge rushers, things are going to have to be different. He has taken on the challenges presented by the offensive side of the ball and, from offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, has sought to understand the type of team he has heading into the Sept. 4 season opener against Stanford.
“You always want to get better," Hetherman continued. "Our urgency, tempo, what we did in different situations last year, our urgency in everything that we do, how we compete, our communication. That was a major thing in the offseason. How well do we communicate? How well do we anticipate what’s going to happen with a shift? With a motion? With whatever the offense is doing to us? With the looks that they’re trying to show us?
“In spring football, Coach Dawson did a great job of giving us some of those looks, different workouts. We had all that stuff and our guys have gotten better talking and learning how to work together and then overcommunicate, getting the whole defense, all 11 guys in the same check.
"Because I tell them all the time … as long as the 11 guys on the field are all playing the right call and the same call, we’re in a good spot. It’s just when we have different things and we’re not communicating.
“Our guys have done a really good job of communicating. Our guys have done a really good job of growing together and then just continuing to understand the fundamentals and the techniques that we teach every single day in block destruction, in tackling, in how we leverage the football and how we play man or how we play zone; in how detailed we are with our eyes … when you look at it, really from even a year ago, when you turn the tape on, I think those are areas that we’re playing better football right now and we’re only going to continue to get better there.”
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.
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