What Heacock Said

[Aclone]

I was listening to this weeks pressers, and a couple things Coach Heacock said rather offhandedly jumped out at me—especially when taken together.

First, almost in passing, he mentioned the “new” elements to the defense that a player (Malik Verdon, iirc) was going to have to learn.

Adding new wrinkles to the defense—when some offenses seem to start to figure it out—seems like a really good idea to me.

Then, at a different points, also rather offhandedly, he mentioned lining up in “four and three man fronts”.

Pardon me for not relistening to get the exact quotes.

However, we haven’t spent much time lining up on four man fronts the last few years. Hardly any, it seems to me.

But putting these two disparate comments together…could some of those “new wrinkles” involve a four man front? I mean, we all know what a monster Dom Orange is going to be, but JR Singleton is one of a mere handful of recruits CMC labeled an athletic “freak” when he signed.

Could this be a way to get the two of them (along with, say, Tyler Onyedim and Ikenna Ezeogu) on the field at the same time?

Just wondering. Guess we’ll see before too terribly long.

Jon Heacock 8_29 presser http://cyclones.com//watch?Archive=19867

 

[Jeremy]

I was listening to this weeks pressers, and a couple things Coach Heacock said rather offhandedly jumped out at me—especially when taken together.

First, almost in passing, he mentioned the “new” elements to the defense that a player (Malik Verdon, iirc) was going to have to learn.

Adding new wrinkles to the defense—when some offenses seem to start to figure it out—seems like a really good idea to me.

Then, at a different points, also rather offhandedly, he mentioned lining up in “four and three man fronts”.

Pardon me for not registering to get the exact quotes.

However, we haven’t spent much time lining up on four man fronts the last few years. Hardly any, it seems to me.

But putting these two disparate comments together…could some of those “new wrinkles” involve a four man front? I mean, we all know what a monster Dom Orange is going to be, but JR Singleton is one of a mere handful of recruits CMC labeled an athletic “freak” when he signed.

Could this be a way to get the two of them (along with, say, Tyler Onyedim and Ikenna Ezeogu) on the field at the same time?

Just wondering. Guess we’ll see before too terribly long.

Jon Heacock 8_29 presser http://cyclones.com//watch?Archive=19867

They have been practicing some new approaches in camp. The feeling was the standard ISU defense, while very effective, doesn't always allow for as many disruptions as it could - including forcing turnovers. This is a way to try and be more dynamic while still maintaining our top-tier defense.

 

[JM4CY]

In Heacock I trust.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I was listening to this weeks pressers, and a couple things Coach Heacock said rather offhandedly jumped out at me—especially when taken together.

First, almost in passing, he mentioned the “new” elements to the defense that a player (Malik Verdon, iirc) was going to have to learn.

Adding new wrinkles to the defense—when some offenses seem to start to figure it out—seems like a really good idea to me.

Then, at a different points, also rather offhandedly, he mentioned lining up in “four and three man fronts”.

Pardon me for not registering to get the exact quotes.

However, we haven’t spent much time lining up on four man fronts the last few years. Hardly any, it seems to me.

But putting these two disparate comments together…could some of those “new wrinkles” involve a four man front? I mean, we all know what a monster Dom Orange is going to be, but JR Singleton is one of a mere handful of recruits CMC labeled an athletic “freak” when he signed.

Could this be a way to get the two of them (along with, say, Tyler Onyedim and Ikenna Ezeogu) on the field at the same time?

Just wondering. Guess we’ll see before too terribly long.

Jon Heacock 8_29 presser

I think you have to add wrinkles all the time or offensive coordinators at this level will figure you out. Might have to periodically adjust to personnel too.

 

[MugNight]

I was listening to this weeks pressers, and a couple things Coach Heacock said rather offhandedly jumped out at me—especially when taken together.

First, almost in passing, he mentioned the “new” elements to the defense that a player (Malik Verdon, iirc) was going to have to learn.

Adding new wrinkles to the defense—when some offenses seem to start to figure it out—seems like a really good idea to me.

Then, at a different points, also rather offhandedly, he mentioned lining up in “four and three man fronts”.

Pardon me for not registering to get the exact quotes.

However, we haven’t spent much time lining up on four man fronts the last few years. Hardly any, it seems to me.

But putting these two disparate comments together…could some of those “new wrinkles” involve a four man front? I mean, we all know what a monster Dom Orange is going to be, but JR Singleton is one of a mere handful of recruits CMC labeled an athletic “freak” when he signed.

Could this be a way to get the two of them (along with, say, Tyler Onyedim and Ikenna Ezeogu) on the field at the same time?

Just wondering. Guess we’ll see before too terribly long.

Jon Heacock 8_29 presser http://cyclones.com//watch?Archive=19867

Seems our LB core might be less “thumper” and more agile than more recent seasons. I’m expecting that they cover more ground, so that might allow for an additional DL and also impact our secondary’s responsibilities.

Heacock’s scheme is genius, and the word is out. Many schools have tried to replicate it, and there’s plenty of film out there now. These wrinkles are good to maximize the talent of our “players” and create new “formations” that Offenses have to prepare for.

 

[tim_redd]

I think you have to add wrinkles all the time or offensive coordinators at this level will figure you out. Might have to periodically adjust to personnel too.

Yep, at the time we had little d-line depth, but plenty of linebackers and safeties. Now it seems d-line depth is a strength.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

They have been practicing some new approaches in camp. The feeling was the standard ISU defense, while very effective, doesn't always allow for as many disruptions as it could - including forcing turnovers. This is a way to try and be more dynamic while still maintaining our top-tier defense.

What will be interesting is do we go 4 2 5 or 4 3 4?

 

[Aclone]

They have been practicing some new approaches in camp. The feeling was the standard ISU defense, while very effective, doesn't always allow for as many disruptions as it could - including forcing turnovers. This is a way to try and be more dynamic while still maintaining our top-tier defense.

Forcing more turnovers (and sacks) seems like a great idea to me. Not least if they can still maintain containment—and this looks to be the best secondary we’ve had in quite a while.

 

[Billups06]

Seems our LB core might be less “thumper” and more agile than more recent seasons. I’m expecting that they cover more ground, so that might allow for an additional DL and also impact our secondary’s responsibilities.

Heacock’s scheme is genius, and the word is out. Many schools have tried to replicate it, and there’s plenty of film out there now. These wrinkles are good to maximize the talent of our “players” and create new “formations” that Offenses have to prepare for.

From 2021 to 2022, Heacock's defense added many subtle 'wrinkles', much of it relating to how our safeties and LB's aligned pre-snap (obviously many nuances regarding coverage etc.). Likely needed as there were games in 2021 when our defense was not good and lacked the ability to adjust throughout the game (TTech and WVU come to mind). The emergence of TJ Tampa and Purchase lets Heacock get creative with the other parts of the D. We also generated a pretty consistent pass rush with 3 DL last year, that we did not see in 2021. Hoping the consistent pass rush carries over to this season, relieves so much pressure on the back-end of the D.

 

[Clonehomer]

The 3-3-5 worked well when the Big12 was almost exclusively a spread it out league. The pendulum is shifting back to more balanced offenses. Makes sense to have a four man front against teams like KSU.

 

[madguy30]

They have been practicing some new approaches in camp. The feeling was the standard ISU defense, while very effective, doesn't always allow for as many disruptions as it could - including forcing turnovers. This is a way to try and be more dynamic while still maintaining our top-tier defense.

They must have read my posts on this subject and not in any way gone off of their own observations and expertise with the athletes they spend all sorts of time with.

 

[SolarGarlic]

The 3-3-5 worked well when the Big12 was almost exclusively a spread it out league. The pendulum is shifting back to more balanced offenses. Makes sense to have a four man front against teams like KSU.

It's felt like Baylor's OC has been a step ahead of us. They have a physical downhill run game and then kill us with play action and bootlegs. We weren't able to get pressure on a very average QB last season, and he made us pay. Also made a couple of passes out his ass.

 

[isutrevman]

They have been practicing some new approaches in camp. The feeling was the standard ISU defense, while very effective, doesn't always allow for as many disruptions as it could - including forcing turnovers. This is a way to try and be more dynamic while still maintaining our top-tier defense.

I'd also guess that without McDonald and Anderson we need to find more ways to get a pass rush. Seems like we used to do a lot more linebacker and safety blitzes. Then the past two years we didn't really need to with the pass rush we got from the front 3 guys and kept it pretty simple most of the time.

 

[inCyteful]

I was listening to this weeks pressers, and a couple things Coach Heacock said rather offhandedly jumped out at me—especially when taken together.

First, almost in passing, he mentioned the “new” elements to the defense that a player (Malik Verdon, iirc) was going to have to learn.

Adding new wrinkles to the defense—when some offenses seem to start to figure it out—seems like a really good idea to me.

Then, at a different points, also rather offhandedly, he mentioned lining up in “four and three man fronts”.

Pardon me for not relistening to get the exact quotes.

However, we haven’t spent much time lining up on four man fronts the last few years. Hardly any, it seems to me.

But putting these two disparate comments together…could some of those “new wrinkles” involve a four man front? I mean, we all know what a monster Dom Orange is going to be, but JR Singleton is one of a mere handful of recruits CMC labeled an athletic “freak” when he signed.

Could this be a way to get the two of them (along with, say, Tyler Onyedim and Ikenna Ezeogu) on the field at the same time?

Just wondering. Guess we’ll see before too terribly long.

Jon Heacock 8_29 presser http://cyclones.com//watch?Archive=19867

If want to play a 4 man front, it is with the kind of secondary we have now so you might be on to something.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

The 3-3-5 worked well when the Big12 was almost exclusively a spread it out league. The pendulum is shifting back to more balanced offenses. Makes sense to have a four man front against teams like KSU.

100%, something I’ve noticed is it felt like each year another team in the big 12 adopts some variation of Heacock’s defense. First it was Baylor, then WVU, after it was Tech. It wasn’t too many years ago that even Bama came to an Iowa State practice to see our defense.

While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I had a sneaking fear each off-season that offenses were going to catch up and figure out more effectively ways to defeat it once they have to play some form of a 3-3-5 cloud in about 9 games a season.

So I for one am excited that we are adding wrinkles because the offense in my opinion is always a half step ahead of the defense. Gotta be zigging while everyone else is zagging when it comes to innovating the defense.

 

[RagingCloner]

What will be interesting is do we go 4 2 5 or 4 3 4?

Id be interested to see if they ever come out in a 4-5-2. Could have any combo of LB/DB in that middle 5, and that would allow for some different blitzes that would completely mind**** an OL

 

[SolarGarlic]

100%, something I’ve noticed is it felt like each year another team in the big 12 adopts some variation of Heacock’s defense. First it was Baylor, then WVU, after it was Tech. It wasn’t too many years ago that even Bama came to an Iowa State practice to see our defense.

While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I had a sneaking fear each off-season that offenses were going to catch up and figure out more effectively ways to defeat it once they have to play some form of a 3-3-5 cloud in about 9 games a season.

So I for one am excited that we are adding wrinkles because the offense in my opinion is always a half step ahead of the defense. Gotta be zigging while everyone else is zagging when it comes to innovating the defense.

Kansas has also adopted it

 

[CyPack]

What will be interesting is do we go 4 2 5 or 4 3 4?

My guess wold be 4-2-5. Our secondary is just too good not to have those guys on the field, plus the linebackers (other than Vaughn) are very young.

 

[Tlyon]

From 2021 to 2022, Heacock's defense added many subtle 'wrinkles', much of it relating to how our safeties and LB's aligned pre-snap (obviously many nuances regarding coverage etc.). Likely needed as there were games in 2021 when our defense was not good and lacked the ability to adjust throughout the game (TTech and WVU come to mind). The emergence of TJ Tampa and Purchase lets Heacock get creative with the other parts of the D. We also generated a pretty consistent pass rush with 3 DL last year, that we did not see in 2021. Hoping the consistent pass rush carries over to this season, relieves so much pressure on the back-end of the D.

I’ll add on to this, to me it felt like we played more man coverage than in the past. That was mainly because of Johnson moving to safety greatly improved our safeties coverage skills. So do they keep up with that trend?

In regards to the 4 lineman. Vance last year lined up as a stand up end more or less at times. Brought and additional wrinkle too

 

[ZRF]

They have been practicing some new approaches in camp. The feeling was the standard ISU defense, while very effective, doesn't always allow for as many disruptions as it could - including forcing turnovers. This is a way to try and be more dynamic while still maintaining our top-tier defense.

I'm on board with this.

I was one to make comments regarding this "problem" in the offseason and many seemed to make it sound like I was implying the defense was at fault, or that Heacock was the problem. In reality I was advocating to (what it seems) Heacock was saying here. Basically we have a "core" defensive philosophy but he is aiming to be more adaptable, both regards to the talent on the roster and the strengths/weaknesses of the given opponent. Our LB core was rather weak (I thought Vance was someone who missed a lot of tackles and lacked athleticm to make big plays), especially when Reeder was hurt. Why not try to create some matchups (not every down) with some 4 man fronts, allowing your ends to get more single and double team matchups, while also allowing your secondary to make more plays and create TOs?

Personally I think we are going to have a much more athletic LB crew and will probably be stronger up the middle of the line. Lets throw in some wrinkles that utilize this and figure out a way to create more TOs and swing the game in our favor.

We are all "hopeful" the offense and STs will be better but we can hardly be banking on it. I sure hope to see some of what he's saying play out during the season. If it does I think it pays off in a pretty big way.