What Heacock Said

[ZRF]

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.

LBs will be young but I also think we will be more athletic. In general, regardless of the formation or lineup, I think Heacock is aiming to get more pressure on opposing QBs this year. If there is a knock on his system it's that it (often) gives QBs too much time to throw the ball. That makes it harder for DBs to cover (even with good coverage) as it gives receivers time to find soft spots or break a defender down, but it also makes it harder to create TOs from rushed throws.

I have a feeling if you asked Heacock in confidence, and he answered honestly, he'd admit he MAYBE missed an opportunity to create matchups that would allow his best players (ends and secondary) to make more plays and create more TOs. That's a pretty fair criticism.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

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.

I watched a lot of TCU in the Mountain west and I loved Patterson's 4-2-5. I think we have the personnel for it. It allows for a lot more flexibility in blitzes and it is quick to adjust coverage when dealing with pre-snap motions. I would rather sacrifice a lb to add another DT to create pressure instead of a DB.

 

[cayin]

seems to me the story of ISU's defense under Campbell/Heacock is not covered like it should be by the national media. It is the defense that finally stymied the spread offenses in the Big 12. The fact that Clemson, coming off of a NT visited to learn the defense says a lot.

 

[tomar1]

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

I hope so our pass rush would actually be better and run stop would be awesome!

 

[HouClone]

seems to me the story of ISU's defense under Campbell/Heacock is not covered like it should be under the national media. It is the defense that finally stymied the spread offenses in the Big 12. The fact that Clemson, coming off of a NT visited to learn the defense says a lot.

Not to mention Ole Miss using our defense to totally destruct Louisville 2 years ago, game 1.

 

[HouClone]

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.

Even Oklahoma State is going to a run or a more balanced offense this year.

 

[Allikat]

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.

Good coaches motivate and develop schemes.

Great coaches teach and adapt their scheme to the talent they have in the moment.

The coaches that fail seem to be stuck in their ways.

Heacock has shown he is a great coach.

My guess is after spring ball, he had a rough idea of where the strengths were, tweaked his scheme over the summer, validated his assumptions in training camp and is now implementing the plan. It will be fun to watch.

 

[Aclone]

Even Oklahoma State is going to a run or a more balanced offense this year.

Do they even have a QB?

 

[cyfan92]

4-2-5 means the middle safety becomes even more important as a "box" player. You also need faster linebackers to cover the slot/middle receivers

 

[HouClone]

Do they even have a QB?

That is why they are doing it. Gundy said San Fran's offense doesn't put it all on Purdy's shoulders.

 

[Aclone]

That is why they are doing it. Gundy said San Fran's offense doesn't put it all on Purdy's shoulders.

“Primarily run” would not be “balanced”, it’d be a shift the opposite direction.

And Heacock would eat that alive.

 

[Pope]

I believe Heacock is going to get the 11 best athletes on the field and then put them in whatever formation best compliments their strengths.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I watched a lot of TCU in the Mountain west and I loved Patterson's 4-2-5. I think we have the personnel for it. It allows for a lot more flexibility in blitzes and it is quick to adjust coverage when dealing with pre-snap motions. I would rather sacrifice a lb to add another DT to create pressure instead of a DB.

You're not going to add a DT. You're going to slide someone in and add the LEO back like the first iteration of Heacocks defense.

 

[madguy30]

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.

Okie State too. They were great with it in 2021.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Even Oklahoma State is going to a run or a more balanced offense this year.

OSU has been balanced or run heavy for all but like 2 years of Gundy's career. At their most pass-heavy they ran it 40% of the time.

 

[CascadeClone]

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.

Like fashion, all these schemes are trendy and copied. And then it rotates to the opposite.

At a high level, look how the Big12 went from "no defense" and lots of points and spread offenses to KSU, Baylor, ISU et al going back to old school rush game and defense. These things are cyclical.

If you can, stay on the front of the wave, so people are adjusting to you and not the reverse. Pretty confident in Heacock to do that defensively, in alignment with his personnel.

Eventually, my skinny ties will be "in" again too...

 

[t-noah]

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.

The idea of changing things up and being unpredictable is sound.

I hope the offense is figuring this out as well.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” -Winston Churchill
"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change" -Albert Einstein