Hood runs a 4-3 defense at Wake, and his teams have been successful comparative to their recruiting rankings, especially in the past two years. None of Hood’s defenses (or Wake’s teams, for that matter) have had a four-star recruit, let alone a five-star. Hood has taken mostly two-star recruits, with the occasional three-star, and turned them into not only respectable, but actually good units.
Wake’s 2007 team, after losing several starters off a great 2006 squad (including 3-star turned-NFLer John Abbate), was 27th in total defense, without facing any 1-AA teams to pump up the stats. 2006’s team was more lauded, but was actually worse, 45th in the nation in total defense.
One area in which Wake has excelled is forcing turnovers. Though turnovers are somewhat random occurrences, if a team consistently forces them, there has to be some schematic or style element that helps cause them (this is particularly true of interceptions, which is where Wake’s defense gets the majority of their takeaways). In 2006, the Deacons gained 31 turnovers, good for 10th in the nation. 2007’s team gained 35, 3rd in the nation.
These gains between 2006 and 2007 were made despite the team losing 6 starters on the defensive side of the ball. This includes John Abbate, an early entrant who led the team in tackles.
Posted under Coaching
Tags: coaching, Football