After Notre Dame let go of Brian VanGorder following a dismal two and a half years, the program needed to bring in a breath of fresh air in order to hit the reset button on the defense that never was. In comes former Wake Forest defensive coordinator Mike Elko. Elko provides a stark difference from VanGorder in many different ways.
First off, Elko is regarded as much more of a teacher than VanGorder with the ability to break concepts down to its simplest assignments so that players can quickly learn and contribute to the defense. This is far removed from VanGorder who would inundate players with complex schemes that would be difficult to grasp. For most players, it was like drinking water from a fire hose and they were unable to adjust.
Simplifying the assignments also allows Elko to rotate more players onto the field as his system is more plug-and-play with the pieces being interchangeable. To many fans it was bizarre to see someone like Joe Schmidt take an absurdly high number of snaps in 2015, especially considering his physical limitations and the athleticism of his backup in Nyles Morgan. Schmidt’s athletic limitations were only further compounded late in games as fatigue set in. By rotating more players onto the field, Elko would be able to keep his starters fresh later in the game, as well as provide the younger second-team players with the invaluable experience that would prepare them to be starters later on. This was evident in 2014 when Schmidt went down with injury midseason and the defense unraveled with his loss.
Along with Elko’s teaching style and greater use of the roster, there will be a different scheme that will be installed. Where VanGorder ran a 4-3 system and former defensive coordinator Bob Diaco ran a 3-4, it is difficult to give Elko’s defense a traditional classification. This is due to Elko’s defense being a hybrid scheme in nature. Elko uses multiple different personnel packages, alignments, and fronts that make his defense impossible to categorize.
Some would describe his defense as being a 4-2-5, although this would not be accurate. For one, Elko likes to use multiple different fronts that would allow him to get more pressure on the quarterback. Elko’s weakside defensive end is usually a hybrid type of player who could come off the edge and pass rush or drop into coverage. This is where Elko blurs the line between a 4-3 weakside defensive end and a 3-4 rush linebacker.
Elko’s defensive front focuses on generating pressure by having the linemen use a 1-technique to shoot the gaps while also having an extra linebacker or two provide additional pressure through a blitz. This is a great departure from VanGorder who seldom employed blitzes and often times the linemen looked as though they were playing a 2-gap technique and focused on occupying blockers.
The other reason that classifying Elko’s defense as a 4-2-5 would be inaccurate is his use of the defensive backs. In a traditional five defensive back formation, otherwise known as the nickel formation, an extra cornerback otherwise known as the nickelback is put on the field in order to assist with coverage. What makes Elko’s defense unique and has become a major talking point is his use of a linebacker/safety hybrid which he refers to as the Rover position. The rover in this defense will be coached by the linebackers coach Clarke Lea but will function as both a linebacker and a strong safety.
The rover will typically line up where the Sam linebacker lined up last year and will tasked with everything from run support, pass coverage, and blitzing. Because of the hybrid nature of this position and the versatility of the players expected to take on this role, the rover will be assisting in all aspects of the defense. It is expected that versatile athletes like Drew Tranquill and Spencer Perry as well as freshmen Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Jordan Genmark-Heath are all players who will be expected to take reps at the rover position.
Aside from the rover, Elko gives names to some of the other positions in his defense. The strong safety is referred to as the Stud, the free safety as the Whip, and the weakside linebacker is referred to as the Buck. Unlike the rover position, it doesn’t appear that these positions will have an unusual set of responsibilities that would be any different from other more traditional defenses.
Aside from the rover position, Elko will likely move other players around as well as expand beyond his base scheme in order to maximize the personnel that he is working with. Another difference from VanGorder is that Elko is much more of a tinkerer. Where VanGorder would be inflexible with his scheme and often force a square peg in a round hole, Elko will always be trying to adapt his scheme to the talent available to him in an attempt to get the maximum production. He will also be adapting his gameplan on a weekly basis in an attempt to take away the opposing team’s strength while also exposing its weakness. This is what has allowed Elko to be so successful in his previous stops at Wake Forest and Bowling Green.
With a new defense comes growing pains, but considering where Notre Dame has been defensively over the past three seasons it would appear that there is no place to go but up. With the amount of talent returning on the offensive side of the ball, anything that resembles a top 40 defense will no doubt allow Notre Dame to win twice as many games next year.