New defensive coordinator Jeff Koonz understands the assignment.
The Mountaineers defensive unit has struggled through eight games leading to the decision to let dormer coordinator Jordan Lesley go during the bye week. The unit is currently ranked 97th in scoring defense and has given up 28.4 points per game and 84th in total defense.
The decision to elevate Koonz was an easy one for head coach Neal Brown as he is qualified for the post, coached both the front and back ends on defense and had previously called plays at Cincinnati. He also had excelled when given the chance to step into leadership roles on the football team and had actually turned down coordinator jobs at other schools to remain with the Mountaineers.
“He’s at a point where he’s ready to do this from a football perspective and a leadership ability,” Brown said. “...This is a big opportunity for him.”
Koonz, who last called plays with Cincinnati in 2016, looks at the promotion as an obligation and an opportunity for him to showcase a potential turnaround on the defensive side of the ball. The veteran assistant has coached in this scheme for almost five years and will be in the box on game days.
The inconsistent nature of the defense has been the biggest thorn in the unit as there have been stretches of strong play but more often than not it hasn’t been sustained. Even in the last game the Mountaineers played solid defense for three quarters but struggled in the fourth as Arizona rallied. That also has been an issue in other games this season such as Kansas State in the second half.
“We’ve got to be more consistent. How do you do that? By practicing being consistent,” Koonz said.
During the bye week, West Virginia was able to self scout and make some observations on where the defense has struggled in some key areas such as even getting aligned correctly and not tipping off the offenses on what they’re doing to make things less predictable.
“We can’t give them the answers to the test. We have to do a better job disguising,” Brown said.
West Virginia has put an emphasis on getting the players lined up as fast as possible and making sure that all 11 players on the defense understand what the call is, how to execute it and what success they should expect on each snap.
“I say that the confidence that comes with understanding exactly what we’re trying to accomplish with each and every call that's made is paramount right now on every play. There’s a standard of defense that we’ve got to put on tape on every single play,” Koonz said.
Pre-snap Koonz has been able to show the defense film on what needs to be corrected and how they can go about making some adjustments to find more success. Then post-snap it’s about execution and making sure that all the pieces have the correct alignment and their eyes in the right place.
“All parts are in sync. Everybody is in sync and everybody knows what the expected outcome is going to be in our favor and have confidence with that,” Koonz said.
The other two issues that West Virginia is focusing on is attempting to create more takeaways and limit the explosive plays that have been far too common this season. That’s easier said than done but with a fresh perspective leading the defense and collecting ideas from the other coaches there is optimism. The defense has fared well in some key areas but has to find that level of consistency.
“There’s no issue in pressuring the quarterback. There’s no issue with tackles for loss. We’ve got to eliminate explosive plays. We’ve got to be able to look at the end of the game and make them earn it,” Koonz said.
The focus now down the stretch is to make sure that West Virginia puts together the best recipe for them to have success on the field by eliminating the negative and accentuating the positive from the unit. The key is to get their best players to play to their strengths and build a system to accomplish that. Now, that doesn’t mean wholesale changes as Koonz expects to keep the same defense in place scheme wise but the opportunity is there for them to take a step forward in the final four games.
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