Matt Guerreri Previews Indiana Defense for 2023
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00:00 Yeah, Matt over here. Yeah, with Coach mentioned Lanell Carr as somebody that's really standing out.
00:06 I guess, could you give us your impressions of him and how he's made sort of that impression on you guys?
00:12 He's done a great job in camp. He's high energy. You could feel him on the practice field.
00:18 He brings physicality and pass rush ability, which is unique to have that combination.
00:24 He's done a really good job on the edge for us. So, really excited about what he's proven in camp
00:30 and we expect him to continue to do.
00:34 Kind of asking you from your perspective, what I ask Coach Allen in terms of the balance you strike
00:40 between wanting to sort of, the fundamentals, whatever he talks through, sort of he wants to underpin the defense,
00:46 but also sort of you thinking, okay, but this is what I want to do with it week to week, where I want to go with it.
00:52 Just what's the balance there? Is it kind of dependent on the opponent?
00:56 Is it dependent maybe on how certain guys develop within their positions? Just what's most important?
01:02 Yeah, it's a great question. It starts with a system. Coach Allen has a system.
01:06 There's fundamentals of how we play defense, of how we stop the run, pressure a quarterback, stop the throw game.
01:12 So, he starts with a system. The tweaks to me are week to week in a game plan of two-fold.
01:18 What does the opponent do best and how do you limit that? What do we do best?
01:22 So, that's part of the process of learning the players, especially new faces.
01:26 I'm obviously new, but new bodies that are here from transfers and things like that.
01:30 What do those guys do best? How do we highlight that? But definitely, what does the opponent do?
01:34 This is a pro-style system, an air raid system. How do those function and how do you limit from there?
01:38 But to answer your question, we have a system in place with Coach Allen.
01:42 It's been a system for a long time that's been in place here and it will stay that system.
01:48 Mason? I guess just kind of your first evaluation of yourself calling plays in this defensive style
01:54 against your own offense, obviously. What kind of goes into that evaluation process for you afterwards
02:00 and I guess how do you feel it went the first time?
02:02 For sure. It's been great. I've enjoyed coming in and learning here and then being able to apply that
02:07 and teach the players. To me, no matter when it's been in my career, you take the emotion out of it
02:13 and you're objective. So, it doesn't matter if you're in my past at Duke or other places.
02:20 What do the numbers show? Was it successful or was it not successful?
02:23 Whether it's a normal down the distance, a red zone opportunity, a backed up situation,
02:27 a two minute to win a game, and then you say, "Okay, what worked? What didn't? Why?"
02:33 To me, that's the objective side of things. It's black and white. There's no gray in between.
02:39 Was it a lack of understanding if it failed? Was it a poor call in that situation right from there?
02:47 Or asking a player to do something he can't do? Those are all things that you try to eliminate
02:51 before it's real and it's live from there. But I would say, take the emotion out, be objective.
02:55 No ego. We lock arm in there as a defensive staff and we address it and move forward.
03:00 But it's been awesome. Camp's been a blast. It's a great group of guys to work with.
03:04 Our guys have trended in the right direction.
03:07 Yeah, Phillip Dunham was one of the few true freshmen who really played a lot last year.
03:14 What's been your impression of him in fall camp? What do you like? Where do you want to see him keep growing?
03:18 For sure. Very talented guy. That's why you earned playing time as a freshman.
03:22 He came in, he's got length, he has speed, he has physicality, he has ball skills.
03:29 I mean, there's a lot of traits that you want from a safety standpoint.
03:32 Any young player, as they turn into older players, maturity is the curve that they're on right there.
03:36 So consistency is the biggest thing. From where he was a year ago to where he is now,
03:41 an increase from a consistency standpoint. But he's trending in the right direction
03:44 and has had a really good camp.
03:46 What did you take from last year working at Ohio State as an analyst?
03:52 What were the challenges of it? How did you use it to reset and go from there?
04:01 For sure. It's a unique perspective to have been a position coach and have been a coordinator
04:08 and then be able to see it in a different lens from that standpoint.
04:14 You learn from any organization leadership styles. You learn how to manage situations from that standpoint.
04:24 Build relationships with new people. It's like your first day of school.
04:28 Everything is new to you from that standpoint.
04:30 But I would say every day, well it's been at Ohio State and other places,
04:33 is a great learning opportunity. But at a program that's obviously had a lot of success,
04:38 you learn how to win at the highest level from that standpoint.
04:43 I think just from a personal standpoint, you take a step back and you say,
04:48 "Okay, what are the things that I've liked that I've done throughout my career
04:51 or maybe things that I would tweak?" And it gives you maybe a little bit more time
04:54 to be able to say, "How would I apply that forward?"
04:56 Is it hard to take that step back? Or is it just the coordinator that's involved
05:01 and all of a sudden says, "You can't not have that"?
05:04 What was that like for you?
05:05 No, I think it's a good exercise to be honest with you.
05:08 Sometimes when you're in the fire, you don't see the big picture at times.
05:13 So I think it gives you a chance to be able to reassess and then apply going forward.
05:16 So I'm very gracious for that opportunity that was afforded me there.
05:22 And obviously, as you guys know, I've had a long-lasting relationship with Jim Knowles.
05:26 We worked together for seven years and are very close.
05:29 So to be able to have that relationship with a coordinator is unique in that role too,
05:33 from that standpoint. So very involved with him from that standpoint.
05:39 Coach, you talked about Philip Dunham before.
05:41 With your safeties, are there any other players that have come in this fall
05:44 and really impressed you or really surprised you?
05:46 Noah Pierre from a leadership standpoint.
05:48 You could feel him from the time he takes the field, in meetings.
05:51 He has that hungry dog mentality every single day.
05:54 And he's been awesome from that standpoint.
05:57 His play continues to rise.
05:59 And then Lewis Moore would be the other one too,
06:01 who in the spring trended in the right direction.
06:04 He has continued that progress, but has been really productive on the field
06:08 and been a leader off it as well.
06:11 Jim?
06:14 Matt, a couple years ago, Indiana's defense was really rolling.
06:17 Of course, take-aways were the key to that,
06:20 and that has just really fallen off, as has the defense.
06:24 What can you do, have you done to focus on that?
06:27 Because when you're a team like Indiana that obviously does not have
06:30 the talent that Michigans and Ohio State's have,
06:33 you have to do things like that.
06:35 But what can you do to get this program back to those things?
06:38 It's a great question.
06:40 I think it's twofold.
06:42 How do you drill it to make sure that it happens?
06:44 That's been a big, big point of emphasis from the time I've been here.
06:47 Take-aways, tackling, and effort is our DNA from that standpoint.
06:50 So how do we make sure we're taking the ball away?
06:53 We've thought long and hard in the offseason of what are the best drills
06:56 to simulate this?
06:57 How do we demand this at practice?
06:59 How are we held accountable when we don't do this?
07:01 So that's the first start.
07:03 The other is the design.
07:04 I'll use an example.
07:05 If you played in 2017 at Duke, we played on normal downs,
07:11 the second most man coverage in the country.
07:14 We weren't a great take-away team, but we had a lot of PBUs
07:17 because guys weren't looking at a football.
07:18 So from that standpoint is also the design.
07:20 What's the balance of tight coverage and zone coverage
07:24 and pressure on a quarterback or dropping into coverage?
07:27 So that's the fine line.
07:29 So just going back and seeing, okay, how were these take-aways created
07:33 and then trying to get back to that from a design standpoint
07:37 and then also from a drill standpoint.
07:41 Yeah, I asked about Carter, but what about the rest of the defensive line?
07:43 I mean, you've got Andre Carter, you've got a lot of new faces there
07:46 with Burris, transfers coming in, returners.
07:48 What do you kind of have seen from that competition
07:51 and how have you liked how things have developed?
07:54 It's been great.
07:55 You have depth and competition, which is what you want
07:58 in every single position.
07:59 Andre Carter has definitely made his presence felt
08:02 from the time that he's been here.
08:03 Marcus Burris has trended throughout fall camp.
08:06 Phillip Blitty has been a physical guy in the middle for us.
08:09 So there's a number of guys.
08:10 I mean, I can name a number of guys.
08:11 I'm leaving guys out right now.
08:13 But you want depth and competition.
08:15 That's been real from that standpoint.
08:16 I think that they're making each other better.
08:18 They're making our defense better and team better
08:20 because they're competing against each other.
08:23 Thanks, guys. Appreciate you.