USF's football fate this season could hang on how much its defense improves

Let’s just be honest. There were times last season when the USF defense was atrocious. During one dreary four-game stretch, the Bulls surrendered 56 or more points in three of those games.

And it wasn’t like it was against all powerhouses, either. UAB and Florida Atlantic each hung 56 on the Bulls and neither team had a winning record. Maybe we should have expected that, however. Before the arrival of Alex Golesh as head coach, the Bulls had a historically bad defense, and, in hindsight, it was unrealistic to expect it would be fixed in one season.

This is Year 2, though, and the stakes are higher. The Bulls are in the conversation as contenders in the American Athletic Conference, and defensive coordinator, Todd Orlando knows better than anyone that how far USF football will go this season depends on how his unit plays.

Check that: It may technically be Orlando’s unit, but he knows it’s about the guys on the field.

“And I have known since the second we got here that a coach-led team will only take you so far, but a player-led team will take you the distance,” he said during the USF football media day.

Coaches can put players in a position to succeed, but the player has to take it from there. That means holding each other accountable to the bigger picture and setting team goals ahead of individual aims is the only way to win.

Golesh and the defensive coaches spent the off-season recruiting heavily on defense. Between recruits and transfers, the Bulls added 22 defensive players. They paid particular attention to the secondary, which is what happens when your team gives up an average of 288 passing yards per game and was ranked 132nd in pass defense out of 133 Division I teams.

They surrendered 419 points, an average of 32 points per game.

More telling, they surrendered 6.07 yards per play.

That’s bad.

“Last year, it was fast, you know, getting everything together fast, trying to figure out what we had,” Orlando said.

But we also know that the Bulls’ offense is prolific, so even a modest improvement on defense could pay huge dividends.

That’s where the whole “team-led” concept comes into play, especially when the increased talent that comes in since the end of last season should lead to greater competition for playing time.

“Ultimately, how you get people to elevate is when people can take their jobs,” Orlando said.

“And that's what we feel we have right now compared to when we first got here.”

Depth was a huge problem last year, especially after cornerback Ben Knox was lost for the year in fall camp. But the Bulls should have capable reinforcements now so that players don’t have to wear down during games. Teams are successful when there isn’t much of a drop-off between the starters and backups.

You also need players to buy into what the coaches want and be willing to go through the proverbial wall to see that it is accomplished.

Orlando said defensive lineman Rashad Cheney is one such player.

“I just feel like he's one of your go-to guys. He gets it. He's an older guy. He understands the way the game should be played and the preparation that goes through a game. He knows the difference between right and wrong,” he said.

“And he's one of our tough guys. It's not phony, though; it's on-the-field tough. He'd be a guy. And there's a handful more guys as we continue to grow.”

Yes, there is much more depth and talent on defense than a year ago, but the other teams haven’t sitting on their hands, either. The difference between now and a year ago for USF has been well-established, but it needs to show up when the lights go on.

Coaches coach. Players play.

“And when they take it over, when they police it,” Orlando said, “then we can just back off of it and watch them work.”