Offseason Interview Series: Cornerbacks Coach Josh Reardon on Defending the Deep Ball & the Position Heading Into Spring
One area of concern among fans a year ago stemmed from the lack of ball skills by the corners when defending the deep ball. It was an area that saw the Huskies get picked on at times, particularly against the pass happy teams in the AAC. I had the chance to sit down with cornerbacks coach Josh Reardon a few weeks ago and we touched on that exact situation.
“We talk about things that are a must for that position to do and winning the battle for the ball is one of them,” Reardon said inside the Burton Family Football Complex. “So there were definitely instances where we had opportunities to make plays on the football [last year] and we didn’t make those plays. It’s been an emphasis as we moved to the offseason, the players know that.”
One thing that inhibited playmaking was the experience level of the guys at the position. Senior CB Byron Jones, now looked at by draft experts as a potential first round pick in April’s NFL draft, went down for the season in the 31-21 loss at East Carolina. From then on, the Huskies were young.
“In their defense, we had sophomores and true freshmen and one of the sophomores hadn’t even played corner before,” Reardon stressed. “Get lined up, that’s step one. Get lined up and know what I’m supposed to do when the ball is snapped, that’s step two. Be in the right spot and now we’re moving on to the next step, that’s make a play on the ball. We had some young guys last year, they are only going to get better. They needed to be in those situations and positions and you’d like to think moving forward, they are going to come away and make those plays.”
With spring ball beginning with the first of fifteen practices on Saturday morning, Reardon is excited with the pieces he has coming back. Why? They all have game experience.
“We have six guys coming back from last year, all six played in a game,” he said. “Five of the six played in the games at corner and played meaningful snaps. They were all so young and still in such a developmental stage, but it was an opportunity for all five of them to make strides and improve their games.”
Having a number of guys vying for the two starting spots is going to give the Huskies some depth, something that will be beneficial in the sort of defense the Huskies run.
“They are going to compete with each other,” Reardon added. “The great thing about our defense is we’ll have anywhere from one, two, three and potentially four corners on the field at any given time. There are plays out there for them to play. As a group, I wouldn’t say there is one particular guy [that has set himself apart], but as a group they are all going to move their game forward.”
I’ll have much more on the Huskies as spring ball coverage kicks off this afternoon, as head coach Bob Diaco will have a pre-spring call with the media at 2PM.
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