Watched RE press conference- he wanted to upgrade athleticism and speed everywhere- and felt they did that at WR. The O-Line guys have a chance at playing from a physical standpoint(an indictment of our current roster) but whether they can pick up the mental part will be just as important.
He has seen tape on returning kids. Individual meetings start this week.
Having loyally yet painfully (last 6 years) followed the Huskies since 2002, like many of you, I am excited about the mix of recruits and new staff. in particular a couple of quotes from ED DAIGNEAULT's article in today's REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN stand out to me as evidence of the incredible fresh changes in philosophy and are reasons to believe we will be watching Way more exciting football at the Rent next fall! We've read them before but they are worth repeating because it's truly a long overdue change in philosophy.
EDSALL on OFFENSE and of course Rhett Lashlee but it's the change in Edsall approach to the game that impresses me the most.
“The game has changed,” Edsall said the day his hiring was announced. “It’s almost all predicated on spread offenses and speed. That’s what the game dictates. We’re going to be a multiple offense and we’re going to run the ball, but I think the days of running the way we did when I was here the first time, you’re probably not going to see much of that anywhere in the game anymore.”
“I’m a firm believer it all starts under center,” Edsall said. “We signed three young men who will provide tremendous competition for what we want to do. We needed to upgrade the team speed and I think we did that at wide receiver.”
BILLY CROCKER'S DEFENSE
On the defensive side, Edsall hired Connecticut native Billy Crocker to direct things. Crocker’s defenses at Villanova were, simply put, hellraisers.
Crocker uses a 3-3-5 concept that puts a lot of pressure on linebackers and defensive backs. The whole plan is to use speed to blow up offenses before plays have a chance to come together.
That is a decided departure from the 4-3 defense Edsall typically employed during his first run with the Huskies. Those were some great defenses, but they were largely reliant on linemen to blow up plays and linebackers to clean up things.
Crocker’s defense is usually pure mayhem, using speed to combat speed. There are four defensive backs and two linebackers in Edsall’s recruiting class. Unlike in 1999 when Edsall said he recruited mostly athletes who could play backup roles as the Huskies made the jump up, Edsall this time tailored the recruiting class to fit the plans of his coordinators.
