Simplifying defense has allowed Bucs to flourish

The East Tennessee State football coaches understood the expression about the best-laid plans gone awry after the first game of the season. ETSU (4-2 overall, 3-0 Southern Conference) gave up 49 points in a season-opening loss to Campbell. Fast forward to last Saturday, and the Bucs allowed just three points in a win over Chattanooga. Head coach Will Healy said the defensive staff went back to the drawing board after that first game. Defensive coordinator Chad Staggs, line coach J.C. Price, defensive ends coach Chris Davis Jr., linebackers coach Travis Cunningham and cornerbacks coach Michael Mosah were honest about what was working, what was not. The coaches made the necessary adjustments and the results have spoken for themselves. "They didn't allow one outcome to define who they were," Healy said. "Not a fun conversation, not a fun week, but they showed what I'd expect out of our players with tremendous resolve. We've stuck to our process, and we've found out what our guys can do well." That started with self-reflection from Healy and Staggs. They had to remove what they liked to do defensively, and run what the players better understood. It has allowed better communication and the faster athletes on the Bucs defense to shine. Sophomore linebacker Jarvis Johnson was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 13 tackles in the 14-3 win over Chattanooga. Johnson explained just how few calls the defense ran in the previous week's win over Western Carolina. "The Western game, we only have four main calls that we ran the whole game," Johnson said. "There were only two checks to it. It's so much easier when you're playing like that. The communication is better. From the first game to now, it's like a new team. We have some transfers so it's getting used to each other, talking and jelling." Healy said that Johnson's speed and athletic ability allows him to be an "X" factor. He has taken on a role as a team leader after playing sparingly at Florida Atlantic last season. Johnson ranks second on the team to Delinois with 38 tackles through six games. "It's going out there and playing football as I know it. I'm a third-year guy, but I didn't see the field that much at my previous school," Johnson said. "Now, I have my coaches and teammates counting on me. So, it's going out there and having fun playing this game again, being a player who makes plays." Obviously, Johnson made many of them against the Mocs. It wasn't just for himself. He mentioned how the Chattanooga win was for veteran players like Mike Jenkins, Brenden LeBlanc and Dre Delinois who hadn't beaten the Mocs during their time at ETSU. They shared with him how it ate at them after the Bucs blew a 17-point lead in a 42-38 loss at Chattanooga the previous year. "I wasn't there, but I felt those guys' pain from that game," Johnson said. "All week, it was inside run drill. We talked about how we were going to out-physical them and dominate the line of scrimmage. We went out there, and that's exactly what we did."