FSU Football: Anonymous coach says pressure on corners in new defense

FSU football is spending the fall getting their new defense into motion as coordinator Harlon Barnett ahead of the opener against Virginia Tech.

For much of the last four season, the defense for FSU football has been the source of constant criticism – well, most of it tending to be directed at the coordinator over that span as there were times when someone who doesn’t know a darn thing about college football would know that Charles Kelly was out of his mind.

The numbers showed that the defense for the Seminoles was not all that bad when it came down to it, finishing last season in the top 25 percent of FBS teams while being in the top third of teams when it came to pass defense.

For the fourth time in the last seven seasons, FSU football will have a new defensive coordinator as Harlon Barnett left his alma mater of Michigan State for the chance to coach the Seminoles – and with it, he brings a whole new look to the defense than what the Noles have seen before.

Sports Illustrated recently interviewed anonymous coaches ahead of the 2018 season about teams ranked in the Top 20 – and one coach was quick to mention that the Seminoles do have an advantage with Barnett’s new approach.

"At Michigan State, Barnett ran press quarters [Cover 4] coverage that keeps two safeties in the box. That puts pressure on your corners to cover one-on-one on the outside. But if you have good corners, that defense can make you miserable, and Levonta Taylor is a great corner. If they have one more—and they might have one in Stanford Samuels III—then they could really be a problem for teams."

A quick look at the numbers shows that the pass defense from Michigan State last season was immensely better than what the Seminoles had.

• Michigan State finished 31st in pass defense last season while FSU football was 37th, but…
• That number gets inflated for the Spartans because a third of the 2358 yards given up came in three games (807 total against Ohio State, Notre Dame and Northwestern, where the Wildcats got 445 yards in total passing)
• Take those games out and the Spartans gave up 172 passing yards a game, which would be good enough to be top 10 in both yards per game and total yards if you add that average for three games to their total number.

Now, I know it’s impossible to do such a thing and be realistic, but Barnett now gets a chance to use his philosophy that seems to be working with better athletes in the FSU football program. That’s not a shot at the Spartans, but a fact about what is in the Tallahassee arsenal.

This season, the Seminoles will face just four teams in the top 50 for passing offense last season – with the only team in the top 20, Louisville, coming back without their starting quarterback that torched the Noles, Lamar Jackson.