Coin Toss: How much will the CU defense improve under new coordinator Jim Leavitt?

The University of Colorado football team’s defense was bad last year, but there’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic about improvement on that side of the ball. Nine of the 11 starters from last year are returning, and Jim Leavitt, formerly the head coach at South Florida and most recently the linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers, was named the new defensive coordinator for CU last week.

How much will the Buffs’ defense improve? Will it at all? Our writers debate:

Jared Funk-Breay: I don’t mean to burst anyone’s bubble, but just because CU now has a highly respected defensive coach doesn’t automatically mean it will have a world-beating defensive performance this coming year.

Let’s not forget that the Buffs ranked 111th in total defense last season out of 125 teams in the FBS division. And that was by no means an accident. It’s simple: CU lacks talent on the defensive side of the ball.

I can recall many times last year when the Colorado defense had what seemed like the perfect scheme, but an individual player’s ineptitude — missing a tackle, taking a poor angle, misjudging a pass, etc. — resulted in the opposing offense being successful.

Even Jim Leavitt, as exciting as his addition is, can only put the players in the best positions possible. I know I’m not saying anything revolutionary here, but he can’t play the game for the Buffs’ defense.

The main question that has to be asked is if Leavitt will be able to develop college talent. After coaching physically gifted NFL players like Patrick Willis at the NFL level it will be interesting to see if he can make the transition. He did a great job at South Florida but he had freak athletes like Jason Pierre-Paul, and I’m not so sure he’ll have the same sort of players at his disposal here in Boulder.

Maybe Leavitt will be able to craft a solid defense over the coming years, but I don’t see how he can overcome the shortcomings of the current roster.

Sean Kelly: I wanna make one thing clear at the beginning of this. Leavitt is the answer. He and MacIntyre are going to be the coaching duo that bring Colorado back to its former glory. I said in the article I wrote about him last week that he has the perfect resume for CU. If he can turn South Florida’s non-existent football program into a national contender, he can help make the Buffs competitive in the Pac-12.

Now as for next year specifically, I really think this defense is going to be remarkably improved from the previous year. That’s not to say that they are going to be one of the top defenses in the NCAA, but at least they aren’t going to be near the bottom again. Think about what Colorado fought through on defense last year. The season had barely started before Jared Bell, defensive linemen Tyler Henington and Markeis Reed (who were all projected starters) were hurt before the first game. Samson Kafovalu, the 6-foot-5, 245 pound defensive lineman, missed last season for personal reasons. During the season, their best player, linebacker Addison Gillam, was in and out all year with a combination of concussions and severe illness. Starting safeties Tedric Thompson and Chidobe Awuzie both got hurt in the middle of the season. Those are five key guys who missed a lot of games, and that was just off the top of my head.

Even just getting those guys healthy will be enough to make Colorado’s defense better.

Last year, Colorado had the worst rush defense in the Pac-12. A lot of that, really most of it, can be attributed to the holes in the D-Line. Kafovalu, Reed and Henington will fill those holes and stiffen up Colorado’s run defense. From what I read, Kafovalu looked great at Colorado’s first practice Monday and MacIntyre was excited about Reed and Henington in his season-opening press conference. All these guys coming back just adds so much depth to the defensive line. Jim Jeffcoat, the defensive line coach, said last week that in the previous year guys were getting tired because they were forced to play 75 to 80 plays because of injuries. He said this year will be different because they can sub guys out to get some rest so that there won’t be a drop off when players get tired.

Same goes for the secondary. Getting Bell back is huge in addition to Thompson who was arguably the brightest spot on Colorado’s defense last year before he got hurt. Awuzie was forced to play safety last year, but he is really a cornerback. If Marques Mosley or Evan White (who were both forced into action because of injury last year) can prove that they are suitable backups for Thompson and Bell, Awuzie can move to corner to replace the departing Greg Henderson.

Combine all that with Leavitt and I think you will have a much stronger defense. As you mentioned, Leavitt just finished coaching one of the best defenses in the NFL. Kansas State and South Florida both ended up among the nation’s top defenses during his tenure. There’s really no doubt that this defense is going to get a lot better this year.

Jared Funk-Breay: Sean, I absolutely love your optimism. I really do. Reading your list of all the players coming back next year gets me excited and part of me wishes I believed the defense would turn around. But I don’t see it. Call me a cynic, a doubter, a hater, whatever you want. I don’t think this defense is going to be called great or even good by anyone next year.

I just don’t think it’s fair to expect the world from this defense next year. It was terrible last season. Remarkably and historically bad. If it turns out to be average it would be close to a miracle. For me, that would be a ‘remarkable improvement,’ as you put it. But it’s not happening, Sean. Huge improvements don’t happen overnight.

Players returning from injury will help of course. But to what extent? We can’t know this for sure. And remember, although starters like Bell and Thompson are coming back from injuries, they were still part of bad defenses when they played. It’s not like the team is getting All-Americans.

Kafovalu and Henington, who, like you said, also missed last season on the defensive line, are simply unproven. Having them back will be great to add depth, but Henington has never even started a game and Kafovalu hasn’t played in a game since 2013. Linebacker Reed, who redshirted and then missed his first chance to play last year with a season-ending injury, hasn’t played in any games at the college level.

I’m excited to see all these players finally get back on the field but there is no reason to believe they will excel right away.

The best way to predict the future is through past performance. The Colorado defense just hasn’t produced in the last few years, and until I see something to prove me otherwise, I will continue to expect a less-than-average performance from the CU defense each year — because that’s the way it has been for quite some time.

Especially in the Pac-12, where high-powered offenses are a dime-a-dozen, it’s going to be an uphill battle on the defensive side of the ball for the Buffs. It’s going to take baby steps to become competitive.

Expect a minor improvement next year. That’s fair considering the new changes. Expecting a great season next year from one of the worst defenses in the country isn’t.

To not be such a debbie downer, I will say I think a small improvement on the defensive end for the Buffs next year can go a long way. How many games did CU lose by less than a touchdown last year? Four. Minor improvements can make a huge difference in the win-loss column.

Sean Kelly: As bad as the defense was last year, they had glimpses of greatness. Maybe not greatness, but there were definitely times when they looked like a competitive Pac-12 defense. Think back to the UCLA game. Yeah they gave up 40 points, but they held the Bruins high-powered offense to just seven points in the second half, including a scoreless fourth quarter, to force overtime. They stepped up and managed to shut down Brett Hundley and Paul Perkins, who had been killing them all day, to keep their team in the game.

They came out flat and gave up two early touchdowns against Oregon State, but, again, managed to play two quarters of really solid defense to give their offense a chance. In the second and third quarter of that Oregon State game, CU’s defense gave up a combined six points. More importantly, they just looked like a different defense. I remember talking to another reporter at the game and we were both shocked by how well they were playing.

Those are just two examples, but that happened throughout the year. CU would have stretches where they looked great before reverting back to their usual form. I think those glimpses have a chance to become a regularity this season, again referring back to the injuries and the addition of Leavitt.

The other thing that killed Colorado’s defense last year was Colorado’s offense. CU turned the ball over a staggering 21 times, making them second to last in the Pac-12 in turnovers lost. Those 21 turnovers turned into 104 points. On top of that Colorado’s opponents had 22 drives start in Colorado territory last year, which resulted in 102 points. How can you ask a defense to go out time and time again with terrible field position after a turnover and expect them to succeed? You really can’t.

I think, I hope, that Colorado (and by Colorado I really mean Sefo Liufau) figures out its/his turnover problem in the offseason. Brian Lindgren, CU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, said that he and Liufau will be focusing on the turnovers this spring. If they can mitigate the turnovers, it will go a long way to helping Colorado’s defense improve statistically.

Bottom line, there was so much working against CU’s defense last year that is (hopefully) not going to happen this year. Last week, CU’s defensive line coach Jim Jeffcoat said this is the first year he has looked at his line and said this is a Pac-12 defensive line. I think that rings true across the defense. The injuries last season are sort of a blessing in disguise because it gave CU’s defense depth. With that depth I think they will be able to sustain the competitive level of play that we got a few glimpses of last year. This is easily the most impressive defense I have seen in the last five years at CU, and with Leavitt at the helm, I think they are going to turn a lot of heads and be a major improvement.

The Colorado spring football game for this season is on Sunday, March 15. It begins at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sean Kelly at sean.d.kelly@colorado.edu.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Jared Funk-Breay at jared.funkbreay@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter: @jaredfunkbreay