DEFENSE: Smash Mouth Defense

BY BOB SHERWIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Washington’s Bob Gregory, heading into his 34th season as a college football coach but first as the Huskies’ defensive coordinator, has enough background and experience to cover all the gaps. Gregory, who began his coaching career in 1987, comes into the job well prepared having previously served as defensive coordinator at four schools – Washington University (Mo.), Willamette, Boise State and California. He joined the UW defensive staff in 2014, coming over from Boise with the newly-hired Husky head coach Chris Petersen and current Head Coach Jimmy Lake.

He has seen everything and can draw up any defense, nickel, dime, quarter and make the exact change. He can have his players stack, shed, stunt, spin and cover 1, 2, 3 to infinity but, as he says, “those Xs & Os can be really overrated”. He wants his Husky defenders to be as instinctual as they are conceptual. And his version of a base defense is one that has been played for more than a century, never-out-of-style, smash-mouth football.

“Now we want to give our guys a great scheme,” says Gregory, “but you have to play violently. You got to play physically. It’s still football. You still have to put on the pads and tackle, you have to hit people. If we do that, on both sides of the ball, we’re going to win some games. In all the years I’ve been around Washington football or in this league, and I’ve been in the league a long time now, the history of Washington football is you play great defense. It has always been physical, fundamental defense here, no question about that.”

It is no coincidence that since the Boise boys arrived in 2014, Washington has not finished lower than third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense. The Huskies have established a stellar defensive reputation and the primary reason is their secondary.

A long string of talented defensive backs began in 2013 when Desmond Trufant was taken in the first round (22nd pick) by Atlanta. Two years later, Marcus Peters was a first rounder (18th) by Kansas City. In the 2017 NFL draft, three Husky DBs were taken early — Kevin King by Green Bay (33rd), Budda Baker by Arizona (36th) and Sidney Jones by Philly (43rd).

In 2019, Bryon Murphy went to Arizona (33rd) and Taylor Rapp was taken by the Los Angeles Rams (61st). Then in this past draft, Elijah Molden was selected by Tennessee (100th) and Keith Taylor went to Carolina (166th). DB University indeed. “Going to UDub is nice,” says Trent McDuffie, an All-America candidate and projected first-round draft selection. “You look at film of all the past DBs and it’s like a blueprint, how to get in the League. Coming into the leadership role this year, it’s my job to hold the standard of the Death Row Dawgs – just mean, hitting, smash-mouth defense that you hear about. No matter what, for four quarters, we’re flying to the ball.”

Gregory, no doubt simpatico with that attitude, adds “on the outside we have as good as we’ve had here. It makes you feel really good when you have one corner. I feel blessed to have two.” The other starting corner is redshirt sophomore Kyler Gordon, a developing player who started three games last season and is expected to insert himself into the UDub-to-NFL pipeline.

How about three? Last March, junior Brendan Radley-Hiles came through the transfer portal from Oklahoma, playing 37 games for the Sooners and starting 32. He could play a versatile role for the Huskies, especially in the nickel.

The Huskies also have plenty of competition at safety in Cam Williams, Julius Irvin, Asa Turner, Kamren Fabiculanan or Dominique Hampton. It all plays into the strength of this team that has grown stronger with McDuffie as the rock.

“(McDuffie) is ahead of those corners who played in 2016 (King, Baker, Jones),” says Lake, responsible for the secondary for six seasons before his promotion to head coach last year. “He’s played at a high level since he’s been on campus.”

McDuffie has played 17 games for the Huskies, starting 15. He has 59 tackles, two interceptions, three forced fumbles and three recoveries. He is on the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award (top DB), Chuck Bednarik Award (top defensive player) and Bronko Nagurski Award (top defensive player). McDuffie says Coach Lake has instilled the DBU ideology across the whole team.

There is plenty of talent on this defense beyond the secondary, such as inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio. The former walk-on who led the Huskies in tackles last season (47) is also on the Bednarik and Nagurski watchlists.

“He’s (Ulofoshio) a different guy in terms of level of preparation and love of football,” says Gregory who’s also responsible for the linebackers. “He’s the first guy in the office in the morning, and at night he’ll be there studying film with a chemistry book open. He’s a special guy. He’s smart, physical. I’m not sure I’ve been around anyone who’s more of a competitor than he is.”

Ulofoshio is a remarkable story of persistence rewarded. He grew up and played in obscurity in Alaska before his family moved to Las Vegas when he was 14. He then played for nationally-recognized power Bishop Gorman High but was virtually unrecruited. UW invited him to walk on in 2018 and he played in just three games, all on special teams. He continued to play on special teams in 2019 until injuries forced him into the game in the 11th week against Oregon State. He led the team in tackles and was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. He has started every game since, was awarded a scholarship, and is being mentioned in preseason All-America circles.

Just a redshirt sophomore with seven career starts, Ulofoshio is now the most experienced Husky inside linebacker. He is joined by redshirt sophomore Jackson Sirmon, who started all four games last season, along with redshirt sophomore M.J. Tafisi, redshirt freshman Daniel Heimuli and redshirt freshman Alphonzo Tuputala, who had a right leg injury in spring camp and may be slow to work his way back.

“If you have a bunch of guys like Eddy, you’re going to win bunch of games,” says Gregory. However, the team may have taken two steps back this past spring after a pair of critical injuries to outside linebacker/defensive line corps. It was determined that a neck injury to junior Laiatu Latu was too risky to continue his career, so he was declared medically-retired in April. Then redshirt sophomore Zion Tupuola-Fetui, who landed on various preseason All-America lists and projected as an early NFL draft choice, suffered an Achilles injury in the spring. He likely won’t be back.

That leaves senior Ryan Bowman, entering his sixth season, as the anchor on the thin D-line. “Ryan Bowman is a great competitor, great pass rusher,” says Gregory. “We’re really excited about him. Besides him though, we have a couple of untested guys - (redshirt freshman) Sav’ell Smalls and (redshirt freshman) Bralen Trice. We like their ability and talent, but they really have not played a lot of football around here. We’ll see how it plays out. We’ll see how they grow.”

Also in the mix is junior Jeremiah Martin, a transfer from Texas A&M, and the big guy in the middle, 6-foot-2, 300-pound tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa.

Molding how players grow and develop as young men, physically, mentally and emotionally, is the part of the job that Gregory loves the most. “You really do get a chance to make a difference in some of these kids’ lives,” he says. “That’s one thing we take pride in around here, developing guys, putting them in the NFL.”

Some players, some units will need plenty of quick growth this season. The Huskies open at home with Montana, which shouldn’t be a threat, but they follow that with a road trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face the Wolverines. How they play against Michigan will depend on how well they can answer all their questions from the opener.

“Overall, how do we play as a team,” Gregory asks, running down the list of questions he may have following the game against Montana on Sept. 4. “Are we running to the football, are we playing with great fundamentals? How do we respond to a tough play? If a guy gets beat or misses a tackle, how does he respond? Or after a good play, are we keeping the grind on or are we going to relax a little bit? I’m interested in those kinds of things. The older you get, the more you’ve been doing it, those are the things that really make a difference in a team. How are we on the sideline? How do we communicate in the field? That stuff matters, and is what intrigues me about coaching college football.”