UVA defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta could be wistful for what he doesn’t have coming back from his front seven. Eli Harold, Max Valles, Henry Coley, Daequan Romero are all gone from a unit that was fourth in the ACC with 34 sackes and held opponents to 120 yards rushing per game, also good for fourth in the league.
But Tenuta, being Tenuta, isn’t wasting time looking back.
“I like what I have defensively,” Tenuta told reporters at the team’s Media Day on Tuesday. “I like the guys, the six guys I know I can count on for the UCLA game up front, the six guys I have in the secondary, those are the guys I start with, and I just go from there.”
Tenuta, in his third season on Mike London’s staff, has his system in place, and his guys attuned to what he expects. The Tenuta defense attacks opponents from all angles on all downs, sending linebackers and safeties on pass and run blitzes, dropping linemen into pass coverage, generally making it hard for offensive coordinators and quarterbacks to get too comfortable.
The system, to Tenuta, is bigger than any one player, or group of players.
“We lost five very good football players off last year’s defense that really were the catalyst of what we did and how we did things. So now just based on who we have and who we’re playing and how we’re going to attack, we’re going to scheme people up based on what they do,” Tenuta said.
The confidence that Tenuta exudes in his system and his unit builds confidence in his players.
“Coach Tenuta is a very confident coach, and it kind of reflects on us. If the coach has the mentality as if no offense on the earth can beat him, that’s going to reflect on the defense,” said senior defensive tackle David Dean, who recorded eight tackles for loss from the middle of the line.
“We play with that same mentality. We feel like no individual person can beat us. So we just as a defense kind of play smart, play aggressive, and make sure that we’re all buying into our responsibilities, and if everyone is doing their job, the whole defense will end up doing a great job,” Dean said.
“Coach Tenuta’s scheme is not like any other defense. We have blitzes coming from everywhere, we can have different type of coverages. As a defensive line, we’re always doing something. That’s something I really enjoy about his defense,” said senior defensive end Mike Moore, who had eight tackles for loss, three sacks and three fumble recoveries in 2014.
“He really expects his defense to be really smart out there. He really expects the defense to know what everybody is doing out there on the field. Just knowing what everybody is doing, what your job is, what his job is, you’ll make a lot of impact,” Moore said.
The defense also lost free safety Anthony Harris to graduation, which forces the move over from strong safety for Freshman All-America Quin Blanding, who now takes over responsibility for making defensive calls and secondary adjustments.
Blanding is up for the enhanced role.
“I think it will make me a better player than last year,” said Blanding, who was second in the ACC as a freshman in 2014 with 123 tackles. “Last year, I just played a certain way. I just could focus on where I had to go and what I had to do. Now I see the big picture of what everybody does, what the line is doing, what the linebackers are blitzing, who’s dropping, if the line is dropping back, who’s going down to the safety, who’s going to the post, what the corners have. I see the whole big picture, and I can pinpoint every little detail.”
Dean looks for the unit to improve upon its solid 2014.
“As long as we do our job, everyone buys in, we do our responsibilities, we can have a successful year,” Dean said. “Although we have lost a lot, as everyone knows, I feel like we have guys who can come in and be just as successful as the guys that we lost.
“Coach Tenuta has such a great scheme and puts us in such a great position, it’s at the point where as long as we do our job, we take care of our responsibilities, we understand the defense, understand what’s coming at us from the offense, then we can succeed. We just have to be smart players,” Dean said.
– Story by Chris Graham
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