Ken Gordon’s defense ran a lot of coverages and schemes in 2007 and the Hornets tried to confuse opponents with the different looks.
With three juniors, two sophomores, 14 freshmen and only two players who received significant playing time in the secondary last season, Gordon knows the only team who would get confused this season by a multitude of coverages and schemes would be his own.
“That’s the babies back there,” Gordon said.
So Gordon is taking a back-to-basics approach. Emporia State will run one coverage in 2008: Cover 3.
“We’re just concentrating one package at a time,” junior safety Aaron Stubblefield said. “We’re running reps after reps after reps of these packages and plays so we’re getting used to them instead of everything thrown at us at once and trying to fumble around with them. We’re getting really good at what we know, getting down to the basics.”
Stubblefield and junior Travis Lee return as the lone starters from last year’s secondary that gave up 254 passing yards a game and 24 touchdowns through the air in 11 games.
Redshirt freshman Tyler Mikkelson will join Stubblefield as the other starting safety, and Lee’s counterpart to start the season is expected to be either sophomore Jake Lynch or redshirt freshman Kameron Gee. Chris Poston, Derek Lohman and Quincy Williams are all expected to receive playing time as true freshmen.
Lee was one of the lone bright spots last season for the Hornets. He was second-team All-MIAA thanks to four interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns including one he ran back 100 yards.
Emmanuel Howard, who had four interceptions in 2007, started alongside Lee last season and Jared Acree was the primary back-up. Both Howard and Acree graduated.
“With those two guys gone, we’re really on a search looking for that one young guy who’s going to be that playmaker that we need on the other side, because team’s will see that,” Lee said. “They’ll see that we have a young guy and they’ll want to throw at him so we’ve got to have a guy who’s going to be able to step up and make plays.”
According to Lee, he’s far from untouchable on his side of the ball. He was scored on twice last season, both deep balls, and his goal is to eliminate the big plays.
“I don’t think I’ve really earned the respect of not going to my side yet,” he said. “I think if I start out big this season, make some big plays early, then I will get the respect towards the end of the year where I don’t get much action. But as far as right now, nah, I’d say I’m ready for the challenge. I think they’ll come at me a little bit.”
The big play was Lee’s and the Hornets’ nemesis in 2007. They had their share of big plays with 18 interceptions, but Gordon said they were scared to make plays and their timid approach often burned them.
“We would hold teams and then when they hit us, they would really hit us big. That’ll kill you,” Gordon said. “We did well at times but we weren’t consistent. We want to be more consistent this year with what we’re doing. And I think keeping it simple for them, that’s going to make it a lot better.”
The ESU secondary is also going to be aggressive. Gordon has instilled a no-fear approach in his cornerbacks and safeties. The biggest difference between 2007 and 2008 other than experience is speed and Gordon plans to depend on the talent and instincts instead of his schemes.
“As a coordinator last year, I did a little bit too much, had them thinking too much, so we’re just going to be simple and let them play,” he said. “Now it’s second nature. They know where they’re supposed to be. Instead of thinking, I can see them reacting, so that’s what we want to do. We want to react instead of think too much.”