“I hope we will be a lot more exciting, not that coach Johnson’s defense was dull or not exciting, but we want to play more up tempo,” Ward said.
It’s tough to be more exciting than No. 3 in the country, but this is how transitions go in football. Fans don’t want to hear, “I hope to be as good as that last guy.”
They want to hear: “We want to be more in attack mode. When you do that, you train the guys to be aggressive all the time,” Ward said as USC opened its preseason practices.
Ward has been preaching to the choir throughout the preseason, promising more blitzing and pressure on the quarterback.
“Coach Johnson was a little bit more laid back until something happened,” senior spur DeVonte Holloman said. “Coach Ward is fired up all the time. He brings a lot of energy, and it rubs off on all of us.”
An attacking style will put pressure on the most inexperienced part of South Carolina’s defense — the secondary, where three new starters will serve as the last line of defense.
“That’s why they call me coach. That’s my job to make sure we come out and are in position, we are where we need to be,” first-year secondary coach Grady Brown said. “From a secondary standpoint, you have to erase the deep ball. That will be our goal, and we will work on that every day.”
Defensive backs, probably the most bravado-filled members of any defense, say they are ready for the challenge.
“Oh yeah, I trust in our secondary and coach Ward does or else he wouldn’t be planning on bringing as much pressure as he is,” Holloman said. “We all trust in each other. We know the person next to us is going to do their job.”
Holloman will provide an interesting case study for whether the Gamecocks can meet their coverage obligations. At 245 pounds, he is replacing the 202-pound Antonio Allen as the starter at spur. He expects to have Allen’s same coverage responsibilities — and meet them as well.
“He’s a big man who moves like a smaller guy,” Brown said. “I don’t know if he’s ever been the smallest guy in his room. He’s been big all his life. He’s doing a good job of moving around and doing what we ask him to do.”
Holloman expects opponents to test him early.
“I hope so,” he said. “The more times the ball comes your way, the more plays you have a chance to make.” http://www.gogamecocks.com/2012/08/28/275360/ward-puts-own-touches-on-uscs.html
It’s tough to be more exciting than No. 3 in the country, but this is how transitions go in football. Fans don’t want to hear, “I hope to be as good as that last guy.”
They want to hear: “We want to be more in attack mode. When you do that, you train the guys to be aggressive all the time,” Ward said as USC opened its preseason practices.
Ward has been preaching to the choir throughout the preseason, promising more blitzing and pressure on the quarterback.
“Coach Johnson was a little bit more laid back until something happened,” senior spur DeVonte Holloman said. “Coach Ward is fired up all the time. He brings a lot of energy, and it rubs off on all of us.”
An attacking style will put pressure on the most inexperienced part of South Carolina’s defense — the secondary, where three new starters will serve as the last line of defense.
“That’s why they call me coach. That’s my job to make sure we come out and are in position, we are where we need to be,” first-year secondary coach Grady Brown said. “From a secondary standpoint, you have to erase the deep ball. That will be our goal, and we will work on that every day.”
Defensive backs, probably the most bravado-filled members of any defense, say they are ready for the challenge.
“Oh yeah, I trust in our secondary and coach Ward does or else he wouldn’t be planning on bringing as much pressure as he is,” Holloman said. “We all trust in each other. We know the person next to us is going to do their job.”
Holloman will provide an interesting case study for whether the Gamecocks can meet their coverage obligations. At 245 pounds, he is replacing the 202-pound Antonio Allen as the starter at spur. He expects to have Allen’s same coverage responsibilities — and meet them as well.
“He’s a big man who moves like a smaller guy,” Brown said. “I don’t know if he’s ever been the smallest guy in his room. He’s been big all his life. He’s doing a good job of moving around and doing what we ask him to do.”
Holloman expects opponents to test him early.
“I hope so,” he said. “The more times the ball comes your way, the more plays you have a chance to make.” http://www.gogamecocks.com/2012/08/28/275360/ward-puts-own-touches-on-uscs.html
