University of Colorado Athletics
Brooks: Webb Sees Chance For Improved 'D'
August 06, 2013 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Derrick Webb is having a hard time keeping his optimism in check, which for a member of one of college football's most downtrodden defenses seems pretty peculiar. When those belly laughs subside, hear him out.
Webb plays inside linebacker for Colorado, last season's Pac-12 Conference punching bag and the target for a season's worth of unflattering one-liners on the national scene.
In 2012, Colorado became Colora-o - the school that inexplicably dropped its 'D.' The Buffaloes gave up points (46 per game, No. 120 of 120 FBS schools) and total yards (488.5 a game, No. 117) at a dizzying rate. Heads not only spun, they rolled. Second-year coach Jon Embree and his staff were let go at the conclusion of a degrading 1-11 season.
In December, CU hired Mike MacIntyre, and MacIntyre promptly hired his veteran defensive coordinator from San Jose State - Kent Baer, who also coaches Webb and his fellow linebackers. Baer has no appetite for nonsense, shoddy workmanship and Saturday afternoons littered with mistakes. Players addicted to any of those simply won't play.
Webb's new position coach is stern, demanding and successful over the long haul. Over a combined 28 seasons he's been the defensive coordinator at nine FBS schools, and if there's one intangible he values more than any other it is effort.
Said Baer: "I want these guys to understand how hard you have to play every snap to win in this league. I don't think we're there yet."
Still, after a spring under Baer, Webb can see the beleaguered Buffs' 'D' getting there, even moving beyond those low outside expectations that project another poor fall in Boulder. (In a media poll last month, CU was a near-unanimous choice to finish sixth in the Pac-12 South.) Webb conceded that his unit's points and yards allowed last season "truly is amazing, especially when you know how good you can be. No reason we shouldn't be one of the best defenses in the Pac-12."
Asked how much better CU's defense can be statistically, Webb offered this: "Realistically, top three - and that's very realistic. When you think about the small differences that accumulate during a game - one turnover, a missed tackle - we probably move up to near the middle, just off a couple of simple things we have to fix. You have to fix them or be exploited in this conference. It's going to be challenging but there's not that far to go."
Skeptics will say whoa, or something more colorful. A statistical point of reference from last season's final Pac-12 defensive standings: Stanford led the conference in both scoring defense (17.2 points) and total defense (336.2 yards), followed in scoring 'D' by Oregon State (20.6) and Oregon (21.6) and in total 'D' by Arizona State (350.8) and Oregon State (354.).
So if the Buffs match Webb's optimism and rise from the depths to the finish among the Pac-12's top three defensive teams, Boulder will be home to one of college football's epic turnarounds. But who's to say it's impossible?
Webb, a senior and one of the team's six captains, sees hope in an interior defensive line that - on strict orders from MacIntyre - reported to Tuesday's first practice of August camp slimmed down to the man. Said Webb: "We had some 300-pounders who knew they had to lose weight and they've done it. They knew they had to be quicker and they've worked hard all summer."
Webb, who led the Buffs in tackles last season (88, 61 solo), also likes the experience gained last season by a secondary that was among the youngest in the nation but is undeniably talented and is growing up after allowing an FBS-worst 39 touchdown passes last season. "They learned a lot last year, sometimes the hard way," Webb said. "I like what I've seen from them."
And at his position, Webb sees "so much potential. I'm just excited to be one of the leaders of this group." Among the returning linebackers, Webb said Woodson Greer and Brady Daigh "are learning what it takes to succeed; I'm seeing it in how they've worked out. We had a couple of guys who had to change some habits. Once I saw that change happen I could tell guys were getting ready to play their best football."
CU's summer work, overseen by director of sports performance Dave Forman, produced "my best summer yet for conditioning and focus," said Webb. "I'm feeling the urgency of my senior year. When you see the end it just makes you want to take it one day at a time, one practice at a time, one rep at a time. That's been my focus all summer."
But he went into the summer with his focus narrowed on becoming a better tackler. "I could always hit; I'm always flying around and getting to the ball," said Webb, who was included on the Butkus Award's preseason watch list. "But I've had form issues with tackling - moving my feet, not leaving my feet, keeping my head up, not lunging but running. I feel like I got better in the spring and coach Baer said I did."
If Webb is better in that area, Baer still wants across-the-board improvement from his defense in tackling. "We keep emphasizing that," he said. "We worked on it in the spring and we will in the fall. We're just not where we need to be. Those are things that sound little, but they're huge things to all of us."
Added Webb: "We needed that last year and we're definitely going to need it this year. We've taken the right steps, but it all starts with the 'want to.' Once you get somebody who actually wants to do it, then you can teach them techniques. But it starts with the player."
Another area of improvement that Baer sees as a "must-do" if the Buffs are to abandon the NCAA's statistical basement is consistency. CU's defensive trademark last season was a decent play (although not many) followed by two or three damaging downs that led to the bottom dropping out.
"The whole defense needs consistency . . . we're just not consistent in a lot of things we do," Baer said. "We'll be harping on that all camp. It can't be one good play, two bad. You see how many good ones you can get before you have a bad one - and we're not even close to that."
If they inch closer to Baer's mark, the Buffs have a chance - say what you will, it's still a chance - at inching closer to Webb's. The guy is aiming high and in early August there's nothing wrong with that.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
