Shafer sits down for Q&A before spring starts

3/6/2021 12:01:00 PM | Football

By: Josh Vardaman

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — With spring practice inching closer and closer, Middle Tennessee's coaches are giddy for a return to a semi-normal offseason plan.

Defensive coordinator Scott Shafer, who's guided the Blue Raider stoppers since he was hired in January of 2017, has good reason to be excited to get back to practice. He has 11 starters returning, a handful of other returners who've played quality snaps and some newcomers showing lots of potential, all making his squad, on paper, look deep and competitive.

Of course, seeing a team on paper can sometimes be deceiving, and there is plenty of work Shafer sees that needs to be done. The Blue Raiders finished last season giving up 35.44 points and 446 yards per game, and despite doing a great job of forcing turnovers (14 total), they struggled to get to the quarterback with regularity and get off the field on third down.

We sat down with Shafer to discuss the upcoming spring and what he wants to see as the Blue Raiders start preparation for the 2021 season.

After not having spring practice last year, are you more excited for it this year?

"I'd say I kind of feel the same way I did last year. I was excited about spring ball last year because we needed it. We were young. I looked at our roster going into it a year ago, and we were going to have 80-something percent of our kids with three years of eligibility left or more. With that being said, a lot of those kids didn't play a lot of reps, and we thought spring practice was going to be essential. When we didn't have it, we were obviously disappointed. Then, having the COVID break up the way summer went, that has made us even more excited to get to spring ball and start teaching these kids what they need to know to have a good defense."

Did not having spring practice last year show you how valuable it is?

"There's no doubt about it. Three games, four games into the season, I was like, well, now we're where we would've been through spring ball, but we were playing games. I think it's really important, and I know the kids are really excited about it too."

Looking at your roster, how excited are you about all of the returners?

"I'm excited that we'll have a lot of these guys for the next couple years. With DQ Thomas, Reed Blankenship, Brett Shepherd and Rakavian Poydras being the guys who'll be finishing up this year for sure, you look at it, and you can say that we have quite a few guys who will be around here for a while still. For us, now we're trying to take that next step up to another level, and we're excited about that. I know we'll have some great competition … and really good depth at some of our different positions."

With so many returners and a good crop of newcomers, how do you find the right guys to give playing time to?

"We just let them compete. I think the biggest thing is the depth chart is just something you put on paper going into Day 1, and then the work they put in day to day and the competition and wins and losses they have against each other will be important for us to make those decisions. But, at the end of the day, you feel good about having two or three guys at each position who can compete, because that's also going to make our special teams better and we know when the starters come out, we have someone who can step in and play.

"That's what you love about competition. There's no better motivator than knowing the guy behind you is pretty damn good. I think that'll help us move forward and take it to the next level."

Your linebackers have shown great ability to get to the QB the last few years. How do you get more production in the sack department from your D-line?

"We've talked a lot about that and the things you can do with the mechanics with the front and the way you play the techniques on the edges. We want to give our defensive ends an opportunity to go and get the quarterback one-on-one against a tackle. We're going to be doing some of those things in spring ball and probably take about the first six days to stay with our base four-down package and really let them get good at it and compete.

"Jordan Ferguson has had a great offseason, and I think he has a good chance to be a really good player. Also, at defensive end, we have some guys like Richard Kinley who doesn't always get talked about, Jordan Starling is gaining weight and getting right, Quindarius Dunnigan has done a great job forming his body up, Ralph Mency and Tyrece Edwards are young guys but have a lot of ability, JR Bivens has had a great offseason, and Darius "Juju" Williams is looking forward to getting a green light after being injured. I really love our tackles — obviously, Rakavian Poydras has played a lot of football for us, and Jordan Branch had a good season. Guys like Marley Cook and Zaylin Wood I'm really excited about, and Ja'Kerrius Wyatt has shed some weight and is moving well. When I look at the big picture, we have a lot of guys up front who can play this game at a high level if they continue to put in the work."

Safeties Reed Blankenship and Greg Grate are really your leaders on defense. Knowing teams will be game planning to limit their impact, how do they take another leap forward?

"I think it's just learning the system more and trying to really do a good job of sharpening their tools and working on their trade. There's always 6 inches here and there they can get better at. I know Reed was disappointed he didn't have the type of season he wanted to, but coming off the leg injury and being out for 42 days because of COVID was tough. Greg did a good job of especially going and getting the ball and making open-field tackles, but he has things he can improve. There's always work to be done to get better.

"I've been really pleased with that group. I've been really pleased with Marcus LaFrance and Marvae Myers-Glover, they've had really good off seasons so far and are getting bigger, stronger, faster and know what they're doing better."

Your DBs the last few seasons have been really versatile and can play all three backfield positions. Is that the same for this group?

"That's what we're hoping, because then you have the opportunity to move people around. Then, you can take a guy like Deidrick Stanley II, who's had a really good offseason, and where maybe he was a backup playing some corner, now he has a chance to get on the field when we have five or six DBs on the field. We want those guys to always dual-learn, and some of them learn in three phases — corner, safety, nickel back/dime. These kids have done a nice job so far."

What do you most want to see the first week or so of spring practice?

"I just want to see us play sound football, get better at taking on blocks, getting off blocks and finishing tackles. We gave up a lot of big plays last year, and in a lot of those instances, we had people fitting 6 inches too far inside or outside, not getting their inside foot or hand down, not running through contact.

"We had a few linebackers who had to have shoulder surgeries, and I think, after watching some tape, hopefully some good health and some good technique and preparation can give us a chance to let us be more effective in those instances."