BSN Exclusive: Why Nate Landman isn't nervous about his new role

When Colorado takes the field at Broncos Stadium to play Colorado State on Aug. 30, the Buffs’ defense may look similar from the stands. They’ll still trot out three defensive linemen and four linebackers in their base package. A lot of the theories behind what they’re trying to do will remain the same.

But don’t be fooled. Mel Tucker’s SEC-inspired defense may require similar personnel, but there are three big changes:

1. The terminology is different.
2. The playbook is twice as thick.
3. And junior linebacker Nate Landman will serve almost as a player-coach from the middle of the field.

Is Landman nervous about the additional pressure coming his way?

“No,” he said at Pac-12 Media Day. “I love that pressure. I love being put into that leadership role.”

This season, Landman will be the final decision-maker before every snap. Defensive coordinator Tyson Summers will send in the play. Then Landman will determine whether the defense fits the formation the offense is showing. Each playcall comes with a few different checks for him to choose from.

“We’re moving. We’re shifting,” Landman said. “We’re looking at formations, sets, everything, down and distance, where the ball’s placed, so everything has a new check. We could be in one defense and change it to a completely different one, and it’s something you wouldn’t even notice.”

That’s a lot of pressure to put on a 20-year-old. But, like Landman, Tucker isn’t worried.

“Nate’s the guy that can get that done,” Tucker told BSN Denver. “He’s really smart. He can think on his feet. When things change, he doesn’t get flustered. He’s a great communicator. I feel good about him being able to make the checks and get us into the defense and make adjustments we need.”

The role of on-field adjustor belonged to senior linebacker Rick Gamboa in 2018. Landman helped out some and learned what to look out for from Gamboa, but Tucker’s defense provides some new challenges.

“The key thing for me is learning the new plays, stuff we didn’t run last year, because it’s a lot more complex defense than we ran in the past,” Landman said. “And really not learning for myself but helping the guys next to me learn too.”

Additional leadership responsibilities are the next step in Landman’s development at inside linebacker. His breakout as a sophomore came out of nowhere. As a freshman, he’d only contributed 17 tackles all year.

But the list of awards Landman racked up in 2018 is impressive. He was second-team All-Pac-12, per the Associated Press. Pro Football Focus named him a midseason first-team All-American. Plus he added a few Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week awards to his trophy case.

This year, because of his new role, Landman expects even more.

“It allows me to play faster and smarter,” he said. “Knowing what the linemen are doing and the secondary are doing allows me to get the whole picture, the big picture, and really focus on what I need to do because I know what everybody else is doing,”

With Landman locked into the read-and-adjust role at linebacker. Tucker is looking for one more guy to contribute pre-snap on every play.

“(Landman) can take care of our guys up front, we just need to make sure we have somebody in the secondary, in that safety position, that can work with him and coordinate our front seven with out backend,” Tucker told BSN Denver.

Who’s that going to be?

“We’re gonna find out,” Tucker said. “It’s gonna be competitive. We’ve got a lot of new faces back there. So, we’ll see.”

Tucker has coached secondaries his entire career and says he’s confident in the structure he can implement. He knows how to structure practices and drills in a way that allows him to evaluate which safeties and cornerbacks are ready to see the field. Once he’s identified who will contribute, the focus will shift to developing his rotation players.

But there’s one more question that hangs over this new defensive scheme. With all of the reads and checks going on in the 15 or fewer seconds between the time the center lines up over the ball and when he snaps it, isn’t there more room for miscommunications? Complex defenses come with some sort of downside, right?

Again, Mel Tucker isn’t worried.

“Our guys won’t be confused, I can promise you that,” Tucker said.