Colorado’s safeties will take a different approach in 2021

BOULDER — Chris Wilson made an impact in his first year back at CU as the Buffs’ defensive line coach.

He wanted to change up the front-seven philosophy to a scheme that would allow defenders to focus on penetrating into the backfield. The switch worked, as Colorado’s defense produced as much pressure as any in the Pac-12 in 2020.

After the season, Wilson was promoted to defensive coordinator, replacing Tyson Summers.

And Wilson has another tweak in mind.

According to head coach Karl Dorrell, the secondary will take a “top down” approach into the new season.

“The reason that we want to play top down is that tips and overthrows will not land on the ground,” Dorrell said during spring camp, “particularly balls that get kind of deflected and go up in the air.”

The concept makes sense: most misses wind up hitting the ground deeper downfield the quarterback’s intended target. On top of being in better position to make plays on those balls, playing a little bit deeper allows safeties to watch the play develop in front of them more easily.

And don’t forget about the big plays that have reared their head in recent years. This approach should give the defense just a little more room for error in that regard, too.

This spring, the results were clear.

“Our secondary, our safeties have done a great job with those tips and overthrows,” Dorrell said. “They’re falling in their hands and they’ve got great vision on where the quarterback is looking and throwing, and they’re starting to pursue and take the right angles at the receivers when the ball’s not quite on the money.”

In particular, cornerback Nigel Bethel seemed to be in the right place at the right time often. Coaches mentioned that the ball found him often during camp.

The key to making the top down approach work, at least according to Dorrell, is making sure that the team understands exactly why the tweak was made.

“I feel really good about what we’re doing,” Dorrell said. “I think philosophically they’re starting to understand why we’re playing with that philosophy because it’s working out on defense.”

If this tweak works anything like Wilson’s last change, the Buffs’ defense will be in great shape.