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When the Gophers open the season on Thursday night at TCF Bank Stadium, they won’t have any current South Dakota State film to study.
Redshirt freshman quarterback J’Bore Gibbs will be making his first collegiate appearance. The Jackrabbits also promoted assistant Jason Eck to offensive coordinator, which may alter their overall offensive philosophy.
This year, preparing for the Jackrabbits' new quarterback and offensive coordinator will present a different challenge for defensive coordinator Joe Rossi.
“As a defensive coordinator, you never like first games because they’ve got the whole offseason. We like being able to evaluate film of what they’ve actually done. [South Dakota State] has a new coordinator and a new quarterback. So those always give you a little bit of an uneasy feeling because you don’t have three weeks of them on film,” Joe Rossi said during Tuesday’s press conference.
Rossi and the coaching staff will dip their toes into the water and see what happens. South Dakota State may implement new wrinkles they didn’t show on film last year. When this occurs, Minnesota will need to make in-game adjustments to overcome certain obstacles.
"You have to focus more on yourself than you do on the opponent. Your execution of your calls, your defense, your personnel. Just because there isn’t that tape,” Rossi said. "There will be things early in the game that they’ve done that we haven’t seen. Then you have to get on the sideline, you need to talk and you need to adjust. That’s what’s communicated to the guys at the beginning of the week and all the way up to and through the event.”
South Dakota State has a powerful rushing attack and two talented wide receivers to cover. Joe Rossi knows the Jackrabbits will find ways to utilize their personnel effectively. The biggest key will be responding and making the necessary adjustments.
Rossi likes the progression of his defensive backs
After reflecting upon camp practices, Joe Rossi is excited about Minnesota’s defensive backs. The Gophers have five main cornerbacks to rotate, including redshirt juniors Kiondre Thomas and Coney Durr. The team will also benefit from experience gained by sophomore Terell Smith in 2018. Chris Williamson can be placed all over the field and Michigan transfer Benjamin St-Juste may emerge as a key contributor. Redshirt junior Phillip Howard is also progressing after making the switch from wide receiver to cornerback. Rossi is impressed with the progress this unit has made under new position coach, Rod Chance.
“We have no qualms about putting any of those five [cornerbacks] in,” Rossi said. "I believe that the secondary group has had the most improvement of any on our defense. I’m really excited about that,” Rossi said. "Any of those five guys can go in and we feel like we can play winning defense with them.”
Winfield Jr. is “special"
After missing the final nine games of 2018 with a foot injury, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is set to make his return. When Minnesota’s best defensive player is on the field, Joe Rossi's entire defensive scheme changes. Winfield helps make on-field adjustments and is a leader of the defense. Outside of the intangibles, he has the versatility, speed and tackling ability to play the deep-half or flex into the box. When Winfield is healthy, the Gophers defense simply looks different.
“[Winfield Jr.] a special player. There’s not many in the country that are of his caliber. Not only is he good athletically, not only is he good from a physical standpoint, but mentally where he is, [it’s] awesome,” Rossi said. "He can pick up on things, he can react to things, he can see things different than other people can. And that’s when you have a special player and you like coaching them. You attempt to not coach them too much and over coach them because you just let those guys go out and kind of do their thing.”
How has Jordan Howden progressed?
One of the biggest question marks on defense revolves around who will play safety alongside Winfield Jr. Sophomore Jordan Howden was thrust into action as a true freshman walk-on. He has the athletic profile in coverage, but Howden struggled against the run. The true freshman didn’t have much time to learn the defense and adjust to the game’s speed. Instead, he had to learn through live experience.
"The athletic traits are there, the skills are there — the movement skills, I would rate those skills at the higher level in terms of a safety,” Rossi said. “[Last year] it was like, hey, the addition of the run fits and all of those things and [Howden has] made a lot of progress with that last year. I like where he is coming out of training camp.
The creativity of Minnesota’s defense
With the skill sets featured in Minnesota's defense, Joe Rossi can be very creative with his pressure packages, coverages and fronts. The type of opponent the Gophers are scheming against will determine the strategic week-to-week adjustments. If the coaches need to be more aggressive to apply pressure and get off the field on third down, they will dial up various looks.
"We will be creative and so that means a lot of different packages, a lot of different looks. It also may mean if it’s a scenario where we feel like our four guys can beat their five, you can see that, too,” Rossi said. "We have some very talented rushers and we have some guys that are really good blitzers, so we have it all in the package. And on a week-to-week basis, depending on what we need to do on third down to win that week, that’s what we’ll employ.”
Ciarrocca liked the camp practice structure
Head coach P.J. Fleck used data from Catapult and other analytical methods to determine the team’s fall practice routine and schedule. This system allows the coaching staff to track on-field performance data and habits. With this type of feedback, the team can structure practices to achieve maximum rest and productivity. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca was impressed with the results.
"I feel pretty good [after camp]. I love the way coach set up camp. I think we have to be the freshest team in the country right now,” Ciarrocca said Tuesday. "And I think the benefit of it was, I really saw some real improvement at the tail end of training camp.”
In 2019, Ciarrocca will have a plethora of weapons returning, including a loaded running back room and emerging wide receivers. Not only that, but teams will scheme to take away one of the nation’s top route runners - senior Tyler Johnson. Now, Ciarrocca will maximize those playmakers and do what he does best — elevate a quarterback. This year, the veteran offensive coordinator wants redshirt sophomore quarterback Tanner Morgan to trust his skills.
"With all quarterbacks, it’s just getting them to relax out there and play the game - not over-think things. I think that’s always what I worry about with a guy that has some experience - really any quarterback,” Ciarrocca said. “As a quarterback, you have to do all of your thinking before the ball is snapped. Once the ball is snapped, there is not a more reactionary position in the game of football than the quarterback position. So just trust himself."
After Zack Annexstad went down with an injury in fall camp, Ciarrocca had to quickly develop true freshmen quarterbacks Cole Kramer and Jacob Clark. In the event something happens to Morgan, a young backup will need to be prepared. Over the course of fall practices, the young quarterbacks had to learn the system and mentally adjust to the pace of college football.
“They grew a ton. When Zack went down, things changed for them and I love their approach and their attitude. It didn’t seem to be too big — the stage for them. Whenever their role quickly changed for them, they definitely improved every single day, their grasp of the system, mentally and physically with it,” Ciarrocca said. "A lot was thrown at them, especially when you go up against our own defense. The multitude of different looks that Joe [Rossi] presents for a quarterback is very difficult and I thought they answered the challenge very well.”
Minnesota’s offensive coordinator is prepared to see a talented front-seven when South Dakota State comes to town on Thursday. Linebacker Christian Rozeboom, the fourth all-time leading tackler in South Dakota State history, is the heartbeat of the Jackrabbits’ defense. Ciarrocca noticed South Dakota State's linebackers on film and was reminded of his early coaching days.
“When I watch them on film they remind me of when I coached at the University of Delaware. They’re very talented, they are very well-coached, they play really hard together. Their strength of their defense would be in their front-seven,” Ciarroca said.
Notable player quotes:
Tyler Johnson on team chemistry: “I’d say we came together a long way, really, from being here in this facility every day, to just being around each other off the field. Whether that’s playing video games or just finding ways to bond - going out to eat with each other. This group of guys, I’m very excited for us all. We all are pretty much very connected in every sort of way. We’ve got a lot of great leaders on this team that put us in the right position.”
Tyler Johnson on Brevyn Spann-Ford's growth and role: "It'll be fun to watch him play. Brevyn is an interesting player. He can do it all, pretty much. He's got good size, great ball skills, so I'm excited to see what he has."
VIDEOS:
Redshirt freshman quarterback J’Bore Gibbs will be making his first collegiate appearance. The Jackrabbits also promoted assistant Jason Eck to offensive coordinator, which may alter their overall offensive philosophy.
This year, preparing for the Jackrabbits' new quarterback and offensive coordinator will present a different challenge for defensive coordinator Joe Rossi.
“As a defensive coordinator, you never like first games because they’ve got the whole offseason. We like being able to evaluate film of what they’ve actually done. [South Dakota State] has a new coordinator and a new quarterback. So those always give you a little bit of an uneasy feeling because you don’t have three weeks of them on film,” Joe Rossi said during Tuesday’s press conference.
Rossi and the coaching staff will dip their toes into the water and see what happens. South Dakota State may implement new wrinkles they didn’t show on film last year. When this occurs, Minnesota will need to make in-game adjustments to overcome certain obstacles.
"You have to focus more on yourself than you do on the opponent. Your execution of your calls, your defense, your personnel. Just because there isn’t that tape,” Rossi said. "There will be things early in the game that they’ve done that we haven’t seen. Then you have to get on the sideline, you need to talk and you need to adjust. That’s what’s communicated to the guys at the beginning of the week and all the way up to and through the event.”
South Dakota State has a powerful rushing attack and two talented wide receivers to cover. Joe Rossi knows the Jackrabbits will find ways to utilize their personnel effectively. The biggest key will be responding and making the necessary adjustments.
Rossi likes the progression of his defensive backs
After reflecting upon camp practices, Joe Rossi is excited about Minnesota’s defensive backs. The Gophers have five main cornerbacks to rotate, including redshirt juniors Kiondre Thomas and Coney Durr. The team will also benefit from experience gained by sophomore Terell Smith in 2018. Chris Williamson can be placed all over the field and Michigan transfer Benjamin St-Juste may emerge as a key contributor. Redshirt junior Phillip Howard is also progressing after making the switch from wide receiver to cornerback. Rossi is impressed with the progress this unit has made under new position coach, Rod Chance.
“We have no qualms about putting any of those five [cornerbacks] in,” Rossi said. "I believe that the secondary group has had the most improvement of any on our defense. I’m really excited about that,” Rossi said. "Any of those five guys can go in and we feel like we can play winning defense with them.”
Winfield Jr. is “special"
After missing the final nine games of 2018 with a foot injury, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is set to make his return. When Minnesota’s best defensive player is on the field, Joe Rossi's entire defensive scheme changes. Winfield helps make on-field adjustments and is a leader of the defense. Outside of the intangibles, he has the versatility, speed and tackling ability to play the deep-half or flex into the box. When Winfield is healthy, the Gophers defense simply looks different.
“[Winfield Jr.] a special player. There’s not many in the country that are of his caliber. Not only is he good athletically, not only is he good from a physical standpoint, but mentally where he is, [it’s] awesome,” Rossi said. "He can pick up on things, he can react to things, he can see things different than other people can. And that’s when you have a special player and you like coaching them. You attempt to not coach them too much and over coach them because you just let those guys go out and kind of do their thing.”
How has Jordan Howden progressed?
One of the biggest question marks on defense revolves around who will play safety alongside Winfield Jr. Sophomore Jordan Howden was thrust into action as a true freshman walk-on. He has the athletic profile in coverage, but Howden struggled against the run. The true freshman didn’t have much time to learn the defense and adjust to the game’s speed. Instead, he had to learn through live experience.
"The athletic traits are there, the skills are there — the movement skills, I would rate those skills at the higher level in terms of a safety,” Rossi said. “[Last year] it was like, hey, the addition of the run fits and all of those things and [Howden has] made a lot of progress with that last year. I like where he is coming out of training camp.
The creativity of Minnesota’s defense
With the skill sets featured in Minnesota's defense, Joe Rossi can be very creative with his pressure packages, coverages and fronts. The type of opponent the Gophers are scheming against will determine the strategic week-to-week adjustments. If the coaches need to be more aggressive to apply pressure and get off the field on third down, they will dial up various looks.
"We will be creative and so that means a lot of different packages, a lot of different looks. It also may mean if it’s a scenario where we feel like our four guys can beat their five, you can see that, too,” Rossi said. "We have some very talented rushers and we have some guys that are really good blitzers, so we have it all in the package. And on a week-to-week basis, depending on what we need to do on third down to win that week, that’s what we’ll employ.”
Ciarrocca liked the camp practice structure
Head coach P.J. Fleck used data from Catapult and other analytical methods to determine the team’s fall practice routine and schedule. This system allows the coaching staff to track on-field performance data and habits. With this type of feedback, the team can structure practices to achieve maximum rest and productivity. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca was impressed with the results.
"I feel pretty good [after camp]. I love the way coach set up camp. I think we have to be the freshest team in the country right now,” Ciarrocca said Tuesday. "And I think the benefit of it was, I really saw some real improvement at the tail end of training camp.”
In 2019, Ciarrocca will have a plethora of weapons returning, including a loaded running back room and emerging wide receivers. Not only that, but teams will scheme to take away one of the nation’s top route runners - senior Tyler Johnson. Now, Ciarrocca will maximize those playmakers and do what he does best — elevate a quarterback. This year, the veteran offensive coordinator wants redshirt sophomore quarterback Tanner Morgan to trust his skills.
"With all quarterbacks, it’s just getting them to relax out there and play the game - not over-think things. I think that’s always what I worry about with a guy that has some experience - really any quarterback,” Ciarrocca said. “As a quarterback, you have to do all of your thinking before the ball is snapped. Once the ball is snapped, there is not a more reactionary position in the game of football than the quarterback position. So just trust himself."
After Zack Annexstad went down with an injury in fall camp, Ciarrocca had to quickly develop true freshmen quarterbacks Cole Kramer and Jacob Clark. In the event something happens to Morgan, a young backup will need to be prepared. Over the course of fall practices, the young quarterbacks had to learn the system and mentally adjust to the pace of college football.
“They grew a ton. When Zack went down, things changed for them and I love their approach and their attitude. It didn’t seem to be too big — the stage for them. Whenever their role quickly changed for them, they definitely improved every single day, their grasp of the system, mentally and physically with it,” Ciarrocca said. "A lot was thrown at them, especially when you go up against our own defense. The multitude of different looks that Joe [Rossi] presents for a quarterback is very difficult and I thought they answered the challenge very well.”
Minnesota’s offensive coordinator is prepared to see a talented front-seven when South Dakota State comes to town on Thursday. Linebacker Christian Rozeboom, the fourth all-time leading tackler in South Dakota State history, is the heartbeat of the Jackrabbits’ defense. Ciarrocca noticed South Dakota State's linebackers on film and was reminded of his early coaching days.
“When I watch them on film they remind me of when I coached at the University of Delaware. They’re very talented, they are very well-coached, they play really hard together. Their strength of their defense would be in their front-seven,” Ciarroca said.
Notable player quotes:
Tyler Johnson on team chemistry: “I’d say we came together a long way, really, from being here in this facility every day, to just being around each other off the field. Whether that’s playing video games or just finding ways to bond - going out to eat with each other. This group of guys, I’m very excited for us all. We all are pretty much very connected in every sort of way. We’ve got a lot of great leaders on this team that put us in the right position.”
Tyler Johnson on Brevyn Spann-Ford's growth and role: "It'll be fun to watch him play. Brevyn is an interesting player. He can do it all, pretty much. He's got good size, great ball skills, so I'm excited to see what he has."
VIDEOS: