IndianFan
Web Guy
From: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texas-sports-nation/college/article/Where-has-the-defense-gone-in-Texas-college-high-13375478.php?cmpid=chronstrrpc
"It's perplexing. There aren't any tricks to this. You just have to whip the guy in front of you, get rid of him and find the ball, but first you have to strike someone.
Jones recalls a time during his playing days at Texas in the late 1980s when defensive coordinator Leon Fuller called his charges to task for poor tackling.
"The next practice, he told us, 'This crap has got to stop,'" Jones said. "He taught us how to strike and shed, and from that moment on I stopped trying to lean on athleticism and to lean on technique, because that's the only way you can do it.
"You have to own the line against the guy trying to block you. There is going to be a collision. You can initiate it, or you can allow them to initiate it."
Jones noted that physical play and wide-open offense are not mutually exclusive, hearkening back to the Vince Young era. What is exclusive, though, is the relationship between physical play and winning, he said.
"You can have all that fancy stuff on the outside, but that doesn't amount to a damn thing if you can't block and you can't tackle," he said. "I don't see the Longhorns striking anybody which is confusing, because they were playing so well earlier this season."
"It's perplexing. There aren't any tricks to this. You just have to whip the guy in front of you, get rid of him and find the ball, but first you have to strike someone.
Jones recalls a time during his playing days at Texas in the late 1980s when defensive coordinator Leon Fuller called his charges to task for poor tackling.
"The next practice, he told us, 'This crap has got to stop,'" Jones said. "He taught us how to strike and shed, and from that moment on I stopped trying to lean on athleticism and to lean on technique, because that's the only way you can do it.
"You have to own the line against the guy trying to block you. There is going to be a collision. You can initiate it, or you can allow them to initiate it."
Jones noted that physical play and wide-open offense are not mutually exclusive, hearkening back to the Vince Young era. What is exclusive, though, is the relationship between physical play and winning, he said.
"You can have all that fancy stuff on the outside, but that doesn't amount to a damn thing if you can't block and you can't tackle," he said. "I don't see the Longhorns striking anybody which is confusing, because they were playing so well earlier this season."
