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Moving to coach cornerbacks, Brumfield's focus is specific

It’s not all that unusual to see assistant coaches move a round a bit in terms of the position groups they oversee. In moving Ricky Brumfield from offense to defense, though, Bronco Mendenhall did something that’s a little more unconventional.

The shift doesn’t seem to be slowing Brumfield down in any way. He sounds like someone with an objective and a clear directive: Cut down on the big plays.

“It feels good,” Brumfield said last week of the move from TEs to coaching the corners. “To be honest, being special teams coordinator I feel like I have a part of everybody on the team so it was just an easy transition going back over there. When I first came in coaching special teams, I was working with the defense anyway so going back over, I felt more natural coaching those guys and coaching them up. I coached corners before. Fortunate for me, I’ve been on both sides of the ball so I’m able to give them the cheat code for offense and everything that’s going on. So, it’s been a good transition.”

The Cavaliers, as was evident throughout last season, were not very good in pass coverage. In order to improve that unit, Mendenhall moved Brumfield to corners and Shane Hunter from ILBs to safeties, freeing Nick Howell up to oversee the secondary and defense as a whole.

While much goes into how it is that a defense gives up a lot of big plays down the field, Brumfield was unequivocal in how he and his guys will view it going forward.

“From my point of view, it always falls on us,” he explained. “It’s never anybody else’s fault. It’s always our fault. My fault, their fault….From my perspective any time the ball’s thrown deep it’s the corner’s fault, to be honest with you. We’re kind of the flashlight, the spotlight guys on the field. When something good happens, we’re noticed and when something bad happens, we’re noticed. We need to know that. We need to understand that.

“The things that I’ve done to help them improve that, it’s just technique,” he added. “I believe fundamentals and eyes are what’s going to take us to that next level. If we have good fundamentals and we have good eyes—meaning we’re not staring back at the quarterback every single time—then it’s going to help us stay on top of the receiver every single time. And it’ll give us an opportunity to come down with the ball.”

That should certainly be music to the ears of fans who ofter grow frustrated when a DB doesn’t get his head around to make a play on the ball. Not only is that important to Brumfield but it’s stressed appropriately.

“I also talk to them about not just about PBUs but getting the ball,” he said. “You get a PBU, that’s good. But it’s still 2nd and 10. If it’s 4th and 9, they can still punt it. But if we get the ball back, it’s our ball. The ownership of that falls on us and then throughout that we’ve got to have good fundamentals and good eyes to help stop all of the deep balls that are getting thrown on us.”

As he has gone back and broken down the way cornerbacks played in 2020, one this was consistent.

“I feel personally that a lot of it was their eyes,” he said. “I think they were undisciplined with their eyes and looking in the backfield too much. When it’s man coverage, they look at the man. When it’s zone, then we can open up and look at the quarterback. I feel like a lot of times, fundamentally they were bad with their eyes. Obviously, they have a lot of great qualities and they did a lot of great things but I think that what got them in trouble a lot was trying to look at too much. Looking in the backfield. Looking at the running back.

“If it’s man,” Brumfield continued, “look at the receiver. Cover this receiver one on one and lock him down. Don’t worry about everybody else and what everybody is doing. Stay on top of that guy. So, we’ve kind of focused on that and we’ve focused on their eyes and being disciplined with their eyes. So far, it’s helped them. We haven’t been as consistent as I want them to be but it’s getting better. It’s definitely getting better.”

One good thing for his position group this spring is facing a good number of talented receivers and guys of all sizes. Whereas Mendenhall has said he wants his offense to get more of the 50/50 balls, the defense obviously sees it the other way this spring.

“With technique,” he said simply when asked how the CBs could have more success. “We don’t like 50/50 balls either. We’re at 25 percent, if that. We want 0 percent. But basically, it’s technique. Squeezing, looking back at the ball, because we have just as much right for the football as the receiver does. So when that ball is in the air, it’s our ball. So they need to understand: As long as I’m on top of the receiver, I’m in great position, I look back for the ball, I make a play for the ball, they won’t have an opportunity to catch it no matter how tall he is. He can be 6-9 and we can have somebody that’s 5-6. If I’m in good position, it’s going to help me. It’s not going to be 100 percent with that disparity but it’s definitely going to help me make a play on the ball.”

The Wahoos have moved De’Vante Cross back to safety, which will allow for more reps for guys like Louisville transfer Anthony Johnson and Roanoke native Darrius Bratton, who Brumfield says is having a great spring.

But regardless of where things might have been in terms of playing time, though, the edict is clear for all of the defensive backs heading toward the fall.

“They know it’s open season,” Brumfield said. “So everybody has an opportunity to play. I think for us, it’s just about getting them all on the same page and just understanding…we’ve got to go back to fundamentals and technique. We’ve got to be on the same page as a secondary, as a whole group. Even though we are split—corners and safeties—we’re still as one working together as a group and being on the same page with communication and the calls and the checks and the different things like that.

“I think it’s going to be really good,” he added. “You’ll see a lot of improvement just because they’re getting more individualized and specialized work I believe.”



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