University of Richmond Athletics
Q&A With Defensive Coordinator Adam Braithwaite
04/10/2018 | Football
RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond football defensive coordinator Adam Braithwaite enters his second year on the Spiders' staff and his sixth-straight season on Russ Huesman's staff. Braithwaite sat down with Spider Athletics in the midst of spring practice to talk about the team's offense.
What is the defensive philosophy of Richmond Football?
Philosophically, it has nothing to do with X's and O's. We have our own brand and scheme that we run with how man down linemen we have and how many DB's we have on the field. For us, it is about the culture we are trying to build defensively. We are trying to cultivate the right attitude with guys in terms of being unselfish players, being gritty tough-minded guys and being coachable players. We want our guys to play longer, harder and more physical than our opponents, while executing our scheme and fundamentals on a consistent basis.
How different is it this spring compared to last spring both for the coaches and the players?
We are one year into it so there is a comfort level across the board. We started from scratch last year with our guys in terms of things we wanted them to do. We asked them to change their way of thinking and to change their way of playing to a certain extent. We felt last year it was a victory if we got our guys to step in the right direction at the snap of the ball. It was a challenge for them to understand where they fit in the scheme and where their teammates were going to be during the play.
I think we have a greater grasp of that as a unit this spring and we have a greater grasp of where everyone fits in the system. Now it is a matter of fine-tuning those fundamentals and trying to take our game to another level this year.
Last year's defense improved a lot in the second half of the season, what do you think the biggest improvements were and is that something you can build off of this spring?
We weren't a very good defense to begin with last year and it showed on the field. Our victories as a unit were very small and very few and far between defensively in the first part of the season. To our guys' credit, they kept fighting, kept working and continued to believe in the coaches and the scheme. Eventually, you saw them turn the corner and start to understand things a little bit better. Once you have success, the ball gets rolling and we saw that late in the season last year.
We feel positive on how it progressed last year and we have done a good job building on that during the offseason. We are excited for that continued growth as a unit as everyone has a better grasp of their role in the defense.
What are some of the big areas you are working on this spring as a defense?
We are really focusing on fundamentals. We are working on body position, making sure we take great angles to the football, making sure our techniques are honed in and making sure we are attacking the football. Those are things we are going to emphasize and work on as a unit. Those are things we want to be great at as a team and things we will continually look to improve on throughout the year.
Richmond will have to replace three starters it the secondary from last year's team. How is that competition setting up this spring and what positives come from that competition?
Competition is beneficial and is one of the great motivating factors in sports. The more competition you have gives you more depth, which allows people to rise up to meet those challenges. Certainly, we lost five scholarship defensive backs from our roster last year but I think we feel really good about the talent we have this year. We are thin in the secondary and have been since making the switch from four DBs to five DBs, but that is a process we are remedying each year in recruiting.
We lost three guys who started last year but we also have four guys returning that have started multiple games for us in the past, so we some experience coming back. There is a good mixture of veteran guys and new guys that we are excited about this year.
Coach Huesman said that defensive live will be a strong point of the team this year. What are you seeing from that group fans can be excited about come the fall?
Our defensive tackle position in Andrew Clyde, Colby Ritten and Andrew Jackson are all blue collar, hard-working players that lead by example. They are tough players and are day-in and day-out consistent players for us. That is the nucleus of our team and what we want our entire team to look like. We lost two starters at defensive end, but I think we have some good competition on the edge this spring. Darius Reynolds is a redshirt sophomore that has had a really good spring for us and has really improved. We have some other guys in that group that are competing and improving each day. There is a strong battle out on the edge right now and that competition will only help us moving forward.
Your line backing corps brings experience players back this year. How important will that experience be this year and how much farther along are they as a group from last year?
We feel good about our defense through the middle in terms of our experience, in terms of the snaps we have played and in terms of players we have at linebacker. We have Dale Matthews and Justin Rubin coming back, Billy Caughell coming back off of injury and two young guys in Tyler Dressler and Jordan Payne who are doing a nice job. We feel good about that position, about the guys we have coming back who have played and about how our young guys are progressing.
It has been a big transition for our defense in terms of what we ask our linebackers to do compared to what they have done in the past schematically. There was a big learning curve for them, but you can see them moving in the right direction now. They are seeing things better in the box and understanding where they and their teammates fit in the big picture.
If fans haven't seen many Richmond games recently, what can they expect from a Spider defense this year?
I want fans to see a group that plays with a lot of confidence because they have prepared well. Everyone talks about playing with confidence and having a chip on your shoulder but that is all a product of your preparation throughout the year. We have prepared well but it is a long haul between now and game time so we have to continue to work and move forward. We will be a team that plays harder, longer and more physical than opponents while playing more discipline and consistent each play. If we can get ourselves to that point each time we step on to the field, we will have a good chance to win some games defensively.
What is the defensive philosophy of Richmond Football?
Philosophically, it has nothing to do with X's and O's. We have our own brand and scheme that we run with how man down linemen we have and how many DB's we have on the field. For us, it is about the culture we are trying to build defensively. We are trying to cultivate the right attitude with guys in terms of being unselfish players, being gritty tough-minded guys and being coachable players. We want our guys to play longer, harder and more physical than our opponents, while executing our scheme and fundamentals on a consistent basis.
How different is it this spring compared to last spring both for the coaches and the players?
We are one year into it so there is a comfort level across the board. We started from scratch last year with our guys in terms of things we wanted them to do. We asked them to change their way of thinking and to change their way of playing to a certain extent. We felt last year it was a victory if we got our guys to step in the right direction at the snap of the ball. It was a challenge for them to understand where they fit in the scheme and where their teammates were going to be during the play.
I think we have a greater grasp of that as a unit this spring and we have a greater grasp of where everyone fits in the system. Now it is a matter of fine-tuning those fundamentals and trying to take our game to another level this year.
Last year's defense improved a lot in the second half of the season, what do you think the biggest improvements were and is that something you can build off of this spring?
We weren't a very good defense to begin with last year and it showed on the field. Our victories as a unit were very small and very few and far between defensively in the first part of the season. To our guys' credit, they kept fighting, kept working and continued to believe in the coaches and the scheme. Eventually, you saw them turn the corner and start to understand things a little bit better. Once you have success, the ball gets rolling and we saw that late in the season last year.
We feel positive on how it progressed last year and we have done a good job building on that during the offseason. We are excited for that continued growth as a unit as everyone has a better grasp of their role in the defense.
What are some of the big areas you are working on this spring as a defense?
We are really focusing on fundamentals. We are working on body position, making sure we take great angles to the football, making sure our techniques are honed in and making sure we are attacking the football. Those are things we are going to emphasize and work on as a unit. Those are things we want to be great at as a team and things we will continually look to improve on throughout the year.
Richmond will have to replace three starters it the secondary from last year's team. How is that competition setting up this spring and what positives come from that competition?
Competition is beneficial and is one of the great motivating factors in sports. The more competition you have gives you more depth, which allows people to rise up to meet those challenges. Certainly, we lost five scholarship defensive backs from our roster last year but I think we feel really good about the talent we have this year. We are thin in the secondary and have been since making the switch from four DBs to five DBs, but that is a process we are remedying each year in recruiting.
We lost three guys who started last year but we also have four guys returning that have started multiple games for us in the past, so we some experience coming back. There is a good mixture of veteran guys and new guys that we are excited about this year.
Coach Huesman said that defensive live will be a strong point of the team this year. What are you seeing from that group fans can be excited about come the fall?
Our defensive tackle position in Andrew Clyde, Colby Ritten and Andrew Jackson are all blue collar, hard-working players that lead by example. They are tough players and are day-in and day-out consistent players for us. That is the nucleus of our team and what we want our entire team to look like. We lost two starters at defensive end, but I think we have some good competition on the edge this spring. Darius Reynolds is a redshirt sophomore that has had a really good spring for us and has really improved. We have some other guys in that group that are competing and improving each day. There is a strong battle out on the edge right now and that competition will only help us moving forward.
Your line backing corps brings experience players back this year. How important will that experience be this year and how much farther along are they as a group from last year?
We feel good about our defense through the middle in terms of our experience, in terms of the snaps we have played and in terms of players we have at linebacker. We have Dale Matthews and Justin Rubin coming back, Billy Caughell coming back off of injury and two young guys in Tyler Dressler and Jordan Payne who are doing a nice job. We feel good about that position, about the guys we have coming back who have played and about how our young guys are progressing.
It has been a big transition for our defense in terms of what we ask our linebackers to do compared to what they have done in the past schematically. There was a big learning curve for them, but you can see them moving in the right direction now. They are seeing things better in the box and understanding where they and their teammates fit in the big picture.
If fans haven't seen many Richmond games recently, what can they expect from a Spider defense this year?
I want fans to see a group that plays with a lot of confidence because they have prepared well. Everyone talks about playing with confidence and having a chip on your shoulder but that is all a product of your preparation throughout the year. We have prepared well but it is a long haul between now and game time so we have to continue to work and move forward. We will be a team that plays harder, longer and more physical than opponents while playing more discipline and consistent each play. If we can get ourselves to that point each time we step on to the field, we will have a good chance to win some games defensively.
Players Mentioned
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