‘Trench mob’: How Mizzou assistant Al Davis has turned around the Tigers’ run defense
On Oct. 3, Al Davis walked into Missouri football’s defensive line room, prepared to make his intentions clear.
He had just taken over as the group’s position coach after Jethro Franklin was fired in the wake of a 62-24 blowout loss to Tennessee.
One of the first orders of business was introducing a new concept: “Trench Mob.”
“We call ourselves Trench Mob. That’s what he gave us: an identity,” defensive lineman Isaiah McGuire recalled. “He said, ‘This is who I am. This is how I coach.’ And we rallied around that.”
The results didn’t come right away. In the three games following the coaching change, the Tigers gave up an average 243 rushing yards per game. There appeared to be something fundamentally flawed with the defense, and the chance of the team resolving that, or even making significant strides, seemed like an impossibility.
There’s certainly still a ways to go — Mizzou’s run defense still ranks 129th out of 130 FBS teams. And who’s to say if it’ll actually continue. But the defensive line has finally started to show some signs of life, holding opponents under 200 rushing yards in consecutive games for the first time all season over the last two weekends.
The leadership of Davis, who spent time as a defensive line coach, co-defensive coordinator and associate head coach at Hutchinson CC from 2017-20, is a big reason why.
“He brings a lot of energy,” defensive lineman Trajan Jeffcoat said of Davis after Mizzou’s win over South Carolina last Saturday. “He keeps us poised, he keeps us encouraged, motivated. Just love him as a coach and I just love what he brought to the defensive line. You’re also seeing that as well, excitement. We’re playing free, we’re just having fun.”
Much of the energy Davis brings circles back to the Trench Mob mentality. Position coaches aren’t made available to the media during the season, but McGuire said that the concept dates to Davis’ playing days as a defensive lineman at Arkansas from 2009-12 — he also served as a defensive graduate assistant coach there for three seasons.
“The mindset of every play, being technical every play,” McGuire said. “And it’s obviously helped us tremendously, so shout-out to Coach Davis.”
Through the first five games of 2021, Mizzou was allowing opponents an average 306.8 rushing yards per game. The team was dead last in the FBS in that category ... by a lot. But on Saturday, the Tigers held the Gamecocks to just 57 net rushing yards and an average 1.6 yards per carry. They also forced two fumbles, one of which resulted in a defensive score, and produced six tackles for a loss of 59 yards, including three sacks.
Players on the defensive line have repeatedly brought up the energy Davis brings. They also mentioned that he goes out of his way to study one-on-one with members of the defensive line, which has not only helped them improve their individual skill-sets and how they see the field, but instilled a sense of trust.
“I think that builds that one on one connection with your players and it strengthens the relationship that, you know, you trust the dude that’s putting you out there,” McGuire said. “We as players trust him that he’s gonna put us in the spots to make us most successful.”
“I think Coach Davis, he’s a great coach,” added senior defensive lineman Jatorian Hansford. “I think he takes time with his players. He understands all of his players and just try to just build on his players and stuff like that. He do focus on details and little things, like as far as what it takes to win.”
The combination of focus on details and trust — which players have also continued to grow among themselves — has allowed the defensive line to improve its execution consistently on the field.
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said Davis has a type of energy on the practice field that gives the defensive line a spark. He said the scheme hasn’t changed at all since the start of the season, but players are buying into their responsibilities on the field and what he has consistently referred to as “my gap mentality.”
“When I stay in my gap, great things happen,” Wilks said after Tuesday’s practice. “This defensive scheme has always been a scheme that complements everyone if you just work within. And you can see that across the board where guys are performing and playing better as long as everybody’s doing their job.”
The defensive line’s run-game improvement under Davis will be put to the test when Mizzou faces Florida on Saturday. The Gators average an FBS-best 5.97 yards per rush, and coach Dan Mullen said earlier this week that dual-threat quarterback Anthony Richardson is fully healthy and could be worked into some packages.
“They do a great job of really trying to create space, moving guys out based off the formation and then trying to create running lanes inside for the QB,” Wilks said. “It’s going to be a difficult task for us we’re and looking forward to the challenge.”
