What Missouri football’s defense will look like under new coordinator Blake Baker
.JPG "Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator Blake Baker on the sidelines during the first quarter of a football game against Florida International University at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida on Saturday, November 23, 2019.")
The last several weeks have been “fast and furious” for new Missouri Tigers defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
He was promoted to the role just a short time into his tenure on the Mizzou football staff after Steve Wilks left the position for the NFL. The move was officially announced on Feb. 26 but was first reported a few weeks prior.
Now spring practices are underway and Baker, who spent last season as linebackers coach for LSU and was a defensive coordinator at Miami and Louisiana Tech for six years before that, is in the process of getting to know the team’s personnel and determining what the 2022 defense will look like.
“Something that we will definitely pride ourselves on is being an attacking defense that’s really good at tackling the ball carrier,” Baker said on Monday, when he spoke with the media for the first time. “So those are two things that we’ll definitely hang our hat on, but how we get there, that’s to be determined. And a lot of that comes down to personnel as well.
“This spring is not about scheme, it’s about individual player development. And that’s something that we got to figure out, give our guys something and make sure that they can do it. If not, we gotta kind of adapt to what our personnel is able to do. So as far as final scheme or who exactly we’re going to be, we probably won’t know until the end of fall camp, to be honest with you.”
Though it remains unclear what exactly it will look like yet, Baker plans to install what he called a “very user friendly scheme.”
D.J. Smith will serve as co-defensive coordinator. He held a position on staff as linebackers coach last season and took on additional responsibilities as recruiting coordinator in January before getting the promotion.
“Looking forward to working with him, already had a blast a couple of days in right now,” Smith said on Monday. “... We hit it off early just brainstorming and just digging off of what we’ve both done in the past and just picking each other’s brains and things like that. I think it’s been great.”
Baker said that having Smith in that role has helped with the transition, especially since he hopes to carry over as much terminology from last year as possible to make things easier for players.
“We’re really trying to figure all that out,” Baker said. “Sometimes we’re able to do that very easily and sometimes it just doesn’t maybe mesh with kind of what we’ve done in the past from a terminology standpoint. I do think we have a great staff.”
But as Baker emphasized numerous times, this is a new season and new defense.
“We’re really not going to talk about last year,” Baker said. “I wasn’t here, I don’t know what (players) were taught. Everyone starts with a clean slate.
“ … But I think opening the door and letting it be open competition. Anytime I take a new job, I generally look at eight to 12 plays of a guy from a point of attack standpoint. I don’t know what they’re being taught, but just from an athleticism standpoint, and I do that so I don’t have any preconceived notions or opinions. And I told some of the defensive guys that were on staff last year. I said, ‘I don’t want to hear about what our opinions of these guys were last year, otherwise we’re doing them a disservice as a new defense.’ ”
Baker said that taking a step back from being a defensive coordinator and working as the linebackers coach at LSU last season helped him “from a big picture standpoint.” It allowed him to see what he would have done differently as a coordinator, which he will now carry over to Mizzou.
“What I’ve learned over these few years is — and you always heard old coaches say when I was a young coach — but fundamentals win you games,” Baker said. “That’s something that’s really hit me between the eyes I would say in the last couple years, is I don’t have to have the most exotic third down package or the best play call in this certain situation. As long as the kids can execute it and be fundamentally sound, we got a lot better shot.”
With that said, fundamentals will be an emphasis for the Tigers defense as the unit builds towards next season under new leadership.
“If (players) work hard, and we get better fundamentally,” Baker said, “I think the talent level is there. I think we have a chance.”
