Littrell and Ekeler

[MeanGreenGlory]

I think we have a pretty good idea of what Littrell will do with the offense given his play calling history and the Texas Tech guys he's bringing in.  The defense side of things is more of a mystery because Littrell doesn't have history running one and Ekeler has only been a Co-DC for two seasons so we don't know how much of a role he played in designing it.

Littrell and Ekeler both spent two years at Indiana, but they only spent one year coaching together.  Littrell was the Co-OC for the 2012 and 2013 seasons whereas Ekeler was the Co-DC for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

• 2011 IU Football Team (1-11 Record)
  • Kevin Wilson's first year as HC at IU
  • North Texas beat IU 24-21
  • Ekeler was Co-DC
• 2012 IU Football Team (4-8 Record)
  • Ekeler was Co-DC
  • Littrell was Co-OC
• 2013 IU Football Team (5-7 Record)
  • Littrell was Co-OC

I'm interested to see what type of defense the two run at North Texas.  Littrell has mentioned that he wants a defense that is aggressive and attacks the QB.  Below are two videos from an IU press conference following a one point loss at Navy.  Ekeler talks about running a blitz they call "Guts" because it's all out and you must have guts to run it.  It sounds like they gave up points as a result of taking the risk in that particular game, but I imagine this is the character Ekeler and Littrell will build their defensive philosophy with at North Texas; the idea that we're not going to sit back and let you come to us - we're going to take calculated risks and come after you.

 

 

 

Edit:

A few questions I'd like to hear your thoughts on:

1. How do you see Ekeler and Littrell building the North Texas defense?  What do you expect to see next season?
2. What current players do you think will shine in the new system?
3. What type of players do you see Littrell and Ekeler recruiting to build upon it in the future?

Edited December 17, 2015 by MeanGreenGlory

[Eagle-96]

Great name for a 70's buddy cop show.

 

[NorthTexan95]

Ekeler sounded like a head coach there.  I think leadership and accountability won't be a problem with him. 

[untbowler]

seems like the players would be to scared to quit next year under these guys, unlike this year with Cosh and DMac

 

[UNT90]

Not a fan of this hire. I hope we score a lot next season...

[MGNation92]

Not a fan of this hire. I hope we score a lot next season...

Hey look I found directions to UNT90's house

[newfanfromB10]

Not a fan of this hire. I hope we score a lot next season...

I would bet that in less than a year you will feel different (about the hire, anyway- hard to argue with scoring a lot).  Coach Ekeler is an unbelievably high-energy, high-positivity guy who also knows his stuff and will get the most out of his players.  He is also an excellent recruiter.

I lived in Indiana and first became aware of Coach Ekeler while he was at IU.  I will grant that Indiana gave up a lot of points when he was there, but much of that was not really attributable to the defense (for the 2011 season Indiana ranked 105th in opponent starting field position and 112th in time of possession- pretty hard for any defense to recover from that).  If you have seen the play of linebackers he has coached since then (at Southern Cal and Georgia), you know he can be very effective.

 

 

[greenminer]

When the day comes that RV is gone and we are 5 seasons into winning 9+ games, what will UNT90 post? What will this board be like? Does he survive? Does he have an identity crisis?

[EagleMBA]

Here is a sneak preview of Ekeler's defensive team meeting.

[greenminer]

When the day comes that RV is gone and we are 5 seasons into winning 9+ games, what will UNT90 post? What will this board be like? Does he survive? Does he have an identity crisis?

 I'm a monster.What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done. 

[EagleMBA]

When the day comes that RV is gone and we are 5 seasons into winning 9+ games, what will UNT90 post? What will this board be like? Does he survive? Does he have an identity crisis?

I predict that a smile will grace his face and for the first time in years he will be at peace and at a loss for words.

[Stan R]

When the day comes that RV is gone and we are 5 seasons into winning 9+ games, what will UNT90 post? What will this board be like? Does he survive? Does he have an identity crisis?

Well, in the Mean Green village they say – that UNT90's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then – the true meaning of Football came through, and UNT90 found the strength of*ten UNT90s, plus two!

[Stan R]

Here is a sneak preview of Ekeler's defensive team meeting.

WOW I really DO NOT approve of the uniform changes Ekeler designed.  I thought we got rid of the copper accents years ago?