Joe Gillespie wants TCU to master the 3-3-5 defense
Would you rather be a master of one? Or a jack of all trades?
For new TCU defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie is pretty clear.
“We’re going to take the approach of being masters of what we do and not a jack of a whole bunch of things,” Gillespie said on Thursday.
There are many wrinkles to Gilllespie’s 3-3-5 system and the coordinator said a large portion of the first three weeks of practice will continue to focus on installation and adding new concepts.
It may sound daunting with the first game less than a month away at Colorado, but Gillespie has already been impressed with how quickly the Horned Frogs are absorbing all the information.
“The biggest thing we’ve had so far is retention from the spring. That was one of our major objectives when we walked off the field after spring ball. We’re sitting there saying how mature can we be and retain this information and stay up to date with what we’ve done?” Gillespie said.
Gillespie wanted to see how quickly the defense could get acclimated to the pace they set in the spring. He said he’s been pleased with what he’s seen so far.
There have been limited looks at the defense at practice so far with the 11-on-11 part of practice more about both offense and defense getting acclimated to playing at tempo.
The offense had the edge Thursday with a few big plays from Chandler Morris and Trent Battle. But the defense had been steady the prior two days.
All of it is a part of the learning stage and the most encouraging sign for Gillespie is the Horned Frogs’ desire to know more.
“We’re starting off faster than I’ve generally done in the past, they still haven’t gotten the whole gambit of the defense. These guys have been very hungry for all of this information and they’ve been tremendous students of the game,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie said the plan is to have an install portion of practice everyday, though the coaching staff is willing to adjust if the players are able to grasp the concept quickly.
“If we feel like the next day we don’t need to install, we won’t. We’ll peel back. If we need to miss a day and bump everything, we’ll certainly do that,” Gillespie said.
The 2021 defense was the worst defense under Gary Patterson as the Horned Frogs allowed 34.9 points per game, 118th in the country according to sports-reference.com
Teams averaged more than 200 yards per game and nearly three touchdowns on the ground per game against the Horned Frogs last year. There’s no where to go but up for the unit that does bring back some talented pieces.
There are household names like Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, Dylan Horton and Dee Winters. Transfers Mark Perry and Johnny Hodges have also established themselves as potential playmakers.
Gillespie offered insight on a few more players that are starting to stand out.
“Josh Newton at the corner, he came in and he wasn’t here in the spring. The thing that’s really helped is that he’s catching on extremely fast. We’re going to need this guy to play immediately,” Gillespie said.
Up front Caleb Fox and Georgia transfer Tymon Mitchell also drew praise.
“Fox and Tymon those guys along with Lwal Uguak we’re going to have them on the defensive line. When you’re running an odd front, you’re going to rotate a lot of guys. The way they’re progressing is very encouraging,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie also took the time to explain the role of the safeties in the 3-3-5.
“We do it a little bit different. Mark for us is what we call our strong safety. He’s not always going to be going to the passing strength (side). Our free safety is the guy that’s going to be going to the passing strength side and that’s Bud Clark,” Gillespie said. “(Millard Bradford) is playing middle safety for us and we call him our nickel.
“The strong safety is the guy that’s going to be in a lot of different positions. He can play the hard edge or be a deep third guy. The nickel is a guy that has to be a jack of a lot of things. It’s probably the most cerebral position on the field for us. He can spin down in the box, out the box and go cover man, cover deep third. There’s a lot of versatility to that guy.”
Whether it’s Bradford or the entire unit, Gillespie is putting a lot on their plate. If they’re able to continue to consume the information then the Horned Frogs should be a much improved defense in 2022.
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
