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Jon Hoke goes in-depth on Gamecocks’ defensive changes

Published: Mar 23, 2015 · 9:30 AM EDT

After four spring practices, it’s obvious South Carolina will try and make defense its calling card this fall.

Often the case this time of year, Steve Spurrier likes the effort level he’s seeing on the other side of the football, a group infused with new blood thanks to the offseason hire of Jon Hoke, the HBC’s buddy from his days at Florida and a former assistant for the Chicago Bears.

The switch from Lorenzo Ward’s 4-2-5 to Hoke’s preferred 4-3 scheme simplifies things a bit for an athletic, but vastly unproven unit.

After last season’s wretched 6.2 yards per play-allowed average led to several late-game losses, there’s nowhere to go but up.

“There’s more of a sense of urgency out here,” junior linebacker Skai Moore said after the Gamecocks’ first practice last week. “Everyone has to be on it. You can’t lay low. Just want to make sure that we’re refreshed every play. We all get two reps then come out, and go back in. So we all get used to running to the ball and everything. So it’s high intensity.”

Hoke was Spurrier’s first choice to take over the Gamecocks’ defense when he took the South Carolina job in 2004, but declined. He has already made minor changes to personnel and is altering the spur position to a strongside linebacker role.

Have talked to Dom Capers, Lovie Smith, Gary Kubiak, Alex Brown about Jon Hoke. All have said “teacher” in first 3 sentences.

— Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) February 21, 2015

Last week, South Carolina utilized only one coverage until players master it according to Hoke. He’ll oversee the secondary while Ward focuses on run defense, primarily the front seven.

“We’re very detailed in our approach,” Hoke said. “We’re always going to favor technique over tactics. We’re not going to skip any steps. We’re going nice and slow.

“The biggest thing you’re trying to do is get them to play fast and physical. And when they don’t think, they have an opportunity to play fast and physical, and that’s what it’s going to be about.”

Sticking to assignments and tackling in space was an issue last fall in addition to the lack of a pass rush for the SEC’s second-worst defense. The Gamecocks will refocus on fundamentals over the next few weeks and reconvene in the fall during what Hoke says will be an ongoing — and often challenging — learning process.

Listed as a first-team defensive end on the spring depth chart, JUCO transfer Marquavius Lewis is one of several new faces expected to provide a boost at the line of scrimmage. Lewis has looked near game-ready during drills and has set a personal goal of at least 10 sacks this season.

“We’re only be as good as we are up front,” Ward said. “We’ll try to get the front seven better. If we’re better up front, we’ll be better on the perimeter.”

It’s early, but South Carolina’s transition to co-coordinators on defense has been smooth.

“(Jon’s) got a lot of work to do and he’ll tell you that,” Spurrier said. “We all have a lot of work to do. This is a new team. We are by a long way not a finished product, by any means. We’ve got a lot of practicing to do. But we’ve got time.”