Former Virginia Tech defensive end Dadi Nicolas now resides in Kansas City where he is trying to stick as an outside linebacker for the Chiefs. Nicolas had lofty expectations for his senior season with the Hokies. Although, those expectations went largely unmet. Nicolas struggled with injuries and opponents game planned to attack his limitations. Nicolas repeatedly got too far up field in both pass rush and run defense situations and the Hokies were not good enough at other positions to make up for it.
During the offseason, Bud Foster repeatedly talked about how the Hokies weren't changing their defensive scheme. He has repeatedly said that he wants his front seven to be more gap sound up front. Physics, specifically getting bigger, seemed to be an off season mandate for several of the smaller Hokie defensive linemen.
"Dadi, he was a dynamic guy coming off the edge, but I think I'd like to find some guys that are a little bit more firm at the point of attack," Foster recently told The Key Play.
It appears that the guy who will be asked to replace Nicolas and be firm at the point of attack is gargantuan redshirt sophomore Vinny Mihota. Foster said of Mihota, "[he's a] big, physical kid who has some experience and plays extremely hard and extremely smart."
At 6'5", 264 pounds, the Massaponax product played effectively against Virginia and Tulsa to close Tech's 2015 season. He brings a size and strength that will be tougher for the opposition to move in the run game.
Traditionally, the Hokie defensive coaches seem to favor "twitchy" defensive ends. Mihota has a terrific first step. Still, defensive line coach Charley Wiles and Foster have both indicated from time to time that they have concerns about Mihota's edge speed at the defensive end spot. In order to maximize Mihota's effectiveness, Wiles and Foster concocted some interesting scheme adjustments.
Twisting the Night Away
When the Hokies played a four-man front on passing downs against Virginia, Mihota lined up at the normal stud end position over the right offensive tackle. However, rather than attempting to contain rush around the edge, Foster regularly chose to execute a twist stunt to Mihota's side.
A twist stunt involves two defensive linemen criss-crossing on a pass rush. The first defender draws the attention of the blockers, and the second loops behind the first to have an unabated bath to the quarterback. Sometimes, the blockers do not get drawn away, but the stunt effectively shields the blocker, creating a rush lane.
Mihota didn't register a sack against the Wahoos, however he constantly put pressure on quarterback Matt Johns and drew two holding penalties during the game. The twist stunt allowed Mihota to bend inside and have a short rush path right into John's sight line. This caused several inaccurate throws.
During this play in the first quarter against Virginia, the Cavaliers show a passing formation and the Hokies execute a twist stunt to the bottom of the screen. Luther Maddy shoots through his outside gap and draws the attention of both the center and the left guard.
Mihota initially rushes up field like a normal pass rush. Once Maddy has widened a gap, Mihota stops his forward momentum and cuts sharply to his right. Essentially he uses Maddy as a pick.
As Mihota turns up field, Maddy has the guard and center tied up. The right offensive tackle has dropped into a normal pass pro posture and can't recover back to the inside. Mihota forces Johns into an inaccurate throw. This is fortunate for the Hokies because then corner Terrell Edmunds had fallen down on the play.
Mihota's big size makes him very effective at stunting to open lanes for Tech's linebackers.
In the play above, Mihota stunts hard to the inside. This time he draws the right offensive tackle inside with him. Deon Clarke then twists outside into the space vacated by the left tackle. Clarke has a free lane to the quarterback. Unfortunately, this time Donovan Riley can't stick with Smoke Mizzell and Johns gets the throw off before Clarke arrives. Even so, Mihota's stunt still created an effective pass rush with no escape lanes inside for Johns to scramble.
Mihota and the Bear
Foster made another adjustment that echoes Hokie defenses from the mid-90s. Against Virginia, if Mihota was in the game and the Hokies aligned in a Bear front, Mihota dropped down into a three-technique. In addition, he always aligned to the boundary side with Deon Clarke as the edge player. If the field side was over right tackle, Ken Ekanem would flip flop and play on the opposite side as he normally aligned.
This change allowed Mihota to generate interior push and added more edge speed from the boundary.
On this play, Mihota uses his power to attract a double team. Meanwhile, Ken Ekanem is blocked one-on-one on the blindside.
Ekanem beats the blocker and forces a quick throw from Johns for a minimal gain.
Mihota's size and strength inside adds an element that the Hokies didn't have when Nicolas or Ekanem were forced to play the three-technique in the Bear regularly last season. Even the twist stunt was effective for Mihota from the Bear alignment.
With five men on the line of scrimmage, the Bear makes it more difficult for the offensive line to roll pass protection. The two offensive tackles have to account for the two edge defenders. Here, Mihota gets pressure off a twist stunt inside, and the right offensive tackle can't slide inside to help because he has to account for Ekanem. Ekanem isn't rushing. Instead, Ekanem is jamming the slot receiver and defending the flat.
Mihota uses Nigel Williams as a screen and has a clear route to the quarterback. The UVA center prevents the sack by tackling Williams, who inadvertently trips up Mihota. The pressure forces a bad throw from Johns and the UVA center gets called for holding.
The proof ultimately is in the pudding. Mihota may not have been a dynamic presence, but as a whole the defense was more effective with Mihota in the last two games than they were with Nicolas. Against Virginia and Tulsa, the offenses didn't score a point on a series where Mihota and Nigel Williams were both on the field. Mihota also came in to replace Dadi in the second quarter when Tulsa was in the red zone to force a field goal attempt. At that point, Tulsa's field goal pulled them to 45-24 so the critical nature of the play may have escaped many. As the game progressed, those four points ended up being the difference. If Mihota can improve the run defense while being used properly as a pass rusher, I expect Mihota to upgrade the Hokie defense this season.
Comments
Can't. TKP. Fast. Enough.
great write up. I am excited for better run D and gap assignments.
Excited about adding some overall size to our line. It'll help us a lot against the bigger teams that will try to bully us like Pitt and Miami. Strength at the point of attack will be key in those matchups moving forward, especially if Richt plans on turning Miami into Georgia 2.0. You can expect talented offensive lines and great backs if that is the case.
Step 2: tackling.
This is a pretty understated aspect of most of our defensive breakdowns that have drawn the ire of fans. There have been plenty of times where the scheme wasn't the issue, it was players failing to execute or make a tackle.
One reason to be happy to see the donught in drills.
mind expanding !
great stuff, French! can't wait for the season to begin...interesting point about no points scored by the offenses when Mihota and Nigel Williams were in the games against Virginia and Tulsa
yes- key point BOTH were on the field. Tulsa got a field goal on a drive where Mihota came in and replaced Dadi late in the drive. In the second half, Williams didn't play (perhaps was hurt) and Tulsa did manage the occasional score. But, when you watch Tulsa running the football, they didn't run nearly as well when Mihota was in.
Deon Clarke was much more tentative blitzing his senior year.
In a large part, that is because he didn't know where to line up. In the North Carolina game, you can put at least 14 points on Deon Clarke busts. If Edmunds can line up right and still force and spill effectively on the edge, he will be an upgrade.
Whose fault was it that he was out of position? Brain fart? Coaches not prepping him enough? Did UNC do things he wasn't ready for and took him by surprise?
But wait, Mihota should be a DT. I think we'll see him primarily inside this year, since he's too slow to be a DE. /s
I mean the coaches that people usually say "Trust the coaches" did put him at DT after trying him at DE to start, correct? Might want to wait for the season to play out before we assume he might not be back at DT at some point.
Truth is in the middle. The coaches have concerns about Vinny's speed. Hence, the changes I highlighted above to mitigate those concerns while not bastardizing him by sticking him at tackle.
Agreed. I think it's been fair all along to say VInny doesn't fit the mold of what we've generally had at DE over the last several years, which is what most suggested with him being at DT. Having said that it seems the coaches are altering what they want out of that position and now it potentially makes sense to have someone like him there. I hope he kills it, but I still think we're going to see plenty of Hill/Gaines when we really need to create a pass rush.
but- is Vinny a bigger version of a Noland Burchette? I think that if he can be Noland Burchette, we are fine.
Again, those twist stunts and collapsing the pocket were the staple of those two #1 defenses when they didn't have an edge burner like Moore or Dadi.
So many unsung heroes of those defenses. Guys like D.J. Parker, Cam Martin, Aaron Rouse, Carlton Powell, Barry Booker all played sound within the system with great chemistry and trust among the defense.
Carlton Powell and Barry Booker were so good for that scheme.
I like this discussion a lot. But what # is Lawson? I didn't see him on the field?
Not sure if /s or serious.
Why not both?
/serious
I just hope he has added to the stunt.
French,
what are the Dt and mike responsibilities when rushing the passer? Specifically, how does foster ensure that massive gaps don't form for qbs to escape through. It seemed like last year Dadi's issue of going too far up field was exacerbated by other players being out of position.
Varies dramatically based on formation/play calling.
Welcome to TKP and have a leg. Oh and I love that nobody had taken the name "Hokies."
It depends on the stunt. There are essentially four gaps of space. The edge players, which could be the ends or the tackles on a stunt (or even a blitzing edge linebacker/whip) have to maintain contain. They also have to minimize the distance between them and the players responsible for the interior gaps.
The reality is, Dadi (with an injury) was getting too far up field. The ends in general have pretty much had a tendency to get out of their passing lane since Chris Ellis and Orion Martin left. I don't know if the combination of Ekanem and Mihota are on par with Ellis and Martin, but the way they are used should be similar to those defensive schemes.
In watching a little of him in preseason work at KC, he still gets too far upfield, even without the injury problems.
We were killed by that because we ran so much man coverage, our LBs and DBs had their back to the play running with their man. If we can actually get back to more zone, that limits the amount the QBs can get chunk yards on us
Some people on here are gonna look like damn geniuses if Mihota blows up this year. Come on Vinny!
great write up French! you make me feel like I know what I'm talking about when I watch games at 3am in the morning and yell to myself "see! right there! that's what I'm talking about man!"
I mean, I could be wrong. It is my opinion based on the evidence that is available. There are other guys (take a Seth Dooley) where I just don't feel like he is a guy I trust on the field. Unlike some folks, I would be thrilled if he proves me wrong.
I want ALL the kids to A) get through the season healthy B) get the most out of their ability C) enjoy the college experience. It is special and even just to stay in the program takes more work than I could possibly drive myself to do. I appreciate that. I am critical because there is an audience for it, but my criticism gives me the credibility to have a platform to also praise these kids and their effort. I want them all to succeed. In the case of Vinny Mihota, I think he has the tools to be a guy who can be really good in a way that makes the team better BUT he isn't going to be flashy doing it.
Agree 100%
Maybe but I feel the Vinny is sneaky fast and will surprise a lot of people including offensive lineman.
Vinny "farm truck" Mihota
Not sure the point of the video. The truck left early, should have been DQ'd, and so the lambo driver never tried.
I was going for the "looks slow but is sneaky fast" vibe. not really about the drag race itself
I think that will better fit Tim Settle.
Besides, that's not a good farm truck. You would never have a the cover on a farm truck. And it's 2wd.
Not a farm truck. Truck for the creepy guy down the street who keeps his can collections from the park trash in his truck for fun.
French, I really appreciate your self awareness and your honest perspective of the sacrifices needed for these kids to keep themselves in the program. To me, that is what makes any and all of their accomplishments special.
I will be joining the 3AM football this season. Do you ever get used to it?
short answer, no. 3 - 5 is not so bad. After 5 am you start thinking "I can watch this laying down, everything will be fine" and then you're out. try to take nap or go to bed early and wake up. Will help the next day. Where you going to be?
Help me out here guys and gals. I watched Moto on these clips as much as anything. He stands around a lot. When he does move he's late. This is just a few plays, is he doing his job properly or is he that slow to react?
Sometimes I feel like he gets caught in a cycle of overcorrections.
I think it results from the particular clips French used. On passing plays, I believe he is keying on the QB run and also clogging up the short slant pass lanes. If neither of those things happen, he looks like he is standing around. On running plays, his responsibility ramps up. He is the key player, having to hit the right gap to make the play.
Slow to react, especially on read plays, and he stops his feet to brace against contact rather than running through it.
The second Mihota and the Bear clip is egregious. He is standing completely flat footed for the qb's entire dropback (you have to at least be on your toes and ready to move!) then doesn't react to the back coming into his zone until he's already 3 yards past, and then chases after him.
It is easy to criticize a player when you are watching the play in slow motion and can rewatch it as many times as you want.
what do you think coaches do and hell even players themselves?
As a learning tool, not an opportunity to dump on a player more than he already has been. It's excessive at this point.
A leg for all the answers!
I love Vinny. Thanks for highlighting him. I really think he is going to have a great year. He might not have the biggest sack total, but Dadi didn't last year either and Vinny helps us in areas where Dadi sometimes stressed the defense. He is one of my most favorite Hokies to come through the program in some time.
I really, really like your Woodrow Call signature line.
"I God Woodrow, it ain't dying I'm talkin about its livin!" (Would really love to insert dork magic here but it would not be the same)
And for those of you who worry about Mihota coming off the edge on passing downs, he will get there. Here is the play versus Tulsa on Hokietapes cut of the game video where Mihota comes in for Nicolas and gets a huge sack. Tulsa was moving on this drive, and the 4 points saved by forcing a field goal ended up being the difference on the scoreboard.
https://youtu.be/dUARNp1DX9c?t=1h18m24s
That looks like another stunt to me. Mihota charges in and the DT has contain responsibility on the right side. The qb thinks he has a running lane gets scared by the DT and then boom! Mihota with the sack.
Nice article.
I feel the same way in regards to trusting Mihota (and not trusting Dooley). I think he will be really solid for us this year.
Wiles said in the presser that versus Liberty, Hill will go in ahead of Dooley. I feel pretty confident that Gaines will bypass Dooley as well.
As I recall, Dooley was a plan c recruit. Had good size/athleticism, but I think only played a couple years of high school ball.
He could yet become a real contributor, but injuries so far have hampered his progression. Would love to see him reach his potential, but will also be very happy if we never see those kind of recruiting woes again.
Not that this is particularly insightful, but I suspect once other teams get film on Mihota, the green grass enthusiasm for his size will quickly temper.
Why would that be the case? We aren't playing oversized, we are playing typical size.
He doesn't have to crash the boards every play, he needs to be disruptive every play. That can mean qb pressure, collapsing pocket, closing running lanes, etc. I suspect size is going to open up more from our stunt packages and afford MUCH better contain.
To this end, I wouldn't be surprised if when Mihota's successor comes around, Foster says something along the lines of: "I'm very excited about this (new kid). He gives us the ability to do a lot of different things with our defense. You know Mihota was a good player, but we were limiting at times with what we could do with him." Note, this is actually what he said about Tremaine Edmunds this year when replacing Deon Clarke. He also said this about Gaines replacing Dadi.
IMO we can't see Gaines and Hill mature fast enough. I realize you have to change you your scheme sometimes to makeup for the players weaknesses. It's just a matter of how much. Ideally you aren't limited by your players' skills. Hopefully Gaines and Hill can get us there.
I also know we haven't seen a down of football being played this year. So Mihota could very well show us another side of him.
Cough Cough Cough Cough
You got a nice shout out on Andy Bitter's 5 postgame thoughts column.
Nice to see we're all still friends after the divorce.
They do it for the kids.
I've agreed with your thoughts on Mihota. Guy is a stud and I don't understand some of the doubters....obviously Bama saw something in him as well - that speaks volumes when you look at their DL recruiting.