Auburn Football: Breaking Down Ron Roberts’s Defensive Scheme

Pass Defense

Part of Ron Roberts’s defensive philosophy is choking off the run. In fact, many would argue it is the entire philosophy. Teams that win championships can do two things pretty well: run the ball and stop the run, and those will be major goals for Auburn football in 2023.

Winning up front is the key to winning Power 5 football in 2022. But what happens when teams are in passing downs or play a more passing-oriented style of offense, such as air raid teams like Mississippi State under Mike Leach and Texas Tech under offensive coordinator Zach Kittley? That is where the X’s and O’s of Robert’s defense begin to really shine.

Ron Roberts wants to force teams to pass. He wants to get teams into bad passing situations by creating pressure and either stopping the run or getting sacks. Then he wants to drop seven into coverage and force teams to complete passes against a team with more defensive backs than there are receivers in the pattern. It is rare that teams will put five receivers in the pattern against a defensive coordinator who blitzes as much as Roberts does from the perimeter, so oftentimes this drop seven coverage is only having to account for four receivers.

Looking back at the all-22 film from the Sugar Bowl against Ole Miss in 2021, the first two plays show exactly what Roberts wants to do: put seven in the box to stop the run on first down, then drop seven on second down in a 4-1-6 dime look knowing that Ole Miss doesn’t use their running backs in the pattern often. It immediately leads to a forced deep ball from Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral that is picked off.

Conclusion

Although Ron Roberts was let go by Dave Aranda this season, it was historically one of the few bad defenses that he has been responsible for. Roberts has consistently put out aggressive defenses that can stop the run and force mostly inefficient passing outputs from teams.

Hugh Freeze spoke in his press conference about coordinators who were big names and had a history of producing. It is fair to say that he has hired two of the best coordinators in the country in Philip Montgomery and Ron Roberts. Watching Auburn football this spring is going to be a pleasure with this coaching staff in tow.