Antoine Smith is revamping Temple's D-line, pass rush

Just as he was during spring practice, Temple defensive line coach Antoine Smith was enthusiastic and direct when speaking with reporters recently during Friday’s media availability following the Owls’ preseason practice at Chodoff Field.

Among other topics, Smith talked about how he will work with not only Temple’s defensive linemen, but the Owls’ pass rush as a whole, including defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot’s outside linebackers.

Last season, Smith’s defensive line at Colorado State led the Mountain West Conference in sacks. In fact, the Rams finished seventh nationally with 3.25 sacks per game.

Temple, conversely, tied Indiana and Ohio at 114th in the nation in sacks last season, an average of just 1.42 sacks per game.

“And I will not be a part of that,” Smith said.

You can listen to Smith’s entire interview with reporters here and read some excerpts from the conversation below.

Smith on Stan Drayton’s Chief of Staff Everett Withers, who has worked with several members of Drayton’s new Temple staff:

“I think we're all part of a certain tree of coaching, and to work for Coach Withers, obviously you’ve got to have some thick skin. And I knew if he was part of this deal that that would be something that I would lean toward and know what he stands for and his principles in how he led. There were two different programs (James Madison and Texas State) where I worked for him, and that was important in making a decision to come here."

Smith on the defensive line’s performance in the Cherry and White spring game:

“To be honest with you, we didn't have all of our starters at that point, so I'm very slow to make quick evaluations on our on the level of play or who we're playing or who we're playing against, especially in a conference like the AAC. So I'll be able to speak more on it when we play someone else, another than Cherry and White colors.”

Smith on Darian Varner shedding some weight and moving from defensive tackle out to defensive end and if that was something the staff decided jointly with Varner:

“No, not at all. I just took the players that I had when I took the job and tried to figure out how to put the pieces to the puzzle together and coach them up and never really thought about if he would be an inside or an outside guy. I just thought about how can I get the best four players in this program or bring to this program so that we can play at a higher level than they played in the previous year.”

Smith on coaching as part of new defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot’s system, which utilizes simulated pressures:

“It’s a great system. And it's good, because my philosophy is we’re a knock-back (defensive) front. We’re a penetrating, knock-back front. And that (simulated pressures) is just a curveball for us, so it actually adds a whole ‘nother element to the game from the defensive line. And that's something I just really enjoy. And it puts a lot of stress on offensive line coaches, because … every simulated (pressure) we run, there’s a common denominator, that it’s really hard to figure out, and I’m going to leave it at that.”

Smith on how many players he expects to be rotating into games:

“I'm not sure of that number yet, because there's still some development happening. I would say that I'm used to rotating, in a four-man front, nine guys and then in a three man front, I would think that it's eight guys, so we'll see. But got to look at the development of some of these guys. Because if I can't trust you, I will not put you on the field.”

Smith on how players like Jerquavion Mahone and Jalen Satchell are developing:

“I think they're all making improvements. They're all much more conditioned. I think the level of toughness has drastically changed. Here's the deal. It takes big men to play up front. They're all going to play. They're all going to play. So the good news is, we have the numbers. Now we just have to make sure they're really dominant players.”

Smith on how he’s seen his defensive line group get acclimated to Eliot’s system:

“They've done a good job with it so far. There's a lot of pressure on these guys. This isn't a bunch of chocolates here. We're on these guys. We test them, we quiz them, we walk through with them. And there's this accountability piece. If you can't perform your job, you're not going to be out on the field, and I think that's the driving motivator for these guys is that they know they have to know it, and they have to know with conviction, you know?”

More on Smith’s role and how he works with the pass rushers:

“I work with the pass rushers also, and we have a very, very good nickel front. Right now, we're developing them. We’re like out of stage 10, we're probably stage six of NFL-style pass rush development, so we're still developing those guys. Me and Coach Eliot, we both work with the front, because he has the outside linebackers and I got the inside guys, but we coach them all. We coach them all together. And you know, last year this program finished (tied for 114th) in sacks, and that's insane. And I will not be a part of that.”

Smith on the makeup of his base defensive front and if it would be fair to say it would be made up of two tackles and one end:

“No. We play three 300-pounders up front, and we can put them in any of those three spots, any time all the time. So we never really worry about who's at what alignment.”

Smith on his two true freshmen in Aaron Jones and Zamar Grove:

“We love those guys. They're going to be huge for this program, a lot of upside. I feel very good about having those guys here in the program.”

Smith on whether he sees a transfer like Joseph Darwka as an experienced player who might be able to come in and contribute:

“Listen, nobody has experience until I coach them. That's the way I'm wired. So none of them are experienced. This is ground zero here taking this group and trying to coach these guys to learn basic technique and fundamentals and how to work hard.”

Coming up next: Temple head coach Stan Drayton, center Adam Klein, defensive end Darian Varner and wide receiver Adonicas Sanders will speak with reporters Monday night. Stay tuned for OwlScoop.com's coverage of that media session.