There an old football adage as old as the game itself that states that if you can stop the run consistently, chances are really good that you're going to win a lot of games.
Well according to new Oklahoma defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks (who spent last season at Notre Dame with the secondary), there's also another side to that coin. Cooks is telling his group that if they lock guys down in the secondary, tackle well, and fly around and make plays, then they're going to win every, single game.
“What I want them to believe, and I believe this, is if the secondary plays well, it doesn’t matter what happens up front. If we play well, if we tackle, if we don’t let guys behind us, if we’re making plays, we’ll win every game." Cooks told the Muskogee Phoenix.
"It doesn’t matter what happens up front. How good we are up front is irrelevant in my mind. And I want those guys to think that way. Whether that’s true or not, who cares. As a secondary player, that’s your mentality."
"We need to play well every snap. The hopes and dreams of OU, the student body, Norman, Oklahoma, it’s all on our shoulders. That’s how they’ve got to feel. I want them to understand that.”
Last year, in the pass-happy Big 12, Oklahoma finished 120th out of 128 FBS teams in pass defense, so as the new defensive backs coach, Cooks has an uphill battle in front of him. In his mind, getting his guys to buy in and then perform under the pressure of having the hopes and dreams of the entire university is where it starts.
Do you agree or disagree with Cooks' approach?