Last month, I gave a sketches of what a “different” Virginia Tech defense might look like next year by grabbing quotes and factoring in the new/newly positioned coaches’ playing and coaching careers.

Some of those changes can be tough to understand without photos or video, and I’ve shifted my stance on a few of them, so let’s look at these potential changes—from defensive line action, to linebacker play under Claeys, to breaking down Hamilton’s comments on coverages—with greater focus. We’ll start with the defensive line. The hiring of two new coaches for the spot signals a few things, one of them being just how retooled the line will be. I don’t think we’ll see a full import of the Bills’ scheme, but I think we’ll see some of it showing up.

But first, some caveats. 1) We don’t know how much of the Bills’ scheme was Teerlinck’s preference, and how much was dictated by DC Leslie Frazier or by HC Sean McDermott. 2) Even if Teerlinck ran the d-line show, we don’t know if he feels these techniques are applicable to Tech or to college football in general. 3) Even if he wants to import a full-on Bills scheme to Tech, we don’t know how much it will mesh with Hamilton’s take on the defense, or mesh with how Tracy Claeys wants to use his linebackers.

That said, even with Covid-chaos, I think it’s more than expected we’ll see some changes. To help us out, I was lucky enough to get the house to myself for a few days, and also to find clean stadium footage of the 2019 Bills defense. One interesting video happened to be their wild card game against the Houston Texans. The Texans had a very Clemson feel, and it’s not just because Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins were the stars on offense, and the rest of the group wasn’t shabby. The offensive scheme was also Clemson-like at times; it ran almost entirely from the gun, showed some pistol looks, and featured RPOs and mesh options. I also had coaches’ footage versus the Steelers, as well as clips from other games to look at.

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