snuffy
12-18-2008, 07:21 AM
OSU is filling the intensity void in its defense
With ‘tornadic’ Beckman gone, others are providing the spark
BY ANDREA COHEN
Published: December 18, 2008
http://www.newsok.com/osu-filling-intensity-void/article/3330998?custom_click=lead_story_title
STILLWATER — Tim Beckman was the spokesman for the Oklahoma State defense the last two years, and one message the defensive coordinator always got across, whether he was emphatically screaming on the sideline or staring intently during interviews, was: I’m intense.
Former player Rod Johnson called Beckman a little firecracker, and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel told The Oklahoman two years ago that "the state of Oklahoma is accustomed to tornadoes. People there should understand when I say Tim Beckman is tornadic.”
Now that the human tornado has left Oklahoma to become head coach at Toledo, a handful of able defensive coaches are working to prepare the Cowboys for the Holiday Bowl. In addition to game-planning and divvying up Beckman’s other responsibilities, there’s the matter of the intensity Beckman brought to the field.
Head coach Mike Gundy said some of the other defensive coaches are intense in their own right, "but because he was the coordinator, he came to the forefront.”
"Other coaches have to pick it up a little bit now,” Gundy said, adding that the veteran players have helped pick up the pace. "I haven’t noticed a drop-off in intensity.”
Joe DeForest, OSU’s cornerbacks coach, associate head coach and special teams coordinator, said that doesn’t mean changing much.
"I am who I am,” DeForest said. "I’m not gonna try to be Coach Beck. The personality of our defense is not going to change because of Coach Beck.”
Glenn Spencer echoed that sentiment.
"You better not change who you are, because if you do that, the players aren’t going to respond,” said Spencer, who will coach the linebackers Beckman coached all season. "You can’t try to be somebody else.”
Spencer said it wasn’t as though Beckman played the "bad cop” role and the rest of the defensive coaches are laid back.
"I’m an intense cop, too,” Spencer said. "I’m always pretty intense with the defensive line. Now, I’m just being pretty intense with the whole front seven.”
With ‘tornadic’ Beckman gone, others are providing the spark
BY ANDREA COHEN
Published: December 18, 2008
http://www.newsok.com/osu-filling-intensity-void/article/3330998?custom_click=lead_story_title
STILLWATER — Tim Beckman was the spokesman for the Oklahoma State defense the last two years, and one message the defensive coordinator always got across, whether he was emphatically screaming on the sideline or staring intently during interviews, was: I’m intense.
Former player Rod Johnson called Beckman a little firecracker, and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel told The Oklahoman two years ago that "the state of Oklahoma is accustomed to tornadoes. People there should understand when I say Tim Beckman is tornadic.”
Now that the human tornado has left Oklahoma to become head coach at Toledo, a handful of able defensive coaches are working to prepare the Cowboys for the Holiday Bowl. In addition to game-planning and divvying up Beckman’s other responsibilities, there’s the matter of the intensity Beckman brought to the field.
Head coach Mike Gundy said some of the other defensive coaches are intense in their own right, "but because he was the coordinator, he came to the forefront.”
"Other coaches have to pick it up a little bit now,” Gundy said, adding that the veteran players have helped pick up the pace. "I haven’t noticed a drop-off in intensity.”
Joe DeForest, OSU’s cornerbacks coach, associate head coach and special teams coordinator, said that doesn’t mean changing much.
"I am who I am,” DeForest said. "I’m not gonna try to be Coach Beck. The personality of our defense is not going to change because of Coach Beck.”
Glenn Spencer echoed that sentiment.
"You better not change who you are, because if you do that, the players aren’t going to respond,” said Spencer, who will coach the linebackers Beckman coached all season. "You can’t try to be somebody else.”
Spencer said it wasn’t as though Beckman played the "bad cop” role and the rest of the defensive coaches are laid back.
"I’m an intense cop, too,” Spencer said. "I’m always pretty intense with the defensive line. Now, I’m just being pretty intense with the whole front seven.”