University of Virginia-Wise defensive coordinator Shap Boyd discusses how he makes defensive adjustments

The guest on today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast is defensive coordinator at Division II University of Virginia - Wise, Shap Boyd. Boyd and host Keith Grabowski are no strangers to each other as they have coached against each other in the Ohio Athletic Conference while Boyd was at Muskingum and Grabowski at Baldwin Wallace.

On today’s show, Boyd and Grabowski talk about how he makes adjustments and evolves his defense over the course of a season.

Show Notes

Entering his third season at UVa-Wise, Shap Boyd’s defense has become one of the best in the Mountain East Conference. In 2017, Boyd’s unit ranked top 25 nationally in third down defense (13th), defensive touchdowns (15th), tackles for loss (18th) and interceptions (22nd). Overall, opponents posted just 315.7 yards per game against the Cavaliers last fall.

In his first season, Boyd’s defense ranked second in the Mountain East Conference against the run allowing just 100.1 yards on the ground per game. Additionally, the Cavaliers were third in the MEC in getting off the field on third down as opponents converted just 32.8 percent of third down chances.

Twitter: @shapboyd

Topics discussed:

Coaching Journey

His high school experience

Morphing his defense into a three man front

Lessons that impacted him as a coach

Protecting the Mike LB and using line movements

Why everything is a spill defense for him

The process of evolving a defense

How many reps can you get in practice? How to make coaching concepts similar

Continuity in a game pan and giving the offense “eye wash”

Deciding how much defense to put in

Practicing a game plan

Having answers for different offensive formations

Repping what they do vs. what the could do

The cumulative effect of reps

Tips to evolve over the course of a season

When things go wrong go back to base