Farley: UNI football defense 'not even close,' but will get there

CEDAR FALLS — Two weeks ago, Northern Iowa football head coach Mark Farley gave a frank assessment of the state of the Panthers' defense as it stands during spring practice.

After losing Deiondre Hall, Makinton Dorleant, Tim Kilfoy, Isaac Ales, Brett McMakin and others on defense, there was a lot to replace, and a lot of new players thrust into responsibility. Farley didn't hold back in his initial review of the Panthers' progress replacing them.

'Defensively, it's night and day. We're not even close. We're behind on defense,' Farley said.

Fast forward to this Wednesday, eight practices and two weeks of meetings later. Any changes, Coach?

'We're not any closer on defense,' Farley said. 'We've got a lot of work to do on defense, and that work will go into next season, too, just because there's so much inexperience.'

To be fair, two weeks isn't anywhere near enough time to make giant strides in bringing along talent that needs as much work as this group does.

The Panthers lost 55.6 percent of their total tackles from last season, and nearly all of their leadership. Karter Schult and Jared Farley remain as the pair to carry that mantle defensively, and Farley can't practice this spring while recovering from surgery in the off-season. And other than those two and Preston Woods, only D'Shawn Dexter returns as someone who started for the Panthers last year.

Fortunately for those returning and for Panther fans, there's a few guys on staff who know a thing or two about how to make a defense work.

'To be a great defense, it takes talent, it takes communication, it takes knowledge of — you've got to have been there, to really understand what it's like and to get challenged like you're going to get challenged,' Farley said. 'We don't have those experienced players. It's about as raw as raw gets out there. When you try to correct them, I don't know that they know what the correction looks like. So they've got to go out and experience it.

'We're at the infancy stages of it, yet we don't have time to waste. They've got to learn how to battle. We've got to keep it so they understand what we're doing and they see progress day-to-day.'

What's come in the last two weeks, then, has been the first vestige of firsthand learning.

Farley has been his usual fiery self during practice. Along with defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson, Bryce Paup, Brandon Lynch and Olaitan Oguntodu, there's been a lot of correcting. It's not all gloom and doom at practice, to be certain, but this is the time to point out mistakes and make an example of them.

'I think the only thing we've gained at this point, which is positive, is the players have experienced failure to the fact that they know what they need to work on now,' Farley said. 'Before, if you really don't know, you think you can overcome some stuff, but if you understand it'll work if you do it a certain way, you actually can.'

Farley is big on adjusting to his talent, and he's done that so far this spring.

Schult, who did his damage (82 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 15 sacks and two forced fumbles) from defensive tackle last season, has played from the defensive end position quite a bit in spring ball. Barkley Hill at linebacker and Ray Buchanan Jr. and Jamison Whiting at defensive back have had a ton of responsibility so far as well. Ricky Neal and A.J. Allen have seen their snaps increase by a ton as well.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all defense, Farley wants it all-sizes-fit. Whoever and however, Farley believes his staff can turn these players into a high-caliber unit.

'The challenge is this: how do we take the personnel we have on defense and create the No. 1 defense in the league?' Farley said. 'That's tough to do with a very talented group that's experienced. Now we have to do it with this group, and I know it can be done. How is what you have to figure out. I'm trying to figure out how to get players in position to win with their talent. I have to make the defense fit them."

How does he know it can be done for certain? UNI has done it under his watch before.

Going into the 2010 season, the Panthers had lost Josh Mahoney, Elijah Hodge, Quentin Scott and James Ruffin, among others. UNI was staring at a possible second straight season out of the playoffs, but instead, Jamar Thompson, L.J. Fort and that defense led the Panthers' defense back to elite status, and won the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

UNI got off to a rocky start in the spring of 2010, too, but found a way. It might be a ways off as of the third week in April, but Farley has faith the Panthers will get there.

'We had a bunch of players who were inexperienced, had talent, but just hadn't been on the field for us. There were a lot of unknowns. We put in a new defense that year to fit that group, not knowing if it would work,' Farley said. 'The experiment was Saturday afternoon in the opener. They passed with flying colors and won the conference that year. We really played fast. That was fulfilling because we had to change things to fit that group, but they responded. And to see the success was the best thing.

'We're trying to make this defense (in 2016) fit our skill. Whatever we're great at, we have to find a way within our defense — and that's much tougher to do than just have a cookie-cutter defense you just stick players in. That's the challenge, but it's also the fun of it.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com