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The Gophers football team has a nickname for an entire side of the ball for the first time: the “havoc” defense.
It’s actually an acronym (HAVOC) that’s fittingly constructed because new coordinator Danny Collins has been with head coach P.J. Fleck — a fan of wordplay — since Collins started his coaching career with Fleck at Western Michigan in 2015.
Fleck promoted Collins, the Gophers’ safeties coach last season, to defensive coordinator after Corey Heatherman took the same role at Miami (Fla.) in January. Collins also follows Joe Rossi, but Collins is the first to outwardly set out principles for how he wants his unit wants to play.
The H is for how much effort the defense will play with; the A is for an attacking style; the V is for violence; the O is for playing together as one; and C is its level of competition.
In other words, Collins wants his defense to be “controlled chaos.”
Collins said his advantage over bringing in another coordinator from an outside programs is his knowledge of the U’s existing personnel. “I know exactly how they play the game and how exactly we can plug them into a scheme to create that HAVOC defense,” he said.
Fleck added that the majority of the defensive scheme — a base 4-3 front — will remain the same under Collins, but both of them think the U can be more flexible than in previous years.
“I think this has the opportunity to be one of the most versatile defenses that we have had here,” Collins said after Tuesday’s practice. “Guys flying around different fronts, guys all over the place, different types of packages. … I think the versatility will be huge for us this season.”
Two of the key pieces are first-team all-Big Ten safety Koi Perich and honorable mention all-conference defensive lineman Anthony Smith.
“(Collins) knows the defense so well, and…
Source link : https://www.twincities.com/2025/04/08/gophers-football-new-defensive-coordinator-danny-collins-wants-havoc/
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Publish date : 2025-04-09 01:26:00
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