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By Don Wade
waded@gomemphis.com
August 24, 2003
One head coach's sacrifice is another head coach's would-be savior.
Or as the sacrifice/would-be savior Joe Lee Dunn says of the day Tommy West called him about becoming defensive coordinator at the University of Memphis:
"It makes you feel wanted; I'd just been slapped upside the head."
Slapped upside the head being Dunn's technical term for being shoved out the door at Mississippi State.
"It didn't bother me," Dunn, 57, says with an aw-shucks grin one day in his office at the U of M. "Only thing that bothered me was that my kids had to go through it.
"But it was the first time that a coach (MSU's Jackie Sherrill) got rid of me just to protect hisself. I saved his job when I got there. He was fixin' to be fired if we didn't beat Ole Miss. We beat them 17-0."
In some measure, West has brought Dunn back to Memphis to protect - in Dunnspeak - hisself. Not that West is on the hot seat Sherrill was on then or, for that matter, is on now.
But the Tigers have gone 5-6 and 3-9 in West's first two seasons and much of last year's miseries can be attributed to an indifferent defense.
Dunn was defensive coordinator here once before - 1989-1991 under Chuck Stobart. After three seasons at Ole Miss and one at Arkansas came the seven-year run at State where Dunn's 1999 defense led the nation in both rushing defense and total defense and was fourth in pass efficiency defense. The Bulldogs finished that season 13th in the AP poll.
West, meanwhile, was Rip Scherer's defensive coordinator here before being elevated to head coach for the 2001 season. Since then West, a former head coach at Clemson, has tried to split himself between the pop-gun offense he inherited but improved, and the solid defense that he handed off and watched grow soft.
"We lost the Mississippi State game last year (29-17) because they scored 14 points on defense," West says, referring to Dunn's players returning two interceptions for touchdowns.
The Tigers were 56th in total defense last year, allowing 362.8 yards per game. But worse, they were minus 15 in turnover differential because they had only 21 takeaways to 36 giveaways.
To be sure, the offense failed to protect the ball. But the defense also failed to protect the offense. Result: West fired defensive coordinator Rick Whitt and vowed to put the defense in hands he could trust.
A pair of drawling good old boys, West and Dunn didn't even know each other before West called about the defensive coordinator's job.
"Joe Lee and I are a lot alike," says West. "Neither one of us is a network guy."
So the conversation was brutally simple. Most important question from Dunn: Would the defense be his show?
Absolutely, West said.
Secondmost important question: Could he be himself? In other words, would Joe Lee have to start wearing socks?
Absolutely not. West is concerned about sacks, not socks. In 1996, Dunn's first season in Starkville, the Bulldogs broke the school record for sacks with 39. The Tigers had just 20 sacks last season.
Tiger defenders believe that is about to change, that there will be more sacks, more interceptions, more forced fumbles and more pressure on offenses because of one Joe Lee Dunn.
"He's bringing a lot of energy to the defense," saysthe best defender here, Derrick Ballard, who will be part linebacker, part defensive back.
"And his past speaks for itself. He's a tough guy."
Still a genius?
The problem, or at least the potential problem, is that tough guys can be stubborn guys.
And stubborn guys sometimes get caught living in the past.
Dunn's critics question whether Dunn is the defensive master he once was. They wonder if he's a one-trick pony (blitz, blitz, blitz) and that now everyone's caught on to the trick.
"He's getting a bad rap on that deal," says Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt.
"I've been doing the same thing for 35 years," says Dunn. "I don't know that they've caught on to it.
"The biggest thing on defense is having 11 guys who can tackle. If you only have one guy who can't tackle, they'll find him and go after him.
"A lot of people are doing the same thing I'm doing and we're doing a lot of the same things other people are doing. You've got to be really great on defense nowadays to take over a game because the rules have changed. They've basically legalized holding."
And yet Dunn's best defenses seem able to overcome just about anything. His 2000 defense at State scored eight touchdowns and was second in the SEC and 13th nationally in rushing defense.
"Believe it or not, the secret to Joe Lee is not beating you with schemes," says West. "His guys believe in what he's doing, and they'll pay a price to be a part of it."
Which is exactly what has impressed Nutt.
"His defenses have always played extremely hard, and they can confuse you and put you in some bad situations if you're not totally prepared," Nutt says. "It really took us about three years to get used to the guy, if you get right down to it."
Dunn's reputation even resonates in Oxford.
"With the athletes in Memphis, he'll make it harder on offenses," predicts Ole Miss offensive lineman Doug Buckles. "With him giving them motivation, they'll be pretty good."
And there's a case to be made that in Conference USA offensive coordinators will find Dunn to be the biggest headache on their schedule.
"This is a one-back league," says West. "He'll drive this league crazy. They better be able to protect.
"Thing is, you never know what he's gonna do," West adds with a big old glad-he's-on-my-side grin. "Is he gonna rush three all day or is he gonna bring the house?
"Nobody likes to go up against him. They can act like they do, but they don't."
It still takes talent
Yet a core question must be raised:
Is there enough talent at Dunn's disposal for him to do what he loves to do - attack offenses from all angles, often in a way that leaves one or more defensive backs in single coverage downfield?
"I ain't gonna give it up until they prove to me they can't do it," Dunn vows.
"I think they can" cover one-on-one, West adds, "or I'd be crazy to hire him."
Most of the time, Dunn will employ five DBs. Ballard, a senior, and returning starter Scott Vogel probably will play as strong safeties with sophomore Wesley Smith at free safety, and sophomore O. C. Collins and junior college transfer Lee Hayes manning the corners.
"He's putting a lot of trust in us to handle our jobs," says Collins.
"His basic philosophy, I'm sure, is not going to change," says Ole Miss offensive coordinator John Latina. "He's had too many good days to want to change too much."
There were not so many good days in Starkville during last year's 3-9 finish. Even so, the Bulldogs ranked a very respectable 24th in total defense, especially when considering the 23rd-ranked team was the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes.
But with Sherrill under pressure, he canned both Dunn and longtime offensive coordinator Sparky Woods.
No matter that State had consecutive bowl trips from 1998 through 2000 and that Dunn's defense led the way.
Sherrill replaced Dunn with another well-respected defensive coordinator, Ron Cooper.
"I feel like coach Cooper's schemes fit our team better," said MSU defensive back Brett Morgan, "but don't put anything in there downgrading coach Dunn because I like him a lot."
Likewise, Tiger defensive lineman Kenyun Glover doesn't knock the previous coordinator, but says of Dunn: "He's maybe a step forward from what we had. There's more discipline now."
Not to mention more running and better conditioning. Dunn stresses running to the football and making the big hit. But the tradeoff is he expects players to be able to run all day long.
"And that's absolutely what it takes," says Glover. "That's truly being relentless, which is on our posters."
Defense as a dictator
Nov. 24, 2001. The Tigers were 25 seconds from a winning season and very likely their first bowl invitation in 30 years.
The Tigers led, 34-30, and had Cincinnati stuck in a 4th-and-27 situation from its 27-yard line. Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium was filled with anticipation.
Memphis went into a prevent defense - and then watched as Bearcat quarterback Gino Guidugli completed a long pass down the center of the field to the Tigers' 37-yard line.
With four seconds left, Guidugli then threw a 13-yard touchdown pass for a heartbreaking 36-34 Memphis defeat.
West fumes just thinking about it.
"I can live with (giving up the big play on a blitz)," West says. "I can't live with 4th-and-27. If we get beat trying to make it happen, by George, I can live with that.
"But don't let (the other team) dictate. Give our guys a chance to make plays, to win."
Joe Lee Dunn will give Memphis defenders a chance. That's what they like about him, why they want to, as West says, "be a part of it."
"We know he'll put us in the right places to make plays," Ballard says.
"That's the thing that jumps out at you about his teams," says Nutt. "They love playing for him. What's more fun than when you're chasing the ball and getting to hit folks?"
Nothing.
So they're willing to run for Dunn and then run some more. They're willing to visit the other side of exhaustion to be part of what Dunn's selling: spirited, but within-the-rules, violence - big hits that are not lost amid a hail of yellow flags.
"The meanness is there, OK?" says Dunn. "But you've got to have controlled meanness. Let it happen when it's supposed to happen."
Or in words Dunn hisself understands all too well:
Let the other guy know what it feels like to be hit upside the head.
- Don Wade: 529-2358 |
