Day 6: Clune looks for improvement

Just a few months after accepting the defensive coordinator position in early January, Kevin Clune was very candid about not knowing a whole lot about his defensive players during spring ball. There was a natural acclimation period for both the coach and his players.

With fall camp underway, if the defensive players never get comfortable with the new defensive coordinator, then that’s alright with Clune.

“One of my things is that I’m trying to make it that they never feel comfortable, and that we are always pushing them,” Clune said. “They are figuring me out, I’m figuring them out.”

The faster that the defensive players can figure out their new defensive coordinator during fall camp, the better the product will be on the field come Sept. 1 when the Beavers take on the field against Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN.

“If you get to know how (Clune) thinks, then it will be better for the defense,” said junior outside linebacker Titus Failauga, who will be playing for his third defensive coordinator during his Oregon State career.

Clune takes over a defense that was coached by Kalani Sitake, who at the time he was hired to come to Oregon State was considered one of the top young defensive coordinators in the country.

When Sitake was offered the head coaching position at BYU, his alma mater, it became an offer that was too good to pass up for the former Cougar fullback. Although Sitake moving on from Corvallis happened sooner than expected, there was a consensus among the team that the move might happen sooner than later.

“When you have coordinator with as much clout and as much talent as Sitake, you realize that he might not be around that long because he might be taking a head coaching job somewhere,” said junior safety Gabe Ovgard. “I think we all realized that.”

Head coach Gary Andersen went with a familiar face in Clune who he had worked with at Utah, Southern Utah and Utah State. Clune had come off a successful 2015 season at Utah State where his defense finished 17th in the nation in total defense. He also had a pair of linebackers drafted with consecutive picks in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft.

“Clune came in and lit a new fire under us,” Ovgard said. “He’s very knowledgeable, his defense is super in-depth, it’s super complicated and that mixed with how intense he is should be great for us.”

Clune takes on a task of improving a defense that surrendered 37 points per game in the 2015 and gave up at least 50 points in their final three games to end the season.

“That was the 2015 version of the Oregon State defense, this will be the 2016 version,” Clune said. “There are new faces, new coaches and new schemes, there’s a lot of new stuff and we have to own that this year. What’s in the past is in the past. We are trying to get it done with these guys and there’s a million different steps that we have take to get to that final product.”

Ten of the 12 teams in the conference averaged over 30 points per game in 2015, meaning, turning around the defense will be a challenge. From the wide-open passing games of Cal and Washington State to the ground attacks of Oregon and Stanford; each week presents it’s own unique test that Clune does not shy away from.

“That’s what makes defense fun,” he said. “We are going out and seeing a different type of opponent each week. Offenses get to run their same offense every week...we have to react and adapt to new things every week and I think that’s what makes football fun.”

If figuring where his players work within the the system was the first step, fall camp will be used to find out which player will give max-effort each day and where each of pieces fit together in the defensive scheme.

“It’s like a new toy we get go out there and play with them and see what they can do, and that’s something that us as a coaching staff have to really figure out what kind of roles they can fill for this defense,” Clune said. “It’s up to us to evolve the defense to find out the all the success we can have with each guy's different skills and put it all together and put it on the field.”

Once the right players are on the field, Clune will want his defense to play fast. To do so, each player will have stick to their their specific task. He want’s to keep opposing offenses guessing, giving them a different look each snap.

“He’s very descriptive on what works and what we are supposed to do in our job, each position is very specific, and that’s what I like about him,” Failauga said. “It makes it very specific to each play, you’re supposed to do this and if you don’t do that, then you’re wrong.

“It’s more complicated, but the complications make it simpler on our job,” he added.

Looking ahead to the 2016 season, the foundation of reaching the team’s goal will start with accepting the task of continuously getting better.

“What I’m looking for is improvement every week, improvement every day,” Clune said. “If I can get that, then I think that all the other goals that are out there we’ll start knocking them down one by one.”