Aug. 21, 2008
It’s not exactly that Troy Reffett, UNM’s first-year defensive coordinator, will get the afternoon off on Aug. 30 when the TCU Horned Frogs come to visit the Lobos. Reffett will coach, yell, motivate, dot down a few Xs and Os, and do all the things a football coach does on game day. But when you become the defensive coordinator under Rocky Long, you know there is at least a three-hour window where Long is the main man with the defense.
“On game day, he’s the guy,” said Reffett. “That’s the way it is and you understand that. You can either be bitter about it and not reach your full potential or you can take advantage it, get into Rocky’s head and try to understand why he does certain things, why he calls certain plays.”
Said Long: “Before you hire a guy to be defensive coordinator, you tell him what’s up. If they don’t want to handle that, then they aren’t the defensive coordinator.”
|
THE REFFETT FILE Who: Troy Reffett |
Reffett was willing to handle it. Smart move. Last season, Long’s defense was 13th in the nation in total defense. In 2004, the UNM defenders led the Mountain West Conference in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense.
Reffett might have to stand on the sidelines and watch Long give the defensive signals during a game, but Reffett says the experience that comes from working with Long is well worth taking the backseat on game day.
“If you came into this job thinking you were going to be in total control of the defense, you might have some problems,” said Reffett. “But I understand the way it is and there are no problems. UNM is noted around the country for consistent defenses and to be associated with that as the defensive coordinator is a big-time honor.”
Reffett also knew the way it was because he came from UTEP to UNM for the 2004 season and is in his fifth campaign under Long. He coached cornerbacks the first four years and that position is still his – along with being defensive coordinator.
And it’s not like a head coach calling plays is unique to football. It’s just that most head coaches are on the offensive side of the ball and are telling the quarterback what to do.
“There are only a few defensive head coaches in the world,” said Long. “Most of the offensive head coaches call their own plays and for some reason everybody is OK with that. I’m sure all offensive coordinators want to call their plays and all defensive coordinators want to call the defense, but that’s not the way it is.”
Watching Long call the plays isn’t necessarily bad for your football career either. BYU’s head coach, Bronco Mendenhall, once was Long’s defensive coordinator.
“I didn’t let him call the plays either,” says Long through a thin smile. “When you are a defensive coordinator here, because of our success, you make yourself marketable.”
Long said picking Reffett to be the defensive coordinator almost was a no-brainer because of Reffett’s exposure the past four years to Long’s complicated scheme of messing with the offense.
“So far, I’ve only hired defensive guys who are familiar with our scheme,” said Long. “It’s almost impossible to bring someone in here who hasn’t run this scheme somewhere. It’s an unusual scheme and if you have a guy who has been here a couple of years and understands the scheme, it makes perfect sense to hire from within.”
Reffett is familiar with the scheme. He also loves it.
“This defense is fun,” he said. “It has so many variations. You have the same scheme every year, but you adjust it as you plug in different talent. We’ve had five different looks since I’ve been here because of the personnel. One year we had a 3-4 front because we had so many linebackers. We go 3-3-5 if we have a lot of defensive backs.
“In some aspects, I’m not 100 percent defensive coordinator and in some aspects, I am. There are a lot of responsibilities that I shoulder, but in game planning Rocky draws stuff on the board and we talk about it. Can we get it done? Can we not get it done? Do we like this? Do we not like this? Game planning is kind of a staff thing.”
And then coach Long gets to throw out the defensive signals during a game. Sure, Reffett wouldn’t mind that chore. But there is at least one other perk that comes with the title “defensive coordinator.”
“I get to yell at more guys now than just the corners,” jokes Reffett.