How Erik Chinander rebuilt UCF's Defense
?When Scott Frost first announced that Erik Chinander was going to be the defensive coordinator at UCF, there were questions. Most UCF fans had never heard of Chinander or knew his resume. Never knew who he apprenticed under when Chinander was at Oregon or that Erik Chinander was considered Oregon's best recruiter. There was the vocal minority of UCF fans that believed Frost only hired Chinander because the two were friends. Well how do those same people feel about the hiring now? Erik Chinander has not only rebuilt this defense, but has been the key figure, outside of Frost, for UCF's turnaround. He has brought an hyper aggressive style that has been missing for years. But Chinander's influence appears to extend beyond the field. It looks like the defense is finally having fun again. Oh and Chiander may already have created the best defense UCF has ever had.
UCF's defense currently ranks 21 in S&P. Fine, some fans do not believe or understand the advance metrics. So let us look at the regular metrics to see how good this UCF defense is. According to ESPN, UCF is 34th in total defense, 42nd in passing defense, 12th in sacks, 12th in interceptions, and 16th in efficiency. Never in its history has UCF's defense been considered this efficient. If we were to project out where this UCF team were to finish, this defense would go down as the greatest defense in UCF history. All of the credit has to go to Chinander. Consider how bad UCF's defense was last year(dead last in every category), how slow and out of position the layers looked. Then compare it to this year's team. It's as if UCF has become an entirely different program.
When asked about what defense UCF reminded him of, Houston head coach Tom Herman said "Oklahoma". This is not only because both run a hyper aggressive 3-4, but because how physical both defenses are. It is also easy to compare UCF's defense to say a Oklahoma's defense because both can adapt. It's as if Erik Chinander is playing chess, while the others are playing checkers. Whatever move the offensive coordinator makes, Chinander has a counter for. Take the Tulane game for example. Willie Fritz is widely considered to be one of the best innovators of the triple option offense. The triple option is known to give opposing defenses nightmares, just go look at Navy vs Notre Dame. So it would not have been a surprise if Tulane would have put up some points against UCF. So how did the UCF defense do? Forced 5 turnovers, scored 21 points, and had 3 sacks. The game against Tulane was probably the best this unit has looked all season and that is saying something. Chinander had his players lock down any pitch lanes and forced Tulane to pass. He took away Tulane's biggest strength and made the Green Wave offense look anemic. Not only has he instilled a toughness that was missing, but an intelligence as well.
UCF's defense has only gotten stronger as the season has gone along. Over the past 2 weeks UCF's defense has forced 9 turnovers. Also the 2 past AAC defensive player of the week has been a UCF player. And that leads us into the next point about the Erik Chinander rebuild. He has turned this unit from having 0 NFL prospects to now 3. Shaquem Griffin, Pittman, and now Trysten Hill have become NFL propspects under Chinander. Remember how O'Leary played the AAC sack leader at defensive back? Remember how Pittman was sparsely played during his freshman and sophomore seasons? Hell O'Leary would have never brought in Hill, who was originally committed to Virginia, but came to UCF in August. Chinander has brought a new type of thinking to UCF that goes beyond just schematically. He has made the players rethink the traditional sense of linebacker or defensive end. Turned a defense that was told to play safe and not attempt to make a big play because they could give up a big play to the offense. He has made these players be willing to take a chance. This defense no longer plays with fear and it has benefitted these players tremendously.
There is this false perception of George O'Leary that is circulated around the UCF rivals messageboard. Many people believe that UCF's defense led by 7 seniors is somehow a credit to O'Leary. However, allow me to disprove that with one simple statistic: S&P. Let us take a look at the UCF defense from 2011-2015 the years O'Leary did not have Dave Huxtable:
2015: 126
2014:44
2013:51
2012:46
2011:44
So in reality O'Leary's defenses post Huxtable have been mediocre at best. Given that Chinander's defense is 21 and climbing, it's easy to project this defense to be better than any of O'Leary's defenses. So before you declare George O'Leary a defensive mastermind, might want to look at the stats first.
UCF has been one of the biggest surprises in college football this year. Scott Frost deserves a lot of the credit for the turnaround. He has brought an edge and intelligence to UCF's defense. He was the right man at the right time.,
