Red Raider Gridiron | Discussing Defensive Tackles; Coaches on Defensive Substitution Rule

We've got a look at the interior of the defensive line this morning and it's a bit off from where I'm at with the defensive line preview (via LAJ).  Anthony Smith and Donte Phillips at noseguard with Demetrius Alston, Jackson Richards, Keeland McElrath and Tyler Scalzi at defensive tackle.  I had no idea that Scalzi had put on that sort of weight as he played linebacker last year.  There's a couple of things that go into this, which is that I think Phillips is playing noseguard because he has to, but I'm not sure that this is his spot if all of the appropriate players are actually here on campus and playing. Other than that, I think I was close. Here's defensive line coach John Scott, Jr. on Alston, who he says weighs 267 heading into the spring:

"I think Demetrius Alston will be another big-time contributor for us this year," Scott said. "He did some good things last year. This off-season, he’s gotten stronger. He’s gotten bigger. He’s starting to look like a Big 12 defensive lineman."

There's also the note that 2014 signee Rika Levi is listed as 379 pounds and from this point forward, Levi will be referred to by me as having some ridiculous weight. I think that today, he will weigh 689 pounds.

We've also heard quite a bit about Anthony Smith, who has struggled with his weight and hasn't played really much at all, and Scott had this to say:

"Ant Smith has had a really good off-season so far," Scott said. "He’s doing everything that we’ve asked him to do, showing some maturity. We all know Ant’s got a great first step. He’s really quick. If it will all come together and the light comes on, Anthony Smith can really help this football team."

As you'll note, we're really just talking about six players and with the addition of Marcus Smith, Levi and Brandon Thorpe, there are just so many more options with how this line will hopefully play out.

Links:

2014 College Football Head Coach Draft: No surprise that head coach Kliff Kingsbury was picked up early in the second round as an offensive coordinator and fashion maven for the SB Nation and Football Scoop college football head coach draft (via SB Nation).  Kingsbury was picked ahead of offensive gurus like Art Briles, Mike Gundy and and Bob Stitt.

Report: Only 25 of 128 HC's Favor Defensive Substitution Rule: Imagine that.  Only 25 of the 128 FBS head coaches favor the 10 second defensive substitution rule (via ESPN):

Only 25 of the nation's 128 FBS head coaches are in favor of a rule proposal that would slow down the college game, according to a survey conducted by ESPN.

Of the 25 in favor, only 11 are coaches at "power five" conference schools (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC, plus Notre Dame). Of the 128 coaches overall, 73 percent (93) are opposed to the proposal while 19.5 percent (25 coaches) are in favor of it. Seven percent (nine coaches) are undecided.

This pretty much settles, this, right? Just two more good quotes.

Of the 65 power five conference programs (based on 2014 memberships), nearly three-fourths are opposed to the proposal. That's a higher percentage than the 63 non-power programs from the American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences, plus Army, BYU and Navy.

Of the power five coaches, 74 percent (48) were against the proposal, 17 percent (11) were for it and 9 percent (six) were undecided or didn't vote. Of the non-power schools, 71 percent (45 coaches) were opposed, 22 percent (14) were in favor and 6 percent (four) were undecided.

And of all things, Will Muschamp gets to the heart of it:

"You're talking four to six plays [in a game that would be affected]," he told ESPN.com's Edward Aschoff. "Come on. It's not that big of a deal. It's not about player safety. To me, it's funny that everybody wants to argue whatever their point is. It's not really about what's good for the game. It's about, 'What's good for me at the end of the day.' All these hurry-up guys want to snap as fast as they can snap it, and the guys who don't hurry up want the game slowed down."

The argument of "because it benefits my program" is the best and most honest argument yet.