Temple cornerback Ben Osueke (Photo: Zamani Feelings)
Ask Temple's defensive players to describe defensive coordinator Brian L. Smith's system and there's a common refrain.
"It's an NFL-type defense," transfer portal addition Omar Ibrahim said. "At least from Hampton, it's a lot different from where I came from. It's a lot more advanced. There's a lot more bits and pieces that I've got to pay attention to."
Fellow cornerback Ben Osueke is in his third year with the Owls. He started seven games last year and five games in 2023, both years playing under defensive coordinator Everett Withers.
"Last year it was a lot of one-high, a lot of cover," Osueke observed. "This year is more different stuff. [Smith] brings a lot of different packages and he brings I would say an NFL scheme to us."
Without getting into schematics, it's fair to say the overall defense is more complicated than last year, and according to Coach K.C. Keeler, it's more specialized.
A better example than the defensive backfield is the three linebacker positions, where Keeler said this week that the Owls could utilize six different players in Saturday's opener at UMass. And that doesn't include UMass transfer Jalen Stewart, who is close but not all the way back from a knee injury he suffered last year.
The deep rotation is partly because none of the linebacker candidates separated themselves from the pack in an extended preseason competition. It's also because some of them fit certain jobs better.
"I think it's just a matter of looking now at our linebackers and saying who can do what and what's the best position to put them in," Keeler said. "Some guys will fit really well in those speed defenses. Some guys will fit better into those base rounds. Some guys are going to fit better in short yardage because they're better run-stoppers."
Substitutions were a constant feature on defense during preseason camp.
"There's a lot of moving parts there," Keeler summarized. "So I feel really good that we have enough guys to fill in to figure out how we're going to get the best 11 on the field.
"Sometimes it's tough to explain all the different defensive looks we can give you. And we're not using, even though we could use the same personnel, there's opportunities for us to change personnel out and actually get guys playing exactly what their skillset is. And I think Brian does a good job with that."
The specialist-oriented defensive gameplan faces one obvious challenge: What happens when the opponent runs a high-tempo offense and doesn't change personnel?
There are going to be times this season when the Owls won't be able to get their best cover guys or their best run-stoppers on the field.
"I think where you get help there is just having the depth," Keeler submitted. "So you might not be able to rotate in, but series by series I can have this group on the field, and I know that we're going to hold up and those guys can take a break on the bench.
"So I just think having that depth, even when you're going against up-tempo people, I think you might not be able to sub in and sub out as easily as you would like, but just to get guys off the field and say I'm putting a caliber player in there as good a caliber player as I just took off."
It also should help that the coaches have taken as many things off some of the player's plates as they've added to their plates this preseason. In the spring, there was more experimentation as they identified strengths and weaknesses. Position-wise, they narrowed things down this summer.
"I think it was important for us to get some guys in for the summer to say, 'OK, we can settle some guys in and not have them bounce around,'" Keeler said. "Because the defense is a little complicated. There's a lot of moving parts. It's really aggressive. So if you can set it up where we don't have to have too many guys double-training, we'll be a better team."
All of those assertions will be tested for the first time on Saturday.