BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Joe Woods isn’t looking to reinvent the Browns defense.
He plans to build off what is already here.
“We have a talented roster,” Woods said Wednesday. “There are some guys very talented on the defensive side of the ball at the right positions, so I feel like I’m coming into a very fortunate situation where we have some pieces in place.”
That’s high praise from Woods, who helped coach San Francisco’s defense to Super Bowl LIV.
Typically, when new coordinators arrive, they want to shake up the scheme. But not Woods. He plans to maintain the 4-3 base the team has run the last few years.
“That’s what the personnel here is,” Woods said. “I coached in both systems, the 3-4 at Denver, then the 4-3 for most of my career. But the personnel is set up to run the 4-3. I think it’s a natural fit.”
Where will Woods draw inspiration from as he puts his own touch on what is here?
“Really it is a mixture of everywhere I have been, going back to Tampa, to Minnesota, a little bit of Oakland, Denver and San Fran,” Woods said. “Really, everybody kind of runs the same defenses. It is just they get to them different ways. The San Francisco three-deep is a little different in terms of how the coverage works, but I am going to try to run a little bit of that, along with the stuff I have done at the other places. Really just kind of mixing it all together.”
Woods is anxious to build around a unit that includes defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams – the strength on his side of the ball.
“I think our front is very talented,” Woods said. “It’s our job as coaches to get them to play as well as they can to their ability. At the backend we have some young corners. I’ve coached corners my whole career. When you have young talented corners, that excites you.”
The middle of the defense needs the most work from a personnel standpoint. There are decisions that need to be made – at safety and linebacker – this offseason but those are decisions Woods is leaving to the front office to make.
The biggest decision is whether to keep linebacker Joe Schobert, who will be an unrestricted free agent in March.
“I just had a chance to start looking at those guys to be honest with you,” Woods said. “I got here so late, and I am way behind when hiring a staff and all that stuff. I did get a chance to go look at a little bit of tape. He is a good player. This is the NFL. The organization, Andrew [Berry] is going to make the best decision for the Cleveland Browns, whether that is him being here or moving on. I trust him with what his decision making is going to be, but I know he is a good football player.”
Defensively, the Browns ranked 22nd overall in yards allowed, 30th against the run, seventh against the pass and 26th in turnover margin – a minus-8.
“It is all about the ball. What we do, what they do on offense and what we do on defense, it is all about the ball,” Woods said. “We have to find ways to take it away.
“The year before I went out to San Francisco, I think they had seven turnovers. We turned it around last year. I just think we will show them the tape so they know how to do it, and then it is drilled into practice and getting the guys to run to the ball. You can’t create turnovers if you are not running to the ball. If we do all those things, I feel like we can have a good team when it come to that.”
