ASU Football: Danny Gonzales sets to insert 3-3-5 scheme

For the third straight season, ASU football is undergoing a defensive coordinator change as Danny Gonzales looks to carry his success from San Diego State.

Arizona State football will enter the 2018-19 season with their second defensive coordinator in as many seasons.

Former San Diego State defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales will take over for the Sun Devils replacing Phil Bennett after one year as defensive coordinator under former head coach Todd Graham.

Gonzales will look to implement his complex 3-3-5 defensive scheme at ASU after spending the last seven seasons with San Diego State as both a safeties coach and defensive coordinator.

Coaching History

The former New Mexico State safety and punter began his coaching career as a defensive graduate assistant in 1999 before moving up to video coordinator in 2003. Gonzales moved up again in 2005 where he was promoted to working with safeties, punters, kickers, and long snappers.

During this time, Gonzales worked with defensive backs Glover Quin and Quincy Black who were drafted to the NFL by the Houston Texans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers respectively.

More from Devils in Detail

Gonzales spent the next seven seasons as safeties coach for SDSU before being promoted to defensive coordinator prior to the 2017 season.

During his time at SDSU, the team produced one of the best defensive efforts in 2014, finishing in the top 20 nationally in both scoring defense at 13th and total defense at 16th.

Since the beginning of the 2015 season, the Aztecs secured the most interceptions with a total of 62, nine above the second closest team, including returning 10 for touchdowns which ranks second in the nation behind Alabama’s 11.

During his first season as defensive coordinator, Gonzales helped lead the SDSU to a 10-3 record while posting an appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl

Gonzales spent all seven seasons with SDSU as the safeties coach but was promoted to defensive coordinator prior to the 2017 season and helped lead the Aztecs to a 10-3 record and an appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Coaching Scheme

After a season under previous defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, the Sun Devils will look to change from a more traditional 4-2-5 look to a more complex 3-3-5 under Gonzales.

The 3-3-5 features three down linemen, three linebackers, with five defensive backs unlike the traditional four down linemen with three linebackers in a 4-3. The defensive scheme varies from traditional 4-3 lineups or even Bennett’s 4-2-5 scheme by taking out a defensive lineman in exchange for an extra defensive back.

By freeing up the additional spot on the line this allows the defense to have either linebacker join the line on any given play or stay back and assist in the passing game. This also allows an extra defensive back to roam free and either add pressure to the quarterback or assist in the run game.

The defensive scheme allows the defense to get into their base formation in 10 different ways while still looking the same to the quarterback. This art of deception is included in the passing game where every defensive coverage will be disguised as it will all look the exact same.

Gonzales can use the art of deception to cover up both dropping into extra coverage or using it to hide all-out blitzes. This will be used to confuse quarterbacks into making mistakes where ASU will look to turn these mistakes into turnovers.

This is extremely effective against read-option and spread offenses as the addition of an extra defensive back can cover both the slot receiver and play the read option more effectively than an additional linebacker or defensive linemen would be able to.

Schools in the Pac-12 thrive off of the spread offense to gain big plays and strategically tear apart opposing defenses. The Sun Devils will look to use the deception and multiple options of the 3-3-5 to counter the offenses of some of the nations best in Pac-12 opponents Oregon and Washington.

Upgrade or Downgrade?

During last season, ASU appeared to show glimpses of being a dominant defense but struggled to remain consistent. Some of these glimpses included holding the high-powered offense of Washington to seven points and holding Utah to 10 points on the road.

The Sun Devils ended the season ranked 107th in the nation in total defense while ranking 119th and 79th in passing and rush defense respectively.

ASU will return the most experience at the linebacker position with senior Jay Jay Wilson and junior Malik Lawal at the outside positions with former running back Nick Ralston running the middle.

Another option at the linebacker position will be senior Koron Crump who missed nearly all of last season with a knee injury. Crump was an All-Pac-12 second-team selection in 2016 and a key part of the Sun Devils attack before his injury.

Alongside the linebacking core, it will be a combination of sophomore Chase Lucas and junior Kobe Williams at the corner positions with Lucas picking up All-Pac-12 second team honors last season.

ASU Football: N’Keal Harry’s omission from Top 50 list is disrespectful. dark. Next

The combination of returning starters and fresh talent, will give Gonzales a variety of options when running his intricate 3-3-5 defense. With the amount of talent on the defensive side of the ball and complexity of the Sun Devils new defense, expect ASU to be near the top of the Pac-12 in defensive rankings.

Home/ASU Football