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Gene Chizik hired as Defensive Coordinator? End of the 4-2-5?

By John Woodcock

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The North Carolina Tar Heels have hired Gene Chizik as defensive coordinator according to ESPN.

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End of the Koenning Era

The North Carolina Tar Heels football season ended in disappointment when the team fell to Rutgers in the Quick Lane Bowl a week ago. The loss was defined by the other losses that the Heels suffered this season. The opposing team took it upon themselves to use an experienced offensive line to steamroll the smaller North Carolina 4-2-5 arrangement.

Really, this was the storyline to all the Tar Heel defeats and put too much pressure on a Tar Heel offense that needed time in most games to get warmed up and moving. The reaction of the team was to fire Vic Koenning, the de facto defensive coordinator, who was not a holdover from Fedora’s Southern Miss coaching staff.

Koenning’s firing has been hard to interpret. It does not seem to mean the end of the 4-2-5 system which was partially at fault for the team’s defensive woes. It also seemed hard to understand who would come in to replace Koenning. The defense’s secondary problem was a lack of Jimmies and Joes in the defensive line and Bandit positions with a similar lack of linebackers.

In like Gene Chizik?

So enter Gene Chizik. Yes, that Gene Chizik, the guy who built or ran the defenses of the undefeated Auburn Tigers in 2004-5 and the national champion Texas Longhorns in 2005-6. Chizik took that resume to the Iowa State Cyclones as head coach where he collected a losing record before being hired by Auburn to replace Tommy Tuberville.

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    • Tuberville was fired for not upgrading his staff, so Chizik’s first staff was made of all dedicated recruiters and Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator. It did not hurt to have Cam Newton transfer in and that staff won the National Championship. Chizik could not keep up the success level after the departures of Newton and Malzahn and was fired soon after.

    Now he is going to return to coaching as the new defensive coordinator at North Carolina. The last time he had defensive coordinator duties he was working with guys like Derek Johnson at Texas. His first task will be to go and recruit those guys to Chapel Hill.

    Does the 4-2-5 Survive?

    Does Chizik mean the end of the 4-2-5? He never ran the defense himself at his various stops, and the Tar Heels are not in the best position to move out of it with the current roster. No changes would need to be made in the secondary, but the RAMs would have to commit to a different position.

    On the line, the remaining Bandits would have to be grown into defensive ends. Rush ends perhaps, but it is unlikely a guy like Shakeel Rashad could move into a linebacker role now.

    It is the linebackers that would need the most help. Finding the third linebacker to beef up the front seven will take some time. A JUCO or a super frosh could do it, but neither is likely to be forthcoming.

    The best answer would be that Chizik is going to take a flexible approach while he recruits the type of defense he wants behind the current roster.

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