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TCU key offseason issues: Implementing new DC Andy Avalos’ defense in 2024

After a dissapointing 2023 season, the Frogs look to revamp their defense.

TCU and head coach Sonny Dykes brought in two new hires to fix the defense. They hired Andy Avalos to be the new defensive coordinator and Ken Wilson to be the linebackers coach.

Avalos was most recently the head coach of Boise State, where he went 22-14 before getting fired mid-season this year. He won Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2022 after a 10-win season that brought the Broncos to the conference championship game. Before his time at Boise, Avalos was the defensive coordinator at Oregon, where his defenses helped the Ducks win two Pac-12 championships. His efforts made him a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2019, which is awarded to the top assistant coach in college football.

As for Wilson, he reunites with Avalos. He served as the linebackers coach at Oregon in 2019-20 seasons.

Avalos and Wilson bring with them a system that has proven successful in Oregon. Contrary to Joe Gillespie’s 3-3-5 defense, both of these coaches like to rush four. This should lead to more sacks due to increased pressure from the TCU defensive front. Their experience should prove to have a great impact on a TCU defense that struggled heavily in 2023.

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These two have a track record, but they now must take this TCU defense and properly implement their system.

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The biggest adjustment for this unit is going to come in the secondary. Avalos and Wilson will need to get the corners and safeties adjusted to only having four guys in coverage compared to the five from previous years. Conditioning and covering more ground will be key for the defensive backs.

The new staff will also need to fix the poor defense against the screen pass. Coach Prime and Colorado exposed this weakness in Week 1and it proved to be the Achilles heel for this Frog defense all season. With an increased emphasis on speed, the Frogs should improve in defending the short passing game.

Learning a completely new defensive scheme is never easy. Some growing pains are to be expected as Avalos gets things exactly how he wants. Things will get better in the long run, but in the immediate future, there may be some wrinkles to iron out.

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