New Bucs coordinator Sheridan says he'll run Schiano's defense

When new Buccaneers defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan started breaking down film of his new team's 2011 season a couple days ago he was astonished by one thing in particular that he saw.

Though he was disturbed by the occasional lack of hustle and the poor technique he witnessed, it was Tampa Bay's propensity for giving up big plays that left him shaking his head in disbelief.

The Bucs gave up 28 runs and 49 pass plays of 20 or more yards last year, and during his introductory news conference at One Buc Place on Tuesday, Sheridan vowed to significantly reduce those numbers.

"That is the one thing that can and will be corrected,'' Sheridan said. "And a lot of that has to do with great effort and pursuit to the ball, which (head coach) Greg (Schiano) and I (see as) an important standpoint."

Sheridan and Schiano had better see eye to eye on such aspects of defensive play. After all, they're going to be working a lot more closely than a lot of other head coaches and coordinators do.

Though most NFL coordinators run offensive and defensive schemes that they have designed themselves, that won't be the case with Sheridan. The one-time New York Giants defensive coordinator said he'll be running Schiano's scheme and he's seems just fine with that.

"Our defense, it's going to be Greg Schiano's defense, because he's our head coach and I'm coordinating it for him,'' Sheridan said. "Obviously he hired me because he feels I have a lot of experience and knowledge and competence."

He also said he would be very demanding of the players and his staff will focus on "correcting and teaching, not justifying or explaining."

Sheridan acknowledged there will be a lot of voices contributing to the defensive planning, but insisted that's a good thing.

"I'm excited about jumping into it and trying to mesh our ideas together. I view it as a huge plus," he said. "Some people might view it as being too interfering but I don't view it that way at all.

"Greg is a an outstanding defensive coach and was so long before he was ever a head coach, and it's going to be great having Greg as a resource and to have (special assistant to the head coach) Butch (Davis) on our side of the ball, too.''

Sheridan described the defense he'll run as a physically aggressive scheme that will use a four-linemen, three-linebacker set as its base but will also incorporate three-lineman, four-linebacker principles and lots of blitzes.

Sheridan said that during his breakdown of the Bucs play from a year ago he discovered that the Bucs all too often left their linebackers and secondary vulnerable to big plays by failing to pressure the passer with blitzers.

"The one common thread, on the big pass plays anyways, was there wasn't any pressure,'' Sheridan said. "I don't mean just (from the front four). Of course, if you can pressure the quarterback with four-down you're going to win.

"But the one thread was it was all just four-man rush. You're vulnerable (when you do that) somewhat because the passing game is so fantastic in this league.

"So we are definitely going to talk to and coach our players about being aggressive and attacking and bringing everything across the line of scrimmage towards the opponent.''

Sheridan came to the Bucs from Ohio State University, where he had taken over as Urban Myer's new secondary coach after losing his job as linebackers coach with the Dolphins after coach Tony Sporano was fired in December.

He has seven years of NFL coaching experience, including one year spent as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, though that season proved to be one of the worst in Giants history.

The 2009 Giants allowed 40 points or more five times while losing eight of their last 11 games. Sheridan was fired after that season and later joined Sporano's Dolphins staff.

Sheridan said one of the biggest lessons he learned during that 2009 season was that you have to keep defenses complex even if your team has been ravaged by injuries and is using mostly reserves and newcomers.

"It's great for your own players because you present them a simplistic scheme that they can execute on Sundays, but you aren't posing enough issues for the teams you're playing against,'' he said. "You aren't giving them enough problems. In hindsight, those are two things that are probably 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' but that we will definitely will look at going forward here.''