D.K. McDonald talks about defensive scheme, Mason Ellis healthy

Kansas defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald comes from different defensive schemes in his career. He came from Toledo and Iowa State where they played with three down linemen and his next stop was with the Philadelphia Eagles.

With the pace and variety of Big 12 offenses, he believes he will have to mix up the defenses and they plan to give different looks.

“I think that’s football nowadays. You’ve gotta be multiple,” McDonald said. “Just to sit in one thing and expect to stop these great offenses that are in the Big 12, I think is going to be really difficult. So you have to be multiple in what you do.”

That means switching up fronts, coverage looks, and personnel packages. But McDonald does not want it to be complicated to his players but confusing for opposing offenses.

“You’ve got to use different packages, have different fronts, mix in some coverages, not to the point where it’s extremely difficult, but it looks difficult to the offense and is simple to us,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s all X’s and O’s, and guys got to know the concepts of the defense and not just their little X in the defense.”

Keeping system simple, but confusing for offenses

One of McDonald’s main goals is keeping the defensive structure easy for his players while presenting different looks for quarterbacks and offensive coordinators.

“I think you got to continue to depend on guys,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of good coaches in my career just to see how it was done. I think you’ve got to continue to engage your guys.”

While the defense might look different on film, he said it is more about shifting players into new spots than adding new schemes.

They might not change a lot to the casual fan watching, but the changes he hopes confuses the offense.

“It’s not like we’re doing a whole bunch of different things,” he said. “We just might have some people in different spots doing it. That can also add confusion for the offense. We’re trying to confuse the quarterback, attack the offensive line, and get after those receivers.”

Facilities have helped with recruiting, current players

KU’s investment in football facilities is paying off, especially when recruits come to campus and see the upgrades in person.

“Anything new and pretty is always exciting,” McDonald said. “We have that right now. A lot of these have that new car smell still on them, except for my office, they didn’t do anything to that.”

McDonald said it has been positive watching commits and recruits react to the changes. The current players experienced the new facilities when they moved back in the Anderson Family Football Complex.

“When we first revealed the new team room, those guys walked in with their phones out all over the place,” he said. “It’s really helped a lot in recruiting.”

He said some of the current players were around when they was still using temporary spaces and looking at renderings. Now, they get to experience the real thing.

“Now they see the turf being laid down, where we’re going to be eating, seeing all that, and they’re excited, they’re fired up,” he said. “I think it’s kind of put some wind in our sails too for the people who are here in this program.”

A healthy Mason Ellis helps the secondary

One of the positive signs for the secondary in camp is the return of safety Mason Ellis, who is fully healthy and competing for a spot.

“Yeah, Mason’s one of those guys who are competing in the safety spot,” McDonald said. “He’s one of the guys who are challenging. Mason’s one of the physically gifted guys that we have on our defense.”

With his health back, Ellis will help at the safety position. He missed time with an injury last season. Before that, several players said he was one of the fastest on the team and the strongest defensive back.

“He can show that speed, he can show that strength, and plus he’s a very intelligent young man,” McDonald said. “So, to have him and to keep him healthy, it’s just going to be a huge benefit for our defense. It’s going to give us a lot of depth and, who knows, can give us a starter out there at a couple different positions.”