Bill Sheridan is the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator, and he faced the media for the first time today. Speaking to the press, he answered questions on a variety of topics, most importantly on the kind of defense he'll be running. Here are the key points I took away from this press conference:

• This will continue to be a 4-3 defense, although there will be some odd-front alignments as well (defensive linemen aligned head up on offensive linemen, rather than shaded in gaps). Note that alignments and assignments are two different things: the Bucs aligned in odd fronts plenty of times last season, but still played an up-the-field, one-gap scheme.
• Scoring defense is the most important aspect of defense, according to Sheridan. This seems rather obvious: stopping opponents from scoring is a key part of any defense. Whether this means the Bucs will play a bend-don't-break defense, or whether it just means an emphasis on red zone defense isn't clear.
• He noted that allowing all those big plays was correctable. I don't know why he'd say anything else. "Yeah, guys, I can't prevent big plays" seems like an awful way to introduce yourself as a defensive coordinator.
• As with all new defensive coordinator, Sheridan promised an aggressive style of defense. We'll see whether he actually brings that, but he did talk about the importance of manufacturing pressure to disrupt passers, both with four down linemen and with blitzes.
• On the subject of techniques, he noted that the Bucs would play a one-gap system but would occasionally ask a defensive end to two-gap, as that's what defensive ends need to do when you don't have eight men in the box. That's why John Lynch was so crucial in the old Bucs' Tampa 2, as he had the ability to come down into the box quickly and help stuff the run.
• He said that he really liked Mason Foster in last year's draft, but he didn't know whether the linebacker would play in the middle or on the outside, but he did note that he expected linebackers to be able to play all three positions. This could have some implications for the type of linebackers the Bucs go after, as it seems to imply versatility is very important.

Last season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed a new offensive line coach. After dumping Pete Mangurian, they brought in veteran coach Pat Morris ostensibly to install a new power running game. After all, the Bucs' offensive line is much more suited to power/counter runs than it is to zone runs. But when the season started we saw very little of that, and as the season progressed the power running game fell to the wayside more and more.

The difference between a zone running scheme and a power running scheme is fairly simple: with zone runs you're trying to move a defense sideways, stretching them out to create holes. With a power running scheme you're trying to push the defense back, and usually you're trying overload a specific point on the line with blockers. Tampa Bay has done an excellent job of collecting players who can excel in a power scheme, and then not actually running that scheme.

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Well, it's been a nice decade of West Coast Offense in Tampa Bay, but it looks like we're done now. No more dink-and-dunking down the field. No more Benn'd around, a receiver tackled for a loss, followed by a sack. No more quick slants, hitch routes and quick out routes. All of that is gone, if we can believe new Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano.

Instead, we will see physical offensive football and shots down the field. That's Schiano's offensive philosophy, and it's one we've heard before. That's basically what Jeff Jagodzinski said he would bring to Tampa. And then he got fired before coaching even one regular season game. Oops?

But Schiano does seem committed to this philosophy. He noted that it's hard to move down the field on long drives, the kind of thing the West Coast Offense is built around. Instead he wants to manufacture big plays - and that's something I saw in the few Rutgers games I've watched so far. The Rutgers offense tried to be aggressive down the field, although the actual results were mixed. This isn't just talk: he tried to do the same thing before.

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I'm moving this feature back up the front page because with Wade Phillips coming in for an interview on Friday, this has suddenly become very relevant again. This feature was written back in February so some of the information is a little out-dated in terms of the Bucs' personnel, but the general point still stands.

The Bucs introduced a new defense for passing downs, or nickel situations, this year: the 3-3-5. This means 3 defensive linemen, 3 linebackers, and 5 defensive backs are on the field. This scheme was ostensibly created to keep Quincy Black on the field, even though Black's impact wasn't that big. In the past the Bucs used to go to to a 4-2-5 set in nickel situations, taking the OLB not named 'Derrick Brooks' off the field in favor of an extra defensive back. In 2009 with Brooks gone, Quincy Black was the linebacker to come off the field. In fact, that's the standard around the league when faced with nickel situations: take off a linebacker, and put in a defensive back. Whether the team runs a 3-4, 4-3 or some hybrid, almost all of them do that. And when a 3-4 team removes a linebacker and brings on a defensive back, they end up with a 3-3-5 scheme, like the Bucs ran this year in nickel situations. So a very logical question follows from that: can the Bucs expend that package and go to running a 3-4 full time? The answer to that question is: it depends on what you think a 3-4 defense is. To answer the question properly, we're going to have to go into the different versions of the 3-4.

First, we need to be clear on what the Bucs run right now: a 1-gap 4-3. This means 4 down linemen, 3 linebackers, and everyone has his own 'gap'. In theory, if everyone fills his own gap, there's no room to run. Of course, one missed assignment, tackle or good block by an offensive lineman and there's some running room. I've inserted a quick diagram of a typical 4-3 defense, where you can see how every lineman has his own gap. The letters show a common method of referring to different gaps: the A-gap is the gap between the guard and the center, the B-gap is the gap between the guard and tackle, and the C-gap is the gap to the outside of the tackle.

So now that we know that, we can move on to the 3-4. There are essentially two different 3-4 schemes. One is what is generally called the Parcells scheme, after the former coach who ran it very succesfully throughout his career. He most famously ran this scheme with the Giants where Lawrence Taylor was able to shine as perhaps the best linebacker to ever play the game. This kind of 3-4 is very different from the 4-3 above, as it calls for the 3 down linemen to each guard two different gaps. This will ideally leave the linebackers free to make plays. The playmakers in this system are the linebackers, not the defensive linemen. The linemen set up the play and the linebackers finish it off. Hit the jump to see what this looks like.

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Here's one baffling statistic: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are ranked dead last in the NFL in rushing attempts. They have 313 rushing attempts on the year. They have run the ball less than the Detroit Lions, who have had about half a healthy running back all season long and have a very strong passing game. They have run the ball less than the Indianapolis Colts, who are forced to play catchup and pass near constantly. They've run the ball less than the Cleveland Browns, whose 3.6 yards per rushing attempt rank last in the league.

More confusingly, the Bucs rank dead last in the NFL in carries despite getting 56 rushes from their quarterbacks, which ranks fifth in the NFL. You can add 7 receiver rushes to that total as well. That leaves the Bucs with the ridiculous total of 250 rushing attempts for running backs.

The Bucs have done all this despite a pretty efficient running game. On the season the Bucs have averaged 4.4 yards per carry, which is tied for the ninth best mark in the NFL. In Football Outsiders' opponent and situation adjusted numbers, the Bucs rank 14th in rushing efficiency.

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