Texas A&M Football: Criteria Aggies' Next Defensive Coordinator Must Meet

The Texas A&M football team had a disappointing 7-5 record in 2014. As a result of continued struggles on the defensive side of the ball, defensive coordinator Mark Snyder was let go, per Jerry Hinnen of CBS Sports. Aggie head coach Kevin Sumlin needs to look for certain criteria in his next defensive coordinator hire. 

Sumlin's hire at the defensive coordinator position may well dictate his own future in Aggieland. The Aggies have won 27 games during Sumlin's first three seasons as the head coach. 

That total has definitely exceeded expectations for a program that was expected to struggle to be competitive in the SEC. However, the early success in the league has raised the bar for what is considered an acceptable season. 

Texas A&M fans are pouring money into a $450 million renovation of Kyle Field. Sumlin is being paid $5 million per year to coach the Aggies. The fans want to see a return on that investment—and that involves winning SEC titles and competing for national titles. 

The Aggies need to have a much better defense if they want to compete for SEC titles. Sumlin's next hire at the defensive coordinator position needs to give the Aggies that improved defense. This is a look at some of the criteria that the new defensive coordinator hire should meet.

Run 4-3 Scheme

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When Aggie head coach Kevin Sumlin took over the program in 2012, he expressed a desire to have a defensive coordinator who ran a 4-3 scheme against the run-heavy SEC offenses. Aggie fans should expect Sumlin to stick with coaches who run a base 4-3 scheme when he looks for his next defensive coordinator hire. 

The Aggies personnel on the defensive side of the ball dictate that they stick with an even front on defense. Texas A&M has a number of young, talented defensive ends in Myles Garrett, Jarrett Johnson, Daeshon Hall and Qualen Cunningham. 

Garrett is the best football player on the Aggies roster, and he is a prototype 4-3 defensive end. He may be athletic enough to run with backs and tight ends in pass coverage as an outside linebacker, but he would be better suited to spending his next two years in Aggieland rushing the passer at a weak-side defensive end. 

The Aggies do not currently have the linebacker talent on the roster necessary to support a 3-4 scheme. They struggled to get three solid linebackers on the field at a time in 2014. There are not eight linebackers on the roster who can make plays in the SEC. That is what you need to support a 3-4 scheme.

It is also easier to recruit for a 4-3 scheme. There are not many high school defensive linemen who relish the idea of going to a school to play nose guard and be double-teamed on every play. There are also very few linebackers available who possess the necessary skills to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. You have to be fast enough to cover running backs and wide receivers, but you also have to be strong enough to take on offensive tackles.

There are just not too many linebackers like that coming out of high school. The competition for the ones that are available is so intense that it is hard to find four to fill out a depth chart.  

Simplicity of Scheme

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One of the biggest criticism's of Mark Snyder's scheme was that it was too complicated. In this day and age of hurry-up spread offenses, the players need to be able to line up quickly and just play football.

More often than not, Aggie defenders could be spotted trying to run to their correct spot on the field in order to try and create the right alignment for that particular play. The Aggies had 10 true freshmen in their two-deep on defense in 2014.

They are still going to be a young defense in 2015. They need a scheme that is easy to implement and easy for the players to make adjustments to when going up against no-huddle teams.

Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi has a scheme that is effective against all offenses. He is one of the top defensive coordinators in the nation and is likely on the list of candidates that Kevin Sumlin is considering. Narduzzi has been such an effective defensive coordinator that he will likely receive head coaching interest in 2015. He runs the type of scheme that would be very effective in the SEC.

Extensive Experience Stopping the Spread

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The Aggies face three spread teams every year in their division of the SEC in Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The majority of the teams in college football are running some version of the spread. 

Texas A&M needs to hire a defensive coordinator who has extensive experience stopping spread offenses. In the SEC, you can face Mississippi State's zone-read spread offense one week and Ole Miss' hurry-up no-huddle offense the next.

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables has produced one of the top defenses in the country while facing a variety of offenses in the SEC. Clemson has had to face spread offenses from Florida State and North Carolina State, while also facing option teams like Georgia Tech. Venables also had extensive experience against the spread when he was the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. 

Any defensive coordinator who has shown a propensity for shutting down spread teams should be considered.

Elite Recruiter

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Recruiting is still the name of the game in college football. You need to bring in elite football players in order to be an elite team. 

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin has always tried to assemble a staff of elite recruiters. A coach's ability to recruit is something he takes into consideration when hiring assistants. 

Sumlin is an excellent recruiter, and he has other top recruiters on his staff in wide receiver coach David Beatty and offensive line coach B.J. Anderson. It never hurts to have more top recruiters in the program, so the ability to recruit will be a major consideration with the new defensive coordinator hire. 

Former Florida head coach Will Muschamp is an excellent recruiter. He would bring in the kind of elite talent needed to build a championship defense at Texas A&M.