Defensive coordinator Tom Mason said he has installed about 70 percent of his defense in his first three seasons (photo by Travis Johnston).

When SMU hired June Jones as its football head coach three years ago, the general consensus was that once he got players who fit his system, the Run-and-Shoot savant would get the Mustangs’ offense in high gear.

But what about the defense? In his first year as the Ponies’ defensive coordinator, Tom Mason’s defense failed to rank among the top 100 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in the nation in rushing defense, passing defense, scoring defense or total defense. Fast-forward to the 2010 season, and Mason had raised SMU’s ranking in each category to no worse than 59th, with a high of No. 40 in total defense.

Mason visited with PonyFans.com to explain his impressions of the 2010 defense, and what he will look for when the Mustangs gather next week for spring workouts.

PonyFans.com: A year ago at this time, you talked about how you were losing guys like Chase Kennemer, Bryan McCann, Chris Parham, Rock Dennis, Bryce Hudman, etc. Then, in 2010, your defense had fewer takeaways but you still gave up fewer yards and fewer points. How can you lose that much talent and generate fewer takeaways and still be as effective or even more effective than the year before?

Tom Mason: I think it’s a product of kids coming through the system and understanding it better with another year in the system. Kids that were sophomores becoming juniors — that’s really about the time they become football players at the college level.

I thought our defensive front seven was probably as good as anybody in the conference, and when we had Sterling Moore, we were pretty salty in that secondary. We just had more maturity in the program, as kids, from their freshman year on up, got a better understanding of what we’re trying to do.

Mason said Taylor Reed has a chance to be an elite player ... and has a promising backup in Randall Joyner (photo by Travis Johnston).

PonyFans.com: One national magazine recently did a national spring football preview, with a sentence or two about the spring priorities for each team in most conference, and for, the magazine said, “SMU wants to be more aggressive on defense.” Did they talk to you? Is that your goal?

Mason: No, I think they’re pulling that out of the air. We pressured 73 percent of the snaps last year. I don’t know that you can get a whole lot more aggressive. That’s just guys writing stuff — it doesn’t have an effect on me. We’re going to keep doing what we do, and we’re going to keep trying to get better at what we’re doing.

We’re always trying to find a new idea here or there, to add to what we’re doing. There will be a couple of new wrinkles here or there — in the games, we’ll come out with those.

But it’s just slow growth now. We’ve got the base package in — we’re probably at about 70 percent of what we want to do. We’ve got our identity as a defense now. In three years, we have put in about 70 percent of what we eventually want to be able to do. We’re going to get more into some safety blitzes — some different thoughts with that that we haven’t gotten to yet, due more to personnel than anything else. We haven’t really evolved into the safety blitz packages that I’ve always been known for. I think we blitzed the safeties, out of one package, 63 times last year, we blitzed the corners 38 times. I’d like to increase that a little bit more — I’d like to blitz the safeties 80-90 snaps a year, and the corners somewhere up in the 60s. That’s where we haven’t taken the defense to another level, with all of the secondary parts of the fire zones (in which the secondary plays in zone coverage behind certain blitz/pressure packages for the front seven).

PonyFans.com: This year, you lose three starters off the 2010 defense: Youri Yenga, Pete Fleps and Sterling Moore. What’s the biggest thing you lose with each of those guys?

Mason: The biggest thing we lose is experience. With Youri, we lose a great football player that was very productive for us. Same thing with Sterling — our best corner when we had him in there, really a “headsy” type of football player. Pete Fleps was our field general out there — tough kid who brought a toughness to the defense, an attitude to the defense. So we’re going to have to develop kids in those three positions, but that’s part of being a college football coach. You’re trying to set it up so your pipeline … the next guy is ready to go. Now it’s Cameron Rogers’s turn to pick up the flag, it’s Randall Joyner, it’s K-Rob (Keith Robinson), it’s Uchenna (Nwabuike).

(If spring practice started today), it would be Cameron at Pete’s place, it would be either (Lincoln) Schick or Uchenna at Youri’s spot, and K-Rob over there where Sterling was playing. (Schick) played a lot of special teams, and he’s one of those kids who will have a chance to earn that spot. He’s a big, strong kid. Uchenna, too — Uchenna came in at 190, and he’s 223 pounds right now. He needs spring ball, he needs reps, he needs all of those things. The guys you limit down in the spring are Taylor Reed and Ja’Gared Davis — we know what they can do. You limit down (Richard) Crawford for the same reason. You limit down (Chris) Banjo, Smitty (Ryan Smith). The guys I expect to come through this spring are the Jay Scotts, the (Justin) Sorrells, the (Hayden) Greenbauers. (Chris) Parks, (Kenneth) Acker — those are the kids you’ve got to rep a bunch in spring ball. (Jeremy) Gray — those kids have got to come through for us, so you give them a lot more reps.

Mason said he would like to play Marquis Frazier at nose tackle and defensive end in 2011 (photo by David Mojica).

Probably the place we have got the most experience is the defensive line. How many reps do guys like (Taylor) Thompson, (Marquis) Frazier and (Kevin) Grenier need? Not many. (Margus) Hunt had shoulder surgery, so he’ll probably be out for spring ball. But that’s fine, because now guys like (Beau) Barnes, (Mike) O’Guin, (Jordan) Favreau … that’s what spring ball is for — to get those guys a lot of reps.

PonyFans.com: With your defensive line being a year older, a year more experienced, a year stronger … and with that being where defensive pressure starts, why did takeaways fall from the previous year?

Mason: It was a weird deal, but it was just one of those years when we didn’t get them. If someone could explain it to me, I’d love to hear it, because I have looked at every factor on it, from a coaching standpoint. We just didn’t get that many opportunities. We probably dropped seven passes that we had our hands on and could have intercepted. Fumbles — we were forcing fumbles, but it seemed like they were bouncing right back up to (opposing players). It was just one of those years.

You look at the Army game — we get the ball on the ground and it bounces right back up to the guy. Shoot, there were a couple of quarterback sacks where knock the ball out and it bounces right back up to the quarterback or the running back. It was just one of those things where you can’t put your finger on why. (In 2009), we were leading the nation in turnovers at one point — I think one thing that happened is that last year, we caused a lot of turnovers, so offenses became very conscientious about, “you can’t turn the ball over against these guys. They force a lot of turnovers. You’ve got to take care of the ball against them.” So I’m sure there was an emphasis on not turning the ball over against us.

PonyFans.com: Is that your biggest area of focus going into next year, going into spring? What do you do to generate more?

Mason: Yeah, it’s very important. We’re going to keep doing the same things we were doing. We’re going to do turnover circuits, strip circuits … all the things you try to incorporate. We’re going to try to put in a little more — I’m going to get with June on it — stripping the ball from the receivers more, emphasizing it more. In coaching, you know that if you emphasize something more, it usually gets done.

A lot of it is also the way offenses are taking care of the ball, with quick throws out and things like that. You’re not always landing a lot of your pressures, you’re not getting the big hits like when they’re five-step dropping (when) coming out from under center. So I think it was just one of those years when, for whatever reason, the balls just didn’t go our way. That happens every now and then. It’s part of football.

PonyFans.com: Who surprised you the most over the course of last season?

Mason: Probably Taylor Reed. He goes from a backup to Kennemer and a nickel guy, to a full-time starter who was up to fourth in the nation in solo tackles (with 101), and I think he was 16th in total tackles (with 145). I could see it coming. (Linebackers coach) Joe (Haering) and I used to argue about it all the time. He said we’re going to miss Kennemer, and we do — he was a great player for us — but I said, “Joe, I’ve been in this system so long … Taylor Reed’s going to be a special player for us.” (He’ll be) as good as he wants to be. The only thing that’s going to hold Taylor back is the process of how he approaches it.

The thing he’d better be careful of is there’s a damn good kid behind him in Randall Joyner. He’s got great speed, he’s really intelligent, he’ll hit you — he’s got the total package that I look for in a linebacker. He’s a little bit undersized, height-wise, but (Mike) Singletary was, too.

LINEBACKERS

PonyFans.com: You mentioned Uchenna Nwabuike and you mentioned Lincoln Schick … Randy McKinnon is now a SAM linebacker. Why the move?

Mason: He gives us that hybrid safety/linebacker-type guy. He’s a guy that can go out and play coverage, but he’s also big enough — he’s 220 pounds and extremely strong. He’s a good football player, and he gives us a chance to use a guy so we don’t have to sub in a nickel back. It’s going to be an interesting spring if his knee’s OK, for him, because if he can really come through for us, then that really helps us.

When you’ve got three-deep at each spot and they can really play … that helps a lot.

(McKinnon) brought (the move from safety to linebacker) up to me. He came in after he got hurt, and said, “Coach, what about playing the SAM linebacker spot?” He said, “I know I can play there…” and I’m thinking, “why didn’t I think of that?” He can play in this conference, because he can play in space. How many tight ends is he going to see? That could be a natural position for him. He’ll get to blitz all the time. He’s looking at it, thinking, “OK, they’re losing Youri? I can walk into that spot, maybe even as the starter.”

Mason said Cameron Rogers has the inside track on replacing graduating Pete Fleps at inside linebacker (photo by Travis Johnston).

PonyFans.com: What do you see in Cameron Rogers as a replacement for Pete Fleps?

Mason: Cam is a kid I have always known could do what Pete did. He’s a very intelligent player, a real athletic type of field general. He doesn’t get too excited about things, the game doesn’t get bigger than him — he brings a calmness, a leadership to the defense. He got himself into the mindset of being behind Pete, so he hasn’t really taken off, but now with Pete gone, he’ll take off, I think. It’s coming. He knows he has got the spot, and it’s his job to lose. You can see him start to assert himself more and more as we approach spring ball.

I’m going to try (Schick) at both — inside and outside. He’s probably about 235 pounds now, he’s probably our biggest linebacker. We would have loved to have redshirted him, but we didn’t have that luxury. He’s got a chance to be pretty good.

PonyFans.com: You have said in the past that your system can be as good as your linebackers play. With that in mind, how good can Taylor Reed and Ja’Gared Davis be?

Mason: They can be really good. It’s exciting to have them — it really is. Both of those guys are so talented, but going from “good” to “great” isn’t easy. It takes work, all year long. Sometimes, if a guys play as freshmen, they don’t grow up right, because they didn’t have to work at it — they had it made. We did a nice job of filtering them in, game four or game five of their freshman year, and now all of a sudden, they’re important guys. Then they both took a step forward as sophomores. If they want to put in the work, they can continue taking steps forward.

DEFENSIVE LINE

PonyFans.com: Marquis Frazier came to SMU as a defensive end, and numbers dictated that you had to slide him inside to nose tackle last year. Looking back, what did you think of the move, of his performance in the middle?

Mason: You know, Marquis is a phenomenal football player when he plays. When he has got it right and really goes, he’s as good as anybody in the conference. His whole thing is he has got to learn to play every snap, which I think he will this year. You watch the (film) cut-ups, and sometimes he’ll make plays you won’t believe. Then, other times, he’ll make plays that look like he’s going the other way. But he really came on the last four or five games last year, because it became important. We were all over (him) and said, “you need to get this … right, or we’re going to stop playing you.” He really played well his last four games.

That Central Florida game, he was all over the place — he was unbelievable. That one play where the quarterback scrambled and he comes all the way from the nose position and tackles him, right before the half, and forced them to kick the field goal? He outran Pete to the sideline. He goes by Pete, and … it was unbelievable. He’s 4.7, high 4.7-ish (in the 40-yard dash) at 295 pounds — he’s a freak, when he wants to play. He’s the strongest (defensive) guy we’ve got in the weight room, by far. He’s freakish, athletically, when he wants to do it. It’s just a matter of him wanting to do it. What I want him to get out of spring is I want to make sure he has everything mentally, so he doesn’t have mental busts.

Mason said defensive end Taylor Thompson could be one of the top 10 defensive linemen in the country in 2011 (photo by Travis Johnston).

(Mike) O’Guin has got to prove to us in spring ball that he can play. If he can do that, I want to play Frazier in both spots, getting some time at the nose and some time at end. If O’Guin can play, and I’m high on (incoming freshmen Darrian) Wright and (Rishaad) Wimbley — I think those two can come in and give us immediate help. Wright’s up to 285 pounds, and Wimbley is … well, he just dropped from 295 to 288, and he has got freakish strength. Last week, I think, he said he maxed (in the bench press) at 435 pounds, and he’s set right now to break all of the Texas power lifting records in the 285-pound class. (Being a great weight lifter doesn’t necessarily mean a great football player, but) it doesn’t hurt, especially at that position. If you’re strong and quick in a short space, which he is, you have a chance to be pretty effective. He’s going to be a 500-pound bencher, 550 … he’ll do some (things), strength-wise, that have never been seen around here before. I don’t know exactly, but I think he’s squatting about 650 or something like that — he has got ungodly strength … and that’s in a high school program.

I want to give (Frazier) the ability to play on the edge sometimes. In certain pass-rush packages, when we’re rushing three, we can put (Margus) Hunt at the nose, with Frazier and Taylor Thompson at the ends. (Hunt) just destroys centers, because he understands leverage and just taking that center and pushing him straight back. The few times we did it, he was pretty damn good at it.

PonyFans.com: Taylor Thompson was named first-team All-Conference USA last year. Is his performance now starting to match his potential?

Mason: Yeah, and he got hurt later in the year, so he didn’t show as well later in the season. He was one of our top players last year, but I would say he could be one of the top 10 defensive linemen in the country next year. He’s got everything you want: he has the size, he has the speed, he has the weight, he has the strength, he can run … he’s the whole package.

PonyFans.com: A year ago, we talked about Margus Hunt and discussed his huge potential, and his ability to block kicks, but you said at the time that he was still learning, that he really didn’t know what he was doing yet. Where is he know, in terms of his development as a football player and where you’d like him to be?

Mason: He made a big jump in the last four or five ballgames. If you go back and watch that Central Florida game and the East Carolina game, you can see where, all of a sudden, it all made sense to him, he really came on. He is, at a sophomore level, where a kid would be as a freshman if he grew up playing football. Now, he’s just going to accelerate, because he understands it now. In that Army game, he was pretty damn good. You’re going to get some instances with him where, because he hasn’t had the experience of someone blocking from the outside in on him, he can get caught, and he did against Navy and Army. You don’t drill that stuff in practice, you don’t have guys getting cut in practice, but he’ll be more and more aware of that as he plays more. I always say there is a two-year transition, and you’ll really see him go this year. He has really taken off, in my opinion. Those last four games … he’s becoming a good football player.

He won’t do anything on the field this spring, because of his shoulder (surgery). He’ll work on the mental aspect of it, he’ll go to meetings, he’ll be at practice … he’ll do everything except actually playing. He needs spring ball, but he needs his shoulder, too. We’ll get him healed up, and he’ll be good.

SECONDARY

PonyFans.com: Ryan Smith — will you keep him at safety, or does he go back to cornerback?

Mason: No, we’re keeping him at safety. Justin Sorrell played pretty well at times last year, especially against running teams like Army and Navy. Jay Scott — it’s starting to come for him. We didn’t want to rush him too quickly, him being a high school quarterback. Just the transition — you can see it coming for him. He hasn’t had a lot of reps, because of who he’s playing behind. That’s why I don’t want to see (injured safety Chris) Banjo in the spring — I want to see what Jay Scott can do.

Mason said Ryan Smith will remain at safety next season (photo by Travis Johnston).

I like (Hayden Greenbauer) — smart kid who will really hit you. He understands offenses, being a high school quarterback, he understands angles. I’m really high on the kid — I think that kid’s going to be pretty special. In Texas, you’ve got to recruit quarterbacks, because that’s where they put the best athletes.

Another guy I want to take a look at is Cody Worthen. He’s a big-time hitter who played for (Jerry) Glanville at Portland State. When that thing fell apart (Glanville and his staff got fired), and with (Worthen) being a Texas kid, Glanville told June, “you’ve got to take this kid.” We’re going to start him out at safety, but we’ll see where he ends up. He’s a kid, though, who is going to help us somewhere. We’ll see.

PonyFans.com: Do you wish you had been able to redshirt Chris Parks and Kenneth Acker last year?

Mason: Yeah, I do, but we couldn’t and we didn’t. We didn’t have enough depth at the cornerback positions, so we had to play them. But in some ways, it’s OK, because they’re going to be viable kids in there, and they’ve got game experience — you don’t have to season them as the season goes. They have already had game experience, and that’s really valuable.

PonyFans.com: You mentioned Keith Robinson — is he ready to step in if you need him?

Mason: Oh yeah. He was a good player as a freshman. Every corner gets beat sometimes, especially young corners, and he did, but overall he had a good year, and he was having a hell of a spring last year before he got hurt. He got beat by someone as a freshman, and he kind of lost his fastball for a while there after that, but he got it back, and again, he was having a very good spring last year when he got hurt.