Ole Miss Linebackers Will Quarterback D.J. Durkin's Defensive Scheme

The best returning position group the Ole Miss football team has entering 2020 is their linebackers. For Co-Defensive Coordinator D.J. Durkin, that couldn't work out any better.

The best returning position group the Ole Miss football team has entering 2020 is their linebackers. For Co-Defensive Coordinator D.J. Durkin, that couldn't work out any better. 

That talented, experienced linebacker room are going to be spearheading his defense. 

"The thing that stands out to me thus far is the leadership from that group," Durkin said on Thursday's edition of RebTalk. "We've got a couple of guys that have a lot of experience playing, the good thing is they act like it. They're doing a great job of being leaders. These workouts are voluntary, so we can't be there. These guys have done a great job of taking it upon themselves."

'These guys' Durkin talks about primarily refers to a quartet of Ole Miss inside linebackers that all recorded starts in 2019. Lakia Henry and Jacquez Jones saw the most ILB snaps one season ago. Rising senior Donta Evans saw action in all 12 games and the Rebels will also get back a healthy MoMo Sanogo, who broke his fibula early last season against Arkansas.

The trio of Sanogo, Henry and Jones are going to be critical if the Ole Miss defense is going to take the step forward these coaches think is possible.

Stat 5:

Here are the stats of Ole Miss' three returning ILBs in their respective last 12 games:

Lakia Henry: 88 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 1 sack
Jacquez Jones: 71 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, 2 sacks
MoMo Sanogo: 111 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, 1 sack

— Nick Suss (@nicksuss) June 29, 2020

"They're the quarterbacks of the defensive. They have to be great communicators," Durkin said. "We're going to be very multiple, and in order to do that you have to do a great job communicating on the field."

Durkin, in his first year as the Rebels' Co-Defensive Coordinator alongside Chris Partridge – wants the team to play multiple fronts and multiple coverages this upcoming season. 

Essentially, the Rebels aren't going to be a 4-3 team or a 3-4 team or a 3-3-5 team. They're going to do it all. To Durkin, that multiple style is the best way defenses can combat the various spread philosophies that have percolated throughout football over this decade. 

Ole Miss defenders will get a play call from the sidelines – but ultimately how the offense lines up will determine how that play call looks defensively. It'll be up to the linebacking group to be the primary communicators in that 10 second period pre-snap.

"You can't just sit in one thing and play," Durkin said. "And the linebackers will be the guys that communicate it all."

Now, those linebackers will be Durkin's responsibility. He is not just the Co-DC, he's also the linebackers coach. Fellow Co-DC Chris Partridge will be in charge more of the back end with the Rebel safeties. 

At times, those safeties and linebackers will probably overlap. With the multiple fronts, the Rebel defense will want to be able to mix and match players at multiple positions without needing to substitute players in and out. 

How the Rebel defense operates in 2020 will be fascinating. We still don't even know which of the two coordinators will be calling defensive plays. But what we do know, is it'll be up to the experienced linebacking crew to interpret those play calls. 

More from The Grove Report:

Grae Kessinger Coping with Lost Season, Taking Development into His Own Hands

Ole Miss DC D.J. Durkin Explains How to Return Rebels to SEC's Elite

Behind Enemy Sidelines: NCAA Player Empowerment and a Less Toxic Egg Bowl?

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