Hank Hughes…another piece of the Husker puzzle

The Husker Defensive Line coaching position and Co -Defensive Coordinator (Banker is the other Co-DC) is the next one making news. Hank Hughes has been with the Cincinnati Bearcats since January of 2014. Before working there as the co-defensive coordinator, he was out east with University of Connecticut Huskies. Hughes’ move from Cincinnati could be a bit of a surprise since he has commented just last year when he got hired there that he met his wife and got married in Cincinnati. She has lots of family there and he was excited about working at the university and with Tommy Tuberville. Hopefully she will like being a Husker coach’s wife.

HH, as I think I’m going to call him, is a 1979 graduate of Springfield College with a Bachelors’ degree in physical education. He was a linebacker and started 2 of those years. He is married to Jackie and they have 4 children, Raquel Marie, Henry, Jack and Charles. Hank is originally from Albany, NY.

Hank Hughes (Photo Courtesy of Cincinnati Football)

Based on his interview with Sports Illustrated, while at Cincinnati he was working primarily with “the fundamentals, getting assignments and alignments and executing.” (sound familiar?) His defensive philosophy is “to attack people and be aggressive,” (also sound familiar?) I like aggressive on defense though. I prescribe to the thought that if their quarterback can’t do anything, it makes it easier for our offense to win the game.  He prefers a 4-3 base alignment but will mix it up. He tended to show a lot of looks but kept a basic scheme.

When Hughes was with UConn it could be said that he didn’t like to play a lot of man coverage. Granted it won’t be his job to worry about it now but it’s interesting to know what else he brings to the table. There was mostly cover three defense in his schemes the past year. With the Bearcats, the aggressive style worked well in frustrating QBs at the secondary level. However he wasn’t without his critics.

For anyone who might not know what cover three zone defense is, here’s a quickie. Just like the name implies, there are 3 deep defensive backs to cover their 1/3 of the field. By providing more than 2 DBs in the backfield there is more of a balance of run and pass defenders. The theory is it makes it more difficult for teams to pass.

The B1G Ten is a lot of run though. It will be interesting to see just how Hughes is going to embrace that fact. He seemed to do it well at UConn but that is a different conference.

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The guy has longevity. Hughes has been coaching for 35+ years. Prior to joining the Bearcats he coached for 13 years at UConn as the Defensive Coordintor (2013), Asst. Head Coach (2012-2013), Asst. Head Coach Defense (2005-2010), Defensive Coordinator (2002 -2004), and Defensive Line Coach (2001). I think it’s safe to say he knows a lot of different coaching jobs on the defense with that resume. In 2013 their rush defense ranked among the Top-25 in the FBS. In 2012 the UConn defense ranked 7th in rushing, 9th in total defense and 19th in scoring defense.

Welcome to Nebraska Coach! It’s time to really make an impact with our Husker Blackshirts! GO BIG RED!