SAN MARCOS, Texas - Despite using the same basic alignment as last season, the Texas State football team is changing its defensive schemes this spring under new defensive coordinator Chris Woods.
 
"We are conceptually a 3-4 defense, but we are probably doing things vastly different than they have done them in the past just in how we are setting up the defense and how we call things," Woods said. "Everybody has a different way of doing things.
 
"We went into this spring assuming no one knew anything. So we go out and teach them how to tackle, how to get off blocks, show them how to play a block and what tackle to use. That expands to the whole team in the red zone, short yardage or what we are doing on first and 10 or first and 20."
 
Woods comes to Texas State with nearly 25 years of coaching experience, including six seasons as a head coach and 13 years as a defensive specialist and coordinator.
 
Woods joins the Bobcat coaching staff after serving the past three years as a defensive specialist at Oklahoma when the Sooners won three consecutive Big 12 Conference championships, made two appearances in the College Football Playoff and won the 2016 Sugar Bowl.
 
He also was the defensive coordinator at Holmes Community College in Mississippi for three seasons and one year at Columbia after serving as a head coach for six seasons.
 
 "I have been part of some rebuilds as a head coach when you have to do a lot of the dirty work, and that has already been done here," Woods said. "These players know what is expected of them and know how to play. My job is to make them better and help them understand the game a little more. They are good guys and eager to learn. I am here to teach them."
 
Woods inherits a defense that returns eight starters and includes three of the top four tackling leaders from last season.
 
"I don't know (former defensive coordinator Randall McCray), but he did a great job," Woods said. "All you can gauge is what you see on tape. They play hard. They generally run to the ball and do things well. That is a credit to him." 
 
Headlining the returning starters are All-Sun Belt Conference Third-Team linebacker Frankie Griffin and two-year starter and returning team captain Bryan London.
 
"The first thing that jumps off the page about Bryan London is that he looks like he has played a lot of football," Woods said. "You don't have to repeat yourself because when you tell him once, he understands. As his position coach, that has allowed me to go and help other players who may need more help right now. He is one of the better guys I have been around in a long time who gets it."
 
London led the Bobcats in tackles in each of the last two years with 91, while Griffin tied safety A.J. Krawczyk for third among team leaders with 74 stops in 2017. Joining London and Griffin at linebacker are Hal Vinson, Nikolas Daniels and John Brannon.
"Hal Vinson has been steady and John Brannon has really come on behind him the last couple of days," Woods said. "That is a pretty good battle. Nikolas Daniels is a lot like Bryan in that he is a very talented player who gets it done."
 
Woods has also been impressed with Krawczyk's leadership in the secondary.
 
"A.J. has been great," Woods said. "This is a system that is made for him because as much as Bryan is the general and controls the front end, A.J. controls the back end."
 
The other returning starters include JaShon Waddy and Anthony J. Taylor in the secondary, with Sami Awad, Caeveon Patton and Dean Taylor on the defensive line. Woods has also has seen flashes from Kumonde Hines at defensive end.
 
"There have been a lot of guys who I have been really pleased with and some guys who need to come along and progress like the other players," Woods said. "We tell them that all we need is 22 and that means our most dependable 22. They have to understand that every play is a success or failure and that there is a reason for that. When a play breaks down, it isn't magic. If it succeeds, it isn't by magic. It is by playing the game the right way.
 
Texas State will conclude spring practice with its annual Maroon-Gold Spring game on April 14.  The Bobcats open the 2018 season on Sept. 1 at Rutgers.
 
Texas State has six home games beginning with Texas Southern on Sept. 8. The Bobcats also host Louisiana, Georgia Southern, New Mexico State, Appalachian State and Arkansas State. Season tickets for the six home games are on sale. Bobcat fans can purchase 2018 season tickets for all six home games for as low as $80 through the Athletic Ticket Office in person at Bobcat Stadium, by calling 512-245-2272 or by clicking the tickets tab on www.txstatebobcats.com and logging into the Online Ticket Center.