Pack new defensive coordinator ready to make impact

Chris Ault, who has coached the sport of football since Lyndon Baines Johnson was president and the Super Bowl was just 2-years-old, has never changed his philosophy on defense.

A 29-year-old Ault in the summer before his first season as the Nevada Wolf Pack's head coach . . .

"The only way to play defense is to get after people," Ault told the Reno Gazette-Journal in August 1976. "I think a lot of coaches make mistakes on defense with too much technique. If you just lay your ears back and go get 'em, you can play defense. The one characteristic of our defense will be aggressiveness."

A 65-year-old Ault after his 27th season as Wolf Pack head coach late last month . . .

"Defense is more about attitude than it is about scheme," Ault said.

Mike Bradeson, who was named the Wolf Pack's defensive coordinator on Monday, has that go get 'em attitude.

"We will coach and play with high energy and great effort," said Bradeson, who, if nothing else, knows what his head coach wants to hear.

So forget scheme and technique. You'll never hear about the Pack defense coming up with a cute, little nickname like the Pistol (Brad's Bad Boys?) to describe what they are doing.

"You can't try to trick people on defense," Ault said. "On defense you have to react to what the offense is doing. You can't always do the same thing on defense."

The one thing, though, you can always do on defense is rip the helmets off the opposition. That's why, as far as Ault is concerned, you can strap a headset on a growling grizzly bear and call him a defensive coordinator.

"The defense sets the tone for the entire team," Ault said. "On offense you score a touchdown, celebrate in the end zone a little and that's it. But if you make a great play on defense, everyone gets excited. It brings a new energy to your entire football team. That's what we've been looking for."

Bradeson has never lacked energy and passion since he helped Boise State win the Division I-AA national title as a defensive back in 1980 and throughout his 30-year coaching career.

As the Wolf Pack's secondary coach the last two seasons, the 52-year-old Bradeson was by far the most active and verbal coach on the practice field. It wasn't uncommon to see the lanky Bradeson streak (OK, it was more like a passionate hobble) across the field to congratulate a Pack defensive back for making a great play or to remind him what he could have done better.

"I want an energized atmosphere on defense," Ault said. "And I don't want it to be manufactured. It has to be real for the kids to believe in it."

There is nothing fake about Mike Bradeson.

"I'm confident that Brad will bring a new energy to our defense," Ault said.

Make no mistake, Bradeson's promotion has more to do with Ault's decision to revamp his coaching staff than it is about making drastic changes or improvement on defense. It's Ault's plan to add an offensive coordinator/ quarterback coach on offense and to do that he couldn't add another defensive coach to replace departed coordinator Andy Buh.

If Ault really wanted to improve his defense -- a group that he was admittedly disappointed in last season - he would have brought in new blood.

"We didn't improve on defense last year," Ault said.

It must also be noted that the one area on defense that Ault was most disappointed in was Bradeson's secondary, a veteran group that failed to live up to expectations.

"We didn't have any consistency," Ault said.

Bradeson's promotion was just the simplest way to restructure his coaching staff. Ault had to hand the title of coordinator to someone already on his defensive staff. Adding a fancy title to Bradeson's resume is just Ault's way of keeping things status quo on defense while he takes steps to insure the future of his Pistol offense.

The last thing Ault wanted to do the next year or two is break in a new defensive coordinator unfamiliar with the Nevada way (also known as the Ault way) of doing things. He did that in 2008 and 2009 with Nigel Burton and all that accomplished was yet another defensive coordinator search in 2010.

The next few years Ault wants to simply toss in some raw red meat into the defensive coach's offices as he walks down the hallway at Cashell Fieldhouse on his way to tutoring the new offensive coordinator on the finer points of the pistol offense.

"If I'm the defensive coordinator, I'd love to coach with me," Ault said. "I let my defensive staff take charge of the defense."

Yeah, right. If you think it's easy to be the defensive coordinator under Ault, well, just remember that Bradeson will be the 16th man to hold the title as Ault starts his 28th season as head coach in September.

An average tenure of 1.75 years is impressive when compared to the average length of a Kim Kardashian marriage but it doesn't exactly signify stability on a football team's defensive staff. It also doesn't exactly signify a head coach that is easy on his defensive coordinator.

"If we're not playing well on defense I'm not afraid of saying, 'Let's pick it up,'" Ault said.

Bradeson knows what he's getting into. He can handle Ault's fire. Ault picked him for the job because he knows Bradeson can handle his fire. Bradeson taking the title of coordinator is just his way of falling on the grenade for the good of the program, for the good of his colleagues on the defensive side of the ball, for the good of the Pack defensive players and, more than anything, for the good of Ault's master plan.

But that doesn't mean that Bradeson didn't deserve the title or that he can't do that job. He is, without question, the perfect man for the job.

Bradeson, as a matter of fact, has probably been the best defensive coordinator at either end of the state over the past dozen seasons. As UNLV's defensive coordinator for five seasons (2000-04) under head coaches John Robinson and Mike Sanford, Bradeson did something that has rarely been done -- he gave the Rebels a defense they could be proud of.

Under Bradeson's leadership, the Rebels allowed just 21.8 points a game in 2000. In 2001, Bradeson's Rebel defense was instrumental in a 31-14 win over Arkansas in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Rebels also held Air Force to 10 points and San Diego State to three points that season. In 2002, the Rebels under Bradeson held BYU to a field goal. In 2003, they held Wisconsin to five points at Madison. And in 2004, they once again held Wisconsin to a field goal.

And, oh yeah, from 2000-04, it was Bradeson's UNLV defense that keyed five consecutive victories over the Wolf Pack. The Rebels and Bradeson held the Pack to just 12.2 points a game those five years. It was Bradeson's defense that keyed the biggest loss in Ault's career in the Pack-Rebel rivalry, a 48-13 UNLV win in 2004. The Rebels, by the way, haven't beaten the Wolf Pack since Bradeson went back to coaching the secondary in 2005.

So, yes, Bradeson can do the job. And he deserves the job. No question.

"This is what you build for in your career," Bradeson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after being named by Robinson as UNLV's defensive coordinator in 2000. "I've been ready for this for years."

Imagine how ready he is a dozen years later.