Q&A With UAB Defensive Coordinator Steve Russ
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 14, 2025
It’s been a spring practice filled with learning and teaching for the UAB defense. Steve Russ, who is in his first year as the Blazers defensive coordinator, a totally revamped defensive staff are learning about their players and bringing a new system to the program.
The defense took a positive step forward on Saturday in the first scrimmage of spring practice. But there is still a long way to go for Russ and his defense. Russ took a few minutes after the scrimmage to talk about what’s ahead for the UAB defense.
What did you like and not like about the play of the defense in Saturday’s scrimmage? “I like the guys’ energy today. All levels, all the guys I thought came out there and played with good energy. That's always great to see, it starts there, right. You can't play good defense if you're not really playing with a lot of juice, a lot of verve. Guys swarming to the ball, I thought guys on the sideline were engaged. That's good. Having said that, we've got a long ways to go to be where we want to be. But each day, if we can get a little bit better. We don't always do that, but if each day we can get a little bit better, then we'll be better than where we were the previous day. So that's what we're focused on. It's just individually and as a group trying to get better each and every day. And obviously evaluate what we have. Obviously, we think we have some pretty good things schematically. But at the same time, you have to evaluate that too. What can your guys do? Some things guys are better at, groups are better at. And so, we're just out here trying to build great habits.”
How much do you learn from scrimmages? “I think it's great to see guys tackle. I think that's probably the biggest thing, can guys truly tackle. In normal practice, Coach (Dilfer) does a great job of sprinkling some in every now and then, but this is when you get a chance to really tackle. So defensively, being able to get off of the block, but then finish a guy or tackle somebody in open space, I think is always big. To be able to evaluate in that regard. That would be the biggest thing.
I don't want to sound like a broken record. We're just trying to build really, really good habits. Are we in a good stance? I mean, it sounds cliche, but are we in a good stance? Are we reading our keys? Are our eyes where they supposed to be? Am I playing fast and being where I’m supposed to be off of that key? Am I then hustling to the ball? I mean, just, how we run to the ball (is important). And then am I running to the ball with a great angle? All of those things are just something that cannot be beaten into us enough. It's all about the how and the why being more important than the what. That's what we're really, really working on is always the how and the why. Obviously, you gotta be able to know what to do. But if you know what to do and you’re not doing it the right way, it doesn't do you any good.”
Did you mix and match the defensive players during scrimmage or try to stick with a strict first team, second team and third team?
“We’re still in the process of evaluating guys. You know, we're brand new. We're a brand new staff, so we're new to these guys. We've brought in some guys from the transfer portal in December. We're legitimately letting guys compete and it's not just lip service. I mean, there isn't a one group, there isn't a two group, there isn’t a three. We're trying to develop guys and allow guys to compete. In doing so, I think you bring out the best in those players and then you also get a good picture of the racking stack when eventually you have to put 11 guys out there. But the bottom line is that you also then create a ton of depth, which is a problem in this day and age of college football. Then the third part would be you develop guys, the younger guys as well. That's what we want to do. We want to create competition, we want to evaluate our roster, we want to build depth, we want to be able to develop guys. It's not just developing the young guys. We got to develop every single guy out here because there’s a lot of ceiling left in several of these guys that as coaches we need to be able to help them reach that ceiling.”
How much do you learn from digging into the film of a scrimmage as opposed to what you see on the field in a regular practice?
“To me, when you dig into it, the big thing is that if we're practicing properly, there should be no difference (in what you see). As long as we have shoulder pads and helmets there should be and help us out, there should be no difference in everything other than the guy didn't go to the ground, the ball carrier. Otherwise, if you're practicing the professional way, because they don't tackle in practice, other than in preseason games. You have to put your body in a position to always tackle, even if you're not tackling. Whether it's a thud, whether it's a proper angle, whether it's technique. There are all scenarios that they know how they need to finish a play, to help them when it is time, that moment of truth, when you flip the switch to now take them to the ground. Everything is there, every component is there other than taking the man to the ground. So really, that's the only thing that we're looking for.
Each and every day we need to put the ball down, we need to go compete. I think we've had great competition. The offense has had tons of success. The defense has had some success. We've been going back and forth against each other, which has been awesome, because I believe iron sharpens iron. That's been wonderful for us, but I continue to go back to building habits.”
What percentage of your defense do you have installed at this point? “I won't give you a percent but we're working hard. The assistant coaches have been amazing in what they've been able to do. I sit in their meetings and bounce back and forth. We couldn't be more blessed to have the assistants that we have, the guys that I have the pleasure to work with. The quality of the teaching and the instruction and the level I think of buy-in that we're getting is where we need to be.
So, we kind of play it by ear a little bit in how much can they handle. It’s a process, a learning process, and failure is a part of that process right. Making mistakes are a part of that process. And every now and then, we'll bark at them a little bit if it's a repeat mistake. But otherwise, they've got to be able to learn. But the one thing we won't sacrifice is the effort, the energy, the attitude, the level of preparation, the focus that they come out with. They have control over that, the opponent has no control over that. That's just a daily choice that we all make in life, so that's what we're looking for. I'm really proud of the coaches and how they poured into these guys. To their credit, the players are really doing the best they can to dive into it and learn what we want them to do. I'm giving them credit to be able to come out here and embrace it and learn what we're trying to teach them.”