Sports
John Hauser ready to lead Ohio’s new look defense in 2024
By: Andrew Bowlby
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Ohio football has experienced two consecutive seasons of dominance on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bobcats defensive group has recorded back-to-back years of having the second-best scoring defense in the Mid-American Conference. Furthermore, Ohio allowed the fourth fewest yards per game across all of college football in 2023.
Success that was seen under the watchful eye of former defensive coordinator Spence Nowinsky. The defense was a large part of leading the Bobcats to consecutive seasons of 10 wins for the first time in program history and bringing home two bowl wins in both the Arizona Bowl in 2022 and the Myrtle Beach Bowl in 2023.
However, heading into 2024, much has changed on the defensive front.
Numerous players have since graduated or transferred to another program and Nowinsky departed to take a coaching job at Memphis. This left the defensive coordinator role open. Arguably the most significant change of the offseason was John Hauser stepping in to fill that role.
Hauser felt the beginning of this season was similar to when he first joined the program in 2022 because of the amount of change.
“It’s kind of like 2022 when we just got here,” Hauser said. “There’s so many new faces, just starting over in square one and making sure we’re crossing t’s and dotting I’s and making sure these guys are understanding what we want.”
Ohio’s defensive coaches have spent the summer trying to get the returning players, and the new ones, reps across the board to build depth while maintaining the standard set in previous years.
“We have a good culture here, so holding them to a high standard and making sure that nothing was slipping,” Hauser said. “We’re trying to build some depth. It’s kind of starting over with our install [process], there’s not a lot of familiarity for the new guys.”
Two of the significant losses for Ohio were at the linebacker position.
All-MAC first team members Bryce Houston and Keye Thompson departed the program with Houston graduating and moving on to the NFL and Thompson transferring to Pittsburgh.
“You can’t replace those guys,” Hauser said.
The duo combined for 221 total tackles, 27% of the team’s total last season. Two guys Hauser is aware are unreplaceable.
However, there are other players who will be stepping up in 2024 and will be hungry to take their chance at leading the Bobcats defense.
“We have guys like Shay Taylor that are ready to step up and have been waiting their turn,” Hauser said. “I’m excited to see those new guys get a little different role and be able to step up and take on that leadership role.”
Taylor had seen minimal action in 2023 before Ohio’s bowl game against Georgia Southern where he tallied six tackles and a sack.
Along with Taylor, one of the key returners is Bradley Weaver. Heading into his fourth year with the Bobcats, Waver is coming off his best campaign yet. A year that saw him finish with 34 total tackles, but more importantly a team best six sacks.
“He’s what we are, he’s what we want to be. He’s a great example for the young guys, to practice like him, act like him,” Hauser said. “He does the right things on and off the field.”
One of the challenges Hauser faced in his first season as defensive coordinator has been getting the younger players to understand everything their positions encapsulates. He has leaned on multi-year members of the defense to help get the younger and newer players more accustomed to playing for Ohio.
“Just all the little things. Sometimes you just have to make mistakes to get it right,” Hauser said. “And that’s been the biggest challenge is getting them to understand the little things of the position and the defense.”
With just days remaining before the Bobcats kick off their season opener against Syracuse, Hauser is emphasizing getting all his players on the same page and focused on a few key aspects of the game.
“We’re going to talk about running to the ball, having great eye control, block destruction and communication that’s a big thing,” Hauser said. “We’ve been emphasizing [communication] the whole training camp because when you have a bunch of new guys, you have to be on the same page.”
While this group may still be working through the kinks, Hauser is looking forward to watching his guys get the chance to play.
“I’m excited to just see this group play and see us develop and hopefully take strides every week and get into the MAC and make something happen,” Hauser said.
The Bobcats will have their first chance to see the field Saturday in Syracuse, New York, against the Orange at 3:30 p.m.