Lempa plans to fill Warriors’ playbook with unique defense

In packing the defensive scheme to bring to Manoa, newly named University of Hawaii defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa could not find a label to place on the packages.

“There’s no name for it,” said Lempa, who arrives in town from Boston this afternoon. “It’s just an aggressive defense. That’s all I can say. It’s not a cookie-cutter defense. It’s not a 4-3. It’s not a 3-3. It’s not a 3-4. It’s really a combination of all of them.”

The Warriors employed a 4-3 base when Lempa was UH’s defensive coordinator from 2000 to 2002. When he departed to coach Boston College’s defensive backs in 2003, his second of three stints with the Eagles, Lempa had authored several additions to the expanded UH playbook.

“We put in a lot of stuff,” Lempa recalled. “The playbook wasn’t big the first year. It got bigger as I was there. I kept adding on things.”

Since then, Lempa has embraced Don Brown’s defensive concepts. Brown, recently hired as Michigan’s defensive coordinator, and Lempa worked together for two years at Maryland and the past three at Boston College. The Eagles led the nation in total defense in 2015.

Brown’s defenses involve schemes employing four, three or two down linemen, between two and five linebackers, and up to six defensive backs.

“It all depends on who fits in the particular defense we play,” Lempa said.

In the 13 years since he was last coaching in Hawaii, Lempa said, “I think I’ve become more aggressive. If we have players who can play man-to-man coverage, I think we’ll be a little more aggressive than I was the last time, and we were aggressive the last time I was here, too.”

Lempa has yet to evaluate UH’s personnel, but believes defenders “don’t want to sit and read and react. On defense, especially in Hawaii, they want to go after the running back. They want to go after the decision-maker — the quarterback. They want to hit the quarterback. They want to go and make plays. They don’t want to react. The mentality of the players in Hawaii is that way. Now we have to make sure we can cover.”

He said the Eagles were in man-to-man coverages 68 percent of the defensive plays this past season.

“You need to have a package where you’re playing the run aggressively and playing the pass aggressively,” Lempa said. “That gives your players a mind-set: ‘This is how we’re going to play.’”

Lempa, who has been evaluating videos of prospective recruits, said the wish is to add defensive backs and rush ends. Of pass rushers, Lempa said, “Those are the guys you make your money on. Everybody else is there to stop the run. When it’s time for them to throw the ball, those are the guys — the pass rushers — who make the play.”