MJ Sherman weighs impact of schemes, players on defensive production

Nebraska transfer EDGE defender MJ Sherman has the potential to make a big impact playing in the Cornhuskers 3-3-5 defense under defensive coordinator Tony White. With the ability to be multiple and attack offenses from unorthodox spots and angles, the 3-3-5 can be a highly effective scheme.

But Sherman knows it really comes down to players making plays on the football field. No amount of scheme overcomes that.

“To be frankly honest, the coaches can only do so much when it comes to scheme and everything like that. You can have the best defensive scheme, you can have the best game plan for any offense, but if the players ain’t there to execute, it wouldn’t mean nothing,” Sherman said. “So it really just boils down to execution. I think that’s why I really just pride myself on making sure I’m in the right spot, right alignment, making sure I do everything right.” 

Sherman knows that good players freelancing doesn’t trump a defense that plays as a unit, no matter what. It’s not that scheme isn’t valuable, but that it’s only as useful as the players ability to run it right. They’re the business end of all the Xs and Os.

When it comes to the 2023 Nebraska defense, Sherman seems to think the Cornhuskers are on the right track with both. The Nebraska defense is talented and the scheme is putting that talent in spots to succeed. He explained how both elements — scheme and talent — led to a key play he made in the spring game.

“Just gotta trust what the coaches call and execute. And that’s what I really did, honestly,” Sherman said. “I ain’t going to sit here and be like, ‘Oh, I just manhandled everybody.’ But, I just did what I had to do for that play call and that was that.”

Nebraska transfer quarterback Jeff Sims recalls facing White’s 3-3-5 defense

White actually spent time game-planning against Jeff Sims, then at Georgia Tech, during the 2020 season when White was with Syracuse. Spring practice might be a different level but Sims is happy to be going up against White once again.

“Yeah, I played against Coach White when I was at Georgia Tech my freshman year,” Sims said. “He was at Syracuse. And I knew all spring it was going to be a battle because his defense is really good. He threw a lot of different looks at us and I feel like that’s only going to make us better as an offense. Because we’ll see a lot of looks that we’ll probably see in the season.”