No-loaf zone: Colts defensive coaches implement strict grading scale

At 6-foot-4 and 330 pounds, you might think it difficult to make Al Woods blush.

The Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle is one of the biggest men in the team’s locker room and, yet, his coaches have managed to bring him down to size.

You will hear the Colts talk about the effort required to play their defensive scheme, a system that is wholly dependent on speed and hustle. But talk doesn’t change cultures. And talk doesn’t send a message the way a little humiliation can.

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That’s why defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and his staff got Woods’ full and undivided attention on Tuesday when they revealed their assessment of Woods’ performance in Sunday’s season opener. Yes, he had three tackles and altered an Andy Dalton pass that resulted in an interception against the Cincinnati Bengals. But he had a few too many plays where he displayed less than 100 percent effort, according to Eberflus and staff.

And in Indianapolis, you’re going to hear about that. All. The. Time.

“It’s like, ‘Damn, man,’” Woods marveled on Wednesday. “I had eight?”

These instances are referred to as “loafs,” and that’s a term you’d best get used to hearing. It’s not new for those who have been around football awhile. It all stems from a system devised by former Colts coach Tony Dungy and his staff when he was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the late 1990s.

Derrick Brooks had loafs. Warren Sapp, too. No one was exempt. No shortcoming was overlooked.

That philosophy was handed down from Dungy’s defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin to fellow assistants Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli and, eventually, to Marinelli’s protégé, Eberflus.

Now the Colts’ first-year coordinator is keeping the concept alive in Indianapolis – much to his players’ chagrin.

“In the meeting room, your coach is going to say, ‘He’s loafing. He’s not giving maximum effort,’” Woods explained. “And that stings, especially in front of everybody. So, you go out there with every intention to do the best that you can.”

A loaf has different definitions for different players. Even when a player has seemingly done his job, the evaluation continues.

“You can have a great rush but then the quarterback throws the ball,” said defensive end Denico Autry, who copped to 11 loafs on Sunday. “Well, they still want you to run to the ball.”

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That expectation remains the same whether the ball is three or 30 yards downfield.

Why? Certainly, no one expects a 300-pound lineman to catch a streaking receiver well beyond his reach. But the idea is to make this level of effort reflexive and not elective. This new scheme is a work in progress. There will continue to be coverage busts and missed assignments, as you might expect in a new system. But the one thing that will never be compromised is the expectation of maximum effort.

Eberflus, for example, wants a minimum of seven defenders in the vicinity of the ball when any tackle is made. That’s not always possible, but that’s the standard. And when the standard is not reached, no one’s emotions will be spared.

Deal with it.

“It’s brutal,” coach Frank Reich said. “… Everyone is getting held accountable on every single play. There’s no exceptions. You have to run to the ball. That’s why I think that’s the distinction that we’re looking for. Over the course of time, the cumulative effect of that is going to lead to more turnovers. You might not notice the difference in one game, but over the course of a season, it all adds up to our advantage.”

Reich is speaking from a factual basis. The numbers speak for themselves.

The Buccaneers ranked third, second and first in interceptions during the three-year period between 2000 and 2002 (Dungy was fired after 2001 but Kiffin and Marinelli were holdovers on Jon Gruden’s staff). In 2002, Tampa Bay led the NFL with five defensive touchdowns en route to a Super Bowl title.

Dungy disciple Lovie Smith took the “loafs” concept with him when he became head coach of the Chicago Bears. It’s no surprise Chicago in 2006 ranked second in interceptions and first in forced fumbles. That team lost to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl.

There are some criticisms of the current scheme. It’s been played in Indianapolis before, and that has raised concerns about the potential for similar struggles in run defense, for instance. But the Colts believe the scheme can stand the test of time and are seeking results like some of the units that came before this one.

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“Most people are enamored with scheme,” Eberflus said. “They want to focus on this, that and the other thing, this coverage, that coverage, this front, blitzes and stuff. I think that’s important. We have all those things, but playing with great speed and great hustle is a trademark of our defense and has been part of this system for a long time.”

To get a sense of the strict, uncompromising interpretation applied to defining loafs, consider this: Rookie linebacker Darius Leonard, who led the Colts in tackles with nine and seemingly outhustles everyone on the field, said coaches told him he had seven loafs in the game.

“I mean, we had loafs back in college,” the South Carolina State product said, “but we didn’t have loafs like this. This is different.”

Said Woods: “If you pass their grading scale, you had a damn good game.”

For this to become cultural, it cannot only be enforced on game day.

“They call it out every day,” Autry said. “You hear coaches in practice every day yelling, ‘To the ball! To the ball! To the ball!’”

Watch the Colts play, and you can start to see the effect of all this. Autry watched his former team, the Oakland Raiders, play Monday night. He said he could detect a clear difference in the way the Colts finish plays.

“I actually said to myself, ‘Oh, man,’” Autry recalled. “It’s not the way they do things. They’re not really big on running to the ball there.”

Who’s to say who’s right or wrong? Maybe the Colts’ final results will suggest this philosophy didn’t have its intended effect (though it should be noted the Colts forced two fumbles and had an interception against Cincinnati). But for right now, if you play defense in Indianapolis, you’d best get going.

There will be no grading on a curve.

“They know the difference between 99 percent and 100 percent,” Reich said of his players. “We’re asking for 100 percent.”

(Top photo of Leonard and defense: Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)