Creative Veteran DC Spencer Driven to Help Bulls Achieve Success
COACHES PROFILE SERIES: While we wait for USF football to hit the field once again, Senior Writer Tom Zebold and Voice of the Bulls Jim Louk give Bulls fans a window to know more about the people and personalities on head coach Jeff Scott's first USF staff.
The series covers more ground with the story of coaching veteran Glenn Spencer, USF's energetic, innovative, caring and funny new defensive coordinator.
LISTEN: Spencer's interview with Voice of the Bulls Jim Louk HERE.
PAST PROFILES:
Charlie Weis Jr. - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, APRIL 6, 2020 – Sitting by the desk in his home office,
Glenn Spencer was running through a play he drew up and had to put the brakes on things because one of his "young linebackers" wasn't "dialed in" on the position group plan.
"I'm tired of this, Max. You gotta pay attention," said Spencer, while looking down at one of his three dogs in front of the dry-erase board last work week. "You'll never get on the field like this. You understand me?"
Meanwhile, Spencer's always observant wife, Jeannine Edwards, snuck in and chuckled while capturing the magical moment. While she was at it, the retired ESPN college football and basketball reporter managed to conduct a quick interview and give a "Linebackers Room" tour the Twitter world would later see.
That, in a nutshell, is who USF's new defensive coordinator really is.
For three decades, Spencer has passionately appreciated his life in the football world, even in the current COVID-19 crisis, when he has to humorously "practice coaching."
Spencer also is an honorable man who really values the close relationships he's formed with family, former players, colleagues and friends. Yes, he's still cool with Max, who didn't soak up football info like the real Bulls linebacker group did virtually in a previous install meeting.
A vastly experienced coach, the energetic 55-year-old still loves to scheme up different ways of giving opponents fits, especially in recent years with his ever-evolving "30-float" trickery. Such a "very confusing" defense even made one of Spencer's opponents tip their cap to his creativity.
"Football-wise, I think the greatest compliment you can get as a coach, and probably as a player too, when you're a competitor, is for your adversaries to speak highly of you," Spencer said.
For all that, and probably much more that will eventually shine through to Bulls fans, Spencer was chosen by
Jeff Scott to bring it all to the table as USF's new defensive coordinator.
"Hopefully I'm not a finished product. I still love to learn every day," said the elder statesman of Scott's primary staff, the youngest in The American with coaches averaging the age of 36. "Hopefully all those experiences and all those men who were a part of (my career), and who I've developed as a coach and just Xs and Os guy, will pay dividends for us here at South Florida.
From the Peach State to '30-Float' Success
For every destination on his 30-year journey as a coach, and even further back to his playing days, appreciative Spencer can credit at least one coach who shaped his life on and off the gridiron.
Melvin Crook was a "big man with a big heart" who started to develop the former standout defensive tackle from Douglasville, Ga., at Lithia Springs High School. Spencer went on to earn four varsity letters (1982-85) at Georgia Tech after head coach and "dear friend" Bill Curry convinced him to commit to the rebuilding program.
"I'd still run through a wall for him. He taught me a lot about toughness and integrity," said Spencer of Curry, who played center for Bobby Dodd at Tech, won Super Bowl I with Vince Lombardi and later suited up in the NFL for Don Shula.
As a new coach, Spencer climbed the ladder at West Georgia, where he led linebackers (1990-97) and coordinated the defense (1997-98) before succeeding "dear friend" Charlie Fisher as head coach (1998-2000). Spencer made Fisher proud by earning NCAA Division II Region Coach of the Year honors in 1998 and leading West Georgia to the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 1998 and 2000, both conference title seasons.
Spencer thanks George O'Leary – yes, Bulls fans, that George O'Leary - for giving him a chance to coach "at a higher level" for his alma mater, Georgia Tech (2001-03). Spencer served as an assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Duke (2004-06) under Ted Roof, another "dear friend" and a former Tech teammate.
Spencer will always appreciate Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy for the opportunity to gain Big 12 experience from 2008-17. Starting with the D-line (2008), Spencer coached linebackers from 2009-17 in addition to defensive coordinator duties (2011-17) he solely handled for his final five seasons with the program.
"You learn how to win games in different ways in the Big 12, with the tempo on both sides of the ball and the amount of reps in the series that you're defending," Spencer said.
Winning 10 games stayed the "high standard" under Gundy, who allowed Spencer to develop his defensive scheme that's led to sustained success.
"A lot of what I do is multiple, but if you broke us down now, you'd say probably 65-70 percent is what I call '30-float,'" Spencer said. "So, it's a three-down scheme with a bunch of different looks on the back end, some guys based off formation, playing different assignments."
Spencer also owes a debt of gratitude to Brad Lambert and Lane Kiffin for giving him "the freedom to keep expanding my package" the past two seasons at Charlotte and Florida Atlantic.
The results speak for themselves.
Back in 2018, Spencer's Charlotte crew ranked fourth in the FBS in rushing defense (88.5 ypg) and 14
th nationally in total defense (306.6 ypg).
Kiffin gave Spencer the keys to C-USA champion FAU's 2019 defense that led the nation in takeaways (33), interceptions (22) and turnover margin (+21). Once Kiffin headed to Ole Miss, Spencer steered the ship as FAU's interim head coach in a 52-28 Boca Raton Bowl victory over SMU.
Always doing his homework, new USF head coach
Jeff Scott heard all about Spencer's "very confusing" scheme from Rhett Lashlee, SMU's offensive coordinator in the Mustangs' eventual bowl game loss to the Owls.
"Right there just kind of made me feel good that schematically and against our opponents, we were doing some different things," Spencer said. "I think some things I've done the last couple years are very unique to the game right now."
Still Got 'Some Juice,' and a Loving Critic
All it took were some heart-to-heart talks with Scott for Spencer to realize USF would be a great fit for his next coaching destination.
Among the many attractive selling points for Spencer were pillars of Scott's current program that previously lifted mentor Dabo Swinney's Clemson culture to incredible heights. Things that aligned greatly with Spencer's philosophy included putting a premium on character, family, accountability and playing by the rules with integrity, even when nobody is watching in practice.
"Kind of looking toward the last phase of my career, that's the kind of program I want to be around," Spencer said. "That's the kind of man I want to be associated with."
Since joining forces with Scott in late December, Spencer has been teaching linebackers and the rest of the USF defense his brand of football. Unfortunately, his on-field time with the Bulls has been brief this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I only got one day with these guys, as far as scheme-wise, 11-on-11, seeing how they can pick up the knowledge, seeing how they could rep it," he said. "I tell you what I'm not disappointed in at all is their hunger to learn and their desire to be good."
Currently limited to online meetings with his players, Spencer can still talk football in person with his wife, Jeannine Edwards, a versatile sports reporter. The loving couple were married in 2013, nearly two years after Spencer lost his first wife, Angela, to a long battle with heart disease.
Spencer first met Edwards when she was covered Oklahoma State's game at Texas A&M with great care the week of Angela's passing.
"She was with (ESPN) for 22-plus years and she was a true pro," Spencer said. "… I remember her in interviews with me, before we even really knew each other, prepared with attention to detail. She was just an expert and a true professional."
Several months after their first meeting, Spencer found much comfort in the way Edwards treated not only him, but his two boys, Abe and Luke. Fast-forward to today and Spencer feels "blessed" to have a partner who is so dedicated to him, she constantly critiques his football strategy.
"I get messages from her at halftime, or during a game, when she knows I don't have my phone. She's like, 'What are you doing? What are we doing here? You can't blitz in that situation. Can you not drop eight here?" Spencer said. "I get that and I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?" That's just her. She's not just sitting at home enjoying the game as a fan. She wants to know why we're doing what we're doing."
Future texts from Edwards will certainly be there for Spencer to read once he boards the bus with the Bulls after games. For now, all the anxious coach can do is wait and prepare for USF's return the practice field.
"This is just eating at me, what's going on right now, to not be able to develop them as a unit like I want to," he said
Once that whistle finally blows, Spencer is ready to show he's still got "some juice out there" as the spirited orchestrator of the USF defense.
"You come out there and watch me on the field one day and you'll wonder who is the 25-year-old and who is the 55-year-old," he said. "I'm gonna chase them around, just like I did 30 years ago."
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23rd season (20th at the FBS level) in 2019. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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