For the second consecutive season, Urban Meyer has lost a major coaching cog from his fine-tuned system. This time, defensive coordinator Charlie Strong moved up and out of Gainesville when he took a well deserved head coaching gig at Louisville. Strong took his attacking-style defense with him; a philosophy which was one of attack from anywhere, anytime.

Out goes Strong, in comes Teryl Austin, with 19 years of coaching experience, 12 of which are at the college level. Austin is well versed to say the least and has served a defensive backs coach most recently, heading up the units for both the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks. At both coaching stops, Austin led ball hawking and turnover-happy secondaries.

The big question facing Austin at Florida is; will he lead the defense in the same, attacking way Strong did or will he deviate from what has made the Gators successful on defense during the Charlie Strong years? We already know Austin knows how to coach up the back end of the defense; his last two coaching stops resulted in Super Bowl appearances in which his units were a key part in his respective teams’stradegies. However, what you do up front is the bread and butter for success on his side of the ball; an area where Austin has little experience.

So what will Teryl Austin do?

There is no doubt fans like to see a defense attack, but those units walk a fine line and tend to allow the big play. On the flip side, he could always take the conservative route and slip into a cover-two look; thus playing a bend, but don’t break defense.

Whether he attacks, plays conservative or the more likely, finding somewhere in between; Austin must make this unit his own. With a core of savvy college vets at a few key positions and athletes all over the depth chart, Austin has a great opportunity to make it happen.