Joey Florence was blessed with a top-notch defense over the past two seasons.
Prior to last season, Ryan got a move-in by the name of Mario Edwards, who turned into the No. 1 recruit in the nation according to ESPN.
He also had the services of three other Football Bowl Subdivision prospects to work with on a defense that allowed just 16.8 points and 239.4 yards per game in 2011.
But it isn't the best he's seen.
Florence's teams went to the Class 4A state championship game four straight times from 2000-03, winning in 2001 and 2002 with the best high school defense he'd ever coached.
"Those teams we had in '01 and '02 were unbelievably talented football teams on both sides of the ball," Florence said. "Almost every starter we had - we might have had 11 Division I players on defense on those teams."
That included eventual first-round NFL draft pick Jarvis Moss and Missouri's all-time sack leader and fourth-round draft pick Brian Smith.
"Back then it was a little different ballgame," Florence said. "We had a few more than what we had this year. But it is a very impressive group of kids in this area. But yeah, I've seen it before. Back then, it was just nuts."
In those days, there were only two high schools in Denton ISD. Now there are three with the opening of Guyer in 2005, which would theoretically dilute the city's talent.
But with national signing day on tap today, Denton ISD is set to turn out another historic crop of defensive talent.
Edwards, a 6-4, 285-pound defensive end who runs a 4.8 40-yard dash and can famously do a standing back flip, is set to sign with Florida State, the alma mater of his father, Mario Edwards, who went on to play for the Cowboys as a defensive back.
The younger Edwards was joined this season on the Ryan defense by fellow defensive end Dominique Banks (Baylor) and linebackers Jordan Richmond (Texas A&M) and Alex De La Torre (Texas).
At Guyer, the Wildcats also had four FBS recruits on the defensive side of the ball, even though middle linebacker Dominic Ramacher likely will move to offense at Oklahoma State.
The Wildcats were blessed with three FBS-level players on the defensive line, which coupled with Ramacher gave Guyer one of the best run defenses in the area, allowing just 130.3 yards per game on the ground.
Guyer defensive end Diontre Thomas is set to sign with Louisiana-Monroe while tackles Cody Hennesee and Dan Kottman are set to go to Rice and San Diego State, respectively.
Guyer head coach John Walsh, whose coaching background is with quarterbacks and as an offensive coordinator, said he learned as a young coach the importance of having quality athletes on defense.
"You're not a very intelligent coach if you don't realize great defenses win games," Walsh said. "Alabama and LSU had great defenses and the NFL has great defenses going deep. It's a credit to Joey [Florence] and us for recognizing that. When you start putting together your depth chart for next season, you better have a quarterback and 11 on defense, and then you fill in the rest. It's been proven at every level. You can score all the points you want to, but you have to stop people to win."
Florence knows that better than anyone.
In 2008 and 2009, Ryan was led by an explosive offense with record-setting quarterback Scotty Young. After Young graduated, Florence re-evaluated his program and decided he had to go back to a defense-first, ball-control style offense.
"We went back and looked at our championship seasons, and we were throwing 25 or 30 times a game. Our defense was averaging about 48 plays a game. Those two years [2008-09] our defense was averaging 83 plays a game. You see it at all levels. We're going to play defense. I didn't like that environment and we're going to always try to play defense and throw the ball about 25 times a game unless someone like Scotty comes along again."
The advent of such talented defensive players has been brought on by a shift in the philosophy of the game.
Just ask Ken Purcell.
The Denton ISD athletic director had coached both offense and defense at Plano before becoming the head coach at Allen from 1982-95.
"Back in my head coaching days in Allen, if you had a 6-4, 275-pound kid [like Edwards] he was probably a 5.2 or 5.3 guy in the 40-yard dash and played on the offensive line," Purcell said. "In the '80s and early '90s, anything under 4.8 was a running back.
"That lends itself to defense. These big, fast kids are playing defense now. It's added a whole new dimension to the game. It's made it more physical too."
Damon Sayles, the Midlands recruiting coordinator for ESPN, covers recruiting in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota.
He said the transition of many high school offenses to the spread has made it hard for college programs to recruit defensive linemen, which makes the five coming from Denton ISD such a rarity.
"They're passing the ball a lot more now, and in order to put a halt on how an offense performs, it all starts with that front four," Sayles said. "With defensive ends especially, you need a pass rusher. Defensive tackles are going to have clog the lanes to stop the run game and also pressure the quarterback. If you're able to do that, it makes the job so much easier for outside linebackers and cornerbacks who have to cover the passing game."
So while this year's defensive signing class is a special one for the city of Denton, Walsh was quick to go back to Florence's point that this isn't the first time the area has seen a class like this one on defense.
Walsh said even before Edwards was the nation's top recruit, Denton was a must-stop destination for college coaches from across the country because of the great defensive talent in town.
"That's been going on for years," Walsh said. "Mario definitely brings more national attention to this area, but that's been going on since I moved here. I remember being 0-10 and having 20 college coaches come through."
ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com .
 
