Texas Football: Malcolm Roach blindsides former DC Todd Orlando

Drama amongst a former Texas football coach and player as defensive end Malcolm Roach somewhat hung his DC, Todd Orlando, out to dry.

Two parts of the defense for the Texas football program over the past few years that are no longer with the team seemed to have some bad feelings at least coming from one direction. That player that in some ways hung his former coach out to dry is the ex-senior starting defensive end Malcolm Roach. And the coach is former Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.

Prior to the start of bowl season, head coach Tom Herman turned over much of his coaching staff with the Texas Longhorns football program. One of those moves he made was to part with Orlando completely. Orlando wound up getting replaced by the former Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Chris Ash.

However, Roach opened up about his thoughts on Orlando’s scheme and how they impacted him and the entire Longhorns defense over the course of the last three seasons. Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published the interview with Roach on how he feels the Texas defensive schemes impacted him and his production during his time on the Forty Acres.

Here’s what Roach had to say on the matter.

"“I would have loved to be in a 4-3,” Roach said. “I think it’s a smart move. You have pass rushers out there, Taquon Graham, Marquez Bimage, Joe Ossai — guys that can get after the quarterback. You have to use those guys. That was the biggest thing that we got caught up in, not using our weapons to our full advantage. Now they brought in a new staff, giving those guys the opportunity to rush the passer and show what they have.”"

This news story could be developing into something which can impact the 2020 NFL Draft stock of Roach as he is currently going through that scouting process.

Here’s what else he had to say about his usage, as well as his teammate’s, from that Texas defense during his college career.

"“We understood the reason why we were running what we were running,” Roach said. “That style of play didn’t transfer to the NFL and the NFL didn’t understand what type of player this guy was. Or what type of player they would be getting because of the scheme we ran. I just feel 3-4 didn’t let us showcase our abilities the way we wanted to. But we understood why we were running it. I feel the 4-3 will help those guys to show their talents and more people will come out of Texas.”"

Texas finished up their 2019 campaign with Orlando at the helm with a 7-5 (5-4 Big 12) record before he saw the door out of Austin. He was let go after the Longhorns knocked off the Texas Tech Red Raiders by the final score of 49-24 in their regular season finale.

During his senior season, Roach racked up 40 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, three sacks, and one pass deflection. It was one of his more productive seasons on the Forty Acres, but his freshman campaign was his most efficient. Given that, it is not too shocking to see the frustration that Roach is expressing about Orlando’s impact on his college career. The freshman season for Roach was still while former head coach Charlie Strong was at the helm in Austin.