The defensive side of the ball was one of the biggest questions going into the offseason after allowing opponents to average 461.5 yards per game last season. Along with players being added to Tech's defense from the portal, head coach Joey McGuire knew it was time to bring in someone new to run the secondary.

First year safeties coach Rob Greene is entering his first season with the Red Raiders, but it will not be his first time working with new defensive coordinator Shiel Wood.

"I think he (Wood) is one of the best defensive coordinators in the country," Greene told the media on Monday. "He's so consistent, he doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low, he is just solid, and that's what you want from your leader of your room... I'm so fired up to work with him."

With familiarity between the two already being established in past seasons, the chemistry between Wood and Greene is in good standing. With high hopes coming into the 2025 season with a new slate of coordinators, Greene has already set expectations for what he wants to see from his group under a new defensive scheme.

"The number one thing we have to do with safety, is when the ball breaks, we got to knock it down," Greene said. "We have to eliminate explosive plays... if the ball breaks, we want it to be a 12 yard play and not a 60 yard play.

We also got to be great communicators in the back end because football is a game of adjustments and a lot of times we're in charge of making the adjustments on our side of the field in terms of communication... there's a lot they're going to have to do well, but those two things we got to be absolute masters at."

Plenty of promising redshirt freshmen, such as Oliver Miles, Peyton Morgan, and Malik Esquerra, continue to grow throughout the spring. Greene has seen them evolve and get little problems fixed each day.

"Every day they're getting better and better and better," Greene said. "In terms of growth and strides, I think you can see that on a day to day basis, from just they're learning something new every day, they may mess it up a little bit, and then we get it fixed, and then the next day it's good to go."

Morgan is in the conversation for a potential starting role in the fall, and Greene has seen positive things from him and knows what it will take for him to step into that position.

"I think just being consistent every day. I think he (Morgan) was involved with two takeways on Saturday (1st scrimmage)," Green said. "It's just stacking those days over and over. That's probably the biggest adjustment for any redshirt freshman is just getting where I have this level rep is my top rep. How often can I be at that level with my focus... if you're just doing your job in the right position, the plays are going to come to you.

I think we're trying to accentuate these good reps, and just day by day, eliminating some bad reps. I think the more he does that, the more opportunities he can see."

With so many young guys coming up and making their case for playing time in the fall, NDSU transfer Cole Wisniewski has been a big role model for the younger players, not only for his football experience and reps but also for his leadership.

"Most of the reps Cole takes are usually how you want it done," Greene said. "He does a great job there.

Cole's done a great job of coming into the program, and, number one, creating relationships, because nobody's gonna buy you as a leader until they bought you as a person... he's done a really good job with that, not being overbearing, but being vocal when he needs to be vocal. I think he's earned everybody's respect just the way he approaches things and the way that he works."

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