COLUMBUS, Ohio – For everything that went right last season there were plenty of things that went wrong with the Ohio State defense in 2018 and stopping that from becoming a trend is of utmost importance to this first-year staff under Ryan Day.

Issues giving up big plays, inconsistent play from the back seven and a lack of takeaways were all part of the problem and the new staff under the first-year head coach are taking all aspects of this seriously as there is a complete evaluation of the defense from tops to tails.

Day brought in Jeff Hafley from the NFL ranks to help with this rebuild along with three other defensive coaching hires to rebuild the defensive staff. Hafley is a strong proponent of simplification at this point to take inventory of what the Buckeyes have and where the Buckeyes can excel.

“I think what we are trying to do right now is that we are trying to be very simple to allow our guys to learn and play very fast to allow us to evaluate them,” Hafley said on Wednesday after practice.

Hafley and Greg Mattison will bring back a defense that will not be short on returning starters from the 2018 season but there will need to be an evaluation if the pieces are in the right places as the defense looks to expand its playbook from being a man-to-man press-quarters defense to something more diverse.

“We are multiple to a degree,” Hafley said. “We are not going to line up and play the same thing every time, run the same blitz every time. I think the biggest thing for us is to evaluate at the end of spring, see where we are at and then go from there.”

One change that we have already seen is the addition of the ‘bullet’ position. Think of it as something similar to the ‘viper’ position that Mattison coached at Michigan.

RELATED: Brendon White making a push at the 'Bullet' position

Beyond some scheme changes in terms of actual positions, look for there to be a good amount of cross-training during the spring and into the fall so the Buckeyes have versatility and the ability to get the best players on the field at the same time and be able to plug-and-play, as they say.

“I want to teach these guys how to play the game,” Hafley said. “I don’t want them to just be pigeonholed into just one position. I want them to play football and learn different positions because I think it’ll help us and then I think it’ll help them in the future.”

Don’t look for the Buckeyes to go too deep into ‘install’ during the spring. Yes, there will be some things that will be put into place but for now it is about getting everyone right on technique and having a strong foundation to build off of.

“We are putting some stuff in but our goal in spring is not to get complicated with scheme, we want our guys to learn the basics and build a foundation to play fast, understand what they are doing and play with great fundamentals and technique,” Hafley added.

Those fundamentals will all be called into play once everything is installed and everyone knows their marching orders. But it will be important for each defensive person to understand more than their own assignments in order to have the type of defense that these coaches are envisioning.

“If they can learn the why and see the big picture, then they can plug into all those spots,” Hafley said. “Plus, on game day the whole way that this is going to be built is that if we get beat by something everybody should know why because they should understand the big picture and scheme.”

On the other side of the ball, the truly successful quarterbacks need to know what the other 10 players are doing at all times, in addition to what the quarterback is supposed to be doing. That position really requires a mastery of the scheme as a whole.

The goal on defense is to have guys with that kind of mastery on that side of the ball.

“That is what we are trying to teach here,” Hafley said. “We are trying to teach these guys to understand the scheme as a whole. It is not as complicated as you might think.”

With as much talent as the Buckeyes have in the secondary on the roster, the position battles should be epic and pick up these fundamental changes will have a leg up when it comes down to playing time.

“The more multiple we can be, the more we can do on defense."