When asked to describe his defensive philosophy, Snow leaned forward and paused. It was like throwing a fastball right down the middle to a power hitter.

"Everybody talks about playing hard, but they don't," Snow said. "A lot of people say they do it and they don't even come close. There is a lot of preparation that goes into doing that. So, that's No. 1.

"No. 2 is how physical you've got to play the game. You can't be good on defense if you are not physical. They told me going in that you can't play defense in the Big 12. But by Year Three, we were running to the football and we were playing real fast and physical."

Once Baylor eliminated little mistakes that led to big plays, Snow said the defense really turned the corner. And takeaways and sacks came as a byproduct of the effort Snow demanded. In 2019, Baylor finished second in takeaways (30), third in interceptions (17) and eighth in sacks per game (3.31).

"If you look at any good defense, they sack the quarterback and they create turnovers," Snow said. "That was the last stage of becoming good at both Baylor and Temple. The goal in college was 40 sacks. We did it at both places and won 10 games when we did."

So what will the defense look like under Snow in Carolina? Expect a variety of looks.

"We'll do quite a bit," Snow explained. "If the offense knows exactly where you are going to be, they are too good. You have to have some disguise and be able to move around to different fronts and coverages.

"And if you don't affect the quarterback and make him hold the ball. Take Drew Brees in our division. He gets rid of the ball in 2.5 seconds – well, you are not going to hit him, right? If you can't make him hold the football, how are you going to beat him? So you have to be multiple enough to challenge the offense. That's the goal."

Yes, the X's and O's are important, but here's one thing Snow can't stress enough: It's not necessarily what you do, it's how you do it.