In this thread: I face facts about Ted Roof

[Whiskey_Clear]

Ted Roof loves the Institute. Ted Roof knows D football better than everyone on this board. He sees his talent day in and day out, and he knows how to use this talent appropriately to give GT the BEST chance to win. No one else you bring in would be as invested as this man. I appreciate what he has done. Would I like it if we did better against 2-minute offenses over the past few years? Sure, but this is about talent AND depth, as much as it is about scheme and coaching.

Fify

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Ted Roof loves the Institute. Ted Roof knows D football better than almost everyone on this board. He sees his talent day in and day out, and he knows how to use this talent appropriately to give GT the BEST chance to win. No one else you bring in would be as invested as this man. I appreciate what he has done. Would I like it if we did better against 2-minute offenses over the past few years? Sure, but this is about talent AND depth, as much as it is about scheme and coaching.

In regards to the "two minute offense," I think we need to understand why it tends to be effective, and not just against GT.

Most teams run a version of the 2MO at the end of halves, or when they are behind and clock becomes an issue. Because teams usually don't huddle during the 2MO, the D has to line up with the current personnel and make quick reads. The time to call plays in to the D is limited as well. Also, generally speaking, there is little to no risk at that point for the offense. generally speaking, they are already losing, and are therefore playing with house money, so to speak. In other words, they can now afford to call riskier plays as if they don't succeed, they'll lose the game anyways. If you watch enough non-GT football, both NCAA and NFL, you will notice a lot of teams are often effective at moving the ball in their 2MO, even against better D's. D's at that point know they won't be able to substitute, so the game plan becomes to trade yards for time. Keep the plays inbound and the clock rolling. This forces the O to make riskier plays, which is why you see so many close games end with an INT.

Now, we've lost a few close games this year. UT was really a case of ST wetting the bed throughout, and that late fumble killed us. I honestly think the D just lost confidence in OT. I'm glad to see CTR got them corrected going forward. Miami was a fluke. That catch was extremely lucky, and honestly, I won't fault the D on that game. The UVA game was a killer as well. That's more on our D than any game this year, including Clemson, but still, when you keep giving an opponent short fields.... Either way, that long TD pass nailed the door shut for us. That's why I was so glad to see AK pull out the PD last Sat. We needed that confidence boost. I'd like to see the D develop a little swagger to them. They deserve it and have played well all season.

 

[vamosjackets]

It's very simple to me. This year we have a decent pass rush because we have a good personnel situation at DE. If you can be strong against the run (by scheme) and can rush the passer, you're going to be a good defense, that's all there is to it. If you have average guys at LB and DB but have that pass rush and run stopping ability up front, you're going to be fine. That's what we had with Tenuta and what we had in '08 in Wommack's first year.

We can even actually create pressure rushing 4 this year without relying on blitzes. Our secondary isn't bad, but to me it's all about our DE's in this year's improvement. QB pressure is the difference between converting 3rd and 8 and not.

 

[Sideways]

Roof did not do what Paul had urged he needed to do for 4 years it seems. Our defense had decent enough talent to be better than years like 2014 where we were in the bottom 100 in D. But there were obvious improvements that we could make with how we execute our D that were not made until this year finally. And the results are there now. There is a better blueprint.

My takeaway.

1) it took ted too long to change; but he did.
2) there is no reason every year we can't be a top 40 or so D. Sure you will have some off years. but for the most part we should be in this area vs the bottom 70, 80, 100 arena.
3) if Ted keeps it up, like I have routinely said, and shows progress for more than one year, I will support him and not mock his hair gel.

Right now he is calling good games and I like how his D style is. The other years it was puke to me. It was all 1/4 1/4 1/2 covg with straight up DL play and basic crap blitzes. LBs looked lost. The DBs were way off. Some of this has showed up in 2 min D. But; those calls have been ok...just missed opportunities.

This year is a ton more cv 3, cv2, man, less quarters, WAY more DL Slanting, WAY more TE and X stunts, and nicer blitz combos off the stunts. We rarely saw any of that in prior years. We are also running far less 3 man rushes. Also, we have moved our S and DB up more in spots...

Keep this up, and I will be happy. But, he is not HC for me....would rather have Monken or someone else.

For the life of me, and I would like the resident defense gurus such as yourself or "Ballin" to explain why the infatuation with that blasted quarters zone coverage? Seems like Ohio State pioneered this a few years ago but I might be wrong. I much prefer seeing those safeties coming up and being aggressive. Is the slanting by the linemen the reason for the increased pressure we have seen on opposing quarterbacks or is it more the blitz packages? Whatever the reason, there is no doubt that we are making the pocket a little less comfortable for quarterbacks. Good job by Coaches Roof and Pelton.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

For the life of me, and I would like the resident defense gurus such as yourself or "Ballin" to explain why the infatuation with that blasted quarters zone coverage? Seems like Ohio State pioneered this a few years ago but I might be wrong. I much prefer seeing those safeties coming up and being aggressive. Is the slanting by the linemen the reason for the increased pressure we have seen on opposing quarterbacks or is it more the blitz packages? Whatever the reason, there is no doubt that we are making the pocket a little less comfortable for quarterbacks. Good job by Coaches Roof and Pelton.

It's very simple to me. This year we have a decent pass rush because we have a good personnel situation at DE. If you can be strong against the run (by scheme) and can rush the passer, you're going to be a good defense, that's all there is to it. If you have average guys at LB and DB but have that pass rush and run stopping ability up front, you're going to be fine. That's what we had with Tenuta and what we had in '08 in Wommack's first year.

We can even actually create pressure rushing 4 this year without relying on blitzes. Our secondary isn't bad, but to me it's all about our DE's in this year's improvement. QB pressure is the difference between converting 3rd and 8 and not.

Looks like u missed @vamosjackets post....just tryin to help.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Most coaches do that at Duke. Spurrier and Cutcliffe are exceptions to the rule.

Also, coaches who fail can learn from the experience and become better. Pastner?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Also, coaches who fail can learn from the experience and become better. Pastner?

Pastner didn't really fail. He finished at Memphis in worse shape than he started, but there seem to have been many factors involved in that.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Pastner didn't really fail. He finished at Memphis in worse shape than he started, but there seem to have been many factors involved in that.

Ok, my general point is that people usually learn from their experiences. More so when they don't do well. Roof is a lot older and more experienced than he was a Flukie coach.

So I take how he did in 2003 to 2007 as a concern but not a reason not to have him as head coach given the other aspects of his resume. Plus he's a GT guy through and through. That matters to me more than some others. I know our past HC hires of former coaches have fallen into good (Dodd and Alexander) and not so good.

 

[FightWinDrink]

Ok, my general point is that people usually learn from their experiences. More so when they don't do well. Roof is a lot older and more experienced than he was a Flukie coach.

So I take how he did in 2003 to 2007 as a concern but not a reason not to have him as head coach given the other aspects of his resume. Plus he's a GT guy through and through. That matters to me more than some others. I know our past HC hires of former coaches have fallen into good (Dodd and Alexander) and not so good.

How many people do well after going 6-45 though?

 

[Big Philly]

For the life of me, and I would like the resident defense gurus such as yourself or "Ballin" to explain why the infatuation with that blasted quarters zone coverage?

At Michigan State, Pat Narduzzi's Cover 4 got him the HC job at Pitt and it became the new hotness.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Ok, my general point is that people usually learn from their experiences. More so when they don't do well. Roof is a lot older and more experienced than he was a Flukie coach.

So I take how he did in 2003 to 2007 as a concern but not a reason not to have him as head coach given the other aspects of his resume. Plus he's a GT guy through and through. That matters to me more than some others. I know our past HC hires of former coaches have fallen into good (Dodd and Alexander) and not so good.

More not so good, even bad, than good. Actually, I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. Neither Dodd nor Alexander were former coaches. Dodd came directly from Tennessee as an assistant to Alexander, who was a player for and an assistant under Heisman.

 

[Frenchise]

I'm not sold on this defense. The ACC as a whole is greatly reduced offensively due to attrition - only Duke, Syracuse, and WF have returning starters at QB.

I think the dline is starting to stabilize- after 2 terrible years, but in all we've faced weaker offenses than in the past.

In order to truly be a good defense, we have to have a consistent PR threat like attaochu. We don't have that. If a team with a decent OL drops blocks with 6, we will almost never get to the QB. That's a problem. Auburn can rush 3 or 4 and get to the QB in 4-5 secs. That's a the base to a great defense, IMO.

 

[Sideways]

At Michigan State, Pat Narduzzi's Cover 4 got him the HC job at Pitt and it became the new hotness.

OK. Now I know. Cover 4 is it? Somewhere I heard 4 quarters or something to that effect. So it was Coach Narduzzi's brain child. Cool story but I still hate it.

 

[Sideways]

Looks like u missed @vamosjackets post....just tryin to help.

So he did. I happen to think that a lot of the improvement on defense is due to the experience we have in the secondary. I mean look at the Austins they have to have been playing football on the Flats for the past decade it seems like. Simmons has been here forever. Virginia Tech ran plays that looked to have possibilities but the window would close about as fast as it opened due to players recognizing the play in a instant.

 

[Madison Grant]

I'm not sold on this defense. The ACC as a whole is greatly reduced offensively due to attrition - only Duke, Syracuse, and WF have returning starters at QB.

I think the dline is starting to stabilize- after 2 terrible years, but in all we've faced weaker offenses than in the past.

In order to truly be a good defense, we have to have a consistent PR threat like attaochu. We don't have that. If a team with a decent OL drops blocks with 6, we will almost never get to the QB. That's a problem. Auburn can rush 3 or 4 and get to the QB in 4-5 secs. That's a the base to a great defense, IMO.

The issue of getting to the QB is where's an Attaochu in our lineup? You want us to be able to rush 4 and get pressure, but that's a problem with talent or coaching? Auburn gets pressure with 4 because they go 2 deep with 4 and 5 star talent. Hey, we tried to recruit guys like Dontavius Russell, but they wouldn't come.

 

[UgaBlows]

We are definitely missing an elite nfl quality pass rushing DE, like Attachou.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

....... Actually, I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. Neither Dodd nor Alexander were former coaches. Dodd came directly from Tennessee as an assistant to Alexander, who was a player for and an assistant under Heisman.

Yeah, I switched up the argument from alumni hire to hire from within. That's partly because our past hires of alumni have not worked out well. So if the original line of reasoning doesn't work, change it.

But hey, Roof is both! Can't beat that!

I'm still just glad that we beat VT (a lot of VT people where I work) and UGAg got spanked good. Makes me want to be more positive for a while ......

 

[4shotB]

In order to truly be a good defense, we have to have a consistent PR threat like attaochu. We don't have that. If a team with a decent OL drops blocks with 6, we will almost never get to the QB. That's a problem. Auburn can rush 3 or 4 and get to the QB in 4-5 secs. That's a the base to a great defense, IMO.

It may be semantics, but I am not sure anybody believes we have a really good D yet. But we have finally seen a noticeable step up to being good. In fact, if we had made just one more play in the UT, Uva and UM game people would be raving about this D. Remember us saying "if we could only get 3 stops a game" or "does the other team even have a punter?" or the equivalent. Now, we routinely get 3 and outs. Teams don't score on us when we turn the ball over. Clempson and Miami, two teams in the top 5, did not light us up. I will take this year's performance as a D every year. Is there room for improvement even now? Of course there is...and like you, I think it begins with having just 1 or 2 more impact players on the line.

 

[Jacket in Dairyland]

We are definitely missing an elite nfl quality pass rushing DE, like Attachou.

This has been my point in other threads. We have "good", solid players. We NEED an elite STUD or two on both sides of the ball. Looking back, Gailey got a ( very) few. CPJ has come close, but for whatever reason misses out. Honestly, most of those type players don't want, or need, to have to work that hard off the field.

 

[InsideLB]

How good would Roof's D be with Clemson's defensive linemen? Pretty good I think.

Venables is a great DC to be sure, but folks tend to think if we had him as our DC our D would automatically be awesome. Games are won and lost in the trenches.

We have gotten better at DT but rush end has been tough. We have St Amour next year as our only threat since Jordan Woods transferred. Be nice if one of the two freakish rush end recruits we have this year was way ahead of schedule.