In this thread: I face facts about Ted Roof

MikeJackets1967

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If Ted Roof is shown the door soon to be unemployed Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop might be an interesting hire for GT. Bob is a very good defensive coordinator at Vandy and Penn State for James Franklin and had a rough time at Tennessee because of extreme injuries.
 

Jmonty71

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Two things. Watch the game. We were meeting the runner where we need to in order to get a stop for a minimal gain, but whiffed on the tackles.

Second, talent differential isn't an issue when playing Duke. Bedford said on the radio broadcast that it wasn't scheme, but execution that was killing us. After watching the game, I tend to agree with him.
Where does lack of execution fall? Players or coaches? Execution comes down to preparation, in most cases. We look I'll prepared way too many times. That falls on the coach. Missing tackles, fall on the players.
 

MWBATL

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Because last Saturday was 11% of the statistical sample for the year so far on D. By the same token, this same D has held every other team, with the exception of Tennessee, to well below its season average in points scored.

That's a very fair point in terms of overall defensive improvement. However, I still believe the Duke game is a terrible indictment of Roof's coaching.
 

Lavoisier

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We also have to face the prospect that this is the best the defense will be for at least two years as far as talent goes. Next year will be a backslide with us losing Freeman, Simmons, and 4/5 of the secondary as well as some depth guys over there. This was his 5th year class with experience across the board with Seniors and Juniors on the two deep at almost every position. 2019 might be better but 2018 is going to be rough unless we find pass rushers somewhere to compliment Anree and some depth to back up the DBs.
 

Augusta_Jacket

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At the very least, it took a lot of the "shine" from this year's D and it looked eerily similar to the previous 4 years of Roof's D.

This. While it's definitely a statistical anomaly for this season, it is reminiscent of seasons past. I am hoping that CTR can correct for next week. I actually think we can limit uga's offense enough to give us a chance if our O and ST can generate consistency.
 

Augusta_Jacket

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We also have to face the prospect that this is the best the defense will be for at least two years as far as talent goes. Next year will be a backslide with us losing Freeman, Simmons, and 4/5 of the secondary as well as some depth guys over there. This was his 5th year class with experience across the board with Seniors and Juniors on the two deep at almost every position. 2019 might be better but 2018 is going to be rough unless we find pass rushers somewhere to compliment Anree and some depth to back up the DBs.

I do think the D will regress somewhat, but I don't know that it's going to go that far. Gray is back at S. Campbell has looked good there this year as Griffins potential replacement. We lose the twins and Durham, but Simmons, Kerr, Johnson, and Tre Swilling will be available, and we've already seen what Kerr can do. Simmons and Freeman will hurt at DE, but Saint-Amour will return, and Merriweather will have to step up.

The biggest strength is we are now LOADED at LB.

So yes, we will probably decline, but I doubt it's a drastic decline.
 

melloace

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I really hope we attack this weekend and make Georgia beat us over the top with Fromm. Have to keep up with which of their 3 running backs they have in at any given time. Chubb usually up the middle, Michel off tackle, Swift going as far outside as possible as well as a threat on the wheel. If Fromm can beat us deep I can accept that, but giving up 3-4 yards on the ground with the secondary lined up 7-10 yards off the line will be soul crushing.
 

dressedcheeseside

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There is no doubt, as the DC, Roof has to shoulder much of the responsibility for the players' errors and mistakes. He is paid well to get them ready, physically and mentally.

I think overall, Roof and the D this year have generally overperformed, but that is just my opinion. I will admit they laid a big fat goose egg on Saturday. No doubt.
There's only so much a coach can do to prepare them mentally. Do you think he did anything different when they came out on fire before VT? It's up to the kids to be motivated if you ask me, if they need a cheerleader to get them up for a game with bowl eligibility on the line they need to play somewhere else.

Now if he didn't make necessary adjustments, then that part is on him. But the kids don't get off scott free. It's them on the field. Btw, I wore a GT on my chest and represented my school in intercollegiate competition when I was a student. If my team lost, we knew it was on us, not the coaches.
 

AlabamaBuzz

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There's only so much a coach can do to prepare them mentally. Do you think he did anything different when they came out on fire before VT? It's up to the kids to be motivated if you ask me, if they need a cheerleader to get them up for a game with bowl eligibility on the line they need to play somewhere else.

Now if he didn't make necessary adjustments, then that part is on him. But the kids don't get off scott free. It's them on the field. Btw, I wore a GT on my chest and represented my school in intercollegiate competition when I was a student. If my team lost, we knew it was on us, not the coaches.


Mostly agree, DCS. You know I believe Roof is the right man for the job, so not sure if you think I am anti-Roof. I am definitely not.

We don't know what Roof did to prepare his guys for the possible "letdown" on Saturday, but either way, it is on the players to stay "up", but coaches can do things to help keep them sharp mentally and emotionally, in my opinion.
 
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I watched the condensed game, with an eye for the D schematically, and while I am no expert, it appears that most of our issues were a combination of bad angles and missed tackles. On the first two long runs by the Duke RB in the first half, there was a defender at or near the LoS who plane whiffed on a tackle where contact was made. There were also more of those head scratchers that seem to kill us as of late. We force a fumble on third down before the 1D marker, but Duke recovers beyond the marker for a 1D. Things like that, we just haven't seemed to have those breaks go our way. Now, we can argue all day about whether missed tackles is a function of coaching or not, but I think this game came down to the fact that Dukes offense just whipped us on the LoS, and we weren't able to get enough pressure. Maybe one of our D gurus can explain it better, but it seemed as if they had a counter to everything we threw at them on D. I give a lot of credit to Cutcliffe on this one. He outcoached us, and forced CPJ to get out of his game plan in the 2nd half.
As down on Roof as I have been over the years, I will have to admit that bad angles and poor tackling go back long before he arrived back at Tech. It seems like it's not just Roof who can't seem to coach them to do it right, or at least motivate them to do so.
 

Sideways

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I really like Cover-4 in spots. It's a very solid run defense, numbers-wise. It sounds like you're dropping 4 deep in the coverage, but the way I learned it from CJT and other coaching clinics back in the early 2000's, it's not how it sounds. It effectively gives you 9 in the box. You've got your front 7. Then whatever is the playside on a run-play, that safety plays the alley while the backside safety remains in coverage (maybe on a particular man, maybe going to the deep middle - like cover 3). Safeties play at about 9 yards deep so they can be there quick in run support. We used this to great effect in the CJT years. Auburn '05 comes to mind. It's got some similar principles to the old Tampa-2.

Here's Narduzzi's version if you REALLLLLY want to know more: http://www.championshipproductions....-with-4-3-Over-Cover-4-Defense_FD-03922A.html

I wish I could find an old coaching clinic book I had that explained the version I used to run. If I had to just pick one defense to stick with ALL the time, that would be it.

Something I'm totally ignorant on though now is the RPO offenses (so common now in NCAA) and the strategies to defending them. That wasn't really a thing back in my day (like 10-15 years ago).

Thank you for informing the ignorant (me) and the link it is really cool to see how defenses can be disguised in various ways. No wonder quarterbacks sometimes come off the field looking dazed. Did ya'll play this a lot or just some of the time with CJT?
 

1979jacket

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I am not a Roof hater. However I do have some problems with playing nickel all the time with an undersized nickel. I think a 4-3 at times is the way to go but I understand he has problems at LB. I also generally don't like pinching ends. Pinching ends seem to often end up with lack of containment.
 

AlabamaBuzz

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As down on Roof as I have been over the years, I will have to admit that bad angles and poor tackling go back long before he arrived back at Tech. It seems like it's not just Roof who can't seem to coach them to do it right, or at least motivate them to do so.


Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, the lack of quickness and speed creates what appears to be bad angles for tackling. And, sometimes this poor tackling is about foot work. With that said, I don't think we played to our ability against Duke on D at all.
 

g0lftime

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Dook was in the best situation against us. We were on the road, their senior night, our big rival next game, they are still trying to make a bowl, and Cutt has our D figured out. We had no clue what they were doing on offense in the 2nd half.
 

grandpa jacket

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Here is the issue in a nutshell. Our D does not attack. We sit back, and hope the other team makes a mistake. A lot of those bad angles come from lack of speed and talent. We do not have the speed to run Roof's read and react D. We have to be the hammer and stop being the nail, in my opinion. Cutliffe knows that Roof plays soft and takes advantage of it. Sad part, we have decent players. Roof has them playing so soft, that they look bad on the field, at times.
This is spot on, a weak D has to attack and try to create down and distance advantage. If we set back and they are stronger they pound it and pound it , we are tired and we lose. I like a defense like Manny Diaz runs
 
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