I'm not itching to fire anyone either. This is the first time in years I've really gotten into a thread, digging up old stats and whatnot. I've even learned a good bit about the defensive schemes we have run.
The fact is, we have never recruited dominant DL talent. Probably never will, for reasons we don't need need to rehash. To say our current (last few years) mediocre performance is due to a unusual lack of talent is to obscure the problem. We have to play defense with the players we have, not the players we want.
The scheme that has been most successful since I've been a fan (1992-), by YPP and PPD stats as well as my non-expert eyeball, is the zone blitz under Jon Tenuta. It relied on smart, quick linemen who could drop into coverage and quick, rangy linebackers who could time the snap. It didn't require a dominant nose tackle like Groh's 3-4, or dominant 2-gap DT like Roof's 4-3. It made stars out of guys like Michael Johnson, a converted tight end.
Now you can say it's not coaching, it's execution, but if the coaches are asking our players to do things they can't do, then it's coaching. Just like Paul Johnson's offense is a great fit because it can perform well with the players we actually have at Tech, we need a defensive scheme that can perform well with the players we actually have.
Again, Boomer, I'm not talking about these first two games. Trying to look at the last several years.