Potential DC for Next Year

[stinger78]

Whatever we did this week to get our LBs on the tackling stat sheet is what we should do. Having 3 safeties lead the tackling stats and the first LB on the list being a RS freshman is not a formula for success. With all eleven playing D this past week we looked like a real D. Let our DC do his thing as he seems to have some meaningful thoughts. Agree with the TACKLING!

We ran three LB instead of two LB. They weren't a threat to pass the ball farther than 20 yards downfield, so we gambled and ran a 4-3 formation, and we often had a DB walking up at the snap, too.

 

[g0lftime]

We ran three LB instead of two LB. They weren't a threat to pass the ball farther than 20 yards downfield, so we gambled and ran a 4-3 formation, and we often had a DB walking up at the snap, too.

I thought or Corners played those WR screens really well and often tackled them for a loss. Our D overall played pretty well in the win but our O almost went on vacation in the 3rd quarter after Jamal's run. That kid is fast, cuts on a dime and is very strong. Those runs by King in the 4th were our desire to get bowl eligible with whatever it took.

 

[CEB]

73 may be a little too old.

At least we won’t get stuck with long term contract!

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Overall, I thought the D played well Saturday night. Cuse was 1/10 on third down and 2 for 3 on 4th. 3/10 combined. Not bad. They were committed to the run, and we did what we needed to do most of the game to stop them. They had a good quarter and a half of play but other than that we pretty much shut them down.

 

[GTBandit22]

With the firing of Dino Babers we can at least add Rocky Long to the list of potential defensive coordinator. Age might be an issue tho.

If we want to go that (3-3-5) route, Arnett should be top of the list. He cut his teeth under Long

 

[jgtengineer]

Overall, I thought the D played well Saturday night. Cuse was 1/10 on third down and 2 for 3 on 4th. 3/10 combined. Not bad. They were committed to the run, and we did what we needed to do most of the game to stop them. They had a good quarter and a half of play but other than that we pretty much shut them down.

Truthfully we wouldn't even be talking about it jamal doesn't have that uncharacteristic fumble on a 14 yard gain. We likely drive down and answer their TD which would keep us easily ahead.

The way you beat a running team is to limit their explosives force them to drive the length of the field and score on your turns. We were doing a very good job of that in the first half. In the second half we kept missing turns to drain clock and play field position or score even field goals until our last drive where we closed the door.

This was basically what people did to Taquan marshall teams of ours.

 

[CEB]

Truthfully we wouldn't even be talking about it jamal doesn't have that uncharacteristic fumble on a 14 yard gain. We likely drive down and answer their TD which would keep us easily ahead.

The way you beat a running team is to limit their explosives force them to drive the length of the field and score on your turns. We were doing a very good job of that in the first half. In the second half we kept missing turns to drain clock and play field position or score even field goals until our last drive where we closed the door.

This was basically what people did to Taquan marshall teams of ours.

We actually weathered the storm on the fumble, but then went three and out and had an awful punt coverage lapse…
But to your point, if either of those offensive drives go somewhere, it really never gets close. Granted, Cuse gets some credit for those things too…

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Cuse did a few things well.

1. They won the field position battle several times. They had some well blocked returns and our punter outkicked the coverage once.
2. They committed to taking away the inside run game early and forced us to funnel a lot of our plays to the outside, where they were playing a tight man coverage. IIRC, (haven't seen the video replay yet) Cuse had at 8 in the box on us for a whole series several times until 3rd and long. They did their best to take way the Haynes King Special, and for a large portion of the first three and a half quarters, it worked.
3. Their run blocking was pretty good. Very few negative runs on their part.

 

[jgtengineer]

We actually weathered the storm on the fumble, but then went three and out and had an awful punt coverage lapse…
But to your point, if either of those offensive drives go somewhere, it really never gets close. Granted, Cuse gets some credit for those things too…

We did but it sorta threw off the rhythm so to speak.

 

[Root4GT]

Stunts and games by the defensive line aren't a quick fix and instant answer if you can't get pressure on the QB the traditional way. As @slugboy said the defensive front ran plenty of stunts with Andrew Thacker as the DC before getting demoted. We ran plenty against Miami. We ran them against Virginia. We really them against UNC. So us using that particular technique is not the problem. The issue is what it's been all season, you just don't have the talent up front. That's not to say anything disparaging about our guys but losing Keion White to the NFL hurts, losing Sylvain Yondjouen to injury hurts. If you're looking for a way to clean up the defense in a huge way you already mentioned it. TACKLING, TACKLING, TACKLING, and more TACKLING.

My point was we lack talent in the front 7 which many on here deny. If we expect to defeat a team with far superior talent simply playing vanilla defense has no chance.

And our twists and stunts were very infrequent under Thacker this year despite your claim to the contrary. 90% of the plays the DTs rush straight ahead and the DEs go straight at the QB. LBs have tried different paths but virtually never get near a QB because one opponent OL can handle our DL one on one.

Our DL’s techniques don’t look very good either. They get high quickly and rarely can do a crossover using their hands.

Bottom line is we are a bottom 20 defense in Division 1. That is our anchor pulling us down.

Time to seriously evaluate the entire defensive staff this offseason. What does each coach bring individually and how do they work collectively.

Key did an excellent job changing offensive coaches last offseason. The offensive improvements have been outstanding.

 

[Techster]

JMU DC. 2022 DFEI #23. 2023 DFEI #29.

Bryant Haines - Football Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Bryant Haines, who was hired on Dec. 17, 2018, serves as the program’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He was promoted from co-defensive coordinator

jmusports.com

In each of his four seasons, the Dukes have ranked top 10 nationally in both the FCS and FBS in total defense. It was also top 10 in the FCS in scoring defense while ranking top 25 in the program’s first FBS season in 2022.

 

[Root4GT]

JMU DC. 2022 DFEI #23. 2023 DFEI #29.

Bryant Haines - Football Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Bryant Haines, who was hired on Dec. 17, 2018, serves as the program’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He was promoted from co-defensive coordinator

jmusports.com

In each of his four seasons, the Dukes have ranked top 10 nationally in both the FCS and FBS in total defense. It was also top 10 in the FCS in scoring defense while ranking top 25 in the program’s first FBS season in 2022.

Would need to pay him a bunch and might be worth doing that!

 

[Northeast Stinger]

So why aren’t they running any stunts now

He said it already. Needed to focus on tackling which just wasn’t happening. Get the basics down and you can add more sophistication to the defense. Prior to getting the basics, you just add more things that can go wrong.

 

[slugboy]

If you can pull up a recording, watch the Denver Broncos-Minnesota Vikings game. Minnesota lost, but Brian Flores has set up a really interesting defense. They’ll rush anywhere from 3 to 8 players, and it’s hard to tell on any given play who is crashing into the backfield and who isn’t.

We are NOT getting Brian Flores, but dang if what he’s doing isn’t hard to defend.

Vikings defense under Brian Flores is being redone with aggression, deception and freedom

Minnesota's defense broke down again last season. Brian Flores has been trying everything he can to fix it.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Bottom line is we are a bottom 20 defense in Division 1.

We aren't good but we aren't that bad. We are 88th of 133 Division 1 teams in DFEI.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

We aren't good but we aren't that bad. We are 88th of 133 Division 1 teams in DFEI.

We are 109th or worse in ever category except turnovers.

To give some more context, BC is 109 or better in every category except DTD but are ranked at 100.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

We are 109th or worse in ever category except turnovers.

To give some more context, BC is 109 or better in every category except DTD but are ranked at 100.

I use DFEI and OFEI because they are better, opponent adjusted stats. BC is 100th in DFEI because while they might have better raw stats, they play a decidedly easier schedule.

 

[Root4GT]

He said it already. Needed to focus on tackling which just wasn’t happening. Get the basics down and you can add more sophistication to the defense. Prior to getting the basics, you just add more things that can go wrong.

It’s talent or lack of that if a team simply has to refocus on that for more than one week. That is a BS answer. That answer says our players aren’t capable of doing anything but the most simple defensive tasks.

Our defense is one of the worst in Division 1 again. Get more talent and better coaches both.

We are a top 30% scoring offense that struggled to finish .500.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

It’s talent or lack of that if a team simply has to refocus on that for more than one week. That is a BS answer. That answer says our players aren’t capable of doing anything but the most simple defensive tasks.

Our defense is one of the worst in Division 1 again. Get more talent and better coaches both.

We are a top 30% scoring offense that struggled to finish .500.

I think everyone agrees we need more talent. But not sure what you mean by BS. The challenge that many on here have repeated often is that the defense went without coaching for almost four years and engaged in “soft” practice sessions. Unlearning bad habits takes time. Frankly I think the improvement has been dramatic given the lack of talent and some having to learn College 101 football for the first time.

 

[Root4GT]

I think everyone agrees we need more talent. But not sure what you mean by BS. The challenge that many on here have repeated often is that the defense went without coaching for almost four years and engaged in “soft” practice sessions. Unlearning bad habits takes time. Frankly I think the improvement has been dramatic given the lack of talent and some having to learn College 101 football for the first time.

I think the narrative the defense got no coaching is BS. The coaching was unsatisfactory. This year’s defense is worse than last year’s defense which is hard to imagine.

Are you saying they still getting no coaching this year?

The defense lacks talent for sure. Last’s year’s DL played much better than this year’s. White mattered. Coaching matters as 2 years ago the DL play was awful similar to this year. The difference is both White and the DL coach from 2 years ago who is back this year.

Same DB coach. Are they better? Seem about the same as they have been for the past 4 years. New LB coach. Their play has been terrible all year. They had a solid game against a team without a QB but that’s not a real test for LBs. New LB coach this year.

In my opinion the narrative that the defense has improved is BS. They are bad which is being kind.