Problem with our defense

[Yoda]

I want to know what PJ thinks it is

 

[DuckGT]

Completely speculative post. Please ignore if that's not your thing.

I think the real problem with our D is PJ. I think he is a proponent of the "bend but don't break" D. As a result he sets that as the over arching theme for D. I remember a play towards the end of the game, a couple of games ago where he changed an aggressive D call to a "bend but don't break" call. Maybe he just doesn't give the D coordinators enough freedom to do their thing. My feeling is that 3 well respected D coordinators can't all suck. It has to be something that the HC is doing.

Maybe that's why Tenuta didn't want to stick around. He knew it wasn't his style to play a bend don't break defense.

 

[RamblinCharger]

3 well respected D coordinators? They ALL had been fired before we hired them. I personally think the first firing was premature and he was the best of the 3, but al groh and Ted roof are both mentally challenged. The scheme that I propose since someone asked is a 4-6 bear. It's aggressive and stacks the box. What do we have to lose?it puts corners on an island but you can disguise pressure and drop back into zone if the opponent likes to dink and dunk like unc. I don't understand what is so hard about coaching defense. I really just don't get it.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

3 well respected D coordinators? They ALL had been fired before we hired them. I personally think the first firing was premature and he was the best of the 3, but al groh and Ted roof are both mentally challenged. The scheme that I propose since someone asked is a 4-6 bear. It's aggressive and stacks the box. What do we have to lose?it puts corners on an island but you can disguise pressure and drop back into zone if the opponent likes to dink and dunk like unc. I don't understand what is so hard about coaching defense. I really just don't get it.

Do you know of any team that runs this against spread offenses?

 

[RamblinCharger]

Do you know of any team that runs this against spread offenses?

The New York Jets, keeping them in games even though they have a ****ty offense and Geno Smith. Sure they have defensive talent but it's a great scheme to make QBs make mistakes by applying pressure. Also, it's similar to what bud foster runs against us, he just really runs a 4-4 but 2 linebackers are almost safety's playing in run support.

 

[hdgtfan]

My pick is talent.

Absolutely talent but wanted to vote for both, are you saying that we do have a scheme?

 

[Techster]

For all the flack Dave Wommack got, he was actually a good coordinator. When he had talent (2008, sorta 2009), our defense did enough to win big games and even the ACC Championship. He's now leading one of the best defenses in the nation at Ole Miss in the toughest conference.

It's not a secret, everyone. It comes down to talent right now. There's not much of it, or the talent we have is young on defense right now. Our front 7 just isn't getting it done to help our defensive backfield. Everything starts with pressure...and we can't get enough pressure on the QB right now. Dave Wommack has good to great talent at Ole Miss, and it's showing with the teams their beating.

 

[CHE90]

For all the flack Dave Wommack got, he was actually a good coordinator. When he had talent (2008, sorta 2009), our defense did enough to win big games and even the ACC Championship. He's now leading one of the best defenses in the nation at Ole Miss in the toughest conference.

It's not a secret, everyone. It comes down to talent right now. There's not much of it, or the talent we have is young on defense right now. Our front 7 just isn't getting it done to help our defensive backfield. Everything starts with pressure...and we can't get enough pressure on the QB right now. Dave Wommack has good to great talent at Ole Miss, and it's showing with the teams their beating.

It's amazing how talent makes a coach a defensive genius.

 

[RamblinCharger]

For all the flack Dave Wommack got, he was actually a good coordinator. When he had talent (2008, sorta 2009), our defense did enough to win big games and even the ACC Championship. He's now leading one of the best defenses in the nation at Ole Miss in the toughest conference.

It's not a secret, everyone. It comes down to talent right now. There's not much of it, or the talent we have is young on defense right now. Our front 7 just isn't getting it done to help our defensive backfield. Everything starts with pressure...and we can't get enough pressure on the QB right now. Dave Wommack has good to great talent at Ole Miss, and it's showing with the teams their beating.

Very true. I think Womack was a premature firing. Maybe he wasn't a good recruiter or something idk but I don't think he was terrible. If he had stayed and we had some continuity on the defensive side of the ball with coaches I doubt we have the attrition or the issues that we have now on defense. Too many coaches in 7 years and two of them have been awful.

 

[midga fan]

I am frustrated. How is it year after year our defense appears historically bad? I guess it is a combination of talent and scheme and bad luck with guys that either didn't make grades or were asked to leave that could have really helped. Why not consider converting a couple of the big offensive lineman to dl? At least temporarily. They probably played both ways in high school. Move gostsis is to DE. Commit to stopping the run. Commit to stopping something.
Maybe this isn't realistic, but something drastic needs to be done to this defense. I agree they are trying hard but it isn't working. Either change the scheme and make it work or make some personnel changes. What else can you do at this point except wait for the recruits and players to return. Right now I am concerned about this year.
Maybe nothing can be done and we will just have to out score everybody and hope we have the ball last with enough time to score and run out the clock.
Frustrating.

 

[GaTech4ever]

Did anyone else notice how easily our CBs were getting blocked by UNC WRs? Our CBs should be good at getting around WR blocks going against our offense every day. I was at the game and it just looked so bad I almost was pitying our corners.

 

[Whatllyahave]

Bless their hearts.

BTW, Just curious, is there any particular reason that our DBs dive face first to the turf anytime a ball carrier gets near them?

 

[stylee]

We lost Commisong, JHD, Akins, and Kitchen this offseason.

That probably has something to do with our struggles.

I do think 33jacket is into something about a lack of a guiding defensive theory though

 

[jacketup]

The defense hasn't been good since Johnson has been here. Yet, Wommack is doing just fine at Ole Miss as DC. Charles Kelly is doing just fine as the FSU DC. Roof did just fine at Penn State as DC, and Roof's defense last year with some NFL talent was actually rated better than the offense for FBS games.

Why does anyone believe that the problems are coaching, and not talent? The defensive coaches we've had have done just fine when they have had talent/experienced players.

Recruiting has not been good, and what little talent there is gets diverted to Johnson's offense. Shaq Mason and Qua Searcy are 2 examples.

 

[AE 87]

The defense hasn't been good since Johnson has been here. Yet, Wommack is doing just fine at Ole Miss as DC. Charles Kelly is doing just fine as the FSU DC. Roof did just fine at Penn State as DC, and Roof's defense last year with some NFL talent was actually rated better than the offense for FBS games.

Why does anyone believe that the problems are coaching, and not talent? The defensive coaches we've had have done just fine when they have had talent/experienced players.

Recruiting has not been good, and what little talent there is gets diverted to Johnson's offense. Shaq Mason and Qua Searcy are 2 examples.

Our defense was not rated better than our offense in FBS games last year. Football outsiders ranks performance of offense and defense independently based only on FBS games, and our 2013 offense was #31 and our 2013 D was #57. I suspect that you were looking at rankings of total points allowed and total points scored as a measure of D and O respectively. However, those points/game numbers are misleading because we typically have fewer than average possessions/game so that points/game will underestimate our O and overestimate our D.

 

[GTBandit22]

We lost Commisong, JHD, Akins, and Kitchen this offseason.

That probably has something to do with our struggles.

I do think 33jacket is into something about a lack of a guiding defensive theory though

Anthony Williams quit, Whitehead was ruled ineligible.
I think Ted deserves some heat for not getting after it on the last drive last night, and he would never say it publicly, but we are thin on talent on D, and the talent we do have is inexperienced and could use some time in the weight room. He is in a catch 22.

 

[GaTech4ever]

Anthony Williams quit,

No he didn't, he was told when they got back from the bowl game he was no longer welcome as part of the program. If Anthony had it his way he'd still be here, although PJ obviously noticed a lack of committment and/or attitude issues. Not sure he would have made an impact this year anyway though.

 

[GTBandit22]

No he didn't, he was told when they got back from the bowl game he was no longer welcome as part of the program. If Anthony had it his way he'd still be here, although PJ obviously noticed a lack of committment and/or attitude issues. Not sure he would have made an impact this year anyway though.

Thanks for the clarification. I was under the impression he left on his own. Apologies to Anthony.
I think with the issues we have had on the DL, he would have gotten some snaps imo.

 

[GaTech4ever]

Thanks for the clarification. I was under the impression he left on his own. Apologies to Anthony.
I think with the issues we have had on the DL, he would have gotten some snaps imo.

No problem, I agree he would have gotten some snaps. FWIW, he is in grad school playing his last season of eligibility at Troy, and has 5 tackles this season.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Maybe that's why Tenuta didn't want to stick around. He knew it wasn't his style to play a bend don't break defense.

Tenuta auditioned but not hired as HC. I really don't see why he would have stayed here unless he got that promotion.