Ted Roof

[Skeptic]

To be fair, he got a bit of a pass last year because the offense was so good. We've had so many fewer possessions on defense, it's hard to give our defense a pass when they finally have to deal with what a normal defense handles.

I don't think the offense has been as bad as you make it out to be. We've lost games scoring 22, 20, 31, 24, 28, and 21. It's not like we've lost a game despite holding a team to under 100 yards rushing or under 20 points. Call it "morale," or anything else you want, but the defense was bad last year and was bailed out by a pretty good offense (see, e.g., giving up 31 points to duke, 48 to unc, 28 to pitt, 23 to NC St, 37 to fsu, and 34 to miss st). We just don't have the offense this year to mask how bad our D really is.

The #33 defense in the country in terms of scoring (Duke), gives up 21.7 ppg. If we could hold the other team to the low 20s we'd have at least 2, maybe 3, more wins. Not counting that a number of statistics show the defense has gotten worse, not better.

That said, the biggest turnaround has been on turnover margins. We aren't in the top 50 in turnovers forced. Combine that with the number of big plays we've given up, and our generally mediocre at best run defense, and that's what is costing us games - not necessarily the offense. If we had a top 25 defense this year, as many were hoping, we'd have a lot more wins.

It all makes me wonder how he put together good defenses at Auburn and at Penn State, then left both after short hitches. Ordinarily I might understand "coming home" to GT, but for a lot less money and shorter contract? But as well, it has always bothered me that Johnson has had to go to DCs after the season started and demand more pressure upfront and more movement from the LBs. Seems to me that is the DC's role. Except ... if you are teaching a hold 'em and see what develops front, then you can get scorched.

 

[bke1984]

I'm with you. Our offense has been bad this year. Point to all the numbers you want, but we flat out cannot move the ball. The defense has been a little better, but you'd need Alabama's defense to win the way our offense has played.

BTW, this does not mean that I think our offensive scheme is bad...just that our offense has been bad this year. Let's not give the wrong impression

 

[33jacket]

It all makes me wonder how he put together good defenses at Auburn and at Penn State, then left both after short hitches. Ordinarily I might understand "coming home" to GT, but for a lot less money and shorter contract? But as well, it has always bothered me that Johnson has had to go to DCs after the season started and demand more pressure upfront and more movement from the LBs. Seems to me that is the DC's role. Except ... if you are teaching a hold 'em and see what develops front, then you can get scorched.

not sure about the statement of good defense at auburn? They were ranked in the 60s.....He was under alot of heat at AU.....That national title game may have saved his butt, the next year back to the 60s/70s in total D.

His AU D were slightly better than his Tech D, but not much.

The only good year for D was penn state for him as a DC...in his whole career and in the last 8 as a DC, that is the only year he ranked better than 50 or 49. That is astounding to me. Dude is not a great coach IMO

 

[bravejason]

This thread got me curious about a couple of things so I went and looked them up. No conclusions about the defense from the data for me. I just decided to post what I had found.

After 9 games in 2014, opposing teams teams had scored 40+ points 1 times
After 9 games in 2014, opposing teams teams had scored 30-39 points 2 times.
After 9 games in 2014, opposing teams teams had scored 20-29 points 3 times
After 9 games in 2014, opposing teams teams had scored 0-19 points 3 times
GT TOP: Average 33:23, Max: 40:45, Min: 28:34
The 40:45 was against UM.
The 28:34 was against Wofford (against FBS, minimum was 29:20 @ VT)
GT had 30:00-34:59 TOP in 5 games.
GT had 35:00+ TOP in 2 games.
GT had 0:00-29:59 TOP in 2 games.

After 9 games in 2015, opposing teams teams had scored 40+ points 1 times
After 9 games in 2015, opposing teams teams had scored 30-39 points 4 times
After 9 games in 2015, opposing teams teams had scored 20-29 points 1 times
After 9 games in 2015, opposing teams teams had scored 0-19 points 3 times
GT TOP: Average 31:22, Max: 38:45, Min: 23:17
The 38:45 was against UNC.
The 23:17 was against UVA
GT had 30:00-34:59 TOP in 3 games.
GT had 35:00+ TOP in 2 games.
GT had 0:00-29:59 TOP in 4 games.

Regarding the offense, it'd be interesting to know in various categories how the current GT offense compares to an average FBS offense and to a top 40 offense. I know, or rather I presume, the offense is very bad by GT standards under CPJ. I just have no idea how it compares to the rest of the FBS. Normally, I'd go look up all the stats and do the comparison, but when you have to ctrl-end to find your team in a list, it's depressing; so I haven't bothered to look up the stats and do the comparisons.

 

[Skeptic]

not sure about the statement of good defense at auburn? They were ranked in the 60s.....He was under alot of heat at AU.....That national title game may have saved his butt, the next year back to the 60s/70s in total D.

His AU D were slightly better than his Tech D, but not much.

The only good year for D was penn state for him as a DC...in his whole career and in the last 8 as a DC, that is the only year he ranked better than 50 or 49. That is astounding to me. Dude is not a great coach IMO

My bad. I really thought his schemes were better. I agree he is not a standout coach but it baffles me how such a fine college linebacker in an aggressive scheme became the passive D coach he became. Was it one of those "tried that once and it didn't work" things?

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Roof was at Aub from 09-11 I believe.
Def Rank
09- 63
10- 56
11- 77
12- 88
14- 75
15- 85 (so far)

Hmmmm maybe they don't get Bama type talent either....their D is arguably worse since Roof left.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Penn St usually ranks high in Def. when Roof was there they were #12.

To compare...GT
09- 50
10- 61
11- 42
12- 44
13- 40
14- 78
15- 45 (so far)

Stats are yds / game from teamrankings.com

Maybe you just can't squeeze water from a stone. Who the hell, not on one of the staffs with Roof, can say if he got the most out of the talent available?

 

[croberts]

Our offense has scored 30 or more three times this season, the exact same number of wins GT has accumulated.

If you look up CPJ's record here in Atlanta-you will see how key that number is in defining his success.

Therefore to equally blame CTR, who by the way was a good enough DC to win a NC at Auburn, might be a reach.

So you say he won it? I think it was the bag man. 1. Kicked out of Florida / JUCO QB 2. JUCO DL too dumb to get into 4 year school (Farley). I like Ted and know we have a jimmy and joe problem. I just can't stand the logic concerning Auburn as they had to out score a lot of teams that year as well.

 

[bke1984]

Look guys, it's not an either/or scenario. Both sides of the ball are bad. You don't get to 3-6 when one unit is good and the other is bad.

The defense is a little better than last year, but that doesn't make them good. The offense is bad....that's how you get to 3-6

 

[croberts]

I don't think that's true about Kallon. He was a raw talent in HS with good size but little HS experience. I don't think he was on much of anyone's radar because of this.

Actually he blew up prior to his senior year with around 20 big time offers prior to ever playing a down. Had a highly regarded lb team mate that every school was looking at. They would come by to see him and see the 6'5" 250 kid with great feet.

 

[croberts]

Inproving defense is necessary. We all agree with that I think. Where have we been failing the most? That is the point of contention it appears. Is it scheme? Is it the strategic focus of the big guy? (Offense matters more than defense philosophy?) Is it overall talent, lack of depth, or lack of talent at certain position groups? We can go round and round about this.

I for one point again to the latter issue. We have had an extreme lack of depth at DT the last few years. Last year we got by with duct tape and baling either. What's the biggest difference between a 50-70 ranked D and a top 20 D? I contend it's usually a great front 7, great D linemen. We have had success in landing some pretty good DEs. The last few years we have struggled mightily landing DTs.

Last year we signed, what looks like, a great class of D players. If Pelton, McCollum, and Roof can continue this....I think we will see a top 25 D in the next few years.

I like a lot about what you are saying but to have a top 20 defense it needs to look a lot more like Ala or Clemson. When I look at the actual recruiting process I don't see any of the front sevens ever in a calc class . They also have true freshmen that look better than our Aussie. I think the formula will continue to be score and score and hope our defense rises to top 50. This years D is good enough with last years offense. I just never saw this years offensive production coming.

 

[croberts]

Dline is essential and thats true for every team. Look at Ole Miss. They have talent out the anus on their Dline but are middle of the pack defensively. Sure have an allstar dline would be great but having an excellent X & O guy is more important. Bud Foster is not getting 5* talent on his line but he has a system in place that makes his line work and dominate. Pitt has a stout D and I'm not sure their talent is that overall impressive, that goes for Mich St too in my opinion. I don't feel GT has a good X & O strategist nor a stickler for fundamentals cause neither are being showcased on the field. That's coaching.

You are right own about Bud Foster and what they have done. The problem is the difference between our recruiting and VT is just as great or greater than the difference between Ala and VT. Would love to see what bud could do with our Players but it would certainly be less . They are generally ranked in the 15 to 25 range and we are around 50 every year.

 

[AE 87]

Season's not even over and we're trying to spin this year's problems on the defense. Amazing.

Our offense had put up 14 points with 2 minutes left against UVA, and had given them the ball inside the 30 twice setting up 10 points.
Our offense put up just 16 against FSU and gave the ball to FSU twice inside the 20 setting up 10 points.
Our offense put up just 17 against Clemson, 3 of that was off a -2 yard drive.
Our offense put up just 20 against Duke, 6 of which came off short fields after turnovers. They also gave Duke the ball inside the 40 for the game sealing TD. It also got the ball at the Duke 35 and got no points out of it.
Against ND we had 7 points with under a minute left in the game.

Even against UNC the offense gave UNC the ball twice on our side of the field, and couldn't get in from the 1.

Who's trying to "spin" this year's problems on the defense? I'm responding to you because you posted immediately after my post where I explicitly said that we've had problems on both sides of the ball. You are the other hand are spinning, only posting about the problems with offense as if the D was playing lights out.

Here are our losses:

Note: this doesn't count the Clemson safety or Duke KR TD against our D.

Looking at the field position data from footballoutsiders, we are #63 in our own starting field-position 70.5 yds and #120 in opposition, 66.5 yds.

So, I agree that offense has been the biggest problem within the context of GT under CPJ, but both have been a problem within the context of FBS football. I someone feels the need to blame one unit over the other, I agree that UVA probably goes against the O, but UNC goes against the D. For the most part, we've not played well enough on either side of the ball, but it's misleading to suggest that our defense has not been a problem.

 

[slugboy]

You are right own about Bud Foster and what they have done. The problem is the difference between our recruiting and VT is just as great or greater than the difference between Ala and VT. Would love to see what bud could do with our Players but it would certainly be less . They are generally ranked in the 15 to 25 range and we are around 50 every year.

I wonder how many VT players would get in and do well here. It's not the same standard.

 

[LongforDodd]

Actually he blew up prior to his senior year with around 20 big time offers prior to ever playing a down. Had a highly regarded lb team mate that every school was looking at. They would come by to see him and see the 6'5" 250 kid with great feet.

I wasn't aware of any blossoming his senior year. Good for him. I always thought he was a smart kid with raw, undeveloped talent that we took a gamble on that nobody else was willing to likewise.

 

[lv20gt]

Who's trying to "spin" this year's problems on the defense? I'm responding to you because you posted immediately after my post where I explicitly said that we've had problems on both sides of the ball. You are the other hand are spinning, only posting about the problems with offense as if the D was playing lights out.

I'm responding to the quotes along the lines of

" However, our D has still been significantly worse." (this was your post, and it's nowhere close to true)

"We aren't in the top 50 in turnovers forced. Combine that with the number of big plays we've given up, and our generally mediocre at best run defense, and that's what is costing us games - not necessarily the offense."

and in general having this thread, and others, where we are bashing the defense that has time and time against given our offense a chance to win the game, and time and time again the offense has failed to do so, and not just that the offense constantly giving the opposing teams short fields.

Against ND our defense gave up 30 to a team that might be in the playoffs. and 3 coming off a turnover deep in our territory, note, this is a reoccurring trend. The defense also gave the offense the ball inside the ND 40 twice and the offense got 0 points off of it.

Against Duke, we gave up 34. 14 basically coming off special teams, and 7 more from a turnover inside our own 40. So looking at things as they are, the defense gave up 20 points, and 7 of those are also very heavily on the offense. The defense also gave our offense the ball at the 32, we moved it 2 yards, and kicked a FG.

Against UNC, we gave up 38 but UNC started on our side of the field 3 times, and those drives account for 14 of their points, and one of those drives should have never happened except our offense couldn't even run out the majority of the 90 seconds remaining. Defense didn't play great, but it still gave us multiple chances to take control of the game which the offense never capitalized on. The offense, not only for not capitalizing but also for putting our defense in terrible situations time and time again, is just as much to blame as the defense.

Against Clemson, both sides sucked and neither was as good as the score indicated. Even this game though. Defense scored a TD and also gave the ball to the offense at the Clemson 20 but it resulted in a3 FG after our offense lost 2 yards on the drive, and another drive for our opponent starting inside our 40 yard line.

Pitt is probably the closest thing to a game where the defense deserves the majority of the blame. But even then Pitt had 2 drives starting on our side of the field, one resulting in a TD.

Against FSU our defense gave up 16, 10 of which came off of 2 drives starting inside our own 20. I'd argue that the offense gave up more points than our defense and that our defense is what won us the game.

Against UVA. 3 drives for UVA starting on our side of the field. 10 points off those drives.

We're averaging letting opponents have two possessions per game starting on our own side of the field and those possessions are accounting for 8.3 ppg. Add in the ST TD that duke had and that's 9.3 ppg over the last 7 coming off of either ST or on opponent drives starting in our territory. That is nearly 30% of the points we are allowing over that time frame. No our defense is by no means great this year, but it is good enough to have us at 8-1 with even just a good, not great offense.

 

[AE 87]

I'm responding to the quotes along the lines of

" However, our D has still been significantly worse." (this was your post, and it's nowhere close to true)

"We aren't in the top 50 in turnovers forced. Combine that with the number of big plays we've given up, and our generally mediocre at best run defense, and that's what is costing us games - not necessarily the offense."

and in general having this thread, and others, where we are bashing the defense that has time and time against given our offense a chance to win the game, and time and time again the offense has failed to do so, and not just that the offense constantly giving the opposing teams short fields.

Against ND our defense gave up 30 to a team that might be in the playoffs. and 3 coming off a turnover deep in our territory, note, this is a reoccurring trend. The defense also gave the offense the ball inside the ND 40 twice and the offense got 0 points off of it.

Against Duke, we gave up 34. 14 basically coming off special teams, and 7 more from a turnover inside our own 40. So looking at things as they are, the defense gave up 20 points, and 7 of those are also very heavily on the offense. The defense also gave our offense the ball at the 32, we moved it 2 yards, and kicked a FG.

Against UNC, we gave up 38 but UNC started on our side of the field 3 times, and those drives account for 14 of their points, and one of those drives should have never happened except our offense couldn't even run out the majority of the 90 seconds remaining. Defense didn't play great, but it still gave us multiple chances to take control of the game which the offense never capitalized on. The offense, not only for not capitalizing but also for putting our defense in terrible situations time and time again, is just as much to blame as the defense.

Against Clemson, both sides sucked and neither was as good as the score indicated. Even this game though. Defense scored a TD and also gave the ball to the offense at the Clemson 20 but it resulted in a3 FG after our offense lost 2 yards on the drive, and another drive for our opponent starting inside our 40 yard line.

Pitt is probably the closest thing to a game where the defense deserves the majority of the blame. But even then Pitt had 2 drives starting on our side of the field, one resulting in a TD.

Against FSU our defense gave up 16, 10 of which came off of 2 drives starting inside our own 20. I'd argue that the offense gave up more points than our defense and that our defense is what won us the game.

Against UVA. 3 drives for UVA starting on our side of the field. 10 points off those drives.

We're averaging letting opponents have two possessions per game starting on our own side of the field and those possessions are accounting for 8.3 ppg. Add in the ST TD that duke had and that's 9.3 ppg over the last 7 coming off of either ST or on opponent drives starting in our territory. That is nearly 30% of the points we are allowing over that time frame. No our defense is by no means great this year, but it is good enough to have us at 8-1 with even just a good, not great offense.

LOL, I tried.

 

[ATL1]

I'm not the biggest fan of the flexbone offense but I recognize it works largely. Is this year an anomaly? Did defenses finally catch up? I think it's a little of both and CPJ will have to do some soul searching to see what wrinkles or tweaks he can perform in the off season to correct them. With that said, there is no excuse for a less than mediocre defense.

Ted Roof has NEVER coached up or put together a Dominant defense. He did a marginal turnaround at Minnesota. He coached an already stout defense at Penn St. (& they dropped some) Cam was a one man team at Auburn, and what he did at Duke and at GT previously was less than stellar to say the least. This concerned me upon the hire and continues to. The only saving grace is that he's barely been DC for longer than 2 seasons so the sample size per team is small. This year on a senior returning starter laden team this is the crap he's produced. I hope things change quickly but as of now it's not looking good.

 

[UgaBlows]

Season's not even over and we're trying to spin this year's problems on the defense. Amazing.

Our offense had put up 14 points with 2 minutes left against UVA, and had given them the ball inside the 30 twice setting up 10 points.
Our offense put up just 16 against FSU and gave the ball to FSU twice inside the 20 setting up 10 points.
Our offense put up just 17 against Clemson, 3 of that was off a -2 yard drive.
Our offense put up just 20 against Duke, 6 of which came off short fields after turnovers. They also gave Duke the ball inside the 40 for the game sealing TD. It also got the ball at the Duke 35 and got no points out of it.
Against ND we had 7 points with under a minute left in the game.

Even against UNC the offense gave UNC the ball twice on our side of the field, and couldn't get in from the 1.

Add to that in two games, UNC and Pitt the offense did good in the first half and then went three and out (seemingly) for the whole 2nd half

 

[Mack]

Season's not even over and we're trying to spin this year's problems on the defense. Amazing.

Our offense had put up 14 points with 2 minutes left against UVA, and had given them the ball inside the 30 twice setting up 10 points.
Our offense put up just 16 against FSU and gave the ball to FSU twice inside the 20 setting up 10 points.
Our offense put up just 17 against Clemson, 3 of that was off a -2 yard drive.
Our offense put up just 20 against Duke, 6 of which came off short fields after turnovers. They also gave Duke the ball inside the 40 for the game sealing TD. It also got the ball at the Duke 35 and got no points out of it.
Against ND we had 7 points with under a minute left in the game.

Even against UNC the offense gave UNC the ball twice on our side of the field, and couldn't get in from the 1.

Looks to me that we have been bad on both sides of the ball......