Ted Roof

[LongforDodd]

.... I wonder if Roof would be getting the same support if he wasn't a "Tech" guy...

And he has some value with his connection to Buford High School with the talent that they "recruit" and produce.

 

[LongforDodd]

It's a combination of the defensive style and talent. If you want to play cover two zone and send four like we do a lot, you'd better have some really talented players all over the field. I like our guys, and we have some really good players, but we don't have a defense littered with future NFL guys, so it makes it tough.

The other thing the bend-don't-break style we play relies on is good tackling, and I think it's an understatement to say we are a poor tackling team.

The defensive style has not changed much since 2009. The alignments are a bit different, but the conservative style has been pretty consistent aside from the second half of last season. I think this comes from the head coach. CPJ is worried about being able to keep up with scoring, but I think aggression would have translated to more wins this year. We probably would have lost a couple of those games by larger margins by being aggressive, but we also may have picks up two more W's due to turnovers and such. I.e. The offensive woes would not have been quite as big of a deal...

For along time, we haven't had anyone that can successfully cover a TE, freeing up someone from the weak side to blitz.

 

[GaTech4ever]

In general, I think Roof has the kids in the right place. Perhaps we need more emphasis on sound tackling during the Spring, because that's been the biggest problem for us.

I wonder if the fact that we have so many high school QBs turned defensive players that they just haven't had to tackle as much in their years compared to players who played primarily defense in high school.

 

[UgaBlows]

You can't blame this crap season on Ted

 

[PBR549]

We need to stay the course. In my experience changes compound the situation at Tech. As I've said many times we're not a factory. We are a special situation that takes special people as coaches and players. Ted is one of those people. A true Tech man. At this point we need to stay true to our coaches and show as much consistency as possible to our recruiting base.

 

[sidewalkGTfan]

for me he was a bad hire and a mistake paul is going to struggle to rid himself of. Between extension of the contract and some tech faithful just liking him because he was here, its a controversial fire. I am not a fan.

+1...Just look at how next season's personnel on D is setting up. It's a built-in excuse if (more like when) the D struggles and making a change would be very difficult.

You can't blame this crap season on Ted

I'm not blaming the season on Ted. Our O has struggled tremendously and our special teams have had multiple WTF moments that have contributed to this season. I actually had high hopes for this year's D coming into the season given the amount of returning starters we had but I feel like we are having the same issues we've had in years past. The biggest difference is our O isn't possessing the ball and keeping the D off the field like they have before.

 

[JorgeJonas]

I wonder if the fact that we have so many high school QBs turned defensive players that they just haven't had to tackle as much in their years compared to players who played primarily defense in high school.

A lot of times they play both ways in high school.

I do think there's something to the notion some people have alluded to in terms of heavy blitzing, or otherwise aggressive play. We are different on offense because we recognize the challenges we'd have in recruiting players running substantially similar systems as our opponents. I think that same idea needs to be applied on defense, and I think Roof can deliver it. Tackling still needs improvement, though.

 

[Techster]

for me he was a bad hire and a mistake paul is going to struggle to rid himself of. Between extension of the contract and some tech faithful just liking him because he was here, its a controversial fire. I am not a fan.

I don't know if it's true or not, I remember reading on another board that Ted Roof wasn't 100% CPJ's choice. He was a popular choice that some of the $$$ guys really liked because he was a "Tech Man", and they were willing to shell out the money for him. At the time Roof was hired, a lot of the $$$ guys were unhappy with CPJ, and hiring someone like Roof placated them and got CPJ a new DC we needed.

Anyhow...just message board speculation from the past.

 

[CTJacket]

Keep Roof. Find some DLs.

This was my gut feeling but I wanted to see something from you or @Ibeeballin regarding CTR. IMHO he's still mid-conversion to his scheme. Henderson and Glanton have promise. I have faith in Pelton because he seems to get the most out of guys, so I believe Kallon will take a big step forward next year (although I understand many are tired of waiting).

 

[awbuzz]

Kallon was a 4star IIRC... not knocking you, just a reminder that star ratings do not guarantee instant success.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Couple of reasons for our DL struggles. 2013 and 2014. In 2014 we signed zero DTs. In 2013 we signed one DT...Darius Commisiong...who has since been dismissed from the team...went onto play some juco...and is now a East Carolina Pirate I believe. Two whole recruiting classes with no defensive tackles.

This has to change if we want to be even decent on defense. Good news in 2015, we signed 3. That was damn near a miracle for us. We did as well in 2012 I believe with Gotsis, Gamble, and Kallon (actually a signed DE that grew into a DT). But recruiting D Line has been a struggle to say the least.

Fwiw....I think in 2011 we signed only JHD....who was a 230 lb linebacker.

 

[LongforDodd]

Kallon was a 4star IIRC... not knocking you, just a reminder that star ratings do not guarantee instant success.

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.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

He was a project but was getting lots of recruiting attention.

 

[awbuzz]

I know he started playing ball in Gwinnett and was "raw" ..

High School: Central Gwinnett HS ... Played for head coach Todd Wofford ... Rated four stars by Rivals ... Ranked as No. 18 defensive end prospect nationally and with four stars by Scout"

 

[AE 87]

UNC is currently 59th in defensive efficiency. GT is ranked 55th.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings/_/sort/defEfficiency/tab/efficiency

Football outsiders has UNC ranked 70th in Defensive FEI. GT is ranked 75th.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/feidef

Some perspective is in order, however. UNC has done this against the 81st ranked SoS in the nation. GT has put up comparable numbers against the 12th ranked SoS.

http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

I'll stand by my assertion that no team that plays real opponents plays good defense when they are on the field for 35 minutes per game.

Two things.
1) You are correct that my points/drive stat is not adjusted for strength of schedule, but the stats you cites are adjusted for strength of schedule. So, you are wrong to say that "GT has put up comparable numbers against the" harder strength of schedule. The defensive rankings are only made comparable after taking SoS into account.
2) I concede your point that you probably can't be a good D if your team is losing the time of possession battle drastically. However, that's true in part because good D's get off the field by forcing stops. Look at BC on this link:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings/_/sort/defEfficiency/tab/efficiency

They are #4 in defensive efficiency, 86.6, and #124 in offensive efficiency, 15.5. Northwestern is #5 in defensive efficiency and #99 in offensive efficiency.

From footballoutsiders FEI, BC is #3 in defense and #124 in offense. Northwestern is #12 in defense and #88 in offense.

So, yeah, your assertion is true regarding time of possession but meaningless in my opinion. At one level it is saying that a defense that stays on the field because it can't force stops is a bad defense. The time of possession stat does not support the suggestion that the defensive struggles result from offensive struggles.

 

[bke1984]

You can't blame this crap season on Ted

I agree. When teams are this bad it is never one unit's fault. If it was one unit we wouldn't be 3-6, as we would have found a way to win a couple more games. Our entire team is struggling.

If you don't believe me, just try to name ONE thing we do well...aside from picking up blocked kicks and returning them for TDs

He defense is bad, sure...but a lot of people want to give the offense a pass and just blame the D. The offense is bad too. Many may provide stats that disagree, but just watch them...they don't produce at a level necessary to be successful this year.

It's sad, but it's true. We just are not a very good team right now. Injuries may have played a part in this, but it definitely doesn't explain the offensive line woes.

Tough season...

 

[Squints]

How did Penn State fans feel about him? Is the Auburn fan base worth listening to? They have had wildly varying opinions of several coaches there the last 6 years or so. Are they loving Muschamp still? Fan bases are finicky, have short memories, and often lack much football knowledge. Ditto media pukes. 2 at the AJC used to fawn over Richt. Now they think he should be fired. Geniuses.

Well I'm not talking about the mouth breathers on al.com. I'm talking about guys I've seen on the internet who break down Auburn film in way similar to guys like Boomer and LongestDay do on here. I'm relatively new the fan base so I knew very little about Roof when he was hired so I tried to do some research and what they said wasn't very glowing. As far as Penn State fans I actually personally know a fair number and they honestly didn't have much of an opinion because he was only there one year. Most they could say was that he didn't screw up the good defense they had the year before.

I'm largely with @33jacket on this. It's not like it's only fan opinion that works against him. His track just isn't very good. And in my opinion it's been clear why in his time here. I think he gets a pass he doesn't deserve a lot of times because he was a good player here.

 

[bke1984]

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.

I think he ended up a 4* because of the teams that were interested at the end of his recruitment. *'s are stupid.

 

[33jacket]

Two things.
1) You are correct that my points/drive stat is not adjusted for strength of schedule, but the stats you cites are adjusted for strength of schedule. So, you are wrong to say that "GT has put up comparable numbers against the" harder strength of schedule. The defensive rankings are only made comparable after taking SoS into account.
2) I concede your point that you probably can't be a good D if your team is losing the time of possession battle drastically. However, that's true in part because good D's get off the field by forcing stops. Look at BC on this link:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings/_/sort/defEfficiency/tab/efficiency

They are #4 in defensive efficiency, 86.6, and #124 in offensive efficiency, 15.5. Northwestern is #5 in defensive efficiency and #99 in offensive efficiency.

From footballoutsiders FEI, BC is #3 in defense and #124 in offense. Northwestern is #12 in defense and #88 in offense.

So, yeah, your assertion is true regarding time of possession but meaningless in my opinion. At one level it is saying that a defense that stays on the field because it can't force stops is a bad defense. The time of possession stat does not support the suggestion that the defensive struggles result from offensive struggles.

Look at us last year. Number one in offense. Train wreck on d. Alot more than just that.

 

[Squints]

You can't blame this crap season on Ted

I don't think anyone is trying to pin the entire season on him. Lot of things have gone wrong everywhere. That includes the defense's performance so he definitely gets a chunk of the blame.