thoughts on Coach Roof back at the Flatts

[gtfollower86]

Coach Roof hasn't been back here since Coach Gailey was head coach your thoughts as to switching the scheme to a 4-3 defense.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I hope CTR shows more than he did last time he was here. Heard somewhere that O'Leary controlled the D back then, limiting what Roof could do. Hope that's the case, because I was never impressed with our defenses back then. We were a juggernaut of an offense then as we are now. We were limited by our defense then like we are now. Hopefully CTR will show how he's grown in the past 12-13 years.

I think we were doomed with a 3-4 defense. Easier to recruit a 4-3, easier on the kids to learn it (closer to what they've always played). The problem is there's just too little time and too many other things going on in college to make a 3-4 successful unless you get your pick of the talent out there. Just an opinion as I sit here typing. (I reserve the right to change my opinion if someone presents an argument that makes my original opinion look stupid)

 

[gtfollower86]

Last season I noticed we switched to a one gap from a two gap 3-4 midway through the season that probably helped us out by winning our last 4 games. Up until UsicGA. But Ted Roof coached with O'Brien at PSU, he coached at Auburn to win the 2010 NC title so I don't think he's the same as before when he was here last.

 

[gtrower]

I don't know all the nuances of both defenses, but one of the perks of the 3-4 was supposed to be that we would be recruiting bigger DL than other schools in the SE and therefore might be able to snag solid HS guys away from SE factories that happened to fit our scheme better. That never really happened - possibly due to UGA/UF joining Bama as teams that also ran the 3-4 on defense. I think the 4-3 probably suits us better. To be honest I'd like to see us gamble more on defense, so I hope Roof stays aggressive with QB pressure even if we get burned every now and then. Our offense is good enough to win consistently if we can grab a timely turnover here and there.

 

[Eric]

I love it.

The 3-4 was just not working out for us recruiting wise or coaching wise...we could not get a good NG.

And on the field the players were lost and did not grasp things.

I honestly think Ted Roof is going to do some good things for us.

 

[Longestday]

*He has definitely shown several times he can improve defenses.
*Roof was able to maintain a top defense in his last job, which is the most important and most relevant data point (limited as it is).
*He did have a D that went to the NC, but I think that D was second to Cam's offense.
*Ted's D did have a bad year after the NC. A bad offense and a bad head coach could have had a significant negative effect on the D.

Overall, I liked what I saw at the spring game. We may/will be open to plays that take advantage of over pursuing the first year. We will be better, the question is how much?

 

[ATL1]

Here's an argument as to why you're wrong about 3-4 Defenses. Tech's defensive talent is on par with that of Stanford's and in some places actually better, but they've performed at a consistently higher major against some of the best offenses in the NCAA. Why??
Also check the sizes of their defensive line vs Tech's in 2012. Tech's dline took a back seat to no one in size at least, Barnes alone negates that argument.

http://mmqb.si.com/2013/07/26/derek-mason-stanford-read-option/

As for as with Roof concerns, the year after Cam left Auburns defense was horrible, and his defenses at Duke never came fully together. The defenses at Minnesota improved, and he maintained a solid defense at Penn St. He has never coached a top 10 defense Maybe that's due to his many stops, and that doesn't mean a top 10 defense is a necessity for Tech. He has coached teams to stop the run which would be a major improvement over the other coaches, and his style appears to be based on being the aggressor which I like.

 

[Longestday]

Duke's defense did improve under Roof's tenure right?

 

[ATL1]

Duke as defensive coordinator first year improvement
Duke, 01-02 492.0/375.2 44.6/29.4 16/25 6.6/5.4

http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-tech-sports/2013/01/10/ted-roof-by-the-numbers/
Other schools:
PSU, 11-12 323.9/353.4 16.8/19.1 26/22 4.6/4.9 38/37
Auburn, 08-09 317.8/374.1 18.0/27.5 18/24 4.9/5.1

His defenses at Duke as a head coach wasn't worth much

 

[gtdrew]

We could always do another thread on this, but I've always thought one way to contain the read option was to dictate to the defense the "read" that they have to make. You decide which runner you think has the least chance of beating you up, and you use your playside DE to dictate to the QB what read he has to make. If you think the QB is too dangerous, you have the end stay home, dictating the handoff to the rb, where you can use two of your lb to meet the play at the point of attack. You can use your uncommitted lb to strafe across, following the naked boot. If you're out of unblocked lb's on the play, a safety can be used, too. There's a whole different discussion to have on the secondary to protect against passes, but you could roll them to the play side and lose very little in coverage.

 

[JazzyD95]

Was kinda bummed when he was hired. I wanted a young energetic up and coming defense to light a fire under these players. But anything is better than what we had

 

[gtdrew]

Was kinda bummed when he was hired. I wanted a young energetic up and coming defense to light a fire under these players. But anything is better than what we had

He's not young, but he's plenty energetic.

 

[forensicbuzz]

To qualify my previous post, I like Coach Roof. I think what he's brought is a striking improvement over the mess that Groh was trying to manage. I like the aggressiveness of both the linebackers and the corners. I've read it many times on message boards and agree wholeheartedly, it drove me batty when it was 3rd and 3 and our corners were 10 yards off the line and their first step was backwards. I am cautiously optimistic about our defense this year. I think we have a great starting set of linebackers and seem to have good back ups. It'll be interesting to see how the interior linemen get after the QB this year instead of trying to occupy space. I am very much looking forward to seeing how our ends get pressure. I think we'll be more successful this year.

If our defense performed slightly better last year (as a unit), we beat VPI, we beat Miami, and by extension, we probably beat MTSU. Instead of 6-6 at the end of the regular season, we're 9-3 (7-1 in the ACC). That's the type of results I expect this year.

 

[gtdrew]

Here's another article on defending the read option...


http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...ching-nfl-coaches-know-how-defend-read-option

 

[Eric]

To qualify my previous post, I like Coach Roof. I think what he's brought is a striking improvement over the mess that Groh was trying to manage. I like the aggressiveness of both the linebackers and the corners. I've read it many times on message boards and agree wholeheartedly, it drove me batty when it was 3rd and 3 and our corners were 10 yards off the line and their first step was backwards. I am cautiously optimistic about our defense this year. I think we have a great starting set of linebackers and seem to have good back ups. It'll be interesting to see how the interior linemen get after the QB this year instead of trying to occupy space. I am very much looking forward to seeing how our ends get pressure. I think we'll be more successful this year.

If our defense performed slightly better last year (as a unit), we beat VPI, we beat Miami, and by extension, we probably beat MTSU. Instead of 6-6 at the end of the regular season, we're 9-3 (7-1 in the ACC). That's the type of results I expect this year.

I can't stand the 10 yard CB cushions.

Also can't blame the D for losing to VT.

 

[Longestday]

Then
*Our defense was confused and always "learning"
*Our CB played 10 yards off a 3 yard 1st down
*Pass rush did not fit in the term "wall" and the thier QB could eat a sandwitch and then pass over our wall
*Theory was worshiped and fundamentals were for high schools
*Complicated schemes prevented timely defense play calling
* Under Groh, we could not learn how to stop the WR screen pass

Now
*More sacks and tackles for loss after the change
*We got more tips and QB pressure after the change
*We stopped WR screen passes in the bowl game
*We got some good practice accomplished and the defense really showed out on the last two games of the year!
*Pelton will fix the DL fundamentals. Just listen to Sneezy talk about what he is learning about arms and leverage not just speed.
*Roof will run down hill for QB pressure so much I worry about over pursuit (see spring game).
*CB will play zone, man, and blitz. CB will also play 1 yard to 10 yards off the LOS based on the situation.
* Our own OL noticed a significant difference in difficulty in the spring practice now versus then.

Intangibles:
Who do you think is more vocal on the sidelines: Roof or Groh?
What motivates young these men: motivation by philosophy/theory or passion and a kick in the pants.
Who would you rather cut off in traffic?

We will be better, the question is how much.

 

[Longestday]

Sandwich not Sandwitch

 

[John]

Coincidently, there's a Sting Daily article about the defense:
http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072913aaa.html

That system, though, requires players to fit it more than it fits to players. Beyond that, Groh tried to build in enough checks, audibles and on-the-fly changes to make your head spin unless you had hours and hours and hours to prepare not only on the field but in meetings and what would have equated to class time.

 

[AE 87]

Well, I'm a believer in Ted, but there are some oddities of performance surrounding his career. Rumors of the over involvement of Head Coaches everywhere he's been longer than 1 year and the 1 year stays as DC at Duke, MN, PSU may speak against him. On the other hand, the willingness of coaches that have worked with him--George O'leary, Bill O'Brian, John Butler--to want to work with him again as well as the marked improvements at most stops may speak in his favor. I think Aubie was just a train wreck in terms of team chemistry and HC incompetence, so I give Roof a pass for his last couple seasons.

As far as where GT's D stands now, I think we're doing pretty good. Reference to just the 3-4 D as part of our problem misses the significance of the fact that Groh's 3-4 relied primarily on 2-gap technique, the linemen controlling both sides of the OL with which they are engaged. Most 3-4 D's, like U[sic]Ga play 1-gap. Also, I think our biggest problems the past two years have been 3rd Down and depth maintenance. We didn't do a very good job keeping our starters fresh, and we couldn't really afford to have some of our key starters get hurt. But, our biggest problem, imo, was 3rd down, where we allowed way too many conversions. The five FBS teams we played before Groh's firing averaged a 30% INCREASE in 3rd downs conversion % over than their season average. Our next 7 opponents, through the ACC CG, averaged 12% DECREASE in conversion % (15% Decrease if you include USC). That's an average of over 40% improvement in 3rd Down D over the opponent's average performance. To my mind, that's pretty significant and suggests that talent wasn't our biggest issue.

I think we have the talent to implement Roof's scheme and expect us to be VERY good this year (although the enduring injury of Green concerns me).

 

[GTJason]

The one good thing Groh did was get some talent in to GT. We will be reaping the benefits of his recruiting (more using his name than his actual recruiting) this year and the DC pipeline for longer than that. His defensive scheme may not have been the problem, but his ability to teach it to our players who seem more than capable to grasping defensive technique was the problem. Groh explaining his defense was like asking an electrical engineer how a TV works. The answer you need is just plug it in and screw the cable into the back, but the answer you get consists of whiteboard drawings of resistors and capacitors.

CTR has an AWESOME recruiting class lined up for next year. Hopefully the defensive play on the field will be good enough to keep the talent coming in or he might have the same criticism as CPJ (winning with the other guys players.) Either way I want to win now so hopefully he can win with Groh's players