Why has our defense been bad since 2008?

[MWBATL]

Probably one of the more thoughtful posts on the subject. The different eras comment is key.

CPJ once described his philosophy and broke the game down into possessions, plays, and points. Asked about defense, he quipped that statistically, if the offense owned TOP and scored 28 points, Tech wins. It really didn't matter what the defense did ... he was confident that he could deliver the O.

Look at today. Alabama pundits are talking about how Bama's defense today is nowhere near as good as it was 5-6 years ago. Saban has gone very much up tempo with an emphasis on scoring (see rule changes, above). These days, you need a good, but not great defense ... really emphasizing defense as the SEC did is a bit like building the Maginot Line. It's yesterday's war.

Still, I would settle for a decent defense.

The UGa defense says “hi”. It may be harder to have a very good defense, but it is clearly possible.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

No one has made it important and a priority. The last coach we had that truly made defense important was George O'Leary. Clearly, Gailey, Johnson, and now seemingly Collins all emphasized Offense. Gailey, with his pro-style boring offensive philosophy, Johnson with his brainchild, triple option, and now Collins with his run, pass option entertainment offense. Defense is no longer a part of our DNA. It is an afterthought. Not a part of our "culture". I was hoping the "Minister of Mayhem" would at least have brought some semblance of defensive emphasis, but alas, I see no movement in that direction.

Go Jackets!

 

[Animal02]

No one has made it important and a priority. The last coach we had that truly made defense important was George O'Leary. Clearly, Gailey, Johnson, and now seemingly Collins all emphasized Offense. Gailey, with his pro-style boring offensive philosophy, Johnson with his brainchild, triple option, and now Collins with his run, pass option entertainment offense. Defense is no longer a part of our DNA. It is an afterthought. Not a part of our "culture". I was hoping the "Minister of Mayhem" would at least have brought some semblance of defensive emphasis, but alas, I see no movement in that direction.

Go Jackets!

Right after the hire, I was on a job site with a Temple grad. His opinion then, when GC came to Temple was "Defense" and it was anything but. He was glad he left by the way.......

 

[4shotB]

. I was hoping the "Minister of Mayhem" would at least have brought some semblance of defensive emphasis, but alas, I see no movement in that direction.

Go Jackets!

I will add that our ST's look a lot better. Getting a kicker with touchback capability solved a lot of woes here. Our XP's and FG's still are more exciting than they ought to be but now when they head out on the field I think we have a chance to make.

I am still upset about the decision to go for it on 4th down against Uva. Doesn't matter to me what play was or wasn't called. I would have been happy to attempt to get 3 points there. Seems like a stop not only takes potential points off the board but gives a big boost to the other side.

 

[Vespidae]

The UGa defense says “hi”. It may be harder to have a very good defense, but it is clearly possible.

One bird does not make the Spring.

 

[UgaBlows]

I will add that our ST's look a lot better. Getting a kicker with touchback capability solved a lot of woes here. Our XP's and FG's still are more exciting than they ought to be but now when they head out on the field I think we have a chance to make.

I am still upset about the decision to go for it on 4th down against Uva. Doesn't matter to me what play was or wasn't called. I would have been happy to attempt to get 3 points there. Seems like a stop not only takes potential points off the board but gives a big boost to the other side.

I agree, the game was essentially over when they stopped us, barring a miracle

 

[takethepoints]

I was one of those who was excited about coach Woody. Felt like he was starting to get the D playing faster and missing fewer assignments. But he needed 3 years, imo, to turn things around.

Yes, me too. I thought he was the right DC for Tech under any circumstance, mainly because he had come up with a D scheme at App State that fit almost exactly with the kind of good D players Tech could recruit and keep in school. Can't reliably find big DTs to come to Tech (that's the problem, in a nutshell)? Then use a D that depends on smaller, faster DTs. That worked, even without players Woody had recruited; the number of turnovers generated went up, even if the overall stats didn't dramatically improve. And it has worked at Army, which has the same problem.

I would have kept him, if I had been Collins. But I think he had visions of multiple J. D. Barnes types dancing in his head. Maybe that'll happen, but I doubt it.

 

[cthenrys]

Yes, me too. I thought he was the right DC for Tech under any circumstance, mainly because he had come up with a D scheme at App State that fit almost exactly with the kind of good D players Tech could recruit and keep in school. Can't reliably find big DTs to come to Tech (that's the problem, in a nutshell)? Then use a D that depends on smaller, faster DTs. That worked, even without players Woody had recruited; the number of turnovers generated went up, even if the overall stats didn't dramatically improve. And it has worked at Army, which has the same problem.

I would have kept him, if I had been Collins. But I think he had visions of multiple J. D. Barnes types dancing in his head. Maybe that'll happen, but I doubt it.

Same here, although it was a little because he was a teammate of my brother in law at Wofford. I would have liked to see him remain. Woody is a very strong defensive coach, but hey, we got Thacker... He did help develop that D at Temple with "one of the best front 7's in the country"...

 

[g0lftime]

We are still undersized on the DL and not quick enough to overcome that. Not blazing speed in the secondary either. Teams can just pound us up front and then when we come up for run support they can go over the top. Our ability to stop 3rd down conversions has not been good; even 3rd and long. We have let QB's jailbreak for big gains too many times even when we do get pressure. Lots to fix on defense.

 

[SteamWhistle]

Because We fired Ted Roof for no reason.

 

[augustabuzz]

Before 2008, we were the 98 mph fastball. Since that time, we are the catcher's mitt.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

Same here, although it was a little because he was a teammate of my brother in law at Wofford. I would have liked to see him remain. Woody is a very strong defensive coach, but hey, we got Thacker... He did help develop that D at Temple with "one of the best front 7's in the country"...

From what I heard with that front 7 is it was terrible before and he did by far the most difficult front 7 rebuild in the country.

 

[augustabuzz]

No one has made it important and a priority. The last coach we had that truly made defense important was George O'Leary. Clearly, Gailey, Johnson, and now seemingly Collins all emphasized Offense. Gailey, with his pro-style boring offensive philosophy, Johnson with his brainchild, triple option, and now Collins with his run, pass option entertainment offense. Defense is no longer a part of our DNA. It is an afterthought. Not a part of our "culture". I was hoping the "Minister of Mayhem" would at least have brought some semblance of defensive emphasis, but alas, I see no movement in that direction.

Go Jackets!

Gailey's offense protected his defense by being low risk and this married well with the riskier blitzing defense.

 

[alagold]

Maybe the reason our DEF is so bad, is that it practices vs our Off.

 

[Tech Lawyer]

I don't know if this has been said, but Tech's LBs can't disguise a blitz. The QB claps his hands once and we give it away. Charlie Thomas might as well just go up to the line of scrimmage and put his hand in the dirt. The one corner blitz we got VT on last week occurred when our DB delayed and didn't tip the offense off. Wow, if you surprise them it can work?

 

[jgtengineer]

Did Roof get fired because of the Miami game in ‘17?

Duke game. He found another job after the duke game.