How about that defense
- Thread starter FanatiCat
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This is a thread about the D and if you cannot see the difference on D between last year and this year, do not know what to tell you. O has been bad for sure but D has improved
JON was actually good in the recruiting area. But his D was a read and react D forcing guys to have to think rather than just play freely. To succeed, at bare minimum it needed more practices and time and a higher talent level that we really did not have. And that led to a lot of guys out of position and open spaces and we did not have the speed to recover. It was an especially bad fit for us
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JON inherited a solid core of players that was proven to produce under a certain scheme. Within a few games - hell, one might say a few plays - it was clear that his new scheme required different personnel which weren’t available. Rather than adapt to available athletes, JON continued and losses mounted. Given his lack of results with NU and previous teams and his fit with NU, JON was a terrible hire
There is no argument for JON, even on the day of his signing. He had only ever coordinated bad defenses.
As a position coach, you might get away with being an insufficient coach if you can bring talent in. As a coordinator, you can’t do a good job if your scheme doesn’t work. And JON’s scheme never worked.
No argument there, Just that he was seen as much better as a recruiter than Hank. Can remember seeing comments by some high end guys about how he showed them how their skills compared with guys in pros and it helped close the deal
And I’m saying the current D is not so improved that it is worth bragging about. It has not shown anything average, let alone special.
It isn't even part of the discussion. The question was if Fitz was forced to fire JON or moved on as his decision,
And the D is substantially more sound than it was under JON. Under JON, guys were regularly out of position and did not have a chance. The current D is substantially more sound. Doesn't mean it still doesn't have personnel issues such as not enough beef on the line but it is much more sound. THat is a marked improvement, Is it up there with dOSU, PSU etc? No but we do not have their personnel either and hard to say we will get them any time soon. Last year it was atrocious while this year it is respectable and that is a huge upgrade
Sorry - it’s a subjective opinion so you one word condescension falls flat. How about that DL this year? Pretty impressive huh? Those LBs are consistent tackling machines too!
No missed tackles on this crew…
*what are you guys really watching on Saturdays? The radio?*
The DL personnel is awful, but if you can’t see that the defense is materially improved then I don’t know what to tell you.
We have had some pretty darn good defenses. Sorry if I’m not doing backflips because we have held two terrible D3 teams to a TD (as did our peer Harvard…) and kept a pretty bad MN to … 34 points. Wow - great leaps to brag about there. Shining improvements at DL, LB and DB. Participation trophies for everyone and a ten year contract for Braun.
Then let’s drop down to D2 so at least our shiny turd can be consistently competitive if this is new the new bar.
Nope - I see a turd that has a lot of polish and a group of select fans that is accustomed to finding some glass half full in anything.
We are not talking personnel, which has declined since last year, but more the structure and that has improved dramatically. Now the issues are more personnel
The job of the coaching staff is to put players into the best position to make plays, That was not done under JON, Now it is, Then it is up to the players to make the plays. Do they always? heck no but now we have at least put them in a significantly better position to be able to make those plays. Right now, we are sort of short on personnel. At least part of that was the mass exodus due to graduation (normal) but also because of portal losses (again some normal but also some because of the way this whole thing was handled) and guys supposed to be in this years Frosh class that chose to bail at the last minute. In addition there is the problem of D being on the field too much because of having such a weak offense
I was including that in my reference. Pretty good defenses require personnel and system.
I know this whole contrarian asshole thing is your schtick around here, but if you can’t see the defense has much better structure, effort, and assignment… yeah, you’re just here to fan whatever flame happens to be burning at the moment.
In this case, incorrect is correct. Or would you have rather than have him say, wrong?
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Sorry but the D this year is much better than it was last year. Even including the lack of personnel. If JON was still handling the D, this year we would likely be giving up 40 every game
Maybe one of the stat people can provide info about this year’s defensive ranking compared to same time last year. I can’t find it.
Unless that stats support your argument. Otherwise stats are for losers. It’s the argument old as time. Weird that teams on too often have good stats too, less excuses. Maybe excuses are for losers.
The thing that was most galling was Fitz deciding that it was a good thing to hire JON despite having had negative experiences with read and react schemes on both ends of the ball.
Just another example of poor FB IQ from Fitz.
While JON was by far the more active recruiter (compared to Hank), not sure if we really saw any real uptick in recruiting; after all, while Hank was pretty hands off when it came to recruiting, it was his years of success as a DC that was his biggest recruiting tool.
I’ll give you one. Last year we were -19 in turnovers. This year we’re +3
I liked what I saw of Uhlein, Kilbane and Theron Johnson yesterday. I think Uhlein, if given time, could be our best LB and Kilbane really flashed. Wish we had not lost Glover because I thought he was our top incoming freshman overall but I've seen enough flashes from a few true freshman this year to feel confident that this class will end up being a good one assuming we don't lose a bunch more to the portal after the season.
Does the O play any factor in that stat?
How about how many turnovers we created on D last year though 8 games compared to now?
Absolute agree. Just like need giveaways to go negative. So the D has three takeaways this year? And no idea about last year.
Turnover ration is everything and makes up for just having a good or just above average defense. My uncle's defenses at Ohio St weren't always tops, usually rated 4 or 5 if I remember correctly, but they were just about always #1 in turnover creation.
No, three takeaways more than the O has given away. Again that is huge by comparison to last year when they got almost no takeaways while giving it up plenty
I’m not a stat guy so in Asia, I’m not prone to research. All I know is that the D got at least three turnovers last year. No idea how many D got last year but apparently O turned it over at least 19 times. Maybe post the actual numbers?
No - can’t. On a liveaboard and my internet is slow or nonexistent. I can when I get back.
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