…all left for the NFL. I am sick and embarrassed watching team after team destroy our defense but I don’t think the coaches are the problem, except as far as they are responsible for the recruits on defense.
When you don’t have enough talent in your secondary you compensate for it by playing a lot of zone, helping your secondary underneath with your linebackers, and you hope that the defensive line with a very occasional blitz will get to the QB BEFORE the secondary breaks down. That worked when Philon, Flowers, and Spaight were around and it has not worked so well since. Expecting any four defensive linemen on Arkansas’ roster to get to the QB quickly AND defend the run has not worked this season and won’t work until the combination of Agim, Capps, and Greenlaw grow into the equivalent of Philon, Flowers, and Spaight. Plus, they need equally good subs and fellow defenders to do their part. Or, we can get some athletes in the secondary that can hold up one-on-one long enough against SEC receivers to allow our blitzes to work. Really need both. The coordinators and athletes in the SEC are too good to not take advantage of our shortfall in defensive talent and just coaching can only help so much for so long before it all breaks down. This year, defensively, it has broken down again and again. It is not a coaching problem it is a recruiting problem and needs to be fixed now. Robb may have to take one for the team to get a dynamic recruiting coordinator on The Hill. JMVVVVHO.
I think you nailed it. We need more speed, strength, & talent on D.
I heard Vince Dooley tell the LRTD club he was an absolutely brilliant offensive coach when he had Herschel Walker. Pat Dye said the same thing about when he had Bo Jackson.
I am not one who takes lightly decisions that adversely impact lives, even though I understand the risk reward balance in the coaching profession, thus try not to be hyper critical of any of our coaches, especially since some are way too fast in calling for heads. My general observation/ concern with our defense is the passive appearance of our defense. While it might be driven by talent or experience or something else, I don’t like the lack of an attacking mindset.
We have not put a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, generally give huge cushions in our secondary and seldom attack ball carriers, grabbing and catching more often than striking. It does not seem this is by chance. Can someone explain why one should not be concerned with what I perceive and what I have discussed?
You could say all that every time there is a bad unit on any team. But, we have been schemed in several games and have our kids in positions and situations in which they are incapable of succeeding.
And, these very same kids have played and have at the very least been able to stop the run.
I think the writing is on the wall. You just can’t have historically bad stats and put out a defense that gets rolled week after week.
Smith seems like a great guy and I have no doubt he knows football and works hard and sees all the things we see, but it’s a bottom line business and when your defense returns 9 starters and adds some impact freshmen and obliterates school records of futility, there have to be changes.
It’s clear to me from CBB’s weekly comments that he is beyond frustrated and very unlikely to maintain the status quo.
[quote=“Hogmodo”]
…This year, defensively, it has broken down again and again. It is not a coaching problem it is a recruiting problem and needs to be fixed now. Robb may have to take one for the team to get a dynamic recruiting coordinator on The Hill. JMVVVVHO.
[/quote]Why wasn’t it a recruiting problem two years ago, or even last year when the entire defense was the same as the starters this season? Strangely, our defense has become worse the more experienced they’ve become.
We were happy with our defense in 2014. I remember it being said that Randy Shannon often came up with the defensive game plan. After he left things went down hill
I don’t remember any such thing. We don’t pay a DC, be it Robb, Charlie Strong or anyone else, big bucks to have him delegate the game plan to a position coach, for one thing. Shannon is getting way too much credit for 2014 IMO.
I agree with your statement. Cannot ever remember Arkansas defenses as bad as the teams of the last two years. And, I don’t think it’s an on-field (practice or game day) coaching problem. CBB has to, somehow, improve the quality of player signed. Across the board.
I’m no more than a Hog loving fan watching games and getting caught up with the emotion of the moment while witnessing our defensive meltdowns. I didn’t feel confident in the win Saturday night until halfway through the fourth quarter even though we never punted because we give up such giant plays on defense. But to me it seems we run a complicated defensive scheme at times that makes what talent we have overthink and slow to react. It also makes it hard for backups (and younger players) to come in and execute so there’s a tendency to keep the first string in longer which leads to early game fatigue. The record Hog numbers we are giving up can’t be talent alone, it has to be partly blamed on the system and coaching style failures. I do know this about CBB, he will make changes and never settle for Texas Tech type defense.
I know insiders have said it on here but I refuse to believe that Randy Shannon had no part of the defense. It just seems really strange that he leaves and the defense all of a sudden can’t stop anybody.
There is a reason that since his HC days at Miami Randy Shannon has just been a position coach. That was what he was at TCU, Arkansas and now Florida. He is not nor will he be a DC anytime soon.
Ah yes, the old “post hoc ergo propter hoc” fallacy, which is assuming that because A happened then B happened, A must have caused B. It’s obviously common enough that they came up with a fancy Latin name for it. And it got you.
Yes, Randy Shannon left. Yes, our defense got worse. No, RS’ departure did not necessarily cause the latter. More likely, what caused the latter is failing to replace people like Spaight and Philon.