So, The Defense...

[RWS]

As far as Ted Roof goes, again no defending him, however these kids have been playing football for how many years?  Coaches can't make the tackles for them!!

http://www.examiner.com/iowa-state-cyclones-in-des-moines/cyclones-improved-defense-started-with-tackling-101

Cyclones' improved defense started with 'Tackling 101'
July 27th, 2010 9:06 am
.Iowa State improved it's defense last year in a 7-6 football season compared to its 2-10 campaign in 2008.

Coach Paul Rhodes, talking to reporters at Monday's Big 12 Conference Football media day, had three reasons for improvement. The first was tackling.

"The first time we put pads on that first spring," Rhoads said, "we had to shut practice down for about 15 minutes and go back to tackling 101, and we got their attention, and I think they've improved greatly
as a tackling football team.

"Number two, we had to keep points off the board. You can give up yards. We want to cut down on all those numbers and statistics and rush yardage and pass yardage and all that, but you can give up yards and not give up points and play good defense. We didn't give up a lot of points a year ago, and we turned the ball over with some consistency."

The third area Rhoads mentioned was shoring up ISU's run defense.

"We've got to limit the yards that we give up in the passing game and so on and so forth. And we're going to have to do that week after week with improvement because we are a young group on that side of the
ball."

Rhoads credited defensive coordinator Wally Burnham, saying he "does a fantastic job with those kids, putting them in a position to be successful."

Not defending Roof here either, but I do see sort of a pattern here. It might not be all Roof, but then again, it might be entirely him. Make whatever you want of the article.

[The Prowler]

BTW, all of the Freshmen on Defense played a very significant amount of plays in the last scrimmage.  AND, we've got a shit load of speed coming at them from all different directions with a quadruple-motion type of Offense.  So, compare trying to tackle a greasy string coming out of a cat's ass to trying to tackling a Basset Hound.

[JR4AU]

http://www.examiner.com/iowa-state-cyclones-in-des-moines/cyclones-improved-defense-started-with-tackling-101
Not defending Roof here either, but I do see sort of a pattern here. It might not be all Roof, but then again, it might be entirely him. Make whatever you want of the article.

Make whatever you want of these too...

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2002&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2003&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2004&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2005&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2006&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

Gonna go out on a limb here and say the jury is still out on Chiz as a HC, but his Def. guruness is pretty well carved in stone...one #1 scoring Def, 2 more top 10, 13th, and the worst 26th when playing with full strength D1 BCS level teams.  He's also studied under the likes of Dungy, and the elder Kiffin.  His pedigree is solid too.  When Auburn gets fully stocked on defense, I GA-RONE-TEE the defense will be top notch. 

[RWS]

Make whatever you want of these too...

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2002&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2003&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2004&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2005&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2006&div=4&rpt=IA_teamscordef&site=org

Gonna go out on a limb here and say the jury is still out on Chiz as a HC, but his Def. guruness is pretty well carved in stone...one #1 scoring Def, 2 more top 10, 13th, and the worst 26th when playing with full strength D1 BCS level teams.  He's also studied under the likes of Dungy, and the elder Kiffin.  His pedigree is solid too.  When Auburn gets fully stocked on defense, I GA-RONE-TEE the defense will be top notch.

Even considering the depth issues, if you're throwing out words like "guru" and "pedigree", it should muster a little more than the worst defense ever in the history of football. While a defense that AU hadn't shown all season contained Alabama's run game, the regular defense had some issues.

That's great that Chizik did well at AU before, and as co-DC at Texas. He isn't exhibiting much guru-ness right here and now on the defense.

[JR4AU]

Even considering the depth issues, if you're throwing out words like "guru" and "pedigree", it should muster a little more than the worst defense ever in the history of football. While a defense that AU hadn't shown all season contained Alabama's run game, the regular defense had some issues.

That's great that Chizik did well at AU before, and as co-DC at Texas. He isn't exhibiting much guru-ness right here and now on the defense.

Guru's can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit...but if you want to bring up shit like that...how much "guruness" did Saban exhibit in his first season at bammer going 7-6 with a loss to LaMo, MSU, and a very average FSU team? 

[RWS]

Guru's can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit...but if you want to bring up shit like that...how much "guruness" did Saban exhibit in his first season at bammer going 7-6 with a loss to LaMo, MSU, and a very average FSU team?

I think there was a lot more to the ULM loss than a coaching issue, and you know that. The word mutiny comes to mind. I think Saban has proven his "guru-ness" in the two seasons since then, though. I'm pretty sure that everybody knew that we would improve. Still, Alabama didn't field the worst defense in the school's history.

I can't remember where, but I read an article a few months ago where Rhodes was talking about the tackling style ISU players had been taught. He said they were taught to fly to the ball and just go for the big hit, and it was like they were never taught the fundamentals of tackling. Seems like a pattern is all. It certainly explains the sudden inability of AU players to tackle.

[JR4AU]

I think there was a lot more to the ULM loss than a coaching issue, and you know that. The word mutiny comes to mind. I think Saban has proven his "guru-ness" in the two seasons since then, though. I'm pretty sure that everybody knew that we would improve. Still, Alabama didn't field the worst defense in the school's history.

I can't remember where, but I read an article a few months ago where Rhodes was talking about the tackling style ISU players had been taught. He said they were taught to fly to the ball and just go for the big hit, and it was like they were never taught the fundamentals of tackling. Seems like a pattern is all. It certainly explains the sudden inability of AU players to tackle.

You're right, as usual, it's always somehow different when it's bammer.  Your coach can suck, but it's not his fault, and now, of course you have proof that he doesn't.  Auburn's coach, despite any proof he used to know something about defense, now sucks, and it won't ever change.  I got it now.

[Buzz Killington]

I think there was a lot more to the ULM loss than a coaching issue, and you know that. The word mutiny comes to mind. I think Saban has proven his "guru-ness" in the two seasons since then, though. I'm pretty sure that everybody knew that we would improve. Still, Alabama didn't field the worst defense in the school's history.

I can't remember where, but I read an article a few months ago where Rhodes was talking about the tackling style ISU players had been taught. He said they were taught to fly to the ball and just go for the big hit, and it was like they were never taught the fundamentals of tackling. Seems like a pattern is all. It certainly explains the sudden inability of AU players to tackle.

So, Roof was at ISU in 2008?  I didn't realize that.

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

What's the over/ under on 10 pages here?   

[JR4AU]

What's the over/ under on 10 pages here?   

I think you set the O/U at 10 pages. 

Look, whoever wants to decide after last season that Chizik and Roof can't figure out anything about defense despite what we all know about Auburn's overall talent level left for them, and their prior history of defensive coaching successes is welcome to their thoughts. 

[AUTiger1]

I think you set the O/U at 10 pages. 

Look, whoever wants to RWS decided after last season that just because it's Auburn, that Chizik and Roof can't figure out anything about defense despite what we all know about Auburn's overall talent level left for them, and their prior history of defensive coaching successes and he is welcome to their his thoughts.

FTFY

[JR4AU]

FTFY

Thanks, I don't know what the fuck I was thinking.

[djsimp]

I will admit that Saban is a damn good defensive minded coach. He has proven that but damn RWS, how can you not agree that the situation is almost identical. Both Chizik and Saban came in to teams will a decimated defense, by numbers and talent. You say mutiny? Well maybe it was and those players left the team either by force or on their own. I recollect the same at AUburn. With that said, it take a year or two to really get things firing on all cylinders. I hate missed tackles as much as anybody else. I also think that Chizik has proven himself enough to know that he can coach the D. Has anybody thought that maybe those missed tackles came from trying to tackle Ladarious "Sugar Bear" Phillips or Cam Newton?

[RWS]

So, Roof was at ISU in 2008?  I didn't realize that.

Roof isn't the common denominator at both places. However, I'm sure a defensive guru such as Chizik is going to have alot of say in how the defense operates. That's what I'm getting at. But then again, maybe it is all on Roof and it's just a coincidence that the same thing plagued two different teams that Chizik was the head coach of. Maybe AU will come out this season and school other teams on how to tackle. Too soon to know.

[GH2001]

Roof isn't the common denominator at both places. However, I'm sure a defensive guru such as Chizik is going to have alot of say in how the defense operates. That's what I'm getting at. But then again, maybe it is all on Roof and it's just a coincidence that the same thing plagued two different teams that Chizik was the head coach of. Maybe AU will come out this season and school other teams on how to tackle. Too soon to know.

Roof and Chizik both have too good a track record as DC's for this issue to be coaching. It just isn't the issue. The problem was personnel and not a lot of it. I think its at least fair to let Roof work with a semi full cupboard before throwing him out to the curb. The guy literally had nothing to work with last year. We had 3 LB's for pete's sake!!

[djsimp]

Roof and Chizik both have too good a track record as DC's for this issue to be coaching. It just isn't the issue. The problem was personnel and not a lot of it. I think its at least fair to let Roof work with a semi full cupboard before throwing him out to the curb. The guy literally had nothing to work with last year. We had 3 LB's for pete's sake!!

...and in the Iron Bowl, one of the starters was a walk-on. Thats how thin we were at the end of the season.

[Snaggletiger]

Go back and look at that clip from the N'Western game.  It's indicative of a poorly coached group trying to fly to the ball carrier and make the big hit.  I came on here and complained about the exact same thing after the spring game this year.  Countless times, a "tackle" attempt in the open field was nothing more than a flying block by our DB's and LB's.  So, Rhoades said he had to go back to tackling 101?  Now, the same shit is going on in scrimmages.  85 points?  Even with some screwy scoring system...85 points?  Really?

Look, I'm not going all Chicken Little here, although I'm positive that was a small chunk of sky that hit me in the head the other day.  And no, I'm certainly no expert on the subject and can only go by what I see and what I'm reading.  And what I've seen from last year through the spring game and read about so far in camp, taint looking real good.  Yes, we recruited well.  Yes, there's a few injured DB's back.  Great, a safety who was part of the worst AU defense in history and who they won't let get invovled in much contact, a DB who hasn't played in two years and coming off two surgeries and one who broke his leg and is still not 100%. 

I'm seeing loads of spin and very little realistic analysis of this team.  I don't mean to sound like all is lost or that I'm writing this team off before the season begins.  Far from the case.  I think the sky is the limit...IF, they get some very disturbing trends changed.  So far, it sounds like more of the same.  That's coming from our very own players and corches mouths.   

[JR4AU]

Go back and look at that clip from the N'Western game.  It's indicative of a poorly coached group trying to fly to the ball carrier and make the big hit.  I came on here and complained about the exact same thing after the spring game this year.  Countless times, a "tackle" attempt in the open field was nothing more than a flying block by our DB's and LB's.  So, Rhoades said he had to go back to tackling 101?  Now, the same shit is going on in scrimmages.  85 points?  Even with some screwy scoring system...85 points?  Really?

Look, I'm not going all Chicken Little here, although I'm positive that was a small chunk of sky that hit me in the head the other day.  And no, I'm certainly no expert on the subject and can only go by what I see and what I'm reading.  And what I've seen from last year through the spring game and read about so far in camp, taint looking real good.  Yes, we recruited well.  Yes, there's a few injured DB's back.  Great, a safety who was part of the worst AU defense in history and who they won't let get invovled in much contact, a DB who hasn't played in two years and coming off two surgeries and one who broke his leg and is still not 100%. 

I'm seeing loads of spin and very little realistic analysis of this team.  I don't mean to sound like all is lost or that I'm writing this team off before the season begins.  Far from the case.  I think the sky is the limit...IF, they get some very disturbing trends changed.  So far, it sounds like more of the same.  That's coming from our very own players and corches mouths.

Snaggle...what you saw was a defense that was leg weary and tired.  Nobody in the video posted earlier in this thread made any attempt at a big hit...they stood straight up and tried to arm tackle.  A sure sign of fatique...or just spin...up to you how to take it. 

Maybe bammer's corches have forgot how to coach defense suddenly too...

http://www.tidesports.com/article/20100817/NEWS/100819672/1011?Title=Members-of-the-UA-football-team-hold-a-players-only-meeting

Alabama football team holds players only meeting

By Chase Goodbread Sports Writer Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:32 p.m.
( page of 3 )

TUSCALOOSA | Leaders on the University of Alabama football team made themselves heard following the first of two practices on Monday, and by all indications the message concerned the urgency for improvement after last weekend's first scrimmage of fall camp.


Linebacker Dont'a Hightower said he joined quarterback Greg McElroy, tight end Preston Dial and defensive lineman Marcell Dareus in speaking to the team.

“It was just time,” said Dial, a fifth-year senior whom Hightower said was the first player to speak. “We had a couple meetings last year where we just kind of had to analyze where we're at, and make corrections and move forward. No different than coaches in the install meetings and corrections meetings we have before and after practice. We went out there today, and it was just little things here and there.

“We just emphasized on keeping the tempo up to Coach (Nick) Saban's standards, up to championship standards. ... It's always better to get the good, the bad and the ugly out there so everybody knows what's going on.”

Saban expressed concern for the development of a young defense following last Saturday's scrimmage, in which UA quarterbacks threw nine touchdown passes. McElroy cautioned that the offense did heavy situational work in the red zone during the scrimmage, thus accounting for some of the touchdowns.

It was also the first time the Crimson Tide has tackled to the ground since camp began, as the standard in regular practices is to “thud,” which means to hit and wrap up ball carriers without finishing the tackle.

For Hightower, that was no excuse for the defensive showing

“I'm not going to take the easy way out and say that was one of the reasons. I think it was partly the way we practiced. During practice, we're supposed to thud the runner and a lot of guys were just tagging off,” Hightower said. “And tagging off is a lot different from tackling. Some of the guys who were mainly just tagging off (in practice) were the same guys who missed a lot of tackles (in the scrimmage). We just have bad practice habits, and one of the things we emphasized on today was better tackling.”

Said McElroy: “One of my main focuses during my little talk was just that I want people to care. I think the thing that bothers me more than anything about it, not necessarily from a talent standpoint, but just how much to do you care about the team? What are you willing to give to allow the team to be successful? I think that we all need to take a look in the mirror — offense, defense, special teams, everybody — and see what we're not doing right and notice those problems and be honest with yourself.”

For McElroy, a team-wide reckoning with personal accountability is not unusual in fall camp. Young players tend to struggle with learning various on-field responsibilities as a matter of routine, and fall camp can be more of a mental strain on less experienced players than a physical one.

“Everyone needs to lock in on the job at hand. And that includes myself,” McElroy said. “A lot of people are sort of looking at the calendar and going, ‘Oh, we still have this long until the first game,' and that's caused them a little bit of ... just no one is giving as much effort as they probably could be.

“That's attributed to us as individuals and us as leaders because we have to get people on the same page and we have to get people focused and excited for practice. And we haven't been doing a very good job of that.”

Hightower said the team's veterans have a responsibility to show more maturity in an effort to help less experienced players mature themselves.

“After that scrimmage, we all knew it had to be said and had to be done,” Hightower said. “We didn't say anything after the scrimmage. Having that off day (Sunday), we wanted to let everybody recuperate and get treatment or whatever, and see how things went today. We did pretty good (Monday) but still, we had to let everybody know we're turning the corner now. We're about there. We're on the street to the season.”

Hightower is taking on a leadership role among a group of linebackers who have limited game experience. Courtney Upshaw and Nico Johnson played significantly more after Hightower was lost for the season to a knee injury last year, but the experience among the rest of the group is mostly limited to special teams. Asked about any younger players who have stood out to him in a positive way, Hightower made an exception for redshirt freshman linebacker Ed Stinson, who practices at the ‘Jack' position.

“He was one of the guys who didn't have as many mental errors. I don't think he had any loafs during the practice,” Hightower said. “He's a great example of one of the guys who works hard, him and (senior) Chavis Williams both.”

Reach Chase Goodbread at chase.goodbread@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.

As I said yesterday from the report my buddy gave me from Tuscaloser...they haven't been tackling full speed in camp because they're young, and these guys on bammer team are not yet used to the rigorous workouts...they're tired, and that leads to poor tackling every single time. 

[JR4AU]

The greatest defensive mind in the land and the finest defensive players in the land, and yet, this...

Oh, save us Jebus!
 by outsidethesidelines on Aug 14, 2010 11:09 PM CDT in Football  54 comments


Let's recap the statistical scorecard for the first scrimmage of Fall practice: Greg McElroy and A.J. McCarron completed a mind-boggling 80% of passing attempts despite throwing 59 passes. Combined, they threw for eight touchdowns and averaged over ten yards per attempt. If we were to view the performance through the lens of quarterback ratings, McElroy would have posted a Playstation-esque 230.4 passer rating. And it wasn't just one receiver lighting up the secondary either... despite throwing for about 700 yards on the day, somehow not a single receiver broke the 100-yard mark. The tailbacks may have "struggled" somewhat, by the ridiculous standards set by the passing game, but nevertheless matched Al Bundy's record of four touchdowns in one game, er, scrimmage. All in all, the offense somehow racked up 13 touchdowns in what was probably only about a 100 play scrimmage.

Anyone else need a drink right now?

Now, as the supposed resident pessimist, let's step back from the ledge just a bit. We were razor-thin in depth in the defensive backfield regardless, and that only became thinner with the dismissal of Rod Woodson and the heat-related medical condition forcing Kendall Kelly's absence. And, considering that, with the in-scrimmage injuries to Menzie, Milliner, and Lester, who even knows for sure exactly which players were in the game for most of these reps? I don't know exactly the names, but I can largely assure you that it was Mark Barron, Dre Kirkpatrick, Burton Scott, Nick Perry, Jarrick Williams, and then a whole bunch of walk-ons that you have never heard of.

So calm down a bit in that regard. A lot of the raw numbers were probably just inflated due to the injuries and the general attrition in the defensive backfield. In that sense, it is not that big of a concern given that many of those players will never see the field this Fall unless the major run of injuries continues.

With that limited qualifier out of the way, however, I must say that the point remains that this scrimmage looks pretty brutal. I don't care about the context, you see anything even in the same ballpark of the numbers we saw today, and it's ugly. Very ugly. Some people may not want to admit it, but for now it seems like this defense has a long way to go. In his post-scrimmage press conference, Saban constantly referred to mental mistakes, a lack of intensity, young and inexperienced players, and overall immaturity. And this comes roughly 48 hours after he publicly questioned the development of the linebacker corps, which we all thought would be a strength heading into the season. Quite frankly, he has clearly been upset with our defense so far this camp, and there is really no positive way to spin all of this. Rest assured he wasn't just moaning and groaning for nothing.

And I know what some of you are thinking, "Eh, it's just a scrimmage, it's not like this is a real game, right?" Well, that's obviously true to an extent -- no, clearly scrimmages are not real games -- but it's very misleading. While they don't ultimately count in the win-loss column, scrimmages very much do matter in every other regard. It's not like the coaching staff and the team are just sitting around bored one day and then they decide to put on a scrimmage like it's some spur-of-the-moment pick-up basketball game. There is very much a reason why they play these things, and why they put players in danger of serious injury in order to conduct these scrimmages. They have major, tangible impacts on player development, evaluations, playing time distributions, and, well, everything else for that matter. You can't just throw all of this stuff out the proverbial window because it's not a "real" game; scrimmages are important and the player and unit performances in them make a difference.

We've talked a lot here at RBR in recent weeks and months about how the offense needs to become even better in 2010 to compensate for the expected declines with both the defense and special teams units. In that regard, it's a positive to see the offense performing at such a high level, but I'll be the first to admit that unless the defense ultimately comes together better than they looked today, it's not going to matter what the offense does. If your goal is repeating as national champions, the defense is simply going to have to do better than this, I don't care how well the offense ultimately performs.

The good news is that we are still unbelievably talented defensively (with even more talent on the way in the 2011 recruiting class) and we still have Nick Saban on our side. Combined, in time, at some point those two things will produce yet another elite defense that dominates opposing offenses with brutal force. It will happen, it is a question of when, not if. Unfortunately, the results of this scrimmage hints that the transition from all of the personnel loss from the 2009 defense will not be nearly as seamless as everyone had hoped. This unit will get to where we all want it to go some day, but after today's performance I must say that day may be further off than we would all like

[AUChizad]

Roof isn't the common denominator at both places. However, I'm sure a defensive guru such as Chizik is going to have alot of say in how the defense operates. That's what I'm getting at. But then again, maybe it is all on Roof and it's just a coincidence that the same thing plagued two different teams that Chizik was the head coach of. Maybe AU will come out this season and school other teams on how to tackle. Too soon to know.

Maybe it's just a coincidence the SAME barber cuts the hair of two guys whose cable went out last night.

Roof is the defensive coordinator. Chizik is the head coach at Auburn, and was at Iowa State. He was the DC at Auburn and Texas. Those defenses did well.

Sure, he may have some final say, but as far as defensive schemes and teaching fundamentals, that's not his job. When it was his job, he proved to do quite well at it. I know it's beyond comprehension for you as a bama fan since it is ingrained in you that Saban controls the offense, defense, strength & conditioning, the hiring of the basketball coach, the weather, the stock market, and the gravitational pull of the Earth's surface. But in reality, coordinators are hired for a reason.