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(11-30-2012 03:51 PM)uab278 Wrote:  

(11-30-2012 03:44 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  And in the 3-4, the Blitz is easier to disguise.

In the 3-4, normally someone is always "Blitzing", just not the same four people.

Not true, the scheme that you implore has nothing to do with whether you blitz or not. Personal, assignments, and responsibilities change but all defenses use a combination of blitzes, stunts, zones, and a combination thereof. Your base defense may be your bread and butter but the best defenses are multiple, as are your best offenses. Your base really dictates how you recruit more than anything, more lbs, dls, or cbs vs safeties. Now the style of play, to me, really dictates the success or failure of a defense. I prefer an aggressive defense, bump and run, blitzing, zone blitzing, etc.

(12-01-2012 11:55 AM)UAB?IAB Wrote:  

(11-30-2012 03:51 PM)uab278 Wrote:  

(11-30-2012 03:44 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  And in the 3-4, the Blitz is easier to disguise.

In the 3-4, normally someone is always "Blitzing", just not the same four people.

Not true, the scheme that you implore has nothing to do with whether you blitz or not. Personal, assignments, and responsibilities change but all defenses use a combination of blitzes, stunts, zones, and a combination thereof. Your base defense may be your bread and butter but the best defenses are multiple, as are your best offenses. Your base really dictates how you recruit more than anything, more lbs, dls, or cbs vs safeties. Now the style of play, to me, really dictates the success or failure of a defense. I prefer an aggressive defense, bump and run, blitzing, zone blitzing, etc.

Exactly. Couldn't agree more.

And that's what they said we'd do. We didn't.
Switching bases may help, it may not.

More...

With all the sunbelt and other teams coming, is it still the best plan to base our defense on CUSA offenses?

Just asking.

Well, the Chicago Bears from the championship season took the offensive on defense.

They played the defense that they wanted to play & made the opposing offense adjust thusly.

I totally agree that something needs to change on the defensive side of the ball - but there is no scheme that will result in a leap forward with the talent and experience we have. I don't see much hope for significant improvement on our defensive line without some JUCO players. Everyone we had is back, but with the exception of Morris and Watkins none showed flashes of significant potential (no multi-sack or 8 or 9 tackle games). Rabb is intriguing as a pass rush specialist (he did have 2 sacks at SC), but if I'm the opposing offense I run right at him all day due to his size. I suspect that if I add all the tackles made by the entire defensive line (minus Watkins) this year, they would not equal Elliot Hennigan's tackle total in his best year.

Regarding the 3-4: UT switched to a 3-4 defense this year (I live in Knoxville). They had their historically worst defensive ever. Troy hit them for over 700 yards at Neyland Stadium....700 yards on a 3-4 defense with SEC talent. I'm trying to imagine our defensive talent running that same defense against Troy - because as bad as the Vols talent level is - we are much worse. A 3-man front worked for us against Marshall in the first half, but I think that was largely due to the surprise factor. They adjusted well after half-time.

The 3-4 also puts us back to square one with learning a new defensive scheme again.

So I'm not sure I'm excited about the 3-4, but I agree something has to change. Let's hope the coaches know what they're doing. You MUST have good down linemen for the 3-4 to work. We don't.

The only sure solution is to recruit and develop some defensive players who can fight through blocks, run to the ball, arrive with severe violence and inflict great pain. Or, who can at least make the f**** tackle when the opposing player runs by close enough to step on their foot.

Burdette is a beast and very talented
To be fair to the other guys on defense, I would guess that Burdette played almost every snap of every game and his position stayed the same.
Some of the other guys on defense changed positions and had sporadic playing time. It's hard to judge talent that way.
I think a player needs to have some kind of consistency to perform well.
I'm frustrated because I was under the impression that the coaches were supposed to determine the plays and the players during fall camp.
I think we would have been better off going with a plan and letting it play out, rather than mixing things up all season.

(12-02-2012 09:37 AM)uabfl Wrote:  Burdette is a beast and very talented
To be fair to the other guys on defense, I would guess that Burdette played almost every snap of every game and his position stayed the same.
Some of the other guys on defense changed positions and had sporadic playing time. It's hard to judge talent that way.
I think a player needs to have some kind of consistency to perform well.
I'm frustrated because I was under the impression that the coaches were supposed to determine the plays and the players during fall camp.
I think we would have been better off going with a plan and letting it play out, rather than mixing things up all season.

I don't disagree, but this post is funny when you juxtapose it against all those saying how stubborn McGee is.

I think McGee is stubborn in what he knows, which is offense. Stubborness is not necessarily bad if you're right. Early he said he wanted to establish a running game, even though we couldn't run the ball with our OL. He stuck with it and we eventually did develop a decent running game. That's a positive outcome of stubborness.

But I suspect McGee doesn't consider himself a defensive expert, so will be less stubborn there. Plus, he has a whole lot less experience and talent on that side of the ball. We lose only 4 seniors who started (if you include Johnson), but all 4 were impact players. Burdette and Irvin were our primary tacklers and play makers. Richards was our best corner. The coaches are smart guys. The know that if they do the same thing next year, they're doing it without their best 3 defenders. If it was bad this year, what's next year going to be? They are attempting to adjust to a new talent paradigm at UAB and in C-USA.

hopefully over the offseason some of the younger players will get bigger and stronger. They have the entire off season to learn the system. Its already been in use some (see marshall).

(12-02-2012 09:37 AM)uabfl Wrote:  Burdette is a beast and very talented
To be fair to the other guys on defense, I would guess that Burdette played almost every snap of every game and his position stayed the same.
Some of the other guys on defense changed positions and had sporadic playing time. It's hard to judge talent that way.
I think a player needs to have some kind of consistency to perform well.
I'm frustrated because I was under the impression that the coaches were supposed to determine the plays and the players during fall camp.
I think we would have been better off going with a plan and letting it play out, rather than mixing things up all season.

Exactly. This is hard for the casual fan to notice. Thanks for pointing it out.

(12-02-2012 03:33 PM)Uncle BLAZER Wrote:  

(12-02-2012 09:37 AM)uabfl Wrote:  Burdette is a beast and very talented
To be fair to the other guys on defense, I would guess that Burdette played almost every snap of every game and his position stayed the same.
Some of the other guys on defense changed positions and had sporadic playing time. It's hard to judge talent that way.
I think a player needs to have some kind of consistency to perform well.
I'm frustrated because I was under the impression that the coaches were supposed to determine the plays and the players during fall camp.
I think we would have been better off going with a plan and letting it play out, rather than mixing things up all season.

Exactly. This is hard for the casual fan to notice. Thanks for pointing it out.

I go as far back as spring training. Some guys afterwards and some starters became depth.

Of course you are right about spring football. I was just trying to give the coaches a little wiggle room.
Ideally spring football is your chance as a player to earn a spot. The coaches seeing what they have to work with should be working on the game plan during the summer.
Small adjustments could be made based on fall camp performances
I'm not really sure why, but to me, the coaches seemed to be scrambling all season.