(04-12-2016 01:34 PM)Pan95 Wrote: (04-12-2016 11:10 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: (04-12-2016 10:26 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote: (04-12-2016 01:13 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote: While reviewing the season stats to figure out which players had the best seasons (probably Dillard, Wright and Lyons), I was reminded that Rice had just 2 interceptions all season - both by Zach Espinoza. That's an absolutely stunning number.
Last in FBS
Total pass defense was last in FBS. And difference between last and second-to-last was wider than the difference between any other two positions in the ranking, from first to last. Simply an incredibly awful performance.
I hope they are changing up the defense significantly. It's certainly needed.
So here is a question: should our Defensive co-ordinator also be our CB coach? Is there a drop off in quality due to increased responsibility? I'm not slamming Coach Thurmond as I think that he has done a wonderful job. But I am wondering if he has too much on his plate. Would we be better served having a dedicated corner back coach? How do other teams handle the responsibilities imposed upon their coordinators?
I like Thurmond too, and I generally like what he has done. Last year was a disaster, for whatever reason or combination of reasons--youth, inexperience, lack of pass rush, take your pick. I still think there are some philosophical issues--are we an attacking defense or a bend but don't break defense? Generally, I like Thurmond's answers to those questions better than what we were doing before. I sometimes wonder if Thurmond and Bailiff are on the same page.
Usually the DC continues to have position coach responsibilities at whatever spot he coached before. Kirby Smart coached CB's at Bama, so obviously it can be done. With the coaching staff size limits, you are basically going to have 4 coaches on the defensive side of the ball--one will be d-line, one linebackers, one secondary, and for the forth either the LB duties are split between inside and outside, of the secondary duties between corners and safeties. And, as I said, one of the four is DC. A lot of times, the DC will be from the split coaches, with the idea that the fewer he is responsible for as position coach, the more time he has to coordinate.
Offense will typically have 4 or 5, depending on whether you have a dedicated special teams coach. They would be o-line, receivers, quarterbacks, and running backs. If you have 5, the normal split is to break receivers up between WRs and TEs. I believe that's the way Rice does it. One thing that has interested me is a comment that Jerry Berndt (who knew a lot about offense but didn't know how to spell defense) made years ago (obviously). He said that he didn't want is OC to be his QB coach, because QBs required a completely dedicated coach with no other positional or coordination responsibilities.
