Funny thing about VTech and Foster is they used to be a heavy cover 2 man team until they started getting shredded. They started playing more zone in 2003, and they've continued to build on that.
A lot of guys were running cover 2 man back then: Shannon, Stoops brothers at OU, Brian Van Gorder at UGA, etc...
I understand people's frustration. I want a stout defense more than anybody. Even back when everyone was complaining about Patrick Nix (myself included), I was more concerned about our sagging defense.
Bill Walsh always believed that you could scheme a good offense with less than ideal talent, but defensively you needed the horses. I think that's a bit of an oversimplification, but in general I agree that it's more important to have standout talent in order to field top-tier defenses. Creative guys like Mike Leach and Chip Kelly can come up with ways to score 40 without a slew of blue chip guys, but it's much harder to do that on defense.
For me, I don't have to look much further than the 2009, 2010, and 2011 recruiting classes. Those are our upperclassmen. They're supposed to be the bedrock of the defense. There just isn't a ton of talent there.
Shannon's recruiting fell off a cliff on the defensive side of the ball. The 2009 and 2010 classes weren't very good to begin with, but the high rate of attrition compounded the problem. The 2011 class was a complete mess. We had ONE guy committed when Golden took over, and not even that mean Miami leans. And the dead period started soon after Golden was hired. Anyone who follows recruiting knows that you don't put a class together in one month. It's a multi-year process. We already have 2015 and 2016 kids committed.
The 2012 class is the first full class. From that class (Redshirt Freshmen, true Sophomores, and one JUCO) we pulled our best pass rusher, and our ENTIRE starting secondary. The 2013 class has impact players in it, too. The 2014 class looks even better.
Indulge me as a take a glimpse into the future. This is of course ALL speculation, but who cares? I bolded the 4 and 5-star guys (projected guys as well).
2015
SDE Chad Thomas (SO), Ufomba Kamalu (SR)
NT Michael Wyche (SR), Dalvon Stuckey (SR)
DT Travonte Valentine (SO), Anthony Moten (SO)
WDE Al-Quadin Muhammad (JR), Tyriq McCord (SR)
SLB Alex Figueroa (JR), Darrion Owens (SO)
MLB Raphael Kirby (SR), Juwon Young (SO)
WLB Jermaine Grace (JR), Michael Smith (SO)
CB Tracy Howard (SR), Corn Elder (JR)
CB Artie Burns (JR), Antonio Crawford (SR)
FS Deon Bush (SR), Jaquan Johnson (FR)
SS Rayshawn Jenkins (SR), Jamal Carter (SO)
We're another recruiting cycle or two away.