QuadCityCane
Redshirt Freshman
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2011
- Messages
- 226
So I've always been a big picture kind of guy so after a few ****ed off days I got to thinking. Before the year started Al and D decide to install the 3-4 2 gap defense they would like to run at Miami even though they dont quite have the right horses for the job. What this will do is give the kids who they are building the program around valuable experience in the system (pierre, howard, gunter, jenkins, bush, crawford, TC, kirby, grace, etc) So they have the kids bulk up along the line and at linebacker to hopefully do the job. No one in their right mind thinks before the year we are in the hunt for a National Title. 8-4 to 10-2 were most expectations. Just some improvement and developing of the young talent.
Fast forward to 7-0, expectations are then getting out of control, in the media and by fans. Golden says "No the U isnt back, we are building." Defense played pretty good against the teams through about the first 6 or 7 games. Once we started playing decent teams the same problems that we had last year start again, poor tackling, line getting pushed back, no TOs(big one), and no pressure(another big one). So what do we do? Stay the course or abandon ship?
I say stay the course, why you ask? Cause I'm nuts right? Well this is why.
From 2001 to 2004, the Cavaliers' defense improved under his tutelage, ranking 108th in total defense in his first year to ranking 18th in total defense in 2004. In the same time period, Virginia's scoring defense went from 74th in the nation (27.6 ppg) to 17th (17.7 ppg) utilizing Golden's 3–4 defense.
And
Temple went from last in Golden's first year to 17th scoring D and gave up 317.7 ypg in 2010.
Why is any of this important you ask? Well let's take a look at Temple's 2010 defensive players compared to Miami's current players at key positions. We will look at 3 areas that are the most important. D-line, Middle Linebacker, and Strong Safety.
Temple 2010 D
Muhammad Wilkerson DT/DE 70 tackles, 13.5 TFL and 9.5 sacks----1st round/30th pick overall
Elijah Joseph MLB 71 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF, 1 INT, 7 PD----Free Agent pick up
Jaiquawn Jarrett SS 74 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 INT, 1 FF, 4 PD----2nd round/54th pick overall
The rest of the players on Temple's team had average/below average stats.
Miami 2013 D
Porter/Pierre/Renfrow/Robinson DT 91 total tackles, 4.5 TFL, and 1 sack----Late rounds/Free agent at best
Green DE 57 tackles, 10.5 TFL, and 3 sacks----Late round possibility, but injury concerns
Chick DE 40 tackles, 7 TFL, and 3.5 sacks----Mid/Late round if he bulks up or slims down but at current weight Late Round/Free Agent
Kamalu/Gilbert/Muhammad/Mccord DE 27 total tackles, 9 TFL, and 8 sacks----Good young talent, young but still learning the scheme(minus senior Gilbert)
Jimmy Gaines MLB 64 tackles, 1 TFL, 0 sacks, 1 FF, 2 INT, 0 PD----Free Agent, NFL Europe
AJ Highsmith SS 19 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 0 FF, 2 PD----Coach? cause thats his only shot
Deon Bush SS 19 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FF, 0 PD----Good young talent, injury recovery hampered his play
The difference?
One team has 2 first day picks at 2 of the most important positions in a 3-4 D. A lineman who commands double teams and a sure tackling safety. Wilkerson played mostly DT but slid all along the line. Why is it that our 4 DTs only have 20 more tackles and have 9 less TFL, and 8.5 less sacks as a unit. Green is good against the run which is shown by his tackles and tackles for loss but he is not a pash rusher. Chick either needs to gain 20 more pounds and move inside or shed some weight and regain his speed. He is basically a carbon copy of Green because he also cant rush the passer. Until we get a real NT and some players who are a threat to rush the passer as every down lineman we wont be very good. Add the fact our SS play has been absolutely terrible. I mean the fact that AJ Highsmith has played the majority of the snaps this year and has 19 total tackles is horrible. That is one of the biggest reasons our run defense is so poor. He is not a sure tackler and takes very bad angles. I will give Bush a pass cause he is hampered by the hernia but he has the same amount of tackles as Highsmith in about 1/3 of the playing time.
The solution?
The 1st recruiting class was basically non existant due to Shannon and the NCAA. The second was filled with some great young building blocks but also some reaches due to the NCAA cloud. This is the first class free of any Cloud and we are looking at a top 5 class for sure. Stay the course. Keep this d-line recruiting class together and add Pelon/Boateng/Johnson. The linebacker recruits are stellar. We do need to add a Safety for depth.
After 10 years of mediocrity and hopelessness with Coker and Shannon, I'm just not ready to burn the house down yet. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. It took Schnelly 5 years to win a title and Davis took 6 + 1 Coker year. The reality is this project is somewhere between a rebuild (Schnelly) and a NCAA scandal (Davis). I dont really care about Coastal divisions or ACC Championship games. Davis had a banner, got blown out by UCLA and Syracuse, and was considered a suspect gameday coach and adjuster*. Everyone wanted to run him out of town. Guess what, yes it took a little longer than us as fans would like, but he assembled the pieces to the greatest college football team ever.
National Titles-That is what Miami is about.
*Bill Miller was fired by Butch---he then went on to be Sabans DC at Michigan State and had the best D in the Big 10. 2005-06 he took ASU's defense from last in the Pac 10 to 2nd behind USC. He was a semifinalst for the Broyles Award, which is presented annually to college football's Assistant Coach of the Year, while at Michigan State (2000) and Florida (2003). Was he a horrible coach or could the fact that -30 scholarships hurt the talent and depth to run a decent defense?
Fast forward to 7-0, expectations are then getting out of control, in the media and by fans. Golden says "No the U isnt back, we are building." Defense played pretty good against the teams through about the first 6 or 7 games. Once we started playing decent teams the same problems that we had last year start again, poor tackling, line getting pushed back, no TOs(big one), and no pressure(another big one). So what do we do? Stay the course or abandon ship?
I say stay the course, why you ask? Cause I'm nuts right? Well this is why.
From 2001 to 2004, the Cavaliers' defense improved under his tutelage, ranking 108th in total defense in his first year to ranking 18th in total defense in 2004. In the same time period, Virginia's scoring defense went from 74th in the nation (27.6 ppg) to 17th (17.7 ppg) utilizing Golden's 3–4 defense.
And
Temple went from last in Golden's first year to 17th scoring D and gave up 317.7 ypg in 2010.
Why is any of this important you ask? Well let's take a look at Temple's 2010 defensive players compared to Miami's current players at key positions. We will look at 3 areas that are the most important. D-line, Middle Linebacker, and Strong Safety.
Temple 2010 D
Muhammad Wilkerson DT/DE 70 tackles, 13.5 TFL and 9.5 sacks----1st round/30th pick overall
Elijah Joseph MLB 71 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF, 1 INT, 7 PD----Free Agent pick up
Jaiquawn Jarrett SS 74 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 INT, 1 FF, 4 PD----2nd round/54th pick overall
The rest of the players on Temple's team had average/below average stats.
Miami 2013 D
Porter/Pierre/Renfrow/Robinson DT 91 total tackles, 4.5 TFL, and 1 sack----Late rounds/Free agent at best
Green DE 57 tackles, 10.5 TFL, and 3 sacks----Late round possibility, but injury concerns
Chick DE 40 tackles, 7 TFL, and 3.5 sacks----Mid/Late round if he bulks up or slims down but at current weight Late Round/Free Agent
Kamalu/Gilbert/Muhammad/Mccord DE 27 total tackles, 9 TFL, and 8 sacks----Good young talent, young but still learning the scheme(minus senior Gilbert)
Jimmy Gaines MLB 64 tackles, 1 TFL, 0 sacks, 1 FF, 2 INT, 0 PD----Free Agent, NFL Europe
AJ Highsmith SS 19 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 0 FF, 2 PD----Coach? cause thats his only shot
Deon Bush SS 19 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FF, 0 PD----Good young talent, injury recovery hampered his play
The difference?
One team has 2 first day picks at 2 of the most important positions in a 3-4 D. A lineman who commands double teams and a sure tackling safety. Wilkerson played mostly DT but slid all along the line. Why is it that our 4 DTs only have 20 more tackles and have 9 less TFL, and 8.5 less sacks as a unit. Green is good against the run which is shown by his tackles and tackles for loss but he is not a pash rusher. Chick either needs to gain 20 more pounds and move inside or shed some weight and regain his speed. He is basically a carbon copy of Green because he also cant rush the passer. Until we get a real NT and some players who are a threat to rush the passer as every down lineman we wont be very good. Add the fact our SS play has been absolutely terrible. I mean the fact that AJ Highsmith has played the majority of the snaps this year and has 19 total tackles is horrible. That is one of the biggest reasons our run defense is so poor. He is not a sure tackler and takes very bad angles. I will give Bush a pass cause he is hampered by the hernia but he has the same amount of tackles as Highsmith in about 1/3 of the playing time.
The solution?
The 1st recruiting class was basically non existant due to Shannon and the NCAA. The second was filled with some great young building blocks but also some reaches due to the NCAA cloud. This is the first class free of any Cloud and we are looking at a top 5 class for sure. Stay the course. Keep this d-line recruiting class together and add Pelon/Boateng/Johnson. The linebacker recruits are stellar. We do need to add a Safety for depth.
After 10 years of mediocrity and hopelessness with Coker and Shannon, I'm just not ready to burn the house down yet. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. It took Schnelly 5 years to win a title and Davis took 6 + 1 Coker year. The reality is this project is somewhere between a rebuild (Schnelly) and a NCAA scandal (Davis). I dont really care about Coastal divisions or ACC Championship games. Davis had a banner, got blown out by UCLA and Syracuse, and was considered a suspect gameday coach and adjuster*. Everyone wanted to run him out of town. Guess what, yes it took a little longer than us as fans would like, but he assembled the pieces to the greatest college football team ever.
National Titles-That is what Miami is about.
*Bill Miller was fired by Butch---he then went on to be Sabans DC at Michigan State and had the best D in the Big 10. 2005-06 he took ASU's defense from last in the Pac 10 to 2nd behind USC. He was a semifinalst for the Broyles Award, which is presented annually to college football's Assistant Coach of the Year, while at Michigan State (2000) and Florida (2003). Was he a horrible coach or could the fact that -30 scholarships hurt the talent and depth to run a decent defense?
