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UVA's 2004 defensive playbook (when Al was DC)

WildcatDefense said:
Most of the schools down here (with the athletes) don't play zone.

D'Onofrio came into our school one time and was shootin' the **** with our head coach for a while. D'Onofrio basically said "You try to put in your defense and the first thing these kids ask you is when can they play press-man."

Golden and D'Onofrio were probably in shock when they first got here.
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So why does Golden able to convince some of the defensive recruits to commit to his hybrid defense?
 
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poncho0091 said:
The problem I have with Dnofrio's scheme is not that it is just vanilla, but that it is predictable and full of more holes than swiss cheese. I know for a fact if I can sit on my couch at home and know which receiver is going to get the ball simply because of the formation and setup of the defense on the field, then **** well a professional OC and college QB can see it too.
Click to expand...

i do it EVERY week also....but i played college ball and offense...but literally every game i can point to general exploits of our defense jut off of alignment. That K-State bludgeoning i saw coming from a MILE AWAY...KState did the EXACT same thing the year before and ate us up.

If im an OC ...I go 3-4 wide Consistently...Trips to one side of the field...And just off of doing that i can likely run the ball at will to the tune of 5 yds a pop...as our d wil be stuck with likely one to 2 guys in the box behind the dline..and safeties that are out of the picture at 15 -20 yds deep.

Also countless times were late lining up...and very stationary...me personally the defenses that gave me problems (i played ol) were the ones that moved around before the snap...as i was prepositioned to expect an lb to be at a certain spot in a d on a call and a slight transition screwed up our blocking schemes at times...(Keep in mind i think thats what we try to do at times when we give the under look that changes to a 3-4)

Not impressed with our defensive staff save Paul Williams...not any of them...even UM great Mike Barrow who is fighting Jethro for worst on staff imo.
 
I really don't think its all that much to learn. After a year of playing in it and studying it, you should know exactly what to do.
I just think the kids down in sfl aren't used to it cause they play that cover 2 man all day every day. That's why when it comes down to it, every team plays, we got better athletes then you and hopes for the best.
I think what golden is trying to do is harness the athlete down there and raise that football IQ because once that happens that's when you got players.
 
Ernie McCracken said:
WildcatDefense said:
This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL

But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.
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I was listening to a radio interview the other day with the players from Alabama.... THOSE mother****ers are dumber than rocks. South Florida kids are geniuses compared to those country boys.

They have one guy, Cyrus Kuonojingo or something, he could barely say his own name.

So I'd say that's the bright side - if Alabama can learn the defense, I have zero doubt at all in my mind that Miami kids can learn the same defense. Zero doubt. It will just take them some reps.

I'm willing to bet our defense tightens up a lot this year.
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dont let the way kids "sound" confuse u.....and the kid Cyrus K Is pretty smart actually....went to a private school in the DC-MD area...and think he was an ee.

Add to it ...alot of Bama's kids play the scheme in high school...add to it we dont have anyone close to Saban's level or most of his assistants coaching on our defense...**** half the time i dont think they understnd their own scheme...Saban has been running the machine for awhile.
Part of the reason Bama is so good on d..is they dont have much defensive lapses...
 
Were Louisiana high school kids running complex two-gap schemes proficiently when Saban built up LSU?

It's just going to take a little more time.

Everyone complained about Shannon's D. Said it was too vanilla. Well this is the trade-off. We're asking more of the players, and we've had to build the defense from the ground up.

I refuse to believe South Florida kids are too incompetent to learn anything beyond rudimentary coverages and concepts. That's some BS.

Golden and D'Onofrio have successfully run their scheme before, and I believe they'll do it again at Miami.
 
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gogeta4 said:
poncho0091 said:
The problem I have with Dnofrio's scheme is not that it is just vanilla, but that it is predictable and full of more holes than swiss cheese. I know for a fact if I can sit on my couch at home and know which receiver is going to get the ball simply because of the formation and setup of the defense on the field, then **** well a professional OC and college QB can see it too.
Click to expand...

i do it EVERY week also....but i played college ball and offense...but literally every game i can point to general exploits of our defense jut off of alignment. That K-State bludgeoning i saw coming from a MILE AWAY...KState did the EXACT same thing the year before and ate us up.

If im an OC ...I go 3-4 wide Consistently...Trips to one side of the field...And just off of doing that i can likely run the ball at will to the tune of 5 yds a pop...as our d wil be stuck with likely one to 2 guys in the box behind the dline..and safeties that are out of the picture at 15 -20 yds deep.

Also countless times were late lining up...and very stationary...me personally the defenses that gave me problems (i played ol) were the ones that moved around before the snap...as i was prepositioned to expect an lb to be at a certain spot in a d on a call and a slight transition screwed up our blocking schemes at times...(Keep in mind i think thats what we try to do at times when we give the under look that changes to a 3-4)

Not impressed with our defensive staff save Paul Williams...not any of them...even UM great Mike Barrow who is fighting Jethro for worst on staff imo.
Click to expand...

Clearly you don't understand the alignment if you think it is wrong. The problem with the defense is execution. Now whether that is from inexperience, lack of talent, or poor teaching we can't TRULY say. But to sit here and slam a defensive system that is the result of A) Parcells/Bellichick and B) The Sandusky Zone Blitz.

People need to get out and watch more football instead of old 80s Canes highlights.
 
If the Defense still does bad this year and Golden considering changing the Defense, they should get something like LSU Defense.
 
4000TMNT said:
If the Defense still does bad this year and Golden considering changing the Defense, they should get something like LSU Defense.
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GoldenShowers said:
gogeta4 said:
poncho0091 said:
The problem I have with Dnofrio's scheme is not that it is just vanilla, but that it is predictable and full of more holes than swiss cheese. I know for a fact if I can sit on my couch at home and know which receiver is going to get the ball simply because of the formation and setup of the defense on the field, then **** well a professional OC and college QB can see it too.
Click to expand...

i do it EVERY week also....but i played college ball and offense...but literally every game i can point to general exploits of our defense jut off of alignment. That K-State bludgeoning i saw coming from a MILE AWAY...KState did the EXACT same thing the year before and ate us up.

If im an OC ...I go 3-4 wide Consistently...Trips to one side of the field...And just off of doing that i can likely run the ball at will to the tune of 5 yds a pop...as our d wil be stuck with likely one to 2 guys in the box behind the dline..and safeties that are out of the picture at 15 -20 yds deep.

Also countless times were late lining up...and very stationary...me personally the defenses that gave me problems (i played ol) were the ones that moved around before the snap...as i was prepositioned to expect an lb to be at a certain spot in a d on a call and a slight transition screwed up our blocking schemes at times...(Keep in mind i think thats what we try to do at times when we give the under look that changes to a 3-4)

Not impressed with our defensive staff save Paul Williams...not any of them...even UM great Mike Barrow who is fighting Jethro for worst on staff imo.
Click to expand...

Clearly you don't understand the alignment if you think it is wrong. The problem with the defense is execution. Now whether that is from inexperience, lack of talent, or poor teaching we can't TRULY say. But to sit here and slam a defensive system that is the result of A) Parcells/Bellichick and B) The Sandusky Zone Blitz.

People need to get out and watch more football instead of old 80s Canes highlights.
Click to expand...

It may be execution, but alignment is part of that execution. I dont think anyone is questioning the system itself, just as everyone is saying, the execution of the system. A lot of that falls on the players due to inexperience. We just have to make sure we're seeing it from all views. It's just like the Randy Shannon situation. At one point people just felt the players sucked and were busts, but at some point people started to realize Randy was just not handling development properly. I'm not saying thats the case here, but at some point, if we dont see any change, we just need to reevaluate what we are looking at. All 11 starters on defense are not going to be busts.
 
gogeta4 said:
poncho0091 said:
The problem I have with Dnofrio's scheme is not that it is just vanilla, but that it is predictable and full of more holes than swiss cheese. I know for a fact if I can sit on my couch at home and know which receiver is going to get the ball simply because of the formation and setup of the defense on the field, then **** well a professional OC and college QB can see it too.
Click to expand...

i do it EVERY week also....but i played college ball and offense...but literally every game i can point to general exploits of our defense jut off of alignment. That K-State bludgeoning i saw coming from a MILE AWAY...KState did the EXACT same thing the year before and ate us up.

If im an OC ...I go 3-4 wide Consistently...Trips to one side of the field...And just off of doing that i can likely run the ball at will to the tune of 5 yds a pop...as our d wil be stuck with likely one to 2 guys in the box behind the dline..and safeties that are out of the picture at 15 -20 yds deep.

Also countless times were late lining up...and very stationary...me personally the defenses that gave me problems (i played ol) were the ones that moved around before the snap...as i was prepositioned to expect an lb to be at a certain spot in a d on a call and a slight transition screwed up our blocking schemes at times...(Keep in mind i think thats what we try to do at times when we give the under look that changes to a 3-4)

Not impressed with our defensive staff save Paul Williams...not any of them...even UM great Mike Barrow who is fighting Jethro for worst on staff imo.
Click to expand...

That's why you zone block. I'm not sure a lot of that is being taught in South Florida either. Just around all you want. The rules are simple: covered, uncovered, inside zone, outside zone. It doesn't matter. Just give me 5 kids who are somewhat athletic and smart and I can put together a competent offensive line.
 
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Ernie McCracken said:
WildcatDefense said:
This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL

But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.
Click to expand...

I was listening to a radio interview the other day with the players from Alabama.... THOSE mother****ers are dumber than rocks. South Florida kids are geniuses compared to those country boys.

They have one guy, Cyrus Kuonojingo or something, he could barely say his own name.

So I'd say that's the bright side - if Alabama can learn the defense, I have zero doubt at all in my mind that Miami kids can learn the same defense. Zero doubt. It will just take them some reps.

I'm willing to bet our defense tightens up a lot this year.
Click to expand...

First off, Cyrus Kouandjio plays offensive tackle. Second, he went to DeMatha Catholic, which is a **** good parochial school here in Metro DC. Third, he is a pretty smart kid.
 
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jerzeycane said:
MisterBMFC said:
Shouldn't it just read 2 Gap, Cover 3, Play off on every page??
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I know this tongue firmly planted in cheek, but it's so difficult suffering the maroons around here who actually think they know more football than Golden or D'onofrio. I can level with the people who understand, but don't agree with the style of defense. That's ONE thing, but to act as if D'Onofrio is incompetent when you consider the list of defensive gurus and masterminds that both Golden and D have been around, is just preposterous to me.

Schiano
Parcells
Belicheck
Al Groh
Paterno

It just reads like a who's who in the past 50 years of football of the greatest defensive minds the game has ever seen, yet people think they know better?

Go sit down.
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Shannon was around some pretty good coaches prolly better. Doesn't really mean anything.
 
GoldenShowers said:
gogeta4 said:
poncho0091 said:
The problem I have with Dnofrio's scheme is not that it is just vanilla, but that it is predictable and full of more holes than swiss cheese. I know for a fact if I can sit on my couch at home and know which receiver is going to get the ball simply because of the formation and setup of the defense on the field, then **** well a professional OC and college QB can see it too.
Click to expand...

i do it EVERY week also....but i played college ball and offense...but literally every game i can point to general exploits of our defense jut off of alignment. That K-State bludgeoning i saw coming from a MILE AWAY...KState did the EXACT same thing the year before and ate us up.

If im an OC ...I go 3-4 wide Consistently...Trips to one side of the field...And just off of doing that i can likely run the ball at will to the tune of 5 yds a pop...as our d wil be stuck with likely one to 2 guys in the box behind the dline..and safeties that are out of the picture at 15 -20 yds deep.

Also countless times were late lining up...and very stationary...me personally the defenses that gave me problems (i played ol) were the ones that moved around before the snap...as i was prepositioned to expect an lb to be at a certain spot in a d on a call and a slight transition screwed up our blocking schemes at times...(Keep in mind i think thats what we try to do at times when we give the under look that changes to a 3-4)

Not impressed with our defensive staff save Paul Williams...not any of them...even UM great Mike Barrow who is fighting Jethro for worst on staff imo.
Click to expand...

Clearly you don't understand the alignment if you think it is wrong. The problem with the defense is execution. Now whether that is from inexperience, lack of talent, or poor teaching we can't TRULY say. But to sit here and slam a defensive system that is the result of A) Parcells/Bellichick and B) The Sandusky Zone Blitz.

People need to get out and watch more football instead of old 80s Canes highlights.
Click to expand...

Parcells ruined my dolphins...

The learned under Al Groh who is a walking firestorm...who gets fired everywhere because his defenses suck or take 3-4 years to be borderline avg.

Dude was running that same sh*t scheme @ GT getting ate up....UVA had a good d for like one or 2 years..when they hit on some local big timers @lb in Ahmad Brooks,Blackstock.

If i think the alignment is wrong?...Did u see the stills of the games when we were severely outnumbered against a **** running qb @ K-State....but had Eddie Johnson and Jimmy Gaines @ times covering over slot wr's.
 
Pentagon Cane said:
gogeta4 said:
poncho0091 said:
The problem I have with Dnofrio's scheme is not that it is just vanilla, but that it is predictable and full of more holes than swiss cheese. I know for a fact if I can sit on my couch at home and know which receiver is going to get the ball simply because of the formation and setup of the defense on the field, then **** well a professional OC and college QB can see it too.
Click to expand...

i do it EVERY week also....but i played college ball and offense...but literally every game i can point to general exploits of our defense jut off of alignment. That K-State bludgeoning i saw coming from a MILE AWAY...KState did the EXACT same thing the year before and ate us up.

If im an OC ...I go 3-4 wide Consistently...Trips to one side of the field...And just off of doing that i can likely run the ball at will to the tune of 5 yds a pop...as our d wil be stuck with likely one to 2 guys in the box behind the dline..and safeties that are out of the picture at 15 -20 yds deep.

Also countless times were late lining up...and very stationary...me personally the defenses that gave me problems (i played ol) were the ones that moved around before the snap...as i was prepositioned to expect an lb to be at a certain spot in a d on a call and a slight transition screwed up our blocking schemes at times...(Keep in mind i think thats what we try to do at times when we give the under look that changes to a 3-4)

Not impressed with our defensive staff save Paul Williams...not any of them...even UM great Mike Barrow who is fighting Jethro for worst on staff imo.
Click to expand...

That's why you zone block. I'm not sure a lot of that is being taught in South Florida either. Just around all you want. The rules are simple: covered, uncovered, inside zone, outside zone. It doesn't matter. Just give me 5 kids who are somewhat athletic and smart and I can put together a competent offensive line.
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i played in a zone blocking scheme in college....never did it in high school at all.....lol...I was an undersized tackle with good to great feet that ran about a 4.9-5 flat 40....so i was the perfect zone blocking tackle...actually played left.
 
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gogeta4 said:
If i think the alignment is wrong?...Did u see the stills of the games when we were severely outnumbered against a **** running qb @ K-State....but had Eddie Johnson and Jimmy Gaines @ times covering over slot wr's.
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How do you suggest we line up in 3 and 4 wide? Crowd the box and leave the seams uncovered?

Play press man and have the WRs run our DBs out of the play?

At some point, someone has to win a matchup on the D-line. If you're getting killed up front, you're in trouble.
 
WildcatDefense said:
Did Groh get fired recently cause the kids couldn't pick up his scheme?
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Yes ...

(from ESPN): Head Coach Paul Johnson praised Groh's defensive knowledge, but said he was never able to pass it on to his players.
"Al is a very smart man. He understands what's inside his head," Johnson said. "The problem is we weren't seeing it on the field. For whatever reason, it wasn't transcending." ... (after firing Groh) My big goal is to simplify and see if we can't get lined up and play faster, play harder," Johnson said. "I don't think you've got to trick people. You've got to line up and know what you're doing and play fast." ...Groh installed the 3-4 when he got to Georgia Tech, but it was clear the players never fully picked up the scheme.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8478979/georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-al-groh-fired-defensive-coordinator
 
4000TMNT said:
If the Defense still does bad this year and Golden considering changing the Defense, they should get something like LSU Defense.
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I must say, LSU's defense looks pretty darn good. Watched footage of their games against South Carolina and Clemson last year and truly believe the look they way they do because of EXECUTION & TALENT. When people talk about "swag", I tell them look how fast their LB's & DE's take to get to the QB. Look at how violent those guys are. Those guys play with such an intensity, confidence and fury that those guys reek of swagger. They play like they are enjoying life. They celebrate like they went to town on the opposing QBs girlfriend. Miami use to have that, but now it's a whole lot of thinking and slow movement.

Due to our guys being partly confused and out of place, it's been hard under Coach D's installation of the system for our guys to play with the same level of Confidence, Intensity and Fury. Can't tell you the last time a Miami defender laid a hit on the opposition so hard and fast that my eyes popped out and made me slap my girlfriend like "Dang, did he just did that!?" Last time I remember a Cane displaying elite level speed and violence was Vilma at the Rose Bowl. Dude was a heat-seeking missle, even on missed assignments he looked good!

That's why it makes me feel real good to hear about the fury and intensity Figueroa, Perryman and Gaines are playing with. Those dudes get the system and are about to bring the wood! What we need now is for Porter and Pierre to be fast off the snap, disruptive and simply HURT SOMEBODY!


I'll tell you this, if during the FAU game Golden isn't forced to call off the dogs by the early, (I'm talking early 3rd Quarter), know that Miami will not be ready for Florida.

I think these guys get the system and the older guys they've brought in know enough of the system that now they are 2-Deep (which tells me some of our guys are really not up to par, but that's a story for another day).

All I'll say is this.....MIAMI NEEDS TO BRING THE WOOD!!!
 
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