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What is a realistic prediction for this defense?

ncncanes said:
This team could easily start the year 2-8 ------ Cincy took Louisville to OT last year !!!!!
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I sat and talked football with D'Onofrio for 3 hours last night. Half of that time was spent watching film cut-ups of Miami's games against Wake, UVA, Louisville, Notre Dame, USF, etc etc etc. I don't think I left a stone unturned. I asked this man all kinds of questions. He is by far the coolest coach I've ever met. I admire his willingness to share information. The guy is a nerd for football. He can sit and talk about schematics for hours. We talked about Quarters coverage, Cover-3, Cover-2, line stunts, blitzes, etc etc etc. Everything.

With that said...

After communicating with him for the past month or so, and definitely after last night, I have no choice but to say that this man is verrrrry smart when it comes to X's and O's. Most of you know that I was skeptical. I didn't necessarily think he was bad but a lot of what was going on made me scratch my head and I didn't have much positive to say about the defense. Well after watching cut-ups there's no doubt in my mind that the majority of the time we're doing the right things on defense but the kids aren't executing. You can see some of our unheralded players (won't say names) making mistakes in these cut-ups.

Come to find out that him and I actually run the same exact defense. He does a few things I don't do, naturally, but the basics are identical. Same position names, most of the same coverages, some of the blitzes are even named the same, many of the same principles, etc. There's minor differences...i.e when he plays Cover-3 he drops his Safety down to a hook-curl zone while I drop mine down to the flats. However, the reason he does it that way makes plenty of sense.

After speaking to him and looking at cut-ups I've come to three conclusions about our struggles...

1) Lack of talent
2) Complexity
3) Mental errors

You can see, on tape, plenty of instances where guys were supposed to cover flats but didn't get their *** out there. Or instances where LB's were supposed to "re-route" WR's but didn't even touch them as they ran by. There was also some missed tackles.

However, D'Onofrio's understanding of the game, and his understanding of offensive tendencies are top notch.
 
And Chad Thomas is gonna play, a lot. He didn't say whether he would be at Sam or Rush, but he'll definitely be on the outside.

He also feels that he has to find ways to get Grace on the field. Said he's super instinctual and very fast. "Great blitzer."
 
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Exactly what I've been saying, Macho. We got rid of the soap horses. Anyone who was watching could see that quite a few of the guys who played major snaps were super limited physically. They might have known where to be, but their bodies couldn't get them there, and even when they did get there they couldn't get the job done.

I'll never forget watching us play ND a couple years ago, and Golson, who was a good athlete, was juking our guys out their socks every time he ran the ball. Golson was a good athlete, but we made him look like Devin Hester returning punts. ND also had a TE who was single-blocking our DE and driving him down the field and off the football screen every run play. That shouldn't happen.

Top 20 defense this year.
 
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If Dorito was tasked with choosing a government type for a new country he'd choose communism. If he wasn't a football coach, he'd most certainly be an economist. Do I doubt his football acumen, no. Everything he concots probably works well in theory but, as we've seen over the last three years, fails in practice. Players can't execute, and maybe that's partly a talent and experience issue, but it's also a coaching issue. His philosophy simply isn't translating to the players and on the field.
 
Well I would hope he knows what he is talking about when it comes to his own defense. That doesn't mean his defense works. Sorry but having DEs and DTs play coverage this often just doesn't make any **** sense to me. I mean I can get with the 34 scheme if it works, that isn't the problem. Also our guys had enough talent to not suck last year, they just didn't have enough coaching, whether it's tackling, angles, hand placement, etc.. We had more than enough talent to be a top 40 Defense last year. And we have a lot more talent this year.
 
Thanks Coach. We'll see, but great insight. Good read, hope our D performs this season.

I sure hope they play Chad a lot and find opportunities for Grace. Both could be keys to the defense.
 
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Thanks for the insight, Wildcat. Only thing that I'm wondering now is, if you say you run the same exact scheme as we do, same blitzes, coverages and even some of the same verbiage, how can your high schoolers grasp the defense but our D1 athletes can't? Where's the disconnect?
 
Reading wildcats post about the technical aspects of defense is like listening to a wonderful concerto in a theatre. Just exquisite

With that said, did u get around to asking him why at any point in time he would have a Sharon green or AQM covering a receiver on the outside. That, amongst a few other aspects, was absolutely baffling
 
Good stuff, Coach Macho.

I expect coverage to be better this year not only due to talent but the fact that these guys have now had some time to really get used to the pattern matching stuff in the Cov 2 and Cov 3. College level zones are tougher to crack especially when most HS defenses are simple spot drop stuff.
 
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calinative umstudent said:
Well I would hope he knows what he is talking about when it comes to his own defense. That doesn't mean his defense works. Sorry but having DEs and DTs play coverage this often just doesn't make any **** sense to me. I mean I can get with the 34 scheme if it works, that isn't the problem. Also our guys had enough talent to not suck last year, they just didn't have enough coaching, whether it's tackling, angles, hand placement, etc.. We had more than enough talent to be a top 40 Defense last year. And we have a lot more talent this year.
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Every coach knows their own defense obviously. That's not what I look for when I speak to a DC about him scheme. I'm looking at the principles within the scheme and if they're flawed. How he adjusts to certain formations. What coverages he runs in certain situations.
 
Evenkeel24 said:
Reading wildcats post about the technical aspects of defense is like listening to a wonderful concerto in a theatre. Just exquisite

With that said, did u get around to asking him why at any point in time he would have a Sharon green or AQM covering a receiver on the outside. That, amongst a few other aspects, was absolutely baffling
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Well they're not covering the WR, they're just covering the flats. (zone)

If you run Cover-3 there's no way around that. You have to move a LB over the #2 receiver.

D'Onofrio will walk two Linebackers out over the slots while his Safety will show Cover-2 but drop down to the hook-curl zone. (where the LB was)
Me personally, I leave one of those LB's in the box and I walk the Safety down over the #2 receiver instead. (rather have a Safety covering the field-side flats than a LB)
 
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