What is a realistic prediction for this defense?

[DiegoCane]

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.

Thanks for the insight.

I've never doubted Golden and D'Onofrio know defense but a big part of being a coach is relaying and executing that defense to the players. If the defense is too complex and players continue to make the same errors then the coach is still at fault.

I'm still doubtful but hope everything you say is right and we have a top 25 D. If so I wouldn't expect many losses.

 

[Coach Macho]

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?

Well he installs alot more than I do.

Our defenses are the same but mine is the scaled down version. I can't load my kids up the way he can load his. (or maybe he can't and that's part of the problem)

At least a handful of times I said to him "man I wish I could tell my kids to do that but they won't be able to handle it mentally."

College players are expected to handle more. He gives his kids way more material than I give mine. Personally, I find no reason to do that.

 

[Calinative]

Also I think our DBS are man to man guys, not zone guys. The way our cbs play really ****es me off. I really hate how they play off and allow so many yards in front of them. And I'm sorry but a cover 3 from a 43, And especially from a 34 front does not require the De or dt to drop into coverage, and it's obvious they don't do a good job in that coverage anyway, but how can you expect them to when they are supposed to be rushing the passer!
I'd rather run man to man 90% of the time and give up big plays a little more often than this zone that seems like it is designed to give the offense free yards.

 

[Coach Macho]

Also I think our DBS are man to man guys, not zone guys. The way our cbs play really ****es me off. I really hate how they play off and allow so many yards in front of them. And I'm sorry but a cover 3 from a 43, And especially from a 34 front does not require the De or dt to drop into coverage, and it's obvious they don't do a good job in that coverage anyway, but how can you expect them to when they are supposed to be rushing the passer!
I'd rather run man to man 90% of the time and give up big plays a little more often than this zone that seems like it is designed to give the offense free yards.

SMH

Our DE's and DT's in our 3-4 don't EVER drop into coverage outside against WR's, our OLB's do. AND THEY HAVE TO. Who else is supposed to cover the flats in Cover-3?

And what makes our CB's "man to man guy" as opposed to zone guys? CB's all over the country play BOTH. You HAVE to play both.

You can't just line-up in man all day. You'd get your *** whooped. You'd allow big plays via the run and the pass.

 

[bbcane]

Also I think our DBS are man to man guys, not zone guys. The way our cbs play really ****es me off. I really hate how they play off and allow so many yards in front of them. And I'm sorry but a cover 3 from a 43, And especially from a 34 front does not require the De or dt to drop into coverage, and it's obvious they don't do a good job in that coverage anyway, but how can you expect them to when they are supposed to be rushing the passer!
I'd rather run man to man 90% of the time and give up big plays a little more often than this zone that seems like it is designed to give the offense free yards.

SMH

Our DE's and DT's in our 3-4 don't EVER drop into coverage outside against WR's, our OLB's do. AND THEY HAVE TO. Who else is supposed to cover the flats in Cover-3?

And what makes our CB's "man to man guy" as opposed to zone guys? CB's all over the country play BOTH. You HAVE to play both.

You can't just line-up in man all day. You'd get your *** whooped. You'd allow big plays via the run and the pass.

So who is this guy pretending to be wildcat ?

 

[Calinative]

Also I think our DBS are man to man guys, not zone guys. The way our cbs play really ****es me off. I really hate how they play off and allow so many yards in front of them. And I'm sorry but a cover 3 from a 43, And especially from a 34 front does not require the De or dt to drop into coverage, and it's obvious they don't do a good job in that coverage anyway, but how can you expect them to when they are supposed to be rushing the passer!
I'd rather run man to man 90% of the time and give up big plays a little more often than this zone that seems like it is designed to give the offense free yards.

SMH

Our DE's and DT's in our 3-4 don't EVER drop into coverage outside against WR's, our OLB's do. AND THEY HAVE TO. Who else is supposed to cover the flats in Cover-3?

And what makes our CB's "man to man guy" as opposed to zone guys? CB's all over the country play BOTH. You HAVE to play both.

You can't just line-up in man all day. You'd get your *** whooped. You'd allow big plays via the run and the pass.

Dont ever huh? Clearly u havent been watching our defense this year. I dont care if they are guarding wrs or tes it doesnt matter, DTs arent supposed to do it. And in not saying run man every play, but im saying a majority. It seems to me all we do is drop huys back deep into a zone and allow rhe offense to dump it off under 5 yards and have their guys run the last 5 for a 1st down,, but apparantly weve been watching two different teams.

 

[cane since birth]

Also I think our DBS are man to man guys, not zone guys. The way our cbs play really ****es me off. I really hate how they play off and allow so many yards in front of them. And I'm sorry but a cover 3 from a 43, And especially from a 34 front does not require the De or dt to drop into coverage, and it's obvious they don't do a good job in that coverage anyway, but how can you expect them to when they are supposed to be rushing the passer!
I'd rather run man to man 90% of the time and give up big plays a little more often than this zone that seems like it is designed to give the offense free yards.

SMH

Our DE's and DT's in our 3-4 don't EVER drop into coverage outside against WR's, our OLB's do. AND THEY HAVE TO. Who else is supposed to cover the flats in Cover-3?

And what makes our CB's "man to man guy" as opposed to zone guys? CB's all over the country play BOTH. You HAVE to play both.

You can't just line-up in man all day. You'd get your *** whooped. You'd allow big plays via the run and the pass.

Dont ever huh? Clearly u havent been watching our defense this year. I dont care if they are guarding wrs or tes it doesnt matter, DTs arent supposed to do it. And in not saying run man every play, but im saying a majority. It seems to me all we do is drop huys back deep into a zone and allow rhe offense to dump it off under 5 yards and have their guys run the last 5 for a 1st down,, but apparantly weve been watching two different teams.

SMH

 

[Coach Macho]

Also I think our DBS are man to man guys, not zone guys. The way our cbs play really ****es me off. I really hate how they play off and allow so many yards in front of them. And I'm sorry but a cover 3 from a 43, And especially from a 34 front does not require the De or dt to drop into coverage, and it's obvious they don't do a good job in that coverage anyway, but how can you expect them to when they are supposed to be rushing the passer!
I'd rather run man to man 90% of the time and give up big plays a little more often than this zone that seems like it is designed to give the offense free yards.

SMH

Our DE's and DT's in our 3-4 don't EVER drop into coverage outside against WR's, our OLB's do. AND THEY HAVE TO. Who else is supposed to cover the flats in Cover-3?

And what makes our CB's "man to man guy" as opposed to zone guys? CB's all over the country play BOTH. You HAVE to play both.

You can't just line-up in man all day. You'd get your *** whooped. You'd allow big plays via the run and the pass.

Dont ever huh? Clearly u havent been watching our defense this year. I dont care if they are guarding wrs or tes it doesnt matter, DTs arent supposed to do it. And in not saying run man every play, but im saying a majority. It seems to me all we do is drop huys back deep into a zone and allow rhe offense to dump it off under 5 yards and have their guys run the last 5 for a 1st down,, but apparantly weve been watching two different teams.

We haven't been watching two different teams, you just don't know what you're looking at.

The only time you see a DE, or a DE type athlete, cover WR's is when our OLB's widen out and cover the flats.

Sometimes we'll run a zone blitz and drop a DT into the middle. That's because we're expecting "quick game". (i.e. expecting the QB to throw the ball right away into the middle hole) There's nothing wrong with that. OSU intercepted Jacory in the red zone by doing the same thing.


You just have no idea what you're looking at.

 

[ProjectMKUltra5]

Also I think our DBS are man to man guys, not zone guys. The way our cbs play really ****es me off. I really hate how they play off and allow so many yards in front of them. And I'm sorry but a cover 3 from a 43, And especially from a 34 front does not require the De or dt to drop into coverage, and it's obvious they don't do a good job in that coverage anyway, but how can you expect them to when they are supposed to be rushing the passer!
I'd rather run man to man 90% of the time and give up big plays a little more often than this zone that seems like it is designed to give the offense free yards.

SMH

Our DE's and DT's in our 3-4 don't EVER drop into coverage outside against WR's, our OLB's do. AND THEY HAVE TO. Who else is supposed to cover the flats in Cover-3?

And what makes our CB's "man to man guy" as opposed to zone guys? CB's all over the country play BOTH. You HAVE to play both.

You can't just line-up in man all day. You'd get your *** whooped. You'd allow big plays via the run and the pass.

Dont ever huh? Clearly u havent been watching our defense this year. I dont care if they are guarding wrs or tes it doesnt matter, DTs arent supposed to do it. And in not saying run man every play, but im saying a majority. It seems to me all we do is drop huys back deep into a zone and allow rhe offense to dump it off under 5 yards and have their guys run the last 5 for a 1st down,, but apparantly weve been watching two different teams.

We haven't been watching two different teams, you just don't know what you're looking at.

The only time you see a DE, or a DE type athlete, cover WR's is when our OLB's widen out and cover the flats.

Sometimes we'll run a zone blitz and drop a DT into the middle. That's because we're expecting "quick game". (i.e. expecting the QB to throw the ball right away into the middle hole) There's nothing wrong with that. OSU intercepted Jacory in the red zone by doing the same thing.


You just have no idea what you're looking at.

That's what happens around here. People see something then blow it way out of proportion. They make it sound like D'onofrio is trying to put wyche on a WR split out wide, when really it's something reasonable like a OLB going to the flat. I'm no coach, but it doesn't take a lot of research to figure out what's going on.

 

[JHallCanes]

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.

Nice post man, thanks for sharing.

I think most rational people know D is a knowledgeable guy. It's pretty clear both him and Golden are intelligent and have a definite grasp on what's going on. The execution obviously is lacking. The defense is getting more talent for sure, and you can see what they are going for, if you are willing to be optimistic.

 

[Pennmed Canefan]

I didnt read much of this but I'm guessing that the endpoint is that Dono is not an idiot and knows defense. Only the true message board dolts think a guy coordinating at this level doesn't know his stuff and somehow we know more. I worry about Dono trying to do too much and whether the kids have faith in him, but not that he's inventing fatally-flawed defenses and is clueless. I would sincerely hope that any coach in a major conference would impress with his knowledge.

 

[NVA CANE]

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.

Nice post man, thanks for sharing.

I think most rational people know D is a knowledgeable guy. It's pretty clear both him and Golden are intelligent and have a definite grasp on what's going on. The execution obviously is lacking. The defense is getting more talent for sure, and you can see what they are going for, if you are willing to be optimistic.

This. No one doubts golden and Dorito know their stuff. But you gotta be able to teach it and or adjust to what your players can do. There's a clear disconnect between the players and what golden and Dorito want to execute. Hopefully they figure it out for this season.

 

[NVA CANE]

The players also look slow, they look lost, confused, etc. All of that is coaching. Wholesale missed tackles, missed assignments, etc. All that is coaching. Look the coaches are knowledgeable, but that doesn't mean their scheme isn't overly complicated for college players. It's what separates a Narduzzi from a Dorito. Narduzzi adjusts to his players and or simplifies his scheme. Dorito forces his scheme and runs what has been mentioned a few times a complicated scheme.

Simplify it, adjust to the players you have and get it done.

 

[NVA CANE]

Hey wildcat, did Dorito say whether the defensive was not aggressive
because of the talent or that's just the scheme? Do they plan on running a more aggressive defense this year?

 

[cubin10]

Coach Macho Wildcat--Thanks for the insight and bringing your thoughts about Dorito to light, it is insightful and well articulated.

 

[Miami82]

I'm hoping for no worse than 5.2 or 5.3 yards per play. That would be a reasonable improvement of a half yard per play and place somewhere between 40th and 50th nationally.

At that point there's a modest foundation and decent change to move into the upper quarter the following season. Keep in mind the best defenses allow low 4s per play and freakish defenses allow high 3s. That's how far away we are. Last year we were a yard and a half worse than Louisville yet somehow expected to compete with them in a bowl game. It was a terrible draw but at least was a necessary jolt.

Keep track of Florida State's performance in that category compared to ours and you'll see how much we lag, minus the fruity optimism.

Most of all, I just want to see some legitimacy at defensive tackle and for a couple of the edge guys to look special. In the World Cup after a player is red carded it's 11 on 10. That's what our defense has looked like too often in recent seasons.

At least there's been some comic relief when the skinny guys run out there on 3rd down, particularly as they turn around and run off as soon as it's 1st down again.

Good post

 

[Miami82]

LMAO, someone has hacked Wild cats account... 25 rated D, that there is some funny ****.

 

[CaneAlmighty]

Simplify it, adjust to the players you have and get it done.

This is what boggles my mind.. There was no amount of adjusting to Gaines, Green, Cornelius, Highsmith, Rodgers, Robinson, Armbrister that would have amounted to anything better than what we've witnessed the last few seasons.

 

[NVA CANE]

Simplify it, adjust to the players you have and get it done.

This is what boggles my mind.. There was no amount of adjusting to Gaines, Green, Cornelius, Highsmith, Rodgers, Robinson, Armbrister that would have amounted to anything better than what we've witnessed the last few seasons.

My question is, if Highsmith, Gaines etc were so bad and were handicapping the scheme, then why were they starting. Why not start the younger guys if they are more athletic yet will make the same mistakes as those less talented than them?

 

[supacane]

Simplify it, adjust to the players you have and get it done.

This is what boggles my mind.. There was no amount of adjusting to Gaines, Green, Cornelius, Highsmith, Rodgers, Robinson, Armbrister that would have amounted to anything better than what we've witnessed the last few seasons.

Thats the type of player Duke has. They had one dude drafted. One, they didnt out talent us, they out coached and out schemed us. Those guys were not cane quality in any way shape or form. But how many teams in CFB possess cane quality players? How many of the teams that beat us did? Duke fans and coaches cant sit there and whine about players, no they use wtf they got and won our division. And also these are the type of players Golden and No d had to work with at Temple, probably worst. Something is wrong with whatever they are teaching the players and if they havent fixed it or have it fixed in a month you will say the same shhh again we have seen the past 2 season, which is the worst defense i ever witnessed watching football. no exxageration