Lu, do you believe golden has a passive philosophy on defense or football in general or are some of us wrong in thinking that?
I think that's what the evidence shows. I have no idea what is the precise rationale for choosing to play that way. I think it's speculation either way. Maybe that's what his coaching roots dictate? Maybe he doesn't fully trust the talent on the roster yet? Maybe he thinks this style currently gives him the best chance to win? I think it could be a combination of all of those things. I also think some of those are inherently flawed either way.
What I know for sure is the guy is clearly obsessed with planning. The guy, as Able said, is a defensive coach. There's also evidence that the guy is a tireless worker and wants to win. It's a completely different situation than, say, Coker or Shannon or even other, more successful, coaches. Ask Able. What has always scared me about Golden or any coach is rigidity. I have a hard time reconciling that with him appearing to be a practical guy.
Without speaking to him, the coaches, etc., directly, all we can do is throw **** at the wall trying to explain his decisions. I will say one thing (that I've said in other threads): not all coaches or organizations have sharp processes or make decisions with elaborate analysis. I always say the story to illustrate this point, but when I sat in front of a former NFL Operations guy (who had been previously successful and was working with a legitimate football mind) and he explained that they selected a player because of "weather factors," I realized all these guys are just humans throwing darts. Some with more precision than others. Some with less. Some, like our previous coaches, without even looking at the dart board.
I hear what you are saying, but ANY coach, to some extent, is going to go with what he has had success with, and he also has to play the hand he is dealt. AG inherited a SH*T show here. DL was nothing but JAGs with NOTHING in the pipeline. Shannon's recruiting when he got canned was attrocious, and the half @ss class AG was able to slap together was mostly garbage. Lets face it. He's really in year 2 of "his guys". I dont think he trusts the talent, and frankly, would you? There is almost NO senior leadership on this defense. DP is a good dude, but he's not Vilma. He's a very good LB, but he's not "elite" like we've had before. Ive been saying this all year. We have some real young talent in the secondary, and at DE, but beyond that, we are WAY thin. AG's comment the other night, which everyone dismissed as more "excuses" really DID tell the tale of this defense IMO.
Think about HOW MANY JUCOs and Transfers they went after for this Defense in the off season. Bond, Derosier, Renfrow, Gilbert, the OSU kid who also bolted. FIVE guys they went out and tried to bring in here at the 11th hour. That is how BAD or mismatched the personnel are from what they feel they need.
Im NOT saying AG may not be conservative, or have conservative tendencies. He played under Jo Pa. But there is also nothing to say that such a system cant work here to some extent. But you need to execute your scheme well, and you need the personnel to make it happen. Its not clear we have EITHER thing in place, and that is a BIG problem.
But we really dont know what we have yet. If you told me this team was loaded just the way he wanted it, and he was still playing conservative, well then I would say we can probably feel confidenet we know his tenancies. But with what he inherited here, and what his off seasons moves tell us about how he feels about the talent and depth on Defense, I dont think we can make any real conclusions about it.
And MAYBE, just maybe, its worse than any of us could have imagined.
