Our biggest problem on defense is desire. Desire to know your assignments and do your job. Desire to swarm to the ball and 100% effort on every play. Desire TO TACKLE the ball carrier and not just deliver a blow. Don’t believe me? Then just watch #1 and #3 for a few series.
Good to see someone who knows what they're talking about saying it. I don't pretend that be knowledgeable enough about football to tell definitively if a defensive scheme is too complex for talented D1 athletes. If I was I'd be in a film room today as a football coach making 7 figures or so. But I'm not so I defer to the professionals. Similarly I don't pretend to be a professional talent evaluator, so I defer to the professionals in our coaching staff. I do, however, have athletic ability and experience modest enough to definitively tell when others aren't making an effort and aren't getting fundamental aspects of the game correct. And this is definitely issue #1 for the UF defense this year.
It's the zone defense... That is one of the hardest schemes to get correct especially in games. It is hard for NFL players to get right and college players do NOT have the time to figure it out completely. There are thousands of schemes that you can make up to run your defense. If all else fails why not a hybrid defensive scheme a cover two High with man underneath or something along those lines... Had we run that defense we might have won that game Saturday. I also notice ZERO swarming to the ball... WTH is that all about. In the past gang tackles were almost exclusively a Gator defensive trait, now we don't even teach it... If I don't see the Gator defenders gang tackling in games then it's NOT TAUGHT. We are are taking bad angles and what's worse is that we do it at half speed on top of that. It's slow lazy running/pursuit to the ball carrier/receiver. I've never seen such slow hesitant defenders in a Gator uniform in my entire life... and I played Pop Warner in the mid 1970's and went to see the Gators play football back then. Ditch the zone and bring back gang tackling and man-press coverages. Teach open field tackling, and work on pursuit angles.
Its slightly more complicated than this, yes its effort at certain positions its also situational awareness by coaches. How in the hell do we ask DW to run a twist up front when he is so slow by the tome he gets to his assigned gap the play is over and we lost a rusher. Communication is all over the place and substitutions can be made by preparing for an outcome 1 play ahead its not rocket science. Football is chess not checkers the learning curve is steep for youngsters whether players or coaches
Swarm to the ball. Well, they have been and they over run the rush or pursuit. I saw some play that indicates that message is getting across so they are more disciplined with their position. If everyone swarms you start looking like elementary kids playing soccer where everyone but the two goalies is within 5 yards of the ball. The goalies stay put by being enthralled by crickets and grasshoppers hopping about.
Have you considered applying for the defensive coordinator slot? Maybe they should schedule a meeting with you to tap into your extensive knowledge.
Castell has it. He needs 20 pounds of muscle but he'll get there. He's going to be a good one. Corey Raymond knows how to develop and coach. He'd rather be aggressive but is limited by personnel.
The best Defense in FBS by yards per game allowed, Michigan, runs roughly 2/3 of their plays in zone. Just because we suck at it, doesn't mean it isn't effective. Not to mention if you run man every play opposing offenses will destroy it, they get paid too.
It may be but after the 10th game, it should have been modified. Urban Meyer won a NC by changing the offense to better suit Chris Leak’s skills. Also, this can’t explain the myriad of missed open field tackles or blown coverages.
So sarcasm should be in green font per ‘unofficial’ board etiquette. The rest is free analysis but based on observation that is available on tape and not ‘echo chamber’ reposting of dissatisfaction of results. My take is the staff knew going in they would potentially suffer personnel mismatches and they underestimated the extent. This is why we are so heavily invested in D talent this year. These problems are solved during the season or even totally with recruiting strictly for next season (portal). We arent a championship team only needing a edge player to complete the defense are a WR to fill a talent issue. Those players will help but that will make us above average not champs. We need depth to average up our athletic ability and maturity along with difference makers at the skill positions. YMMV
I may just not know enough about defense, but isn't zone supposed to be easier for linebackers and safeties as they can keep their eyes on the quarterback and then react to what they see? in man coverage you're following your dude and so you have to keep your eyes on him, making it harder to react to what the quarterback is doing or reacting to a handoff or short pass.
I didn't mind the zone D on the 4th and 17, but was screaming at the TV to blitz!. The route needed time to develop so don't give them the GD time. We blitz earlier with success
Yes Primarily referenced in jest when the post is clearly missed as falling under the label as not to hurt the feelings of the newbie
Sorry my phone glitched and my original post never made it to print. Reader digest version. Im tired of players not understanding zone defense defines area of responsibility any zone with a receiver is them treated as man coverage while in the zone. We also dont understand cushion and bail too soon leaving too much cushion. Hence the inability to rally to the ball in a timely manner with help tackling. The 2nd point was our DL is sloow and cant run to the ball. Probably knew this going in and underestimated its impact on the defense this year. Also why they are so heavy on front 7 players this cycle. This isnt a 1 year fix with bodies but grooming the roster and getting better with who we have and supplementing with transfer upgrades. To pints made by you and others college football talent acquisition is evolving much quicker than ever before BN will need a hybrid approach moving forward until our roster is more ‘complete’ and only lacking 1-3 free agents at key positions
