Aggressive DC

[bennyl08]

Who here wants to see more of an aggressive defense? One where we blitz more? Corners will press rather than be 7 yards off the LoS when it's 3rd and 3? Has a DL that gets penetration?

Well, you won't find much more of an aggressive defensive coordinator out there than Robb Smith. Go ahead and look. However, for most of his career, CRS has run defenses that were aggressive like we saw in 2014 with him here.

So, that leaves only a few options.

1. He has personally had a philosophical change. Very unlikely.

2. He hasn't had the players to run his scheme. 2014 he had some really good talent to work with. Hard to blame him for 2015 when the cupboard went bare and we still were nearly impossible to at least run against. This year, we have more talent than last season and depth, but have been pretty bad on defense. 2014's defense had a lot of green players (Spaight, Philon, Ellis, Dean, Collins) who were integral with only Flowers and Mitchel being the experienced playmakers. So, either we have over estimated the talent of our current roster or

3. He isn't good at teaching players how to play well. However, given that a lot of the playmakers from 2014 weren't terribly experienced, hard to say that this is what is happening.

4. His ideas for the defense are being vetoed. Again, look at his entire career on defense and the past two years have not looked like Robb Smith defenses usually look like. Aggressive defenses are his MO. However, why would you have a head coach suddenly take away control of the defense from the DC AFTER he fielded a very good defense his first year with a defensive scheme that was like he had used elsewhere? If anything, a HC would have the training wheels on early, helping the players not have too much change in style and letting the DC get used to the new conference and such while giving more control as the defense improves. So, this idea that he'd let the guy have complete control his very first year with a pretty big change in style of play and good success and then after that decide to force things on defense makes no sense.

Instead, I argue it may be a combo pack of the above. Undoubtably 2015 lacked talent on defense and any defensive players that RS wanted would have only been true freshmen (of which Greenlaw did very well). So, that year, CRS was probably forced by #2 to change his scheme and instead did his best to stop the run game at least. The emphasis there may have been his own or could be part of #4. That leads us to this year. It was obvious in the spring that we were trying to re-capture 2014's style of play with disruptive and quick DL rather than a reactive run stopping DL. We had experienced secondary with Toliver, Dean, and Collins. We had a more experienced LB group with Ellis in the middle and Greenlaw ready to be a playmaker. We had the explosive Wise at DE with Ledbetter at DT replicating Flowers and Philon. However, Wise struggled with some injuries and failed to be as explosive being an every down DE. Greenlaw was lost for the season. We have some quick DT's with Agim and Ledbetter, but Wise is pretty much our only DE who can provide a pass rush (Ledbetter tried last year and wasn't very good, much better with him in the interior. He's a fast and quick DT but a slow DE). With all of that, we failed to establish any identity of defense. We weren't particularly aggressive nor were we particularly good at either pass or rush defense.

We were 54th in pass defense and only gave up 10 passing td's on the year. 97th in rushing defense with 36 td's given up on the ground. While we were 85th in scoring defense giving up 30.8 ppg, our 4 defensive td's put us at 6th in the country.

Verdict: We have some very exciting potential at LB next season. We lose plenty at the secondary but with the emergence of Pulley, we will still have Pully and Toliver as experienced corners and don't lose anybody at S. DL is what will hurt. Wise, Winston, Ledbetter, Johnson, and Lewis will all be gone and all 5 were important players in the rotation one way or another. However, we currently have some really good players in the wings as well. Bijhon, Beanum, and Roesler headline the junior class who have all been important players as well. Watts and Ramsey lead the sophomores, with Dean and Smith being two RsFr that I am very excited about as well as our freshmen this year with Capps and Agim leading the way but with other talented players like Guidry out there too. Next year should have a better LB and S group than this year. This year's biggest shortcoming was the DL. My vote is we get a new DL coach. Give CRS full reign on defense.

[bennyl08]

Another issue might be some of our cross training. Look at our roster. There aren't many players listed as DE or DT, just DL. Same with DB's. Further, look at the players. We have a lot of guys who are currently a bit too large to play DE but are also undersized at DT and are probably equally capable of both. Similarly with S. Lot of guys like Dalton who could be either part of the secondary.

And that might be the issue. If you are a jack of all, very hard to be a master of at least one. However, you are going against specialized players who are masters. You may have more multi-postional utility than the guy you are competing across from, but they are going to be better at the single thing it is that they do.

[AugustaHog]

You have to force mistakes in this day and age.  Teams are going to score on you, unless you are Bama.  If you sit back and get picked apart, you are only going to beat decent teams when a.) they make unforced mistakes or b.) your offense is flawless (see Miss St game).  We need a philosophy change. 

[Boss Hog in the Arkansas]

Let me go ahead and dismantle this whole thing with a couple important points. We returned 9 starters and got WORSE. Our rush defense is ranked dead last. After friday our pass defense probably isnt too far away from that either. We have a secondary that is almost always out of position, and thats what rob smith specializes in supposedly. He may be aggressive but he appears incompetent as well. Watch one of his interviews and you'll see what I mean. He makes absolutely no sense and sounds like he's just trying to ramble through and get it over with 

[bennyl08]

You have to force mistakes in this day and age.  Teams are going to score on you, unless you are Bama.  If you sit back and get picked apart, you are only going to beat decent teams when a.) they make unforced mistakes or b.) your offense is flawless (see Miss St game).  We need a philosophy change.

We should hire somebody whose philosophy is less aggressive and more passive? Who out there is more aggressive than CRS? If you don't think he is capable of being an SEC DC because he isn't able to teach the players well, that's one thing. However, his bread and butter is aggressive defenses. That is what he always tries to run given the opportunity. That we haven't had an aggressive defense the past two years is an abnormality on his resume. You seem to like his philosophy based on your 'a' and 'b'. If philosophy of defense is your only problem, you shouldn't want to get rid of him. If you think adjustments, recruiting, or teaching the techniques are the issues, then you might have an argument.

[bennyl08]

Let me go ahead and dismantle this whole thing with a couple important points. We returned 9 starters and got WORSE. Our rush defense is ranked dead last. After friday our pass defense probably isnt too far away from that either. We have a secondary that is almost always out of position, and thats what rob smith specializes in supposedly. He may be aggressive but he appears incompetent as well. Watch one of his interviews and you'll see what I mean. He makes absolutely no sense and sounds like he's just trying to ramble through and get it over with

Almost always out of position? Is that why Pulley is 2nd in the SEC in pass breakups? Our rushing defense is bad, it's in the 90's but objectively it is not dead last. Where you calling him incompetent in 2014 when his defense was the ONLY reason we had a chance to ever win games?

[TheEnemy]

He is aggressive versus Pro-style Offenses.

But against Spread teams his scheme struggles to be aggressive and becomes more passive.


Problem is everyone has gone to the Spread.

On a side note it probably looks good when we scrimmage but against Spread teams it is horrible.

[Youngsta71701]

Who here wants to see more of an aggressive defense? One where we blitz more? Corners will press rather than be 7 yards off the LoS when it's 3rd and 3? Has a DL that gets penetration?

Well, you won't find much more of an aggressive defensive coordinator out there than Robb Smith. Go ahead and look. However, for most of his career, CRS has run defenses that were aggressive like we saw in 2014 with him here.

So, that leaves only a few options.

1. He has personally had a philosophical change. Very unlikely.

2. He hasn't had the players to run his scheme. 2014 he had some really good talent to work with. Hard to blame him for 2015 when the cupboard went bare and we still were nearly impossible to at least run against. This year, we have more talent than last season and depth, but have been pretty bad on defense. 2014's defense had a lot of green players (Spaight, Philon, Ellis, Dean, Collins) who were integral with only Flowers and Mitchel being the experienced playmakers. So, either we have over estimated the talent of our current roster or

3. He isn't good at teaching players how to play well. However, given that a lot of the playmakers from 2014 weren't terribly experienced, hard to say that this is what is happening.

4. His ideas for the defense are being vetoed. Again, look at his entire career on defense and the past two years have not looked like Robb Smith defenses usually look like. Aggressive defenses are his MO. However, why would you have a head coach suddenly take away control of the defense from the DC AFTER he fielded a very good defense his first year with a defensive scheme that was like he had used elsewhere? If anything, a HC would have the training wheels on early, helping the players not have too much change in style and letting the DC get used to the new conference and such while giving more control as the defense improves. So, this idea that he'd let the guy have complete control his very first year with a pretty big change in style of play and good success and then after that decide to force things on defense makes no sense.

Instead, I argue it may be a combo pack of the above. Undoubtably 2015 lacked talent on defense and any defensive players that RS wanted would have only been true freshmen (of which Greenlaw did very well). So, that year, CRS was probably forced by #2 to change his scheme and instead did his best to stop the run game at least. The emphasis there may have been his own or could be part of #4. That leads us to this year. It was obvious in the spring that we were trying to re-capture 2014's style of play with disruptive and quick DL rather than a reactive run stopping DL. We had experienced secondary with Toliver, Dean, and Collins. We had a more experienced LB group with Ellis in the middle and Greenlaw ready to be a playmaker. We had the explosive Wise at DE with Ledbetter at DT replicating Flowers and Philon. However, Wise struggled with some injuries and failed to be as explosive being an every down DE. Greenlaw was lost for the season. We have some quick DT's with Agim and Ledbetter, but Wise is pretty much our only DE who can provide a pass rush (Ledbetter tried last year and wasn't very good, much better with him in the interior. He's a fast and quick DT but a slow DE). With all of that, we failed to establish any identity of defense. We weren't particularly aggressive nor were we particularly good at either pass or rush defense.

We were 54th in pass defense and only gave up 10 passing td's on the year. 97th in rushing defense with 36 td's given up on the ground. While we were 85th in scoring defense giving up 30.8 ppg, our 4 defensive td's put us at 6th in the country.

Verdict: We have some very exciting potential at LB next season. We lose plenty at the secondary but with the emergence of Pulley, we will still have Pully and Toliver as experienced corners and don't lose anybody at S. DL is what will hurt. Wise, Winston, Ledbetter, Johnson, and Lewis will all be gone and all 5 were important players in the rotation one way or another. However, we currently have some really good players in the wings as well. Bijhon, Beanum, and Roesler headline the junior class who have all been important players as well. Watts and Ramsey lead the sophomores, with Dean and Smith being two RsFr that I am very excited about as well as our freshmen this year with Capps and Agim leading the way but with other talented players like Guidry out there too. Next year should have a better LB and S group than this year. This year's biggest shortcoming was the DL. My vote is we get a new DL coach. Give CRS full reign on defense.

Sorry, we were simple in 2014 too.
The only difference was our corners played more bump & run and we were able to stop the run with our front 7.
Other than that the same simple scheme.
The problem that I see with our corners is that we miss the bump then we run.
If you don't execute the bump your already beat.

[Boss Hog in the Arkansas]

Almost always out of position? Is that why Pulley is 2nd in the SEC in pass breakups? Our rushing defense is bad, it's in the 90's but objectively it is not dead last. Where you calling him incompetent in 2014 when his defense was the ONLY reason we had a chance to ever win games?

Of course pulley is a stud. I meant the unit as a whole. I couldn't call him incompetent in 2014 because I hadn't seen enough of his work, BUT I wasn't on the Robb Smith band wagon either. I try to stay reserved about things for the most part until I can form and educated opinion and not just go off of a flash in the pan

[Lake City Hog]

Benny, Didn't 2105 start out with a unilateral move made by BB, Ellis to WLB? That move created so much havoc that we truly struggled on defense most of the year to just recover.

From the way Dewayne Eugene has played so far it makes me wonder if he might have been the answer fro Spaight in 2015.

[Exit Pursued by a Boar]

He is aggressive versus Pro-style Offenses.

But against Spread teams his scheme struggles to be aggressive and becomes more passive.


Problem is everyone has gone to the Spread.

On a side note it probably looks good when we scrimmage but against Spread teams it is horrible.

This is a big part of our problem.  Offenses have changed.  We now face hurry-up offenses which force you to keep the same people on defense for multiple plays in a row. We now face spread offenses, which, regardless of the flavor of spread, all focus on mismatches and force our defenders to play well one on one in space.  And we now face lots of RPO offenses which read keys that also force one on one playmaking on the part of the defense, often after a receiver has caught the ball.  I am not enough of an X and O guy to solve these problems, but I believe that pressure from the DL forces QBs to make quicker decisions and to hurry up throws and that bump and run coverage throws receivers off their routes.  However, if a receiver gets loose and a QB sees it, a long gain is going to be there.  What's that mean? First, the obvious answer is better/smarter athletes at all positions. Second, mixing up the D you play puts some indecision in the QB's head. If you don't have the first, you pretty much have to do the second. And even if you do have the first, you need to mix in the second anyway.

I suspect that Agim will go outside sooner than later, btw.  I think he was playing more inside just because that was where he was needed more this year.  We'll see.

EFBAB

[Youngsta71701]

This is a big part of our problem.  Offenses have changed.  We now face hurry-up offenses which force you to keep the same people on defense for multiple plays in a row. We now face spread offenses, which, regardless of the flavor of spread, all focus on mismatches and force our defenders to play well one on one in space.  And we now face lots of RPO offenses which read keys that also force one on one playmaking on the part of the defense, often after a receiver has caught the ball.  I am not enough of an X and O guy to solve these problems, but I believe that pressure from the DL forces QBs to make quicker decisions and to hurry up throws and that bump and run coverage throws receivers off their routes.  However, if a receiver gets loose and a QB sees it, a long gain is going to be there.  What's that mean? First, the obvious answer is better/smarter athletes at all positions. Second, mixing up the D you play puts some indecision in the QB's head. If you don't have the first, you pretty much have to do the second. And even if you do have the first, you need to mix in the second anyway.

I suspect that Agim will go outside sooner than later, btw.  I think he was playing more inside just because that was where he was needed more this year.  We'll see.

EFBAB

Because of the spread offenses I think we need to recruit more speed at the  linebacker position instead of size. We need linebacker/safety types that can cover the pass as well as play the run. Like Jabril Peppers from Michigan. He is only a 6-1 208 pound linebacker but he can stop the run as well as cover the pass.

Jerrico Nelson or Anthony Leon would be a perfect fit for us right now.

[HF#1]

I didn't read all of that, however, I would be happy with a DC that could eliminate big plays. We give up big plays more than anyone in the league. Want to beat Arkansas? Hit'em over the top.

[HogMantheIntruder]

Let me go ahead and dismantle this whole thing with a couple important points. We returned 9 starters and got WORSE. Our rush defense is ranked dead last. After friday our pass defense probably isnt too far away from that either. We have a secondary that is almost always out of position, and thats what rob smith specializes in supposedly. He may be aggressive but he appears incompetent as well. Watch one of his interviews and you'll see what I mean. He makes absolutely no sense and sounds like he's just trying to ramble through and get it over with

I disagree about our secondary being out of position. Our DL has seriously under-performed the past two years. With the talent and numbers we have, we should be getting pressure on the QB with our front four. With that much time in the pocket, most WR's will be able to break away from a DB.

The only other position group, IMHO, that has been as disappointing has been ST's. Those two groups have one thing in common, and I think that's the first place where we need a change. If Seagrest is not fired, then I think he should, at least, have his responsibilities with ST's reassigned to someone else. Clearly, he cannot handle both.

[Boss Hog in the Arkansas]

I disagree about our secondary being out of position. Our DL has seriously under-performed the past two years. With the talent and numbers we have, we should be getting pressure on the QB with our front four. With that much time in the pocket, most WR's will be able to break away from a DB.

The only other position group, IMHO, that has been as disappointing has been ST's. Those two groups have one thing in common, and I think that's the first place where we need a change. If Seagrest is not fired, then I think he should, at least, have his responsibilities with ST's reassigned to someone else. Clearly, he cannot handle both.

I agree with you 100% on that one. We have quite a bit of talent on the DL going to waste. Deatrich Wise had all the tools to be great, he just never really grew as a DE. I see the same with Bijhon Jackson. He has the explosiveness to be a disruptive nose guard, but it doesn't seem he has fully "grown" into an SEC DT. Also, McTelvin Agim has no business inside. Put him back on the edge where he excels along with all of the other DE's that have been moved inside. Develop your guys and you wont have to play musical chairs with them

[bennyl08]

Benny, Didn't 2105 start out with a unilateral move made by BB, Ellis to WLB? That move created so much havoc that we truly struggled on defense most of the year to just recover.

From the way Dewayne Eugene has played so far it makes me wonder if he might have been the answer fro Spaight in 2015.

Ellis was moved to WLB to try and be the playmaker at LB in 2015, at least to start the season. I don't try and guess who made the decision, but that was the decision made.

Eugene, Hackett, and there was a 3rd LB, forgot his name, who were all safeties in HS that we tried to make into LB'ers in college. They weren't going to come into that role immediately. Eugene had shown flashes before, but this is the first year it seems to have come together for him.

I don't think we really had an answer for Spaight in 2015. Greenlaw has shown athleticism, but his freshmen year was chock full of mental errors as well.

I think Scoota will be our next really good LB. Ellis is smart and a good leader, and has find straight line speed, but his hips are tight and he can't change direction without slowing down too much. Eugene isn't an amazing athletic specimen, but I have no concerns with him as our starting LB for a full season. Greenlaw is Greenlaw and can't go wrong with him either. However, Harris is a size/speed combination that is something we haven't haven't seen in a while. He played at weight in HS and played LB, so he isn't having to get used to a new position or a radically different body either. Plus, in HS, he was just likely to get an INT as he was to force a fumble on the RB or get a tfl/sack. So, once the game slows down for him, he will be a beast, I hope. AJB and LaFrance are also both playmakers with good instincts for turnovers and getting off blocks for tackles. Walker I admit doesn't excite me too much at LB, but there isn't much to complain about either. Worst case he should provide quality depth. Keep in mind, that was the same thing I said about D. Evans at RB and Morgan at WR. Neither of them seemed to have any strengths but also didn't have any glaring weaknesses either. Evans never really saw the field at RB and transferred, Morgan's been like a white Wes Welker. So, take my opinion with a grain of salt.

[PonderinHog]

Didn't Josh Williams get injured at Tennessee?

[Youngsta71701]

Ellis was moved to WLB to try and be the playmaker at LB in 2015, at least to start the season. I don't try and guess who made the decision, but that was the decision made.

Eugene, Hackett, and there was a 3rd LB, forgot his name, who were all safeties in HS that we tried to make into LB'ers in college. They weren't going to come into that role immediately. Eugene had shown flashes before, but this is the first year it seems to have come together for him.

I don't think we really had an answer for Spaight in 2015. Greenlaw has shown athleticism, but his freshmen year was chock full of mental errors as well.

I think Scoota will be our next really good LB. Ellis is smart and a good leader, and has find straight line speed, but his hips are tight and he can't change direction without slowing down too much. Eugene isn't an amazing athletic specimen, but I have no concerns with him as our starting LB for a full season. Greenlaw is Greenlaw and can't go wrong with him either. However, Harris is a size/speed combination that is something we haven't haven't seen in a while. He played at weight in HS and played LB, so he isn't having to get used to a new position or a radically different body either. Plus, in HS, he was just likely to get an INT as he was to force a fumble on the RB or get a tfl/sack. So, once the game slows down for him, he will be a beast, I hope. AJB and LaFrance are also both playmakers with good instincts for turnovers and getting off blocks for tackles. Walker I admit doesn't excite me too much at LB, but there isn't much to complain about either. Worst case he should provide quality depth. Keep in mind, that was the same thing I said about D. Evans at RB and Morgan at WR. Neither of them seemed to have any strengths but also didn't have any glaring weaknesses either. Evans never really saw the field at RB and transferred, Morgan's been like a white Wes Welker. So, take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Our coaches have to realize that size doesn't necessarily mean strength. We are putting too much extra weight on some of these kids that we recruit as safeties and turn into linebacker. That slows the majority of them down considerably. Spaight played at 225pds when he was here and he was a beast. All linebackers don't have to be 250pds to be good at the college level. It's time our coaches realize that. This is not the slow Big10. This is the fast SEC.

[Josh Goforth]

Sorry, we were simple in 2014 too.
The only difference was our corners played more bump & run and we were able to stop the run with our front 7.
Other than that the same simple scheme.
The problem that I see with our corners is that we miss the bump then we run.
If you don't execute the bump your already beat.

The better teams have put a slot wr off the line to negate any press coverage and giving a free release. The long passes vs missouri came off that scenario several times.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

I have a feeling that we'll have a new DC by 15 January.

[hogsanity]

Does not matter what type of defense if your defenders are slower than the other teams offensive players.

[Youngsta71701]

The better teams have put a slot wr off the line to negate any press coverage and giving a free release. The long passes vs missouri came off that scenario several times.

Yep, that Johnson guy was flat out quicker and faster than Toliver. He needed safety help bad!
The Moore guy that Collins was holding was just bigger, stronger, and faster. He needed help also!

[Youngsta71701]

I have a feeling that we'll have a new DC by 15 January.

Is this a special date on the calendar or something?

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Is this a special date on the calendar or something?

It's a week after all the bowl games are played (6 days after the NC game). Would give them plenty l of time and o communicate with defensive recruits, fill some gaps. It lands in the middle of the January contact period for recruiting.

[bennyl08]

Our coaches have to realize that size doesn't necessarily mean strength. We are putting too much extra weight on some of these kids that we recruit as safeties and turn into linebacker. That slows the majority of them down considerably. Spaight played at 225pds when he was here and he was a beast. All linebackers don't have to be 250pds to be good at the college level. It's time our coaches realize that. This is not the slow Big10. This is the fast SEC.

They do seem to realize. Take a look at our roster. Also, Spaight was in the mid 230's. The bigger players on our roster were already big when they got here and can presumably handle the weight. Most of our LB'ers are under 240.

[PorkSoda]

Honestly, I think because our Run D was pretty good last year and our Pass D sucked, we changed schemes to focus more on stopping the pass.  now our Pass D is okay, but why would a team bother to pass when you can't stop the run.

somewhere along the way of focusing on the pass we lost focus on the run and couldn't recover.  hopefully we get back to stopping the run first, and playing agressive in the secondary.  we will give up some big plays, but at least they won't waltz through the middle of our defense untouched.

It also seems like we played more 4-2 which is better against the pass than against the run.  this could be because we are short on LB's 

that may take years to correct.  heck we have been trying to correct it for years already  but still aren't recruiting enough LBs each year.

when BB came in, he focused on fundamentals.  we were 0-8 in the SEC but were the least penalized team in the league.  this last year, fundamentals were poor.  lots of penalties, lots of guys out of position.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Honestly, I think because our Run D was pretty good last year and our Pass D sucked, we changed schemes to focus more on stopping the pass.  now our Pass D is okay, but why would a team bother to pass when you can't stop the run.

somewhere along the way of focusing on the pass we lost focus on the run and couldn't recover.  hopefully we get back to stopping the run first, and playing agressive in the secondary.  we will give up some big plays, but at least they won't waltz through the middle of our defense untouched.

It also seems like we played more 4-2 which is better against the pass than against the run.  this could be because we are short on LB's 

that may take years to correct.  heck we have been trying to correct it for years already  but still aren't recruiting enough LBs each year.

If we played 4-2 then that would be news to me.

[PorkSoda]

If we played 4-2 then that would be news to me.

maybe I'm wrong, I felt like I saw us in that formation a lot, but I'm not particularly good at reading defenses.

regardless, we left the middle of the field open a lot.

[Pork Twain]

New DC please

[phadedhawg]

Our defense is performed so poorly all season long it's impossible to point at something they do well.  I think anybody but Smith is my pick.  It's impossible for our next DC to do a worse job.  Even Robb Smith might get a dead cat bounce and perform better next year. 

There is nothing to build on.  Even Smith would be building next year's team from the ground up.  Might as well let someone else have that job and maybe create some goodwill in the offseason. 

If Robb Smith runs out of that tunnel next year it's gonna be ugly from the start.  If CBB has any sense (debatable) he will personally drive the bus over Smith.

[hawginbigd1]

If we played 4-2 then that would be news to me.

Not sure if serious, but for the last 2 seasons we have played mostly 4-2-5. Liddell, Ramirez, pulley, Collins, and Tolliver, how many DBs is that?

[Hogsmo Kramer]

The better teams have put a slot wr off the line to negate any press coverage and giving a free release. The long passes vs missouri came off that scenario several times.

This is true plus it didn't appear that we were playing an outside in technique or anything to reroute the boundary receiver back inside. Instead we played face up or off and never turned them back inside where you at least have safety help.

Against faster, more athletic receivers and an accurate QB that's a recipe to get burnt down the sidelines and that's what happened against Mizzou a lot.

[Youngsta71701]

They do seem to realize. Take a look at our roster. Also, Spaight was in the mid 230's. The bigger players on our roster were already big when they got here and can presumably handle the weight. Most of our LB'ers are under 240.

I added a little bit for dramatization. Spaight went to JUCO where he put on weight. He was 220 when he came to Arkansas. Ellis was 215 when he came. Eugene was 222. Hackett was 210. Greenlaw was 210. Ramsey was 210. Agim was 265. I could keep going but I think you get my point. You can get stronger without getting bigger and slower.

In this new age of offenses you need faster not bigger at the linebacker positions. Even Nick Saban is recruiting smaller but faster linebackers. Look at Jabril Peppers for Michigan. A 208 pound linebacker that is fast, tough, and versatile. This is the new age of college football.

[Youngsta71701]

maybe I'm wrong, I felt like I saw us in that formation a lot, but I'm not particularly good at reading defenses.

regardless, we left the middle of the field open a lot.

You are correct. The coach speak for it is the nickel or 4-2-5.

[bennyl08]

I added a little bit for dramatization. Spaight went to JUCO where he put on weight. He was 220 when he came to Arkansas. Ellis was 215 when he came. Eugene was 222. Hackett was 210. Greenlaw was 210. Ramsey was 210. Agim was 265. I could keep going but I think you get my point. You can get stronger without getting bigger and slower.

In this new age of offenses you need faster not bigger at the linebacker positions. Even Nick Saban is recruiting smaller but faster linebackers. Look at Jabril Peppers for Michigan. A 208 pound linebacker that is fast, tough, and versatile. This is the new age of college football.

You can't get stronger without adding more muscle. Now, you can get stronger and lose weight if say you are gaining 5 pounds of muscle but losing 10 pounds of fat. You can gain endurance without gaining much weight. However, if your max bench is 250, you aren't going to bench 300 pounds without getting bigger yourself.

Now, you can get bigger without getting slower to a certain point. Case in point, a person who has been comatose behind a computer for a decade and weights 100 pounds wet will not have much leg muscle and not be able to apply much force to propel himself forward. Add 50 pounds of muscle to that person in the right proportions and they will be able to run much, much faster. However, that 250 pound heavy lifter isn't going to be as fast as they could be if they weighed only 180 in good proportions. However, that 180 pound person isn't going to be able to move a 300 pound OL player.

So, the strength and conditioning coach has to account for all of that. Adding upper body mass is pretty much only going to slow the player down. Adding lower body mass will allow them to run faster up to a point before it becomes detrimental to speed. The player has to have the physical strength to do what is required for their position, but maximizing speed at the same time while also being sure they have enough muscle to better absorb impacts. So, for a rb, you cut 10 pounds off of RW3 and he is probably a tiny bit faster. However, he is not going to absorb hits as well, nor will he be able to pass block as well or truck the defender for extra yards as well. So, you have to balance all of that out. What is more important, that the rare 20 yard run can be a 40 yard run? Or the multiple times every single drive duties of pass blocking and turning 3 yards into 5 can be done? Different bodies react differently to this as well. A lot of people can be really fast weighing only 150 or so pounds. It takes a special person to be able to run a 4.4 forty while weighing 225 pounds.

I agree that we have tried to make some of the DE's too big. 250-270 is ideal DE range. No need for them to be 280+ unless they are in a 3-4 in which case they are glorified DT's. However, a lot of these players come in having not had a very good regiment before. Most can add the extra weight.

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=589957.msg9606671#msg9606671

Here's a good thread tracking the weights of our players throughout their careers here. You typically see a big change early on when they first get here and then it levels off. Exceptions to that are when a player switches positions like from DE to DT or from G to T. Also keep in mind a player can stay the same weight and be two completely different people. Like, they may be 210 one year and 215 the next, but they've dropped 10 pounds of fat, increased their leg and back muscles, and kept the rest the same and be faster at that 215 than they were at 210.

[pfrg999]

OK Robb Smith is either having trouble coaching what he been given or they haven't recruited a "Robb Smith" style defense
2016 Arkansas Ranked 80th Total Defense
                               56th in Passing Defense
                               97th in Rushing Defense
                               88th in Sacks (tied) 21.0
                               71st in INT (tied) 9.0
                               78th in Defensive Efficiency

http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics

[Youngsta71701]

You can't get stronger without adding more muscle. Now, you can get stronger and lose weight if say you are gaining 5 pounds of muscle but losing 10 pounds of fat. You can gain endurance without gaining much weight. However, if your max bench is 250, you aren't going to bench 300 pounds without getting bigger yourself.

Now, you can get bigger without getting slower to a certain point. Case in point, a person who has been comatose behind a computer for a decade and weights 100 pounds wet will not have much leg muscle and not be able to apply much force to propel himself forward. Add 50 pounds of muscle to that person in the right proportions and they will be able to run much, much faster. However, that 250 pound heavy lifter isn't going to be as fast as they could be if they weighed only 180 in good proportions. However, that 180 pound person isn't going to be able to move a 300 pound OL player.

So, the strength and conditioning coach has to account for all of that. Adding upper body mass is pretty much only going to slow the player down. Adding lower body mass will allow them to run faster up to a point before it becomes detrimental to speed. The player has to have the physical strength to do what is required for their position, but maximizing speed at the same time while also being sure they have enough muscle to better absorb impacts. So, for a rb, you cut 10 pounds off of RW3 and he is probably a tiny bit faster. However, he is not going to absorb hits as well, nor will he be able to pass block as well or truck the defender for extra yards as well. So, you have to balance all of that out. What is more important, that the rare 20 yard run can be a 40 yard run? Or the multiple times every single drive duties of pass blocking and turning 3 yards into 5 can be done? Different bodies react differently to this as well. A lot of people can be really fast weighing only 150 or so pounds. It takes a special person to be able to run a 4.4 forty while weighing 225 pounds.

I agree that we have tried to make some of the DE's too big. 250-270 is ideal DE range. No need for them to be 280+ unless they are in a 3-4 in which case they are glorified DT's. However, a lot of these players come in having not had a very good regiment before. Most can add the extra weight.

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=589957.msg9606671#msg9606671

Here's a good thread tracking the weights of our players throughout their careers here. You typically see a big change early on when they first get here and then it levels off. Exceptions to that are when a player switches positions like from DE to DT or from G to T. Also keep in mind a player can stay the same weight and be two completely different people. Like, they may be 210 one year and 215 the next, but they've dropped 10 pounds of fat, increased their leg and back muscles, and kept the rest the same and be faster at that 215 than they were at 210.

What I'm saying is that you can get stronger without getting bigger if you have your weight program set up that way. I see it happening everyday in the gym. I even got one cat that is getting stronger while losing weight. IKR...crazy huh. It can happen.

[bennyl08]

What I'm saying is that you can get stronger without getting bigger if you have your weight program set up that way. I see it happening everyday in the gym. I even got one cat that is getting stronger while losing weight. IKR...crazy huh. It can happen.

He isn't getting stronger if he losing muscle mass. Unless he is losing muscle somewhere else. Or she. The person could be lifting heavier weights by having improved technique. They aren't any stronger than they were before. They are simply more capable of reaching the potential they already had. You can have a person get stronger while only gaining a little bit of weight by helping recruit more motor units. However, again, that is essentially training your body not to do something new so much as be better at what they already could do. However, assuming the same technique, no loss or gain of fat/other mass, and no changes in the neurons firing, the only way to get stronger is to build more muscle which inevitably makes you bigger.

[Fatty McGee]

Joe Lee Dunn read the OP, smiled, and updated his resume'.  It's time to go back to Fayetteville, he tells his wife.  I'm needed.

[Danny J]

A soft Cover 2 can work but you must make tackles.

We don't.

Yep...makes no sense to play soft In a Tampa 2 when our corners and safeties are terrible tacklers. We have gone to single safety high many times but still too soft and this team struggles to tackle so instead of giving up 3-4 yards we are giving up 10+ yards.

Also...our D lineman won't stay in their gaps and many times get pushed up field too far leaving the middle and outside open which kills us against running qb's.

As mentioned above this defense does nothing well. The pass D only appears better because teams are able to run so easily unless we are playing an incompetent QB. Our D gave up 35 ppg on average in SEC play?

[Hogsfan1981]

I would love to have a guy who lights a fire under his players. The kind of coach where when you screw up he is waiting for you on the sideline.

I would have liked to see some real anger on the sidelines....get some emotion going. You see what is did for Missouri.

They played beyond their talent level because they wanted it more.

I think a fired up DC could really help this team...that and SPEED.

[Josh Goforth]

If we played 4-2 then that would be news to me.

90% against spread teams. Very rarely have a third lb on the field against those teams, and against Mo they dropped the SS in the box to try to play against the run. That left no help over the top.

[Youngsta71701]

He isn't getting stronger if he losing muscle mass. Unless he is losing muscle somewhere else. Or she. The person could be lifting heavier weights by having improved technique. They aren't any stronger than they were before. They are simply more capable of reaching the potential they already had. You can have a person get stronger while only gaining a little bit of weight by helping recruit more motor units. However, again, that is essentially training your body not to do something new so much as be better at what they already could do. However, assuming the same technique, no loss or gain of fat/other mass, and no changes in the neurons firing, the only way to get stronger is to build more muscle which inevitably makes you bigger.

He is getting smaller at the waist. He's been trying for years to get over the 200pd mark but he can't seems like no matter what he does. And here I am struggling to get and stay below the 200pd mark.

[Youngsta71701]

Yep...makes no sense to play soft In a Tampa 2 when our corners and safeties are terrible tacklers. We have gone to single safety high many times but still too soft and this team struggles to tackle so instead of giving up 3-4 yards we are giving up 10+ yards.

Also...our D lineman won't stay in their gaps and many times get pushed up field too far leaving the middle and outside open which kills us against running qb's.

As mentioned above this defense does nothing well. The pass D only appears better because teams are able to run so easily unless we are playing an incompetent QB. Our D gave up 35 ppg on average in SEC play?

Our game planning is horrible on defense. We play the wrong schemes against a certain type of QB.

For Example: 
We play a Cover 1 against a QB that passes the ball better than he runs it.
Then we would turn around and play a Cover 2 against a QB that runs the ball better than he passes it.

Like I say. We do everything backwards on defense.