The cerebral side of playing defense at the D-1 level

[Duo]

The "Around the Conference" and "Trending" sections on the front page of Blue and Gold contain a plethora of great information. The article about last year's number one D-back in the nation, Levonta Taylor struggling through his freshman year was eye opening.

After reading that article you get a much better feeling for just what a Herculean task Mike Elko faces in training a whole new defense this year. Athleticism is one thing while developing a "football IQ" is quite another.

 

[TDIrish27]

Simply stated if you aren't sure where you're going it's hard to get there quickly.

 

[twalsh]

Simply stated if you aren't sure where you're going it's hard to get there quickly.

On the other hand, you shouldn't need a Harvard MBA to figure out where you should be going on any given play. That seemed to be at least part of our issue with BVG. I am voting for less contemplating, more playing.

 

[Duo]

On the other hand, you shouldn't need a Harvard MBA to figure out where you should be going on any given play. That seemed to be at least part of our issue with BVG. I am voting for less contemplating, more playing.

Re: " I am voting for less contemplating, more playing."

The only problem with that is if you are in the defensive secondary and you are not thinking the opponents QB and passing attack will pick you apart.

 

[Kelso86]

Re: " I am voting for less contemplating, more playing."

The only problem with that is if you are in the defensive secondary and you are not thinking the opponents QB and passing attack will pick you apart.

True -- there is some level of "thinking" in the secondary (and everywhere else as well) -- but, as Max Redfield said -- "Learning Mandarin Chinese was easier than BVG's defense" -- that is way too much thinking.....

 

[Telx1]

The problem with BVG's system as I understand it, wasn't that it was too intellectually demanding, but that the reads by every position changed significantly every week based on the opposition. These wholesale changes in reads and responsibilities simply could not be learned sufficiently in the college football week where time spent practicing and preparing is limited. Our defense will be better each week as it absorbs Elko's system, whereas our defense under BVG was damn near starting anew each week. Huge difference and we even saw the difference last year after BVG was fired, as the weekly transformations at least stopped and the players started to play more instinctively.

 

[Duo]

The problem with BVG's system as I understand it, wasn't that it was too intellectually demanding, but that the reads by every position changed significantly every week based on the opposition. These wholesale changes in reads and responsibilities simply could not be learned sufficiently in the college football week where time spent practicing and preparing is limited. Our defense will be better each week as it absorbs Elko's system, whereas our defense under BVG was damn near starting anew each week. Huge difference and we even saw the difference last year after BVG was fired, as the weekly transformations at least stopped and the players started to play more instinctively.

Telx...........

Re: "Our defense will be better each week as it absorbs Elko's system"

Exactly!

One gets the impression that some posters have taken the attitude that last year defense was the problem and now that a new DC has been hired the problem is solved............and so, on to the playoffs and NC this year! My sons used to think like that when they were little boys..........just immature thinking. In fact, that sets you up for failure.

It would be a great discredit to Mike Elko to not allow for players to make mistakes, line up in the wrong places, blow coverages and generally be discombobulated in the beginning.

Correct me if I am wrong but I seem to remember it was IIO that said it would take at least one year or perhaps more for the players to pick up Elko's system.

 

[TDIrish27]

TW

Most guys are fine when they see the formation that initially the opponent comes out in.

It's when they trade the TE and motion the slot that you have to change the calls and it takes a lot of rep work to master it.

Also the up tempo stuff doesn't give you a ton of time to yze.

It's challenging trust me-----NFL guys bust coverages and that's all those guys do.

 

[Telx1]

One aspect of Elko's coaching that should be evident from day one, tackling and efforts to strip the ball. Given our collective frustration over team wide arm tackling and being out of position to make tackles, I expect we'll be commenting on noticeable improvements in these fundamentals starting with the Temple game.

 

[IRISHJD98]

Re: " I am voting for less contemplating, more playing."

The only problem with that is if you are in the defensive secondary and you are not thinking the opponents QB and passing attack will pick you apart.

Not if the QB is lying on his back.