ND “prioritizing” Jon Heacock for DC

[Calabrese's People]

Your source code, much like the South Bend PD, ain't shit.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I watched a YouTube video describing his defense. I understand why he runs it in the big 12. I think that we should be able to recruit much better talent so in theory the defense should be better. However I have some concerns.

1- I think against bigger running backs the run game is going to get big plays.

2- I worry about consistent pressure on the QB.

3- you are going to need crazy depth on both the d-line and in the linebackers for up tempo because they are going to get tires really quick.

4- the mobile QB has a lot of opportunities to make plays.

5- with everyone new defensive coordinator I wonder how he would adapt and change to defending Navy.

Positives

1- you really need to recruit great line backers and db’s.

2- it does get creative at times and even confusing who might or might not be coming.

3- other than a good RPO the deep throws look protected very well.

See Dale's post above. We should be able to switch pretty seamlessly between a 4-3, 4-2-5 and 3-3-5 based on opponent, down and distance. That sort of multiplicity is a major advantage in the modern game.

Your source code, much like the South Bend PD, ain't shit.

247's message board integration code is on them. That shit aint ours.

 

[stpeteirish]

"Iowa State’s system is somewhat hard to define, and that’s by design. Schematically, the Cyclones ran a 4-3 or a 4-2-5 when Heacock arrived with Campbell in 2016. Following a ho-hum non-conference stretch the next year, the Cyclones all but threw out their defensive playbook. Heacock’s directive was to get his best players on the field. The result: A 3-3-5 that put three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs in the lineup."

“Put the best players on the field” and you have one less dl and one more safety would not mesh well with our current personnel.

most three man fronts are designed to occupy blockers I’d hate to see Foskey in that kind of defense

 

[Grahambo]

Why do you say that?

He likes lots of safeties and X has shown lots of promise there.

During one of Bryan Driskell’s shows the last week or two, he mentioned how Xavier Watts did not like Del Alexander and he asked to move to safety so he could get on the field. Him and Vince said Watts has a green light to go back to WR if he wants to go back. So if he takes to Stuckey, they can see him going back to WR.

 

[arrowryan]

During one of Bryan Driskell’s shows the last week or two, he mentioned how Xavier Watts did not like Del Alexander and he asked to move to safety so he could get on the field. Him and Vince said Watts has a green light to go back to WR if he wants to go back. So if he takes to Stuckey, they can see him going back to WR.

That is pretty interesting.

Prister thinks quite the opposite. He thinks he sticks at Safety. IMO, he has a decent chance to start. At worst, he's in the rotation and still plays a bunch.

 

[chicago51]

The only potential hang up is Heacock would to bring some coaches with him which is not happening.

 

[chicago51]

“Put the best players on the field” and you have one less dl and one more safety would not mesh well with our current personnel.

most three man fronts are designed to occupy blockers I’d hate to see Foskey in that kind of defense

I think Notre Dame will be multiple under Heacock. People forget Marcus Freeman ran an awful lot of 3 man front at Cincy.

I believe Notre Dame will run both 3 and 4 man fronts. Different numbers of LBs and DBs as well.

Ultimately they want to be able to run multiple defenses depending in the personel of the opposing offense.

 

[chicago51]

See Dale's post above. We should be able to switch pretty seamlessly between a 4-3, 4-2-5 and 3-3-5 based on opponent, down and distance. That sort of multiplicity is a major advantage in the modern game.



247's message board integration code is on them. That shit aint ours.

Exactly

 

[IrishRazor82]

Don't care if they hire Heacock, Peacock, or Hitchcock... Just find a way to get Botehlo and Foskey rushing the passer at the same time.

 

[IrishLax]

Don't care if they hire Heacock, Peacock, or Hitchcock... Just find a way to get Botehlo and Foskey rushing the passer at the same time.

I generally agree. We lack "big" DEs or DTs. Hinish was suitable as a block eater but we don't have a lot of guys who are stout left on the roster. What we do have is some gifted pass rushers and two disruptive DTs. 4-2-5 (with the 5th DB being the "rover" or a safety depending on down and distance) continues to feel like the best personnel group for ND. People will nitpick me on this -- because I'm not being entirely accurate -- but the 3-3-5 Big Twelve style defense was originally rooted in having to stop prolific passing games and not having quality DL in that conference, so you were killing two birds with one stone. Playing 4 down linemen when all four of them were bad players made no sense.

Being "multiple" is fine but it often leads to busts and the issues we saw this year getting gashed when we went to three down linemen.

With all of that being said, Heacock is the best veteran coach on the market and I think we need veteran staffers. So as long as he can find a way to put players in position to succeed then I don't have problem.

 

[IrishRazor82]

Also doesn't hurt that this guy's extremely familiar with playing against Lincoln Riley..

 

[Trait Expectations]

We have a glut of DL and LBs to move around but less so DBs (as of this writing, no doubt we could have some breakout stars on the roster). Why aren't we also considering a 4-4 or 4-4-3 with one hyper athletic LB on the outside used as a tweener.

Forgive me everyone, I'm not as experienced or well read on the intricacies of the various defensive strategies.

 

[Rack Em]

I generally agree. We lack "big" DEs or DTs. Hinish was suitable as a block eater but we don't have a lot of guys who are stout left on the roster. What we do have is some gifted pass rushers and two disruptive DTs. 4-2-5 (with the 5th DB being the "rover" or a safety depending on down and distance) continues to feel like the best personnel group for ND. People will nitpick me on this -- because I'm not being entirely accurate -- but the 3-3-5 Big Twelve style defense was originally rooted in having to stop prolific passing games and not having quality DL in that conference, so you were killing two birds with one stone. Playing 4 down linemen when all four of them were bad players made no sense.

Being "multiple" is fine but it often leads to busts and the issues we saw this year getting gashed when we went to three down linemen.

With all of that being said, Heacock is the best veteran coach on the market and I think we need veteran staffers. So as long as he can find a way to put players in position to succeed then I don't have problem.

To add on here, being multiple is great so long as the offense is playing along. If they go hurry up, the wrong three down linemen can get exploited. The same goes for 4-2-5 if the Rover is a better "in the box" player.

 

[Rack Em]

We have a glut of DL and LBs to move around but less so DBs (as of this writing, no doubt we could have some breakout stars on the roster). Why aren't we also considering a 4-4 or 4-4-3 with one hyper athletic LB on the outside used as a tweener.

Forgive me everyone, I'm not as experienced or well read on the intricacies of the various defensive strategies.

Teams will do what Okie State did to us. In a 4-4 alignment, they'll spread us out and force a LB to cover a slot receiver. I doubt any teams in CFB have 2+ LBs that can cover a WR multiple plays in a row.

 

[Irish#1]

I think Notre Dame will be multiple under Heacock. People forget Marcus Freeman ran an awful lot of 3 man front at Cincy.

I believe Notre Dame will run both 3 and 4 man fronts. Different numbers of LBs and DBs as well.

Ultimately they want to be able to run multiple defenses depending in the personel of the opposing offense.

I agree. He's not going to force fit the personnel into a scheme. He may get there, but not until he has enough players to fit the scheme.

 

[Trait Expectations]

Teams will do what Okie State did to us. In a 4-4 alignment, they'll spread us out and force a LB to cover a slot receiver. I doubt any teams in CFB have 2+ LBs that can cover a WR multiple plays in a row.

So in a 4-3, if you have one hyper athletic safety/lb hybrid, you are more likely successful against this? But a 4-4 is too heavy most likely? Of course, all of this is dependent on personnel. Given how fast/light the game has gotten in recent years, doesn't it feel like ND could be at the forefront by staying in heavier offensive sets with a few key speedsters to flex the defense?

 

[DCDomer]

We might not have the personnel for exact scheme fit that Heacock has been running the last few years, but like others mentioned, he will adapt systematically to fit the personnel of the current roster.

This will be good for recruiting long term. Every year, there will be more and more body types that fit this system than a more traditional even-spacing defense.

 

[pumpdog20]

This guy changed the dynamic of the Big 12 from some place called Ames, Iowa.

This dude is legit. Can't wait to see what he does with elite talent.

 

[NDPhilly]

Can't be understated the "talent" discrepancy between ND and Iowa State. Iowa State has ZERO former four star recruits on defense. The highest rating of a recruit on their defense player is 87 on the 247 composite.

Here is his profile. Type of guy who is a back up plan for a back up plan at ND.
https://247sports.com/Player/Blake-Peterson-46037127/

So the guy can obviously coach and develop talent. If Freeman helps spearhead defensive recruiting, that should be a pretty damn good combo.

 

[Hammer Of The Gods]

All I know is with the guys we currently have and we roll out some 3-3-5 Defense in Columbus they will score 250 points and have 10,000 yards of offense.

 

[ACamp1900]

All I know is with the guys we currently have and we roll out some 3-3-5 Defense in Columbus they will score 250 points and have 10,000 yards of offense.

IDK how this will land coming from the guy who always jokes about ND getting crushed, but I suggest (for real) everyone look at next year's opener as the Marshall game, the tOSU game doesn't even exist. It's such a giant storm of bad circumstance from our standpoint. Which means they'll almost certainly pull off some shocker lol but yeah...

 

[tko]

IDK how this will land coming from the guy who always jokes about ND getting crushed, but I suggest (for real) everyone look at next year's opener as the Marshall game, the tOSU game doesn't even exist. It's such a giant storm of bad circumstance from our standpoint. erWhich means they'll almost certainly pull off some shock lol but yeah...

Not a chance. Buckeyes hang at least 50 on us, mostly through the air and QB runs.

 

[CoachB]

I would take a 52-50 win.

 

[Rogue219]

Who coaches LBs?

If I had a dollar for every time I've seen this asked I'd be a Texas A&M booster.

 

[irishff1014]

I did read some where that Heacock wants to bring some of his own coaches. If that's the case he can stay in Iowa.

 

[NDPhilly]

Somehow Oregon and Michigan beat this juggernaut of an OSU team. Are we really any worse of a program than either of them?

If Buchner is solid, this game will be competitive.

 

[Free Manera]

There is allegedly still a mystery candidate out there and Heacock hasn’t accepted the job yet. I feel like the speculation is probably true that he wants his own guys.

Also, there is smoke on the Michigan 247 board that they are after Elston.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Not a chance. Buckeyes hang at least 50 on us, mostly through the air and QB runs.

The last time we gave up 50+ points in regulation was 2014 against Arizona State. Our defense that year ranked a middling 55th.

Our defense this year was a top-10 unit, and virtually every starter is returning. OSU's offense was absurdly good this year, significantly better than even 2nd ranked 'Bama's, but they're losing a lot more to the draft than we are. Their most impressive showings were hanging 59 on Purdue's 26th ranked defense and 48 on Utah's 21st ranked defense. But as Philly pointed out, they lost to a bad Oregon team and a Michigan team with a defense inferior to ours.

So I don't expect them to hang 50 on us. 35ish is likely though. The real question is whether our Buchner-led offense can keep up with them. OSU's defense only ranked 42nd, and they're losing a ton of starters to the draft, so they're likely to be even worse in game one against us.

 

[GoldenAura]

OSU's defense only ranked 42nd, and they're losing a ton of starters to the draft

That unit might get much better under Jim Knowles. However I've seen Okie State folks say the adjustment period for Knowles' defense might take a while so that could be helpful for ND.

 

[IrishRazor82]

Can't be understated the "talent" discrepancy between ND and Iowa State. Iowa State has ZERO former four star recruits on defense. The highest rating of a recruit on their defense player is 87 on the 247 composite.

Here is his profile. Type of guy who is a back up plan for a back up plan at ND.
https://247sports.com/Player/Blake-Peterson-46037127/

So the guy can obviously coach and develop talent. If Freeman helps spearhead defensive recruiting, that should be a pretty damn good combo.

Holy gingervitus, I need to go take a shower after seeing that.