Al Golden

[irishff1014]

I didn’t notice Mickey getting hilariously cooked on at least one play tonight, which is a compliment on how he played.

Had a good read and excellent tackle in that third down play late.

 

[stlnd01]

S. Carolina at times was playing with 3 defensive players on offense. Golden had a good second half, but his first sucked ass.

It felt a bit like a mirror of our bowl game last year, to be honest, where one team won the first half throwing out every schematic trick in the book but by the second half they were out of bullets and the defense adjusted and the fundamentally stronger team prevailed in the end.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I'll cut Golden more slack than that. Beamer and his staff are among the more creative characters in the business, plus they had their players high and loving it to begin the game. Some of that stuff (and attitude) was really hard to defense. Even I was entertained despite being on the other side. It lasted about a quarter and Golden gradually put a stop to almost all of it.

If Golden can recruit DLinemen then I'm in as far as his coaching as DC. Game stuff seems just fine.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

I said it in the game day thread. Golden really didn’t have the ability to prepare for a new OC calling plays. You assume they will not deviate from what they put on film all year, and they come out with tempo and all kinds of shit they haven’t done under the departed OC. I think Golden did an awesome job surviving the first half and completely adjusting to their game plan. I think he did a great job this year. I think our LBs missed a lot of tackles they were put in position to make. Again, I think the future is bright with a lot of speed coming in.

 

[notredomer23]

Given they didn’t have Foskey, Ademilola, and Joseph, I thought that was a *near* dominant effort in the second half and Golden really deserves credit because most of that came without Morrison.

I still hope they get some d-line help in the portal, but Botelho I think can be an 8 or 9 sack guy next year. Relentless motor.

 

[irishff1014]

 

[Southside Sully]

After the first drive they played their dicks off

 

[sixstar]

At some point you run out of trick plays. It's not a sustainable offensive strategy.

 

[irishandy]

I didn't see the 1st half, but nice adjustment made Golden in the 2nd half. I liked how he blitzed more and allowing 8 yards rushing is huge.

 

[irish4ever]

I said it in the game day thread. Golden really didn’t have the ability to prepare for a new OC calling plays. You assume they will not deviate from what they put on film all year, and they come out with tempo and all kinds of shit they haven’t done under the departed OC. I think Golden did an awesome job surviving the first half and completely adjusting to their game plan. I think he did a great job this year. I think our LBs missed a lot of tackles they were put in position to make. Again, I think the future is bright with a lot of speed coming in.

Agreed! Unlike last year's bowl game where little or no adjustments were made at the half.

 

[Grahambo]

Defense gave up only 17 points. Once the team settled down after the first quarter, the defense did a hell of a job. Still seeing Bertrand do too many Bertrand things but was nice to see Botelho step up, Junior held his own, Kollie and Snead looked young but look ready to produce next season. Mills was starting to get pressure as the game wore on, Rubio looked solid. Cross did Cross things and of course Ademiola took over at the end.

Brown, Watts, BenMo, and Mickey looked good too.

Defense looks poised to have a big year.

 

[Irishnuke]

Saw several people calling for Golden to be fired yesterday. Maybe wait until the game is over before calling for coaches’ heads. Except Tommy

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Saw several people calling for Golden to be fired yesterday. Maybe wait until the game is over before calling for coaches’ heads. Except Tommy

There are a bunch of idiots and/or overserved people on every board and we just have to deal with it. They love to show up when things go south to complain and whine and seek to fire people.

They are certain of their football IQ and I assume they hold very minor positions in society and have to vent their life frustrations through sublimated message board posts. The hoi polloi are everywhere, go back and read through the game thread. The hubris displayed is incredible.

 

[NDBoiler]

They are certain of their football IQ and I assume they hold very minor positions in society and have to vent their life frustrations through sublimated message board posts. The hoi polloi are everywhere, go back and read through the game thread. The hubris displayed is incredible.

Very nicely stated in a condescending, hubris-filled way 😂

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Did we fire this guy yet???

#gamethreadchickenlittles

 

[NDMatt91]

I posted this in the game day thread yesterday, but the first quarter and a half really showed how bad of a job Clark Lea did recruiting and evaluating talent. I went to 247 to take a look at who he was the primary recruiter for during his time at ND, and outside of JOK, woof. Golden inherited an incomplete defense.

 

[irishandy]

If anyone thinks that Golden should be fired, get off this message board.

 

[irishff1014]

If anyone thinks that Golden should be fired, get off this message board.

First year, the players 3rd defense in 3 years, ok recruiting. I am not sure if that’s the reason the Defense didn’t show a lot of flash this year or not. But it was solid. There were a few drives this season they needed to stand tall and didn’t. But for the most part I thought they played ok.

 

[DONTH8]

I think Golden did a good job this year, generally speaking (IE, more good than bad). He has a lot of really good disguises on defense. More complex than your average zone or man to man concepts.

My judgement of Golden will simply be: Can he develop the LBs? Lincoln Riley literally showed everyone in the country that if you can put our LBs on an island and make them have to make a play that we are screwed. If he can develop the younger LBs, then I am a huge fan of his. If he cant (with the help of Laurinaitis) then I think that he’s a net negative becuase we desperately need LB development on D.

Also, stop calling safety blitzes from more than 7 yards off the ball, or sending blitzes but then offering soft coverage for the QB to throw out of it. Thank you.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

First year, the players 3rd defense in 3 years, ok recruiting. I am not sure if that’s the reason the Defense didn’t show a lot of flash this year or not. But it was solid. There were a few drives this season they needed to stand tall and didn’t. But for the most part I thought they played ok.

Pretty sure we allowed less than 300 yds of total offense in half our games this year, and 400 or more on only 1. Take away about 3-4 drives all year and the fluky weird lack of turnovers to start the year and the defense was pretty darn solid. Offenses dominate the way the game is played now, and we played against probably 3 of the top 4 QBs in the country this year.

 

[Dale]

The defense was overall good outside of first half of the season TO luck and red zone all year

The red zone this was rather bizarre since that was kinda his pre season talking point.

 

[irishff1014]

Pretty sure we allowed less than 300 yds of total offense in half our games this year, and 400 or more on only 1. Take away about 3-4 drives all year and the fluky weird lack of turnovers to start the year and the defense was pretty darn solid. Offenses dominate the way the game is played now, and we played against probably 3 of the top 4 QBs in the country this year.

Can’t argue with anything you said.

 

[INLaw]

All year the defensive stats are way better than what my eyes were telling me. I have no explanation for this.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

All year the defensive stats are way better than what my eyes were telling me. I have no explanation for this.

I honestly think it’s because we focus on every play instead of the entirety of a game. I feel the same way sometimes.

 

[stpeteirish]

I honestly think it’s because we focus on every play instead of the entirety of a game. I feel the same way sometimes.

Good point We all do it it seems

 

[Irish du Nord]

I’m not sure if Golden should bear the brunt of blame for this, but the defense was not ready at the beginning of the game. They looked unorganized and unenthused. Credit to Golden for the adjustments, but that has to be better against stronger competition. Consistency in general has to be better

 

[CIrishWin]

I think he did fine in first year. Linebacker play as usual lately was sub-par. Have to be able to cover out the back field and make splash plays. See D. Winters of TCU.

 

[stlnd01]

I think Golden did a good job this year, generally speaking (IE, more good than bad). He has a lot of really good disguises on defense. More complex than your average zone or man to man concepts.

My judgement of Golden will simply be: Can he develop the LBs? Lincoln Riley literally showed everyone in the country that if you can put our LBs on an island and make them have to make a play that we are screwed. If he can develop the younger LBs, then I am a huge fan of his. If he cant (with the help of Laurinaitis) then I think that he’s a net negative becuase we desperately need LB development on D.

Also, stop calling safety blitzes from more than 7 yards off the ball, or sending blitzes but then offering soft coverage for the QB to throw out of it. Thank you.

Yep. We have massive talent upgrades among the younger LBs (thanks to Freeman's recruiting). Can those guys get on the field and be trusted to execute? Yesterday was a good step forward for several of them. If they develop well it makes the rest of Golden's job a lot easier.

 

[IrishLax]

He needs stop with the safety blitzes from 10+ yards from LOS. They never get there! Besides that, there isn’t a ton to nitpick. Most of the issues were from player execution and the unit overall played well outside of a couple games.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Yep. We have massive talent upgrades among the younger LBs (thanks to Freeman's recruiting). Can those guys get on the field and be trusted to execute? Yesterday was a good step forward for several of them. If they develop well it makes the rest of Golden's job a lot easier.

I've got a buddy whose pet peeve is our lack of a dedicated LB coach. I don't agree because we're in Nickel so often these days that LB just isn't as important of a position as it used to be.