Defensive adjustments

[Black Irish]

It's no secret that the Irish are more than a little thin in the secondary. Hell, even Coach Kelly had to say so in his spring practice pressers. So what does Diaco do to offset a weak secondary? I'd say put more pressure on opposite QBs with more pass rushes. And/or have the corners press receivers hard at the line while safeties play shallow zone. Don't let any receivers break deep while the front 7 rushes hard into the QBs face. Thoughts?

 

[BGIF]

It's no secret that the Irish are more than a little thin in the secondary. Hell, even Coach Kelly had to say so in his spring practice pressers. So what does Diaco do to offset a weak secondary? I'd say put more pressure on opposite QBs with more pass rushes. And/or have the corners press receivers hard at the line while safeties play shallow zone. Don't let any receivers break deep while the front 7 rushes hard into the QBs face. Thoughts?

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war!


... and score 40 points a game.

 

[SaltyND24]

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war!


... and score 40 points a game.

I believe we have the ultimate solution...

 

[ChiRish]

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war!


... and score 40 points a game.

Nice. Who would have thought Shakespeare could be the answer to all our problems?

 

[NDdomer2]

We do need to put more pressure on the offense regardless of our secondary, but if we can do that only rushing 4 it would be ideal as our DB's would not be left in straight 0. I don't know how many I would feel comfortable with in man 75% of the game because we are blitzing to get pressure. Slaughter and Bennett, so two at most.

 

[micks60]

Cannot and should not always press. Eliminates corners from the run for all intensive purposes.

 

[Andy in Sactown]

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war!


... and score 40 points a game.

Nice. Who would have thought Shakespeare could be the answer to all our problems?

And I thought that quote was from one of the Klingon's in Star Trek VI..

 

[ND NYC]

let the dogs loose

with the schedule we have we are gonna need to take some chnaces in some games and shake things up

better to go down swinging that playing not to lose

ill take the high risk high reward

make them throw accuarte deep balls against a swarming front 7 D i can live with the consequences

i want opposing QBs in fear from the first snap

 

[Black Irish]

let the dogs loose

with the schedule we have we are gonna need to take some chnaces in some games and shake things up

better to go down swinging that playing not to lose

ill take the high risk high reward

make them throw accuarte deep balls against a swarming front 7 D i can live with the consequences

i want opposing QBs in fear from the first snap

I like this idea. The Irish don't have to go cowboy all the time but playing it too safe with this schedule looks like a path to another 8-4 record.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Kelly expects with his offense playing properly, that we will score quickly thus putting a load on our defense to be on the field a lot. He will not mind if the opponent scores 30, as he is planning on scoring 40.

What this in theory means is that Coach Diaco has to have a lot of schemes and a lot of different players to operate significant minutes within those schemes. For example, this could be one reason for getting Day ready at DE when all the rest of us thought it would be NT. Maybe that not only portends three-deep DEs but more Big Stephon helping inside, or even KLM. Maybe Springmann will be able to help Kona back up at NT. When Jones shows up, he too. A lot of these guys are going to have to move about the D-Line--- fortunately Kelly's recruiting concepts of Big Power flexibility means that they can.

Secondary-wise, more nickels and dimes. We know about Slaughter; Baratti also thinks that he's going to get a shot at Dime, and we know that there's been talk of Collingsworth helping there too. Notice that all those nickels and dimes are safeties, from what I've been hearing anyway. Our corners will stay tightly in position apparently, as for now.

Linebackers will emphasize Ironman Te'o of course, and Spond and Counsell at Dog. WILL LB will come off the field some [in the Slaughter defense or pass-defense intensive packages; even though Fox looks faster and niftier to me]. The Prince can hold down Cat, and hopefully Ishaq will be able to help. Everywhere but corner seems able to throw a lot of bodies at game-long defense. If the D-Line consistently can wear down opposing O-Lines, maybe the 4th quarter WILL belong to us like Longo promised.

 

[JughedJones]

Cannot and should not always press. Eliminates corners from the run for all intensive purposes.

::Cringe::

But I agree with what you're saying about the press.

 

[irish1958]

If you don't press, QBs like Luck and Barkley will pick you to pieces. You have to attack them. Al Davis:"the quarterback must go down.". If he doesn't go down, and you don't take away the quick and easy throws you will lose every time against a good QB, unless you can put 40 + points up and make them play from behind.

 

[DuffHouse12]

::Cringe::

But I agree with what you're saying about the press.

PT'd

 

[DuffHouse12]

i want to see a better performance in the pass defense by our linebackers.

 

[Praytorian]

i want to see a better performance in the pass defense by our linebackers.

I must admit, sacks are quite good pass defense.

 

[BGIF]

I must admit, sacks are quite good pass defense.

Indeed.

So is actually covering a receiver as opposed to wildly flailing ones arms like their drowning while yelling in Italian, "Ohhhhhh Shhhhhhit, somebody get my man!"

 

[Irish Fam]

Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt, and Prince Shembo, meet at the QB.

 

[Zbi]

I am with everyone else, put the pressure on the QB and DBs will look like superstars. That being said, I believe if Bennett and Lo stay healthy our DBs will look better this upcoming year than they did last.

 

[Dizzyphil]

I compare this team now, to the defense of 1988:

Barry Alvarez - Mr. Diaco comparison could be more on the Diaco side dependent on the head coach input... Kelly is more offensive type.

Stams/Gordon - Lynch/Tuitt Lynch and Tuitt are more athletic but Stams was a bull. Stams just ran right over you but could still drop back every once in a while. I see both of these boys eventually being both athletic and bullish under Diaco. Not saying they are not bullish now but, not Stams bullish. Stams took no chit from anyone. We will see more of both this year of course to see how much bull gets into these boys - I'm not worried.

Zorich - Nix Hands down, Z-man was 'The Man' in the middle. Nix has a chance to make his mark at NT and is going to have to - and stay healthy doing it.

Stonebreaker/Pritchett/Bolcar - Shembo/Teo/Fox/Calabrese If not for Teo, this is very interesting to say the least. 1988 was one fuvking great year for ND Linebackers. The nickname 'linebacker U' switched from Penn State to ND that year. Hopefully, Teo takes Fox and Calabrese to higher levels. They will have to stop MeChicken's run game this year, including that slippery QB - what's his name....

Streeter/Terrell - Motta/Slaughter Will take Motta and Slaughter all day. I say that now because they have nothing to lose. Two Seniors that need to put up or shut up - plain and simple. Help when needed and close the gaps boys, last year so make your marks. (but stay healthy)

Lyght/Smagala - Atkinson/LoWood/Jackson Atkinson's speed reminds me of Todd Lyght's speed. The experience is the difficulty. This is the 'thin' that has my head spinning. Motta and Slaughter will sleep well nights after game day because they will be covering some serious ground.

Overall, I really do believe the comparison between the two defenses to be eerily similar. I give the weight to 1988 for obvious reasons. but if you really look close to the positions (those of you who watched the actual games as I did in '87/'88) I truly believe this defense is going to surprise some folks this year. Don't forget, in the NC year, we didn't even score an offensive TD when we beat scUM. I think Atkinson could be that key too on Special Teams, i.e. the modern day 'Rocket'. So if the offense can just be competitive and give the defense some type of rest during games, we should be able to pull out an 8/9 win season. won't be easy -

Diz

ok i'm off my

 

[Irishman77]

Call me old school, but I have never been a fan of the 3-4. The steelers were unique that they had **** lebeau and the right personnel to pull it off. Everyone else look like they are running a prevent defense. Look at the Giants this year. 4 elite pass rushers with their hands in the dirt got it done with a below average secondary. Their are a lot of elite pass rushers with average IQ's. It shouldn't take 3 years to get it. Defense is all about mismatches IMO. We got the personnel and little time to teach an elite pass rusher to learn how to be a defensive back. I would love to see KLM,Lynch,Nix,Tuitt all attacking every down.

 

[Black Irish]

Agree the with above. I can't cite a firm reason, but the 4-3 just feels right. And the 3-4 wasn't keeping the Irish from getting shredded for short yards. Last year was better than the past, but still, those underneath passes were killing us.

 

[BobD]

Maybe we could try a bounty system?



Please note the sarcasm font.

 

[magogian]

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war!


... and score 40 points a game.

Who let the dogs out?

 

[Irishman77]

I still don't get why we run a 3-4. We have at least 4 elite pass rushers (Lynch,Nix,Tuitt,KLM). In a 3-4 one is riding the pine. This is a mistake IMO. Gotta keep the best athletes on the field. With a 4-3 we could have the four above focused on decapitating the QB and Shembo,Teo and Grace at LB. with Carlo,Fox,Ishaq etc working in. In 2013 I can see moving more towards a 3-4 with Lynch,Nix and Tuitt and further development of our LB's. I strongly feel that our base D this year should be a 4-3!

 

[RDU Irish]

D line is all about rotation. They can't go 110% all game without a break. Premier D-lines in CFB rotate the whole 2 deep regularly so the first team is rocking fresh in 4Q. We are there boys!

Secondary is scary though.

 

[Kanye West]

As long as we pressure the QB and have fresh D=-lineman Jackson and Atkinson/Brown/Wood will be fine. There is no pressure in practice and very few corners can have success constantly if the QB has 5+ seconds to throw.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Kelly told us all "year one" that defense was about first getting the player's "work volume" up to more acceptable levels. As said by RDU, we were miles away from acceptable ability to endure X-number of snaps then [remember the Kelly/Nix conversations about maybe getting only twenty snaps a game because of conditioning], and even though we are now in much better condition, we cannot go all game long [like O-Lines often do] with the kind of exertion/violence D-Lines need to exert every play. Thus: rotations. We do not have eight great D-linemen and especially four great DTs. Teams all over the country who don't have recruiting advantages over Texas, Alabama, USC, OSU, etc have found that DTs are the most rare and precious of large ugly desirables.

And there is a second issue: 21st century defense is not about doing anything [line-up-wise] which is similar every time. Unless you are completely uber-studs, offenses are too good and will find a way to pick you apart. So flexibility and rapid pre-snap adjustments and disguise are vital. People like BGIF and Whiskey have pointed out many times on this site that we line up "four-down" almost as much as we line-up "three-down". When I'm thinking about pass-rushing, the front of Lynch, Nix, Tuitt, and SHEMBO is about as good as it gets as far as I'm concerned. AND, if they're expecting Shembo, and he unexpectedly drops but here comes Te'o or Slaughter or whomever as a surprise, well that's pretty good too. Diaco's pretty smart, methinks. I believe that all that has been holding him back is that he is not yet confident in his LB-in-space play, plus the Coach wants him to always prevent the big play. The LBs are right there I believe, and if we get QB play, Kelly will have confidence in the 40-point-per-game offense again, and will be happier with a little more riverboat gambling by Diaco.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

 

[Irishman77]

The 3-4 is great if you have the Steelers or Ravens personnel. We don't. We also don't have 3 years to teach elite pass rushers to be defensive backs. Running a 3-4 with the wrong personnel is about as effective as the prevent defense to me. Our defense looks like the Giants defense to me (great pass rush poor secondary). They did pretty well. I don't understand why you think we cannot rotate if we run a 4-3.

In 2013 I would agree with you on the 3-4. KLM is gone and another year for our linebackers to develop. Right now we don't have the personnel to achieve the benefits of a 3-4.

Last year we gave up 350yds per game. 139 yds of it on the ground. That is way too much and running a 4-3 would greatly help this problem. I understand your point of view but having an elite pass rusher learn to be a defensive back is like asking a priest not to pray.

 

[irishog77]

The 3-4 is great if you have the Steelers or Ravens personnel. We don't. We also don't have 3 years to teach elite pass rushers to be defensive backs. Running a 3-4 with the wrong personnel is about as effective as the prevent defense to me. Our defense looks like the Giants defense to me (great pass rush poor secondary). They did pretty well. I don't understand why you think we cannot rotate if we run a 4-3.

In 2013 I would agree with you on the 3-4. KLM is gone and another year for our linebackers to develop. Right now we don't have the personnel to achieve the benefits of a 3-4.

Last year we gave up 350yds per game. 139 yds of it on the ground. That is way too much and running a 4-3 would greatly help this problem. I understand your point of view but having an elite pass rusher learn to be a defensive back is like asking a priest not to pray.[/QUOTE]

Did I miss a memo or something? Who's asking elite pass rushers to be defensive backs?

Bueller?

Frye?

Crickets?

 

[Domer4ever]

The 3-4 is great if you have the Steelers or Ravens personnel. We don't. We also don't have 3 years to teach elite pass rushers to be defensive backs. Running a 3-4 with the wrong personnel is about as effective as the prevent defense to me. Our defense looks like the Giants defense to me (great pass rush poor secondary). They did pretty well. I don't understand why you think we cannot rotate if we run a 4-3.

In 2013 I would agree with you on the 3-4. KLM is gone and another year for our linebackers to develop. Right now we don't have the personnel to achieve the benefits of a 3-4.

Last year we gave up 350yds per game. 139 yds of it on the ground. That is way too much and running a 4-3 would greatly help this problem. I understand your point of view but having an elite pass rusher learn to be a defensive back is like asking a priest not to pray.

I completely agree with you. I don't think it works in college as well as the pro's and why outside of Alabama and the NFL talent they funnel through their program every year, you don't see a lot of upper echelon programs run the 3-4. You have to have the right personnel to run it and that is hard to do when you are dog fighting for recruits and kids are leaving to graduation or early draft entry every 3 to 4 years. It's not the same as the NFL.

Right now Notre Dame is loaded on the defensive line and has a chance to be one of the better groups in all of college football with KLM, Tuitt, Nix, and Lynch. I don't know why you would even mess with a 3-4 when you have an NFL calibur defensive line with those four guys up front.