Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

[FU BK]

Speaking of Theinemann (sp?), is it true MF was quoted as saying the kid wouldn’t start at ND when asked why they weren’t trying to get him to transfer? If true (hopefully it’s not), what led them to believe Jalen Stroman was the better option?

I seen him play twice last year against us and Purdue vs Penn State. Was not impressed at all with him. At least in those 2 games, his tackling was worse than what we have now. Still pisses me off watching guys trying to rip or punch a ball out while giving up 10-15 yards doing it. Quit playing grab ass, make the tackle, and try to rip it out on the way down

 

[FU BK]

Ryan Walters? The guy who oversaw the worst defense Purdue has ever had?

My son said it was well know that he was a major dickhead on campus, and liked the co-eds. The fire Walters chant started about 5 minutes into the Penn State game in the student section. By halftime, all of Ross Ade had joined in. Dude looked as clueless as a head coach as Ass does a DC

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I seen him play twice last year against us and Purdue vs Penn State. Was not impressed at all with him. At least in those 2 games, his tackling was worse than what we have now. Still pisses me off watching guys trying to rip or punch a ball out while giving up 10-15 yards doing it. Quit playing grab ass, make the tackle, and try to rip it out on the way down

He definitely upgraded from one of the worst teams in the nation to one of the favorites to win it all. And Jalen Stroman has already been replaced by a RS freshman. So if they both suck, he at least picked the better team.

 

[Dale]

This isn’t on Shuler. First, they did this frenetic type rotation to motion all the time under Golden that is nothing new. It’s Cover 3 and it’s a deep dig at at the seam which is a hole. This is more on Tae not having the depth or alignment to scare Browne off throwing it over him. The motion + PA is meant to pull him out of it.

 

[SportsingHard]

Yep, it's only requires the logic of a 4th grader to figure this out.

1. You only replaced one coach on that side of the ball.

2. You only replaced 1 out of 4 starting DBs.

So even if Xavier Watts was the second coming of Ed Reed and the new safety is Bruce Heggie that wouldn't explain dropping 100+ spots. And there is only one new coach to point the finger at.

It's not about the "calls" it's about *everything* including whack personnel usage that some position coaches / players are leaking that their arms were being twisted to do... which could be CYA but it's gotten louder every week for 3 weeks now.

You're responding to a question to which the answer was "Not even close." That is, you're arguing against a position nobody is taking.

DBs who started in 2024 or earlier this year who are currently unavailable include Bejamin Morrison, Jordan Clark, Xavier Watts, Leonard Moore, Devonta Smith, and the healthy version of Christian Gray.

You also omitted the fact that ND's pass rush this year, even with 5 or 6 guys, is utter shit. That might affect defensive ranking.

I'm glad to see we agree play-calling is not the problem.

 

[IrishLax]

You're responding to a question to which the answer was "Not even close." That is, you're arguing against a position nobody is taking.

DBs who started in 2024 or earlier this year who are currently unavailable include Bejamin Morrison,

Benjamin Morrison didn't play most of last year, and I wasn't talking to you. Didn't read the rest of your post because I can't imagine what point you're trying to make that involves BenMo.

 

[SportsingHard]

Benjamin Morrison didn't play most of last year, and I wasn't talking to you. Didn't read the rest of your post because I can't imagine what point you're trying to make that involves BenMo.

BenMo started six games in 2024. If you're comparing this year's stats to last year's stats or simply counting lost starters, he's relevant. Anyway, he was only one of six starting DBs I named, where you could only think of one ND is missing.

 

[rtrn2glory]

This isn’t on Shuler. First, they did this frenetic type rotation to motion all the time under Golden that is nothing new. It’s Cover 3 and it’s a deep dig at at the seam which is a hole. This is more on Tae not having the depth or alignment to scare Browne off throwing it over him. The motion + PA is meant to pull him out of it.

I despise this rotation. I hated it Miami week too. I just don't see it often at all and it looks like an I have no clue what else to do panic reaction to motion

 

[Dale]

I despise this rotation. I hated it Miami week too. I just don't see it often at all and it looks like an I have no clue what else to do panic reaction to motion

The alternative is the Nickel sprints with the WR and would get beat on any sweep, screen or out type route

Not to say one is right or wrong it’s just two ways to approach it

 

[stlnd01]

The alternative is the Nickel sprints with the WR and would get beat on any sweep, screen or out type route

Not to say one is right or wrong it’s just two ways to approach it

I suppose. And it's easy to pick nits on one particular play watching in slo-mo after the fact. But the number of defenders we had doing nothing on that play is wild.

We rushed four guys straight up against seven blockers - including a TE and RB - so there was no pressure. They only sent two WRs downfield against nickel coverage, and Gray did a fine job covering one of them. The other guy caught a 15-yard pass despite two DBs bracketing him. When their QB throws the ball you can see four safeties and LBs just sort of floating doing nothing in the middle of the field. I guess spying the motion guy who became a safety valve?

That motion guy wasn't getting the first down though, I'll give Ash that.

 

[ab2cmiller]

I despise this rotation. I hated it Miami week too. I just don't see it often at all and it looks like an I have no clue what else to do panic reaction to motion

Happened two plays in a row. Very late rotation causing confusion and the motion man open by 15 yards.

 

[Dale]

That motion guy wasn't getting the first down though, I'll give Ash that.

I mean it’s basic Cover 3. Nobody is spying anyone, Tae was just cheating out of his zone. Well designed offensive play. At some point not everything is about an Ash failure. Tae needs to do better and I’m sure over time he will.

We have to be able to player Cover 3 under any DC.

 

[Irish4life]

 

[PutuporShutup]

This isn’t on Shuler. First, they did this frenetic type rotation to motion all the time under Golden that is nothing new. It’s Cover 3 and it’s a deep dig at at the seam which is a hole. This is more on Tae not having the depth or alignment to scare Browne off throwing it over him. The motion + PA is meant to pull him out of it.

The motion wr 100% needs to be passed off to tae with shuler filling taes position, and golden filling shulers. It has no chance of working the way they passed it off even with no mistakes. If tae was where he should have been the motion wr is wide open for easy 5-10 yds on first down.

It’s absolutely moronic. The way they passed it off, tae is responsible for any jet sweeps to wr in motion but then needs to drop back and be the underneath for the wr that catches the pass.

This is 101 level stuff that is head scratching

 

[Dale]

The motion wr 100% needs to be passed off to tae with shuler filling taes position, and golden filling shulers. It has no chance of working the way they passed it off even with no mistakes. If tae was where he should have been the motion wr is wide open for easy 5-10 yds on first down.

It’s absolutely moronic. The way they passed it off, tae is responsible for any jet sweeps to wr in motion but then needs to drop back and be the underneath for the wr that catches the pass.

This is 101 level stuff that is head scratching

They passed it off the way you described. As soon as the WR passes the QB, Tae does not have to mentally cheat to a jet sweep. Yeah a flat route would have had room. Come up, make a tackle and play second and medium.

The only schematic issue I take with the play is that KVA isn’t cleared to fire as soon as it’s a 4x1 formation.

 

[PutuporShutup]

They passed it off the way you described. As soon as the WR passes the QB, Tae does not have to mentally cheat to a jet sweep. Yeah a flat route would have had room. Come up, make a tackle and play second and medium.

The only schematic issue I take with the play is that KVA isn’t cleared to fire as soon as it’s a 4x1 formation.

If they passed it off as I described shuler undercuts wr on hashes that catches the ball and stays there instead of running around the wr and going out wide for motion wr.

That play can’t be defended successfully they way it was handed off.

We actually handed it off correctly (a little different coverage) against A&M on their first super long td. Stroman just had a brain fart and stopped covering. Stroman didn’t have to run from far hash to cover.

 

[mrmcgrail]

Yeah that's on tae not getting depth on curl to flat in cover 3 shuler is late rotating but makes up for it

 

[Dale]

If they passed it off as I described shuler undercuts wr on hashes that catches the ball and stays there instead of running around the wr and going out wide for motion wr.

That play can’t be defended successfully they way it was handed off.

We actually handed it off correctly (a little different coverage) against A&M on their first super long td. Stroman just had a brain fart and stopped covering. Stroman didn’t have to run from far hash to cover.

It’s a play designed to beat Cover 3 so yeah they likely were gonna have a positive result. It happens. If the best result when played correctly is a PA flat route and Shuler is tackling 1-1 I’ll take that everyday.

Again the only schematic issue to take here is we shouldn’t be running basic Cover 3 against what becomes 4x1. It should have a built in fire zone check to send a LB.

They were playing man versus A&M, completely different.

 

[Dale]

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

View attachment 3060203

Look where Knowles is.

 

[PANDFAN]

Look where Knowles is.

at least their good defense

 

[Katzenboyer]

This isn’t on Shuler. First, they did this frenetic type rotation to motion all the time under Golden that is nothing new. It’s Cover 3 and it’s a deep dig at at the seam which is a hole. This is more on Tae not having the depth or alignment to scare Browne off throwing it over him. The motion + PA is meant to pull him out of it.

There's a difference between the "organized rotation" Golden's defense employed pre-snap and what Shuler does on that clip.

He clearly doesn't know his assignment. He first drops off to cover the receiver streaking down the field (which ends up double teaming him with the deep safety) before running frantically to cover the safety valve in the flat.

That's a clear sign of confusion on 8's part.

Edit: Not saying you're wrong about Tae getting the assignment wrong as well. But it's a larger sign of pre-snap confusion that we continuously see during many of Ash's calls.

 

[Irish du Nord]

View attachment 3060203

I think the OOA underestimates the differences between top teams and easy games. How is USC's Offensive Strength of Schedule (Montana State, Georgia Southern, Purdue, Sparty) higher than Miami's (ND, Bethune Cookman, USF, Florida)???

Nebraska being higher than OU is another head scratcher. Common opponent is Michigan, then OU=(ranked Auburn, Temple, IL State) vs Nebraska (Cincy, Akron, Houston Christian)

 

[Dale]

I think the OOA underestimates the differences between top teams and easy games. How is USC's Offensive Strength of Schedule (Montana State, Georgia Southern, Purdue, Sparty) higher than Miami's (ND, Bethune Cookman, USF, Florida)???

Nebraska being higher than OU is another head scratcher. Common opponent is Michigan, then OU=(ranked Auburn, Temple, IL State) vs Nebraska (Cincy, Akron, Houston Christian)

Yeah he posted some modified version in the replies that was a bit different:

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

at least their good defense

Sure. James Franklin teams always come up big when the time comes.

 

[PolishDomer]

Yeah he posted some modified version in the replies that was a bit different:

View attachment 3060204

Hmm looks like a regression analysis model..what is the R2 of the data? Has hypothesis testing been applied?

 

[greyhammer90]

Yeah he posted some modified version in the replies that was a bit different:

View attachment 3060204

Confused about the horizontal line. Is it supposed to represent the average expected performance against that schedule, meaning that anyone who is above it is doing above average relative to their schedule?

 

[Dale]

Confused about the horizontal line. Is it supposed to represent the average expected performance against that schedule, meaning that anyone who is above it is doing above average relative to their schedule?

Above horizontal line would be has played an above average strength of schedule so far. So being in top left means we’ve been tested with a real schedule and performed poorly.

 

[greyhammer90]

Above horizontal line would be has played an above average strength of schedule so far. So being in top left means we’ve been tested with a real schedule and performed poorly.

But has the horizontal variable been adjusted for SoS already? Otherwise wouldnt you expect teams with above average SoS to be to the left? I guess I'm having trouble drawing larger conclusions from this other than that we're clearly doing worse than every team to the upper right than us, and clearly better than every team to the lower left. That in and of itself paints a picture that we're worse than the elites but the whole middle of the pack is hard for me to figure out. Arkansas is a great example of a team that I look at here and I can't tell if this graph is suggesting we're doing worse or better than relative to our SoS. Thanks for sharing because it's interesting, I just wish this had better delineation to show how we would expect an average defense to perform under our schedule.

 

[Old Man Mike]

What I see is a WAY too early attempt at graphing this sort of performance statistic.

... and agree with Greyh that this is thereby confusing (as far as ARK is concerned though: there is no real graph separation between us with this paucity of data points.)