Defense - Talent Issue or Minter Issue

[weisfaninmass]

Gang, I've been dormant for quite awhile but I had to post this. The D looks like it has ZERO talent. Even Big Vic looked terrible this year. See below though for the high school ratings. Minter has to be held somewhat accountable.

Victor Abiamiri: 4 stars
Derek Landri: 5 stars
Chinedum Ndukwe: 4 stars(recruited as a WR)
Travis Thomas: 4 stars(recruited as a RB)
Ambrose Wooden: 4 stars
Tom Zbikowski: 4 stars
Maurice Crum: 3 stars
Mike Richardson: 1 star
Trevor Laws: 4 stars
Terrail Lambert: 4 stars
Chris Frome: 3 stars
Travis Leitko: 4 stars J
Joe Brockington: 3 stars

Number of players switched from offense to defense: 2, both 4 star offensive recruits.

5 star players: 1
4 star players: 8
3 star players: 3
2 star players: 0
1 star players: 1

Average star rating: 3.6 stars

 

[guff]

Wow just what I was hoping for - another Rick Minter thread.

Are we just going to keep whipping this dead horse?

 

[luckofirish8]

Being in Tennessee, this reminds me a lot of the UT and Randy Sanders situation.

Good news for those who don't won't Minter back. Randy Sanders gave in and resigned.

For the record, I have no idea what needs to be done. One minute I think Minter should go, another minute I think its not his fault.

I agree with most everyone though...SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!

 

[Junkhead]

The D is poorly coached, has players playing outside of their natural position, and has little to no depth. Next year will be interesting. I'm even done bashing Minter, since it won't help. He does suck though. lol

 

[weisfaninmass]

The D is poorly coached, has players playing outside of their natural position, and has little to no depth. Next year will be interesting. I'm even done bashing Minter, since it won't help. He does suck though. lol

you may have hit the nail on the head -- too many players out of natural position

 

[IrishSanDiego]

If you look at Florida tonight, they are successful with substituting guys right and left. Therefore they can train in short bursts, building the fast twitch muscles. On our team, we know there is no depth. The starters have to train for endurance, the slow twitch muscles, thus limiting their explosiveness. Until we recruit great athletes year in and year out on defense we will struggle to be successful. And with that being said, Minter does suck and the guys we have aren't being coached well enough. He needs to go.

 

[Junkhead]

If you look at Florida tonight, they are successful with substituting guys right and left. Therefore they can train in short bursts, building the fast twitch muscles. On our team, we know there is no depth. The starters have to train for endurance, the slow twitch muscles, thus limiting their explosiveness. Until we recruit great athletes year in and year out on defense we will struggle to be successful. And with that being said, Minter does suck and the guys we have aren't being coached well enough. He needs to go.

I wonder how bad some of the ND backups are (LBs mainly). Would Toryan Smith be worse than Travis Thomas at LB? With the D as porous as it had been, I figured theyd get some new guys on the field. That said, Gator D is awesome tonight, and Troy Smith sucks.

 

[IrishSanDiego]

Minter's defense is supposed to be pretty complex. Our freshmen may have taken half the season to learn the system and now just lack experience to be put in such a big game. Plus if you plug Toryan in the middle, that means Crum has to move back to OLB, where the reads are different and he hasnt seen live action in over a year. I guess Thomas is the lesser of two evils at this point.

 

[rontdtarchala]

It takes away from possible 5th year seniors also...but I think those days ie. redshirting and 5th year seniors are numbered to say the least...I'm going to say somthing that is going to ruffle some feathers but so be it...are florida's recruites really that much better then what we have been getting since charlie came here and Urban went there...they don't even have a running back period and they just lit tosu up people!!! What I'm getting at is does everyone see what having a decent d can do for a team...they didn't put the gators in bad situations so the offense benefited big time....also if they do find a good back wich I am sure they did...look out people they are going to be awesome...charlie needs to get it going yesterday!!! This is a new era folks get it done now or get gone that simple

 

[goldenechoes]

UF shows us how bad our defensive players really are.


I really liked their schemes too. Strong would have been a great addition to the original staff.

 

[IrishSanDiego]

It takes away from possible 5th year seniors also...but I think those days ie. redshirting and 5th year seniors are numbered to say the least...I'm going to say somthing that is going to ruffle some feathers but so be it...are florida's recruites really that much better then what we have been getting since charlie came here and Urban went there...they don't even have a running back period and they just lit tosu up people!!! What I'm getting at is does everyone see what having a decent d can do for a team...they didn't put the gators in bad situations so the offense benefited big time....also if they do find a good back wich I am sure they did...look out people they are going to be awesome...charlie needs to get it going yesterday!!! This is a new era folks get it done now or get gone that simple

I think most people are referring to our defensive players in our current sophomore,junior and senior classes. These were the ones that were recruited by Willingham. While they have some talent up front there is absolutely no depth. Our backup DT's were 2/3 stars, as are our backup DE's. Vernaglia was a 4, but he had to bulk up to linebacker and looks lost out there. It says something when Travis Thomas can come over to defense and win a starting job in a week.
And by the way, we dont have a real running back either (DW is a third down back at best).
Weis needs better recruits on defense, yes, but to blame him for the last two years isnt right. Florida is loaded with 4 stars across the board and with depth. Meyer has tons of talent to work with.

 

[Junkhead]

UF had great coaching and seemed to take advantage of whatever strengths they have. They caught almost every pass, made all the tackles, and didn't give up big plays. Good coaching can accentuate talent, or in NDs case (defensive), make it thrive in mediocrity.

 

[TexasNDFan]

I wonder how bad some of the ND backups are (LBs mainly). Would Toryan Smith be worse than Travis Thomas at LB? With the D as porous as it had been, I figured theyd get some new guys on the field. That said, Gator D is awesome tonight, and Troy Smith sucks.

Well you don't want to totally throw them into the fire. Our defense was so bad that it wouldn't have mattered if you threw Dick Butkus in there, so no sense in screwing with Toryan's confidence. Smith will be needed next year, so has to be in tip top shape physically and mentally.

 

[GREENJERSEYS'07]

Being in Tennessee, this reminds me a lot of the UT and Randy Sanders situation.

Good news for those who don't won't Minter back. Randy Sanders gave in and resigned.

For the record, I have no idea what needs to be done. One minute I think Minter should go, another minute I think its not his fault.

I agree with most everyone though...SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!

yeah but look what sanders did this year at kentucky.
this might be more like a jeff bowden situation if it is minter and not the talent.

i take your stance on the minter situatiion too,but have to look real hard at it after the sugar bowl.

 

[RichardRiot]

Well you don't want to totally throw them into the fire. Our defense was so bad that it wouldn't have mattered if you threw Dick Butkus in there, so no sense in screwing with Toryan's confidence. Smith will be needed next year, so has to be in tip top shape physically and mentally.

Was it just me, or did it seem that every time you heard Toryan Smith's name called this year, it was preceded by a VERY LOUD cruncing sound???? He seems to REALLY hit hard. I am hoping that he can find a spot on the field next year. There are often unrealistic expectations for Freshmen to step in and start (or get big minutes).

 

[Satans Little Helper]

all in all it goes back to ty. sorry for being so honest.

 

[irishranger]

I think we need to be patient and see what happens when CW gets his guys in there. Lets wait a couple of years to see what pans out, before we turn into Alabama fans and run CW outs town.
Remember it takes only one or two bad recruiting classes to set a program back 4 to 5 years. That is why NCAA limiting recruits for programs is so devistating.

 

[Irish Legend]

Wow just what I was hoping for - another Rick Minter thread.

Are we just going to keep whipping this dead horse?

Is he still on the coaching staff?

 

[sonomairishfan]

Minter's defense is supposed to be pretty complex. Our freshmen may have taken half the season to learn the system and now just lack experience to be put in such a big game. Plus if you plug Toryan in the middle, that means Crum has to move back to OLB, where the reads are different and he hasnt seen live action in over a year. I guess Thomas is the lesser of two evils at this point.

how complex is a scheme that lines up corners 20 yards away from WR's? all the zone defense and cover 2 is not that complex. it's not like we have a bunch of exotic blitz packages. hell, we never even disguise the blitz. i don't get what is complex. even if it was, these kids got into ND they can read and learn a playbook.