VanGorder - New DC!

[Irish#1]

VanGorder leaves first impression on Notre Dame recruits - Recruiting - South Bend Tribune

Interesting read

It just shows you that he already knows how to communicate with these kids and apparently he's pretty straight forward which I like.

 

[ResLife Hero]

Really like the flexibility he's showing, both in his conversation with Hill (not pegging him for a position just yet) and his selection of DT targets. I'm really looking forward to how our defense develops the next couple years.

 

[Ironman8]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Got to glance upon coach Van Gordner's legendary stache today. Highlight of the year &#55357;&#56396;&#55357;&#56906;&#55357;&#56904;&#55357;&#56834;</p>— Jhonny WIlliams (@Jhonny_willl) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jhonny_willl/statuses/427170773259014144">January 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[rtrn2glory]

hope he and BK can make it back down to texas to see Kolin before he goes on his official....prolly won't make much of a difference, but it's worth a shot.

 

[STLDomer]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"He said it will be nothing any college player would expect bc it's so complicated & (versatile)" - LB/S D. Tranquill on VanGorder's defense</p>— Anna Hickey (@AnnaHScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaHScout/statuses/431215572311756800">February 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[ACamp1900]

"These guys ain't seen a real defense before.... "

 

[irishknight35]

ALL CATS! ERRRYWHERE!

 

[PANDFAN]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"He said it will be nothing any college player would expect bc it's so complicated & (versatile)" - LB/S D. Tranquill on VanGorder's defense</p>— Anna Hickey (@AnnaHScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaHScout/statuses/431215572311756800">February 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[ACamp1900]

ALL CATS! ERRRYWHERE!

Now that's what I'm talking about... not sure it's what you're talking about,... but that's what I'm talking about.

 

[irishog77]

As long as the complication doesn't come from ND defenders having to learn it.

Been down that road...

 

[ryno 24]

I want to understand!...

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

As long as he doesn't start claiming "schematic advantages".

 

[Big23Head]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"He said it will be nothing any college player would expect bc it's so complicated & (versatile)" - LB/S D. Tranquill on VanGorder's defense</p>— Anna Hickey (@AnnaHScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaHScout/statuses/431215572311756800">February 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Also mentioned the 4-3 defense but said it isn't the basic 4-3...then into the quote above.

As long as the complication doesn't come from ND defenders having to learn it.

Been down that road...

+1

 

[Domina Nostra]

The good part about VG is that he has succeeded at the highest levels (UGA and Falcons) but also failed (Auburn). He is not going to be blindly confident in the inevitability of his success.

 

[Brooklyn]

Not a fan of a super complicated defense. Im more in the mindset that you put in blitz schemes and let your players play at full speed on defense. K.I.S.S.

 

[dwshade]

The good part about VG is that he has succeeded at the highest levels (UGA and Falcons) but also failed (Auburn). He is not going to be blindly confident in the inevitability of his success.

I wouldn't call his one year at Auburn a failure. He hopped on a sinking ship at the wrong time.

 

[dwshade]

Not a fan of a super complicated defense. Im more in the mindset that you put in blitz schemes and let your players play at full speed on defense. K.I.S.S.

If the Georgia players were able to comprehend it and play it well then I don't think we have anything to worry about. No offense to some of the UGA players at the time but most weren't rocket scientists.

 

[Cackalacky]

If the Georgia players were able to comprehend it and play it well then I don't think we have anything to worry about. No offense to some of the UGA players at the time but most weren't rocket scientists.

He does wax poetic about all the stuff he learned from Rex. I hope he does not go overboard.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I wouldn't call his one year at Auburn a failure. He hopped on a sinking ship at the wrong time.

I hear that. I certainly wasn't blaming him, but the results were not good.

 

[Brooklyn]

If the Georgia players were able to comprehend it and play it well then I don't think we have anything to worry about. No offense to some of the UGA players at the time but most weren't rocket scientists.

We don't really know what he is going to run relative to the Georgia program though. In Georgia he ran a 4-3 base without many 3-4 looks. Here he is talking about mixing it up a lot.

 

[dwshade]

True but I think the underlying principles of his defense will remain the same. Maybe updated with things he's learned since that time.

 

[ulukinatme]

I wouldn't call his one year at Auburn a failure. He hopped on a sinking ship at the wrong time.

Is there ever a good time to jump on a sinking ship?

That said, the Chiz was certainly a sinking ship.

 

[Irish YJ]

Over analyzing......

 

[Whiskeyjack]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"He said it will be nothing any college player would expect bc it's so complicated & (versatile)" - LB/S D. Tranquill on VanGorder's defense</p>— Anna Hickey (@AnnaHScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaHScout/statuses/431215572311756800">February 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I guess BvG didn't get the memo that we're all hoping for aggressive and versatile.

 

[dwshade]

I think the Ryan brothers have always been known for aggressive defenses. BVG is no different.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Didn't see it posted anywhere but Van Gorder's son is walking on as a QB in the fall. Montgomery Van Gorder. Probably is somewhere else though.

Edit: Fond his recruiting thread.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

About VanGorder : what I remember.

He lists Rick Minter as an influence and a connection to ND. Rick Minter is a defensive genius.

He was DC at ND in split-duty. He was at ND under Holtz and Weis. In the intervening years he was head coach at Cinci and DC at South Carolina.

He was DC for Lou a second time at South Carolina in '04. He was hired away from Lou by Charlie back to the bend.

The thing the lynch mobs had against Rick was that his defense was too intellectual. So Charlie bowed to the mobs pressure and brought in Corwin Brown first, and then Jon Tenuta. Several lawsuits later, with restraining orders and injunctions we know how that worked out for Charlie.

But people accepted that his defense was too "difficult" to run. In reality, the recruiting juggernaut that the Charlie Weis staff was, had no idea what kind of player they needed to make Minter's defense work. You could even argue, Charlie Weis at that point had no ability to evaluate high school kids for D1 college ability to play defense.

So a lot gets lost. Now look at Greg Mattison, also with deep roots at ND. His back side blitzing schemes were devastating until when? Not just when others figured out what his tendencies were, but when the talent level available to him at Michigan dropped beneath the level he needed to execute. (Without looking the same may be said of Monte Kiffin at USC, he moved from there to Dallas with immediate success, where he was roundly decried while working to his son just prior to that.)

So, I worked with this guy Abe, years ago. I always knew I was lucky to know him, and I followed him around like a puppy dog, when I could. Abe was an expatriate Hungarian Jew, relocated here in the post -WWII brain drain. He worked for Bendix for years which is where I first met him. He was the guy that invented the process that became credit card readers. One of many things he told me that I never forgot was, "It doesn't mater how complex it is as long as it appears to be simple to operate."

So back to defense. VanGorder's stamp is on this recruiting class and the process. Kelly had an amazing mea culpa in the press conference yesterday. "We need to cast our net wider." WOW! VanGorder then is going after the players he wants:

I believe this is the fastest defensive class in years, if not ever, front to back.

I think these kids work mentally faster, too. They will react and flow, and read keys faster. And they are more confident, better open field players. I think that is why they went after Alexander and Garnett so hard, and would have loved to have them. And that is why I rank this class across the board better as a class, than some that may have been more highly rated as a collection of individuals.

Time will tell, but I think we will see some movement in position of individuals, some guys that were buried will play, and we will see a new kind of cat in the jungle. We will also see Kelly's philosophy of preparing many to play even expand further.

 

[rocket66]

Complicated defense? Great, another year with Farley>>Redfield.

 

[Luckylucci]

Complicated defense? Great, another year with Farley>>Redfield.

Not necessarily, if they are both learning it for the first time. If there isn't a knowledge gap, you'd think the staff sides with athleticism and upside. Young guys are going to play, IMO.

 

[irishknight35]

I personally think he meant being complex for offenses to scheme against, at least that's what I'm hoping. Certainly a lot of potential with this roster for BVG to be versatile with his different formations and player packages.

More importantly I'm looking to see a much more aggressive style of play that allows the players to react instinctively instead of looking like slow processing dial-up internet.