Defensive Coordinator

[NU jumper alum]

I really do not think the defense is a coaching problem, I think Bo knows what to do, but does not have the talent level he needs. Vicious cycle with recruiting. Not good enough to get the best, not bad enough for some to want to come and fix the problem.

Some say we will be worse next year on the Dline, some say better. Bo said he should have burned some of the Defensive red shirts this year, but like all of us hind sight is a lot better. That is what drove me nuts this year, thinking we had young studs on the sidelines that could help us, but saving them for growth and development so we can have them 4 years of playing time. I would have rather seen some of them get their feet wet and have a clue of what next year brings.

I think the team played about as well as it could today, and in honesty think they did pretty good, until we went away from the run. But who knows.

We have a long off season, hopefully things will get figured out by spring. Praying the recruiting picks up for the Dline and Oline.. Although at times the Oline looked good as did the Dline. Which makes believe it is recruiting and depth, more so than coaching. Need to get to work either way.

But thinking Bo is not running the D seems silly to me. P is learning, hopefully he will improve over the next year which will allow Bo to concentrate on the things he needs to.

+1

I agree 100% with this.

Agree also, but would add that no other coaches would have been able to do any better with the amount of injuries we had on Defense.

and the lack of DT talent

 

[EZ-E]

Zook and Stoops were all real possibilities. Ended up picking different avenues. JP will be a head coach one day. That I can garuntee you.

 

[huskered17]

I really do not think the defense is a coaching problem, I think Bo knows what to do, but does not have the talent level he needs. Vicious cycle with recruiting. Not good enough to get the best, not bad enough for some to want to come and fix the problem.

Some say we will be worse next year on the Dline, some say better. Bo said he should have burned some of the Defensive red shirts this year, but like all of us hind sight is a lot better. That is what drove me nuts this year, thinking we had young studs on the sidelines that could help us, but saving them for growth and development so we can have them 4 years of playing time. I would have rather seen some of them get their feet wet and have a clue of what next year brings.

I think the team played about as well as it could today, and in honesty think they did pretty good, until we went away from the run. But who knows.

We have a long off season, hopefully things will get figured out by spring. Praying the recruiting picks up for the Dline and Oline.. Although at times the Oline looked good as did the Dline. Which makes believe it is recruiting and depth, more so than coaching. Need to get to work either way.

But thinking Bo is not running the D seems silly to me. P is learning, hopefully he will improve over the next year which will allow Bo to concentrate on the things he needs to.

I seem to always read that, but what is Bo supposed to concentrate on. The recruiting, offense, coaches, conditioning, all of it. Isn't that why he has coaches for those things. Some on here have coached or are coaches, what is it he needs to do. I really would like to know, all of us don't really know what all is involved with being a head coach. I watched Bobby Bowden become just a figure head the last few years, and that didn't work out to well for him.

GBR!!!

 

[Comish]

I really do not think the defense is a coaching problem, I think Bo knows what to do, but does not have the talent level he needs. Vicious cycle with recruiting. Not good enough to get the best, not bad enough for some to want to come and fix the problem.

Some say we will be worse next year on the Dline, some say better. Bo said he should have burned some of the Defensive red shirts this year, but like all of us hind sight is a lot better. That is what drove me nuts this year, thinking we had young studs on the sidelines that could help us, but saving them for growth and development so we can have them 4 years of playing time. I would have rather seen some of them get their feet wet and have a clue of what next year brings.

I think the team played about as well as it could today, and in honesty think they did pretty good, until we went away from the run. But who knows.

We have a long off season, hopefully things will get figured out by spring. Praying the recruiting picks up for the Dline and Oline.. Although at times the Oline looked good as did the Dline. Which makes believe it is recruiting and depth, more so than coaching. Need to get to work either way.

But thinking Bo is not running the D seems silly to me. P is learning, hopefully he will improve over the next year which will allow Bo to concentrate on the things he needs to.

I seem to always read that, but what is Bo supposed to concentrate on. The recruiting, offense, coaches, conditioning, all of it. Isn't that why he has coaches for those things. Some on here have coached or are coaches, what is it he needs to do. I really would like to know, all of us don't really know what all is involved with being a head coach. I watched Bobby Bowden become just a figure head the last few years, and that didn't work out to well for him.

GBR!!!

But Bobby sticking around allowed espn to get various cover angles of him blowing his nose.........

 

[HuskerFowler]

Last year Pelini had an opportunity to hire a DC. Some wanted stoops. Would NU's defense have been any better this year with Stoops? Were there any other good candidates you wanted Bo to hire? Lets assume that NU has the money to pay a DC over $2 million per year.

Nope a defensive Co. would not have made our LBs bigger or faster or our Safties faster or sure tacklers. After that INT PJ Smith looked like the slowest guy on the field. Think the NFL will be breaking down our door for any of our 9 senior starters?

Besides we have one of the best D Co out there in Bo and JP would probably be atleast Co D Co for Florida right now if Bo would have let him go. If anyone can fix it, its these guys. The good thing is, we just might have the talent waiting to be a pretty decent defense next year, and filthy in the next few.

 

[MichiganDad3]

I just looked up some stats. Below are the worst 8 defensive performances in yards allowed in NU history. IMO there is much more than a talent issue, although I believe the best talent on the defensive side of the ball sits on the bench.

Oklahoma (1956) 656

UCLA (2012) 653

Wisconsin (2012) 640

Notre Dame (1948) 620

Washington (1991) 618

Ball State (2007) 610

Missouri (2007) 606

Georgia (2012) 589

 

[HuskerFowler]

I just looked up some stats. Below are the worst 8 defensive performances in yards allowed in NU history. IMO there is much more than a talent issue, although I believe the best talent on the defensive side of the ball sits on the bench.

Oklahoma (1956) 656

UCLA (2012) 653

Wisconsin (2012) 640

Notre Dame (1948) 620

Washington (1991) 618

Ball State (2007) 610

Missouri (2007) 606

Georgia (2012) 589

You seem to forget that some of the best were coached by the same person. So your telling me that he forgot how to coach? Or is it all the players that he has lost to the NFL. Redshirting these guys may have hurt us this year, but it set us up for the next 4.

 

[MichiganDad3]

I just looked up some stats. Below are the worst 8 defensive performances in yards allowed in NU history. IMO there is much more than a talent issue, although I believe the best talent on the defensive side of the ball sits on the bench.

Oklahoma (1956) 656

UCLA (2012) 653

Wisconsin (2012) 640

Notre Dame (1948) 620

Washington (1991) 618

Ball State (2007) 610

Missouri (2007) 606

Georgia (2012) 589

You seem to forget that some of the best were coached by the same person. So your telling me that he forgot how to coach? Or is it all the players that he has lost to the NFL. Redshirting these guys may have hurt us this year, but it set us up for the next 4.

I am shocked to see 3 of the worst 10 defensive performances in a single year. That means bad coaching, bad talent of a combination of both.

Your other point made me think a bit. Bo has coached some of the best defenses also. It seems strange to me that someone can have wild swings from close to the best to close to the worst. This tells me that Bo's coaching philosophy is dependent on other factors. Maybe Bo's defenses are too sensitive to having great talent or maybe just the right combination of a few players. In either case, I think Bo needs assistance so he can produce a consistent top 20 defense. Three of the worst 8 defensive performances in a single year is unacceptable. I wonder how much of this is JP and how much of it is Bo, or maybe they don't work well together and cause confusion among the players.

Also I remember Bo redshirting almost all of his first class so NU would be set up this year.

 

[Goal-line]

Zook and Stoops were all real possibilities. Ended up picking different avenues. JP will be a head coach one day. That I can garuntee you.

Hopefully, JP will find something next year.

 

[EZ-E]

You know that Mighty Mike Stoops which is the guy a ton of people wanted on this board got gashed up a ton this year on defense as well. With quite regularity he gave up a ton of yards and points.

hm.. Perspective is a b!^@h.

 

[Amac3309]

BTW laughed out loud when I saw the only team to allow more yards to Georgia this year was...Florida Atlantic coached by...

 

[MichiganDad3]

BTW laughed out loud when I saw the only team to allow more yards to Georgia this year was...Florida Atlantic coached by...

Funny. I didn't notice that.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

BTW laughed out loud when I saw the only team to allow more yards to Georgia this year was...Florida Atlantic coached by...

Why does that make you laugh? You act like Carl had any time to recruit and pull players out of his a$$. He is working with what he has, which isn't much at all. He gave them a better record than the previous coach, with the same players, if not less talent than the prior year.

I know it was only 3 more wins, but you can't just magically turn a school into a winning season in 1 year. Especially FAU.

 

[HuskerFowler]

I just looked up some stats. Below are the worst 8 defensive performances in yards allowed in NU history. IMO there is much more than a talent issue, although I believe the best talent on the defensive side of the ball sits on the bench.

Oklahoma (1956) 656

UCLA (2012) 653

Wisconsin (2012) 640

Notre Dame (1948) 620

Washington (1991) 618

Ball State (2007) 610

Missouri (2007) 606

Georgia (2012) 589

You seem to forget that some of the best were coached by the same person. So your telling me that he forgot how to coach? Or is it all the players that he has lost to the NFL. Redshirting these guys may have hurt us this year, but it set us up for the next 4.

I am shocked to see 3 of the worst 10 defensive performances in a single year. That means bad coaching, bad talent of a combination of both.

Your other point made me think a bit. Bo has coached some of the best defenses also. It seems strange to me that someone can have wild swings from close to the best to close to the worst. This tells me that Bo's coaching philosophy is dependent on other factors. Maybe Bo's defenses are too sensitive to having great talent or maybe just the right combination of a few players. In either case, I think Bo needs assistance so he can produce a consistent top 20 defense. Three of the worst 8 defensive performances in a single year is unacceptable. I wonder how much of this is JP and how much of it is Bo, or maybe they don't work well together and cause confusion among the players.

Also I remember Bo redshirting almost all of his first class so NU would be set up this year.

Ya this was a really bad d this year. Its remarkable that we played so well in a few games. The real measuring stick is the 9 senior starters we are losing. Are any going to get drafted? I say no, maybe Baker late. I would love to see what Bo could do with Georgias talent, the Big10 wouldnt stand a chance. We had no real difference makers at any level, and it showed when we played against elite talent, our average talent just couldnt keep up. As EZE and i have said over and over, this is a direct result of the 08 and 09 recruiting classes, which are hard to blame on Bo. Especially 08 where he had a month to throw a class together as a relatively unknown. The last 3 classes have been pretty darn good and this one is shaping up very nicely as well.

I think its all the Jimmys and Joes. Im excited to see what our young guys can do the next few years. Most the kids we brought in were offered by atlest one big time school, so theres no dobut they all have talent. Well see how they develop it. He did pretty good with the talent Cally brought it, no reason to believe he cant do it again.

 

[Count 'Bility]

I didn't want Stoops. I think we could have got Zook potentially and it would have been a good hire. JP is in over his head. I hope he proves me wrong next season though.

JP is a figurehead that does Bo's dirty work. Just like Carl was. WHY IS THIS SO HARD FOR SOME TO GET? Bo is THE dc. Always has been. Always will be.