Any of you football heads want to explain 2 gap scheme?

[cg_8]

Sounds to me like you want to play a spy. Bo doesn't play QB spy defense. Anyway, this is all preference anyway, just like the debate of one gap vs. two gap. If there truly was a no brainer option, we wouldn't have had this discussion, no one would. We would be having 7-6 scores or 6-3 scores. That is not the case though. I still do not like having cover two if you have 4 wide (4th man being the motion RB), the DLine is supposed to contain. This is exactly what isn't happening. We've been playing cover two for as long as Bo has been here. No one was complaining about cover two in 2009. Why? The DLine could contain, and everyone was executing their assignments. You could have the best defensive scheme ever created, but if the players do not do their jobs and follow their assignments, then fans get into discussion about what would be best. We've played nickel, weve played dime, we've created the "peso", hell, Gerry is a hybrid player similar to what Hagg played for us.

The one and only difference between this team and 2009? Inexperience and lack of execution. That's it. Sure we have a different DC and all, but it's still Bo's defense. And we aren't just talking about the DLine missing assignments, or the MIKE or the safeties. On some occasions, one player missed an assignment. Most of the time, we're talking about a lot of people missing an assignment on one play. That's just inexperience. It hasn't clilcked for them yet. Hell, most of them probably don't even get the concepts and how their job is important to the defense as a whole. I know this is an over-generalization, but that is the conversation we should be having. Not this vs. that.

This is a game of inches, when we see big plays, we may see how great that play was, but what actually happened was that someone made a mistake on the play. Jadaveon Clowney's big hit versus Michigan last year? The "Play of the Year!" Some people saw the hit. Which is an insane hit, but what really happened was that the Lineman missed a block. He got back there unblocked, not because of his talent (although, I don't doubt his talent, Kid's a BEAST), but because the other guy completely missed his block. The guy didn't even think of blocking the best DLineman in the country. Therefore, big hit!

Relating to our team. Zenner's 40 yard TD run. The kid can run, no doubt about that. But that was a missed assignment too. Also, we blitzed leaving our safeties to play m2m against the guy Evans was supposed to cover. This cleared the whole backfield because the safeties had to leave their usual posts in the middle of the field (an argument for keeping a cover two). Leaving a clear lane for Zenner, that running lane isn't as wide had we played cover two. Anyway, turns out, Gregory didn't hit the hole created by the DLine for him to make the tackle (the MIKE was in coverage also, due to the blitz). If Gregory is there, it's a tackle. He wasn't. I am not blaming him, it was honestly the perfect offensive play call against the blitz that was called. The OC got lucky on that play call (I don't think the QB audibled into it).

The point of this long a$$ post? Execution is key. I know Bo says it a lot, but it is the truth. The players will get it eventually. I just hope it's sooner rather than later. A bye week couldn't have come at a better time. It's kind of a blessing in disguise that we are playing so poorly early in the season. Fixing issues early is better than later.

 

[BigRedBuster]

You definitely have to have execution. That is true with any defense. However, there are things you can do to help the players be successful.

If it were simply about execution, we would just simply always run the ball up the middle because all that has to happen is the O line block their guys and open up the hole. We don't do that because the more you do that, the harder it is for the O line to actually open up a hole by no fault of their own.

 

[BIG ERN]

The thing I think people are missing is that we aren't making enough adjustments. We are just beating a dead horse with our coaching philosophy. You have to be honest as a coach and realize what talent your players have, along with experience. Obviously this year we are inexperienced and at some spots lets face it, we aren't overly talented. We know this system can work that isn't the issue.

In this case we need to do what's best for THIS YEAR's team. It also can switch week to week depending on the opponents offense etc. I feel like the coaches would rather lose knowing we ran 'our system' than switch it up some and win.

 

[Enhance]

The thing I think people are missing is that we aren't making enough adjustments. We are just beating a dead horse with our coaching philosophy. You have to be honest as a coach and realize what talent your players have, along with experience. Obviously this year we are inexperienced and at some spots lets face it, we aren't overly talented. We know this system can work that isn't the issue.

In this case we need to do what's best for THIS YEAR's team. It also can switch week to week depending on the opponents offense etc. I feel like the coaches would rather lose knowing we ran 'our system' than switch it up some and win.

I agree with your premise, but I think adjustments are being made, and they're just not carrying over onto the field. Whether that's a lack in focus, coaching, player ability, or a combination of all three, I don't know. I've mentioned this example before, but in 2011, we gave up a deep touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffrey just before half time IIRC. In the break before the play, our coaches specifically told the defense where to be and what to do to prevent Jeffrey from getting behind them for the deep touchdown. Despite being given specific instructions, one or two players didn't do what they were supposed to, and this was when everybody and their mother knew what South Carolina was about to do - throw a deep pass just before half and hope for the WR to make a play. And it wasn't even a jump ball. IIRC, Jeffrey was hit in stride for six.

I think our biggest issue is experience/talent on the d-line. Someone commented yesterday, which I completely agree with, that having young guys on the d-line is just a huge detriment to the team. Even Suh didn't really have everything come together for him until the latter half of his junior year, and we're asking freshman to take up that role. And then in terms of our experienced guys on the line, it appears their talent just isn't up to the level it needs to be to make a significant impact.

 

[BIG ERN]

The thing I think people are missing is that we aren't making enough adjustments. We are just beating a dead horse with our coaching philosophy. You have to be honest as a coach and realize what talent your players have, along with experience. Obviously this year we are inexperienced and at some spots lets face it, we aren't overly talented. We know this system can work that isn't the issue. In this case we need to do what's best for THIS YEAR's team. It also can switch week to week depending on the opponents offense etc. I feel like the coaches would rather lose knowing we ran 'our system' than switch it up some and win.

I agree with your premise, but I think adjustments are being made, and they're just not carrying over onto the field. Whether that's a lack in focus, coaching, player ability, or a combination of all three, I don't know. I've mentioned this example before, but in 2011, we gave up a deep touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffrey just before half time IIRC. In the break before the play, our coaches specifically told the defense where to be and what to do to prevent Jeffrey from getting behind them for the deep touchdown. Despite being given specific instructions, one or two players didn't do what they were supposed to, and this was when everybody and their mother knew what South Carolina was about to do - throw a deep pass just before half and hope for the WR to make a play. And it wasn't even a jump ball. IIRC, Jeffrey was hit in stride for six. I think our biggest issue is experience/talent on the d-line. Someone commented yesterday, which I completely agree with, that having young guys on the d-line is just a huge detriment to the team. Even Suh didn't really have everything come together for him until the latter half of his junior year, and we're asking freshman to take up that role. And then in terms of our experienced guys on the line, it appears their talent just isn't up to the level it needs to be to make a significant impact.

The Jeffrey catch was something that coaching cannot help. Talent can sometimes out weigh any coaching schemes you may have. Coaching does have to do with putting better talent on the field if it is on the sidelines though. Anyone can look at my posts before the season and throughout that 3 guys should not be out there. Randle, H Jackson, and Ankrah. I would even say that our linebackers could be switched around.

Back to the point though - if we are making adjustments I have not seen them yet.

 

[Enhance]

Back to the point though - if we are making adjustments I have not seen them yet.

Well, that's kind of point with the Jeffrey example. If you watch the replay it wasn't pure athletic ability that allowed Jeffrey to beat our DB's - it was a DB out of position.

What I'm saying though there's no feasible way these players aren't being coached up or adjustments aren't being made. The problem is those adjustments not making their way onto the field, and as I said, I'm not sure if that's because of a lack of focus, ability, coaching, or a combination of all three.

 

[cg_8]

I do not understand what you guys mean by "no adjusting". I mean, they technically adjust about every down depending on down and distance, or types of packages are on the field. I mean, mid-game, they switch MIKE's from Banderas to Santos. Randy Gregory was moving from 3pt stance to 2pt stance. His pick 6 was on a disguised blitz where he dropped into coverage. They had 8 men in the box in the second half where everyone in the box had an assigned gap (a safety was the 8th man). I mean, it's hard to see what you guys mean when you say "not enough adjustments" when there clearly were adjustments. These adjustments were just for the SDSU game too.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I do not understand what you guys mean by "no adjusting". I mean, they technically adjust about every down depending on down and distance, or types of packages are on the field. I mean, mid-game, they switch MIKE's from Banderas to Santos. Randy Gregory was moving from 3pt stance to 2pt stance. His pick 6 was on a disguised blitz where he dropped into coverage. They had 8 men in the box in the second half where everyone in the box had an assigned gap (a safety was the 8th man). I mean, it's hard to see what you guys mean when you say "not enough adjustments" when there clearly were adjustments. These adjustments were just for the SDSU game too.

People claiming they don't make adjustments really aren't understanding what they are seeing. There are adjustments made just about every game.

 

[In the Deed the Glory]

I do not understand what you guys mean by "no adjusting".

People claiming they don't make adjustments really aren't understanding what they are seeing. There are adjustments made just about every game.

These. +1 for both of you. The problem isn't adjustments or scheme necessarily. It is entirely a coaching failure for two seasons to teach how to run the scheme and the adjustments properly. If execution is to blame for every failure over and over, then the coaches are not teaching the players how to execute.

To Bo's credit, he said this exact thing Monday.

 

[cg_8]

I do not understand what you guys mean by "no adjusting".

People claiming they don't make adjustments really aren't understanding what they are seeing. There are adjustments made just about every game.

These. +1 for both of you. The problem isn't adjustments or scheme necessarily. It is entirely a coaching failure for two seasons to teach how to run the scheme and the adjustments properly. If execution is to blame for every failure over and over, then the coaches are not teaching the players how to execute.

To Bo's credit, he said this exact thing Monday.

It's hard to agree with this. I honestly have to blame the high school coaches more than anything. I mean, we're talking a lot of young men. Example: Banderas to me has the instinct, skill and talent. It's just not quite clicking with him yet. You really think Lincoln Southwest (I think that's where he went to high school) taught him the intricacies of pass coverage? Nope. This is Nebraska, the best competition he had in that case was Fyfe, who happens to be on the team also... For a lot of these guys, in high school, they didn't need to understand how the Defense worked. Valentine is probably learning Technique down there for the first time. Up until this point, he was just able to light up Linemen left and right. His technique was just to hit the guy harder in front of him. But not the guys in college, they are 330 lbs guys who understand their role in their offenses. They're teaching execution, most likely correctly. But even the best calculus teacher can't teach everyone to Ace their class. I for one believe that eventually they'll get it. They just don't now...

However, I do think that Bo is perhaps saying, we need to spend more time on "this" for "this guy" and "that" for "that guy". Just because they are so young, but I believe that they'll eventually get calculus... (terrible analogy). So I partially agree with that statement. Everyone who was a legend here, they weren't overnight successes. Someone stated that Suh wasn't SUUUUUUHHH! until the latter part of his junior year. And even Lavonte David took some time to get it. He's probably the smartest football I have seen in my years.

 

[Hayseed]

The scheme isn't that much of a problem, more so the missed assignments are. We've seen this defense work but that's when the players were upholding their responsibilities. But, as Pelini commented today, we had eight guys in the box on one play and gave up a big run. Guys just flat out aren't doing what they're supposed to.

Some of the more unfortunate statistics I've heard today - Nebraska is giving up 8 yards per play on first down and allowing opponents to get a first down, on 1st and 10, 35% of the time.

And every time a subject like this comes up I wonder if we're trying to teach trigonometry to remedial math students? I'm sure Bo wasn't born yesterday and they do a little of everything depending on the situation and opponent, also that there are a heck of a lot of freshmen playing at the same time, but they don't seem to get what they're doing most of the time and you wonder if some players are even capable of understanding all the different variables?

 

[In the Deed the Glory]

I do not understand what you guys mean by "no adjusting".

People claiming they don't make adjustments really aren't understanding what they are seeing. There are adjustments made just about every game.

These. +1 for both of you. The problem isn't adjustments or scheme necessarily. It is entirely a coaching failure for two seasons to teach how to run the scheme and the adjustments properly. If execution is to blame for every failure over and over, then the coaches are not teaching the players how to execute.

To Bo's credit, he said this exact thing Monday.

It's hard to agree with this. I honestly have to blame the high school coaches more than anything. I mean, we're talking a lot of young men. Example: Banderas to me has the instinct, skill and talent. It's just not quite clicking with him yet. You really think Lincoln Southwest (I think that's where he went to high school) taught him the intricacies of pass coverage? Nope. This is Nebraska, the best competition he had in that case was Fyfe, who happens to be on the team also... For a lot of these guys, in high school, they didn't need to understand how the Defense worked. Valentine is probably learning Technique down there for the first time. Up until this point, he was just able to light up Linemen left and right. His technique was just to hit the guy harder in front of him. But not the guys in college, they are 330 lbs guys who understand their role in their offenses. They're teaching execution, most likely correctly. But even the best calculus teacher can't teach everyone to Ace their class. I for one believe that eventually they'll get it. They just don't now...

However, I do think that Bo is perhaps saying, we need to spend more time on "this" for "this guy" and "that" for "that guy". Just because they are so young, but I believe that they'll eventually get calculus... (terrible analogy). So I partially agree with that statement. Everyone who was a legend here, they weren't overnight successes. Someone stated that Suh wasn't SUUUUUUHHH! until the latter part of his junior year. And even Lavonte David took some time to get it. He's probably the smartest football I have seen in my years.

Either it is his fault for not teaching upperclassmen properly enough or his fault for bad recruiting earlier. Either way, the blame falls on the coaches when two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT defenses show the same errors for two seasons.

The players are different but the results are the same. Something in practice or film doesn't translate regardless of the player. I have coached for a while now in high school and I can tell you putting the blame on 1 kid makes sense, maybe even 2. When the same positions are subpar every year, you aren't teaching it right.

Oh, and blaming high school coaches is a joke. You want to blame a bunch of guys making a stipend of $2000 or so a year ($6000 for HC on average) for a guy making $3 million a year not being able to put a good defense out there? That is rich man.

I hope it gets better, but I am glad Pelini has said it is on him and the staff and not subscribed to your theory.

"I point the thumb" is the quote from Bo I believe.

 

[cg_8]

-1000 for me. That was a d!(k move on my part to blame the HS coaches. I wasn't trying to say that, even though I directly said that. After reading my post, I regret writing that. I have a lot of respect for HS coaches, my brother in law is a HS coach and I love his passion for the game and especially for the kids. So sorry that you took that personally.

Let me explain what I was trying to say: that they weren't taught some things in high school. Why? They didn't need to be taught those things. Why would a HS coach do that when they can focus on the things they need to know. But now at the college level, they need to know those things, so some are playing "catch up" on the job.

One of those things, as I kind of alluded to before was technique. This is something that players are even admitting to being guilty of. Not playing technique on every play. Gregory says it in this article below stating that he and others haven't needed to play technique until now because they had the raw talent to make a play. But now they need the technique.

http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/football/2013/article_5193b630-8e25-50c3-b11d-06a39ac27279.html

But I do apologize. I wasn't trying to make this personal even though I did. I am just trying to communicate a positive perspective on this. I realize now that I seem to be blaming players, but really, I'm merely blaming their inexperience. Something that they will over come, I truly believe that. Every good and great player had to overcome that. I think they will, I just hope sooner rather than later. Anyway, I think after that d!(k move, I'll remove myself from this discussion. I write too much anyway.

 

[zeWilbur]

Either it is his fault for not teaching upperclassmen properly enough or his fault for bad recruiting earlier. Either way, the blame falls on the coaches when two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT defenses show the same errors for two seasons.

The players are different but the results are the same. Something in practice or film doesn't translate regardless of the player. I have coached for a while now in high school and I can tell you putting the blame on 1 kid makes sense, maybe even 2. When the same positions are subpar every year, you aren't teaching it right.

Oh, and blaming high school coaches is a joke. You want to blame a bunch of guys making a stipend of $2000 or so a year ($6000 for HC on average) for a guy making $3 million a year not being able to put a good defense out there? That is rich man.

I hope it gets better, but I am glad Pelini has said it is on him and the staff and not subscribed to your theory.

"I point the thumb" is the quote from Bo I believe.

EDIT - CG beat me to it.

I agree with CG but would word it differently. Any scheme is going to have a learning curve. Most teams can make up for having to play youth by recruiting players that played in similar schemes in high school. The high school coaches are teaching whatever scheme they think will work at their school. If that doesn't align to what the player will be asked to do in college than it just put the kids further behind when they make it to campus.

The consensus seems to be that it took BP about three years to figure out a recruiting style that fit what he was trying to do and brought in some higher rated classes. It will be a rough transition as the team will rely on more youth than you would like to see for a few years. The transition would always have been bumpy, just less bumpy if high school coaches were teaching things that aligned more directly to what NU was trying to ask of its players.

 

[MichiganDad3]

This defense has been bad for 2 years. It is Bo's fault. A leader cannot let bad trends continue.