Well. His defenses in 2010 were much more complicated than in 2009. That is fact. What do I have to back that up? Bo's word. He said as much on the radio after a 2010 game.
How would it not be more complicated as time goes by? The more you coach, the more you learn in develop. That's the common sense part. So was Nick Saban's 1996 Michigan St defense more complicated than Alabama's 2012 version?
All I'm saying is that if you compared the two subjectively, Bo's currents schemes would be more complicated than those of 2003, as a first time DC at new job.
Well, that's technically an opinion since "more complicated" is a qualifier. But I'm just being pedantic since I know what you mean. I hadn't heard Bo ever say one year was more complicated than another. But even if that's true, your argument that experience=more complex doesn't make sense. What if every year a coach learned that simplifying his scheme was better? Maybe as a first time DC Bo was excited to put in everything he'd ever thought of, and now has removed some of that. Bo's defense could be more complex now, but this argument just doesn't help to support that.
Another little tidbit I remember vividly and I think it was after the Texas A&M game of 2003. It was another great performance by the D. Multiple takeaways. One of the players commented after the game about how much simpler Bo's defense was than Bohl's the previous season. They were having to do a lot less thinking and just more reacting a flyin around, and that it was much more fun to play in. Pretty sure it was Ruud, or even maybe DeMarrio Williams. One of the linebackers.
Also, after reading Knapps comment, I never thought of it that way, and would bet that that is an even bigger factor in Barret not thinking Bo's was very complicated. He's spent the last near-decade learning defenses (multiple ones) as a job. At first you think Algebra is difficult, then you move on to calculus and all a sudden algebra aint so bad anymore.
That's a good argument against Ruud's comments. But there really haven't been any points made in this thread that convince me the defense is "too complex". I don't think it's simple either - I'm not convinced either way.
But I've helped hijack this thread long enough. We can continue this in another thread if you'd like. Back to camp updates!