Defense is predicated on talent. Although athleticism/speed/talent are of the utmost importance, developing those attributes to achieve the objective is critical. In order to do that, a team has to have a support system similar to what Osborne had in the 1990's. His system, (through his assistant coaches), developed the players from the weight room to the scout squad so that when they reached a certain level of competitiveness, they were able to be on the field. Until Pelini develops a similar system, our defense will be sadly lacking, year to year.
Yes. Youre right. That system. The one 20+ years in the making.
It doesn't have to be 20 plus years in the making Accountability. If that was the case, there wouldn't be so many other schools having success.
The key is continuity and repetition. Clearly continuity is a huge issue at Nebraska. We have none in almost every aspect. When you have no continuity, it's hard to have repetition. When everything is constantly changing, your routine and plan of attack changes. Your scheme changes with new coaches. Your approach changes in a new cinference.
As I've said for years now,
simplicity is key. Get great at something, not mediocre at "multiple" things. That goes for both sides of the ball.
I get what you are saying, but simplicity on defense anymore doesn't work very well. NU ran a very simple aggressive defense back in the 90's through the dominating years. That style of defense was invented by Miami and FSU. Get the best athletes you can at every position and attack. Have your corners play man and everyone else apply pressure on the LOS. Todays offenses are a direct result of this style of defense. The spread loves to play this defense. I remember the first time I really saw this offense against the attacking defense it was the Rose Bowl when Penn St. played Oregon I think in 94 or 95. PSU won, but Oregon dealt them fits passing and running sideline to sideline creating matchup problems. I think FSU and Miami fell off because they still thought they could just out athlete everyone and they didn't keep pace with the changing times.
Well said. We are not some over complex defense that is more complex than most other college defenses. I read an article about Nick Saban last week and he makes his defenses know the playbook, know how to be multiple, etc. He, much like Pelini, won't put a player on the field until he knows the defense even if he is talented. And they run an equally complex defense. The issue is more, are the kids doing the classroom work and film work it takes to learn a college defense. Are they really giving it their best effort around the clock in all aspects (nutrition, weight training, conditioning, film study, practice effort, positive attitude, playbook study, asking questions, etc.) We've heard leaks from players on the team that there are guys who don't buy in 100% and actually do all these things... they cut corners in some areas. We, unlike Alabama, don't have the depth to be able to get away with losing some guys to laziness or poor choices. We need our team to be our team and to all do their part, which is why coach Pelini constantly preaches accountability amongst guys on the team. There's only so much a coach can do to get the kids who cut corners to change. He can make them run, yell at them, meet with them, talk with them, make them sit out or keep them off the field, but if they still choose to not buy in 100% he can't make them buy in.
