How does the defense get fixed moving forward?

#1
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gobigorange91

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#1
How does Huepel go about fixing our defense? I know a lot of us would say recruiting. We have three 4 star CB's committed at this point. We have several highly ranked d-line commits which will help put pressure on the QB which we know is important. Will 3 highly ranked CB's help us out enough next year? Does it even matter if our defensive coaching staff stays the same? I mean look what our offense has produced with what we have! Most of our offensive guys were not highly ranked in recruiting. Coaching has just brought out the best in them. Defense has not been the same. It seems that Huepel had a hard time getting a defensive coordinator when he was hired. Could he do any better now if he decided to move on from Banks or is the offense we run make d-coordinators just not want to come here? Huepel has done such a good job overall but if he wants to ever take the next step we have to have a top 20-30 defense. I think that would be enough to have us competing for championships if our offense stays towards the top. What do you think Huepel has to do to get our defense fixed? How long should we realistically expect it to take?
 
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#2
#2
One other thought with this. When it comes to defense do you have to have better players to make a leap on defense? I mean with the offense you can scheme better it seems like. So in theory you can do more with less talent on offense than you can on defense. Do we think that it's just a matter of talent then? Should Huepel wait for better talent to get there on defense before he decides on Banks? Also how does him being fired as an assistant play into this? Would he give people a longer leash knowing what it's like on the other end of that? Will he have the guts to do it when he needs to? Has he ever had to fire anyone in his short time as a head coach? So many thoughts on this. I don't really know what the answer is.
 
#3
#3
It does take an injection of better athletes. It simply starts there.

Banks and staff had a terrible game plan. It appears they didnt have a 'fall back" plan either which isnt good. The adjustment SC made wasnt a masterful plan. They didnt think they could line up and run it so they decided to max protect and burn the weakest part of Tennessee's defense. You have got to anticipate those type of adjustments.
 
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#5
#5
It helps to have the Jimmies and Joes on the defensive side, but playing good defense is so much more about overall philosophy and effort. Both have been sub par all year. Our philosophy to shut down the run but play soft coverage has allowed very average QBs to look like Tom Brady and keeps opponents in games late.

As far as effort goes, re watch the SC game and the effort the gamecocks defense gave in covering Hyatt. They played their a$$es off and tackled in space. That’s effort and discipline. Our defense has none and I’m afraid Heupel simply believed he could outscore everyone and just didn’t care what happened in that side of the ball. It’s an issue and he must address it or we will be one of those teams that boat races scrubs and gets our lunch taken by teams that play good D
 
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#11
#11
gobigorange91 said:
How does Huepel go about fixing our defense? I know a lot of us would say recruiting. We have three 4 star CB's committed at this point. We have several highly ranked d-line commits which will help put pressure on the QB which we know is important. Will 3 highly ranked CB's help us out enough next year? Does it even matter if our defensive coaching staff stays the same? I mean look what our offense has produced with what we have! Most of our offensive guys were not highly ranked in recruiting. Coaching has just brought out the best in them. Defense has not been the same. It seems that Huepel had a hard time getting a defensive coordinator when he was hired. Could he do any better now if he decided to move on from Banks or is the offense we run make d-coordinators just not want to come here? Huepel has done such a good job overall but if he wants to ever take the next step we have to have a top 20-30 defense. I think that would be enough to have us competing for championships if our offense stays towards the top. What do you think Huepel has to do to get our defense fixed? How long should we realistically expect it to take?
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We are 2 guys from being damn near unbeatable. Both those guys are on D. We need a Lenard Little type on the edge that just causes havoc in the backfield and a shut down corner to eliminate one side of the field. The run D is solid enough. Another John Henderson would not hurt either.
 
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#13
#13
Golfprovol said:
We are 2 guys from being damn near unbeatable. Both those guys are on D. We need a Lenard Little type on the edge that just causes havoc in the backfield and a shut down corner to eliminate one side of the field. The run D is solid enough. Another John Henderson would not hurt either.
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You must have watched a different game than I did Saturday night.
I'm afraid we need much more than "2 guys" to make this team "unbeatable."
 
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#14
#14
"Good morning kids. You may ask what I'm holding in my hands. Well it's called a football and there is this whole game designed around this particular ball......."

Back to basics... Fundamentals kids...





I kid of course.. 😎
 
#15
#15
Most all here knew where our achilles heel was at the start of the season. Add what may be a locker room issue and the defense breaks at its weakest point. A coach's nightmare. Hard to repair.

Recruiting, portal, proper coaching, upbeat-can-do attitudes. Add talented players with confidence in themselves and their coaches and success will follow. Lose either half of that formula and you're screwed.

CJH may be accustomed to stability in the staff around him, but that cannot last at this level and I'm sure he knows it. Change happens constantly. I believe he will make any necessary moves.

Oh yeah, and burn the freaking orange helmets at a bonfire with the entire team and staff there. Move past it, move forward from all the bad juju.
 
#16
#16
The problem is the players, not the coaches. The players laid the "f" down. They sabotaged the season, that is unforgivable.
 
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#17
#17
gobigorange91 said:
How does Huepel go about fixing our defense? I know a lot of us would say recruiting. We have three 4 star CB's committed at this point. We have several highly ranked d-line commits which will help put pressure on the QB which we know is important. Will 3 highly ranked CB's help us out enough next year? Does it even matter if our defensive coaching staff stays the same? I mean look what our offense has produced with what we have! Most of our offensive guys were not highly ranked in recruiting. Coaching has just brought out the best in them. Defense has not been the same. It seems that Huepel had a hard time getting a defensive coordinator when he was hired. Could he do any better now if he decided to move on from Banks or is the offense we run make d-coordinators just not want to come here? Huepel has done such a good job overall but if he wants to ever take the next step we have to have a top 20-30 defense. I think that would be enough to have us competing for championships if our offense stays towards the top. What do you think Huepel has to do to get our defense fixed? How long should we realistically expect it to take?
Click to expand...

Jimmy and Joes.
 
#18
#18
lostsheep said:
You must have watched a different game than I did Saturday night.
I'm afraid we need much more than "2 guys" to make this team "unbeatable."
Click to expand...

Dont base everything off 1 night. We have seen how the D can play in a few games this year. Add those 2 type of players to the Pitt or Kentucky defense and see how dominate we would be.
 
#19
#19
I would be looking at lockdown corners at the elite playoff teams at the next level down. You always see these NFL Lockdowns from D2 State that were late bloomers in the NFL. So they’re out there I guess you could legallyillegal go after some of these proven that are future NFL but still to young to leave for NFL.
 
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#21
#21
titansvolsfaninga said:
The problem is the players, not the coaches. The players laid the "f" down. They sabotaged the season, that is unforgivable.
Click to expand...

No doubt however how much defensive improvement have you seen from last year to now?

Look at common opponents I can spot 1 KY but I can also spot several where it was worse.

No improvement, from bad D = coach needs to go.
 
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#22
#22
wmcovol said:
It does take an injection of better athletes. It simply starts there.

Banks and staff had a terrible game plan. It appears they didnt have a 'fall back" plan either which isnt good. The adjustment SC made wasnt a masterful plan. They didnt think they could line up and run it so they decided to max protect and burn the weakest part of Tennessee's defense. You have got to anticipate those type of adjustments.
Click to expand...

Spot on. TN assumed Beamer would run the ball, guess again. And the routes were not spectacular. We couldn’t defend the swing pass to the RB out in the flat. Our D couldn’t get off the blocks so that play gained 7-9 yards on first down. There receivers were open all night in man coverage and then we went zone. We gave them a good 10 yard cushion and Rattler torched us.
Even their DBs were more physical than our receivers. Losing Bru hurt us in the second half as he is our most important physical WR and a leader.

I still don’t understand why Heupel didn’t tell Banks to bring pressure to at least hit Rattler. I guess I’m still not over this loss. 😂
 
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#24
#24
I say we take away every defensive players scholarship and tell them to earn it back or get a big NIL deal and pay for college themselves and walk on.
 
#25
#25
JoAllan said:
Man if Tennessee can finish this season strong win a great bowl be 11-2

Then have a good old fashioned coaching search……..man that would be awesome!!!!

Good times good times
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They could also lose to Vandy and lose A bowl game. If the rumors that the defense threw the game are true, then we aren’t going 11-2.
 
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