Josh Heupel “We’re going to play Elite Defense”

#127
#127
DaddyChad said:
Idk. I’m critical of Banks but I don’t think he has the pieces for an even mediocre defense. Thought he overperformed given the talent he had. That said Carolina was inexcusable. Idk how you field a defense that’s that terrible on every possession.
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"In 2018, RAND published two reports for the U.S. Army describing will to fight. Arguably, will to fight is the single most important factor in war. Will to fight is the disposition and decision to fight, to keep fighting, and to win. The best technology in the world is useless without the force of will to use it and to keep using it even as casualties mount and unexpected calamities arise. Will to fight represents the indelibly human nature of warfare.
With very few exceptions, all wars and almost all battles are decided by matters of human will: Breaking the enemy's will to fight while sustaining one's own will to fight is the key to success in battle. But as focus on technology increases, the essentially human nature of war is all but ignored. Lack of focus on will to fight has created a dangerous gap in American military practice."

Our defense's will to fight was lost, contributing to that debacle.
Our team imposed its will against the defense in every game except Bama, UGA and USCe, and parts of the Pitt game. In the Pitt, Bama, and UGA games, our team maintained its will to fight until the final play. Our offense simply outgunned Bama's that day, while our defense was exploited by Bryce Young and our defense continued to fight and stopped Bama just enough to win. Our defense played well enough against UGA, but the offense was shut down by scheme and talent. The USCe game was different. Our offense played well enough to win that game 95%+ times.
The defense lost the battles on early possessions, they tried to re-group, and they lost the will to fight. They still played hard, but mental errors were being exposed on too many plays. The coverage broke often, the front 6 pushed, but without the fire we saw the rest of the season.

I saw opponents' defenses lose their fire because our offense imposed its will in the other games. Their offense controlled the game, despite our offense really showing up.

"Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness: Striking Where the Enemy is Most Vulnerable"
The USCe offense played with the same gameplan all our other opponents started with, they simply executed and exposed our weaknesses over and over.
Alabama's offense did this too in the 2nd half, but our offense just outperformed theirs that day.
 
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#128
#128
SpookyAction said:
"In 2018, RAND published two reports for the U.S. Army describing will to fight. Arguably, will to fight is the single most important factor in war. Will to fight is the disposition and decision to fight, to keep fighting, and to win. The best technology in the world is useless without the force of will to use it and to keep using it even as casualties mount and unexpected calamities arise. Will to fight represents the indelibly human nature of warfare.
With very few exceptions, all wars and almost all battles are decided by matters of human will: Breaking the enemy's will to fight while sustaining one's own will to fight is the key to success in battle. But as focus on technology increases, the essentially human nature of war is all but ignored. Lack of focus on will to fight has created a dangerous gap in American military practice."

Our defense's will to fight was lost, contributing to that debacle.
Our team imposed its will against the defense in every game except Bama, UGA and USCe, and parts of the Pitt game. In the Pitt, Bama, and UGA games, our team maintained its will to fight until the final play. Our offense simply outgunned Bama's that day, while our defense was exploited by Bryce Young and our defense continued to fight and stopped Bama just enough to win. Our defense played well enough against UGA, but the offense was shut down by scheme and talent. The USCe game was different. Our offense played well enough to win that game 95%+ times.
The defense lost the battles on early possessions, they tried to re-group, and they lost the will to fight. They still played hard, but mental errors were being exposed on too many plays. The coverage broke often, the front 6 pushed, but without the fire we saw the rest of the season.

I saw opponents' defenses lose their fire because our offense imposed its will in the other games. Their offense controlled the game, despite our offense really showing up.

"Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness: Striking Where the Enemy is Most Vulnerable"
The USCe offense played with the same gameplan all our other opponents started with, they simply executed and exposed our weaknesses over and over.
Alabama's offense did this too in the 2nd half, but our offense just outperformed theirs that day.
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And so Rand discovers Carl von Clausewitz a mere 192 years after his death.

Heh.

Carl von Clausewitz said:
War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.

[On War, published 1832]
Click to expand...
 
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#129
#129
zooguy is a troll. Aubie or TAMU iirc. Anyway he is anti-Vols posing as a fan. Everyone should ignore him.
 
#131
#131
Our D has been slashed by the slant under several different coordinators. Fix that one thing and it'll be all gold.
 
#132
#132
GVF said:
Our D has been slashed by the slant under several different coordinators. Fix that one thing and it'll be all gold.
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Playing defense in football is kind of like that experiment where you have a plastic bag full of jello.

You can push in on the bag in one place, but it's just gonna push out somewhere else. Something has to give.

Covering 11 with 11 requires perfect play-calling and perfect execution. If anything goes wrong, even just one player a bit out of position or looking the wrong way, a weakness is exposed.

So defensive coaches tend to reinforce the places that are most vulnerable, knowing that they accept risk in other spots

For us, and many teams, that place to accept risk is the slant.

Think about it: if you gotta take risk somewhere, for sure don't do it out on the edges...that fella will run for a touchdown before anyone can get to him. And don't give up the deep ball, that's automatic points. And don't sacrifice the run game, or you'll never get off the field.

The slant and similar throws near the middle of the field are what's left. They are the least costly risk to take. If the receiver does catch the ball, he's right in the middle of the defense, someone will be able to tackle him. Yes, you might be giving up a first down, but you're not giving up a touchdown, and have more opportunities to get the offense off the field.

Anyway, it always bugged me a bit when fans called for the coaches to cover the slant at all costs. Worse things can happen. Just about every other risk is worse, in fact.

Go Vols!
 
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#133
#133
SpookyAction said:
"In 2018, RAND published two reports for the U.S. Army describing will to fight. Arguably, will to fight is the single most important factor in war. Will to fight is the disposition and decision to fight, to keep fighting, and to win. The best technology in the world is useless without the force of will to use it and to keep using it even as casualties mount and unexpected calamities arise. Will to fight represents the indelibly human nature of warfare.
With very few exceptions, all wars and almost all battles are decided by matters of human will: Breaking the enemy's will to fight while sustaining one's own will to fight is the key to success in battle. But as focus on technology increases, the essentially human nature of war is all but ignored. Lack of focus on will to fight has created a dangerous gap in American military practice."

Our defense's will to fight was lost, contributing to that debacle.
Our team imposed its will against the defense in every game except Bama, UGA and USCe, and parts of the Pitt game. In the Pitt, Bama, and UGA games, our team maintained its will to fight until the final play. Our offense simply outgunned Bama's that day, while our defense was exploited by Bryce Young and our defense continued to fight and stopped Bama just enough to win. Our defense played well enough against UGA, but the offense was shut down by scheme and talent. The USCe game was different. Our offense played well enough to win that game 95%+ times.
The defense lost the battles on early possessions, they tried to re-group, and they lost the will to fight. They still played hard, but mental errors were being exposed on too many plays. The coverage broke often, the front 6 pushed, but without the fire we saw the rest of the season.

I saw opponents' defenses lose their fire because our offense imposed its will in the other games. Their offense controlled the game, despite our offense really showing up.

"Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness: Striking Where the Enemy is Most Vulnerable"
The USCe offense played with the same gameplan all our other opponents started with, they simply executed and exposed our weaknesses over and over.
Alabama's offense did this too in the 2nd half, but our offense just outperformed theirs that day.
Click to expand...
Outstanding post.
 
#134
#134
We didn't lose the USCjr game because of TOP or the D wearing out. The thought that we can't have an elite defense with proper depth and scheme is not correct IMO. We played terrible in coverage and gave up more points than I care to remember. If we have even an average game defensively with depth and the right scheme we are going to be hard to beat. Allows the offense to have an off game and still beat quality opponents by a few scores.
 
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#135
#135
VFL-82-JP said:
Playing defense in football is kind of like that experiment where you have a plastic bag full of jello.

You can push in on the bag in one place, but it's just gonna push out somewhere else. Something has to give.

Covering 11 with 11 requires perfect play-calling and perfect execution. If anything goes wrong, even just one player a bit out of position or looking the wrong way, a weakness is exposed.

So defensive coaches tend to reinforce the places that are most vulnerable, knowing that they accept risk in other spots

For us, and many teams, that place to accept risk is the slant.

Think about it: if you gotta take risk somewhere, for sure don't do it out on the edges...that fella will run for a touchdown before anyone can get to him. And don't give up the deep ball, that's automatic points. And don't sacrifice the run game, or you'll never get off the field.

The slant and similar throws near the middle of the field are what's left. They are the least costly risk to take. If the receiver does catch the ball, he's right in the middle of the defense, someone will be able to tackle him. Yes, you might be giving up a first down, but you're not giving up a touchdown, and have more opportunities to get the offense off the field.

Anyway, it always bugged me a bit when fans called for the coaches to cover the slant at all costs. Worse things can happen. Just about every other risk is worse, in fact.

Go Vols!
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I'd only add that your LBs have to be able to recognize their tendencies and look to provide some help if the DBs are playing outside or heads up leverage. Knowing what the opponent is likely to do helps to strengthen the weak points with positioning and read/reaction. Doesn't mean we will stop every slant but will make it harder and then the averages catch up.
 
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#136
#136
I Just Wonder what a few solid hits on would have done for the confidence of our defense. We were unable to ever establish the smallest spark of momentum
Just a couple of stopped drives could have turned the whole thing around IMO
 
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#137
#137
I'm a big fan of CJH and I know nothing about coaching football, but I don't see how UT can have an elite defense with Willie Martinez coaching the secondary.
 
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#138
#138
Teeman said:
I'm a big fan of CJH and I know nothing about coaching football, but I don't see how UT can have an elite defense with Willie Martinez coaching the secondary.
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I don't know why that guy was hired. He has always been horrible. 3 of our 6 wins against UGA this century came in the 5 year period he was their DC. I like him better when he coaches for other teams.
 
#139
#139
unfrozencvmanvol said:
I don't know why that guy was hired. He has always been horrible. 3 of our 6 wins against UGA this century came in the 5 year period he was their DC. I like him better when he coaches for other teams.
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I agree. He has really bounced around since UGA fired him in 2009, but CJH apparently sees something in him. Resigned at OK in 2011, not retained by Auburn after Chizik was fired, let go by Butch Jones after 2016, and only lasted one year at Cincinnati. Everywhere he has been, the secondary seemed to regress.
 
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#140
#140
Teeman said:
I agree. He has really bounced around since UGA fired him in 2009, but CJH apparently sees something in him. Resigned at OK in 2011, not retained by Auburn after Chizik was fired, let go by Butch Jones after 2016, and only lasted one year at Cincinnati. Everywhere he has been, the secondary seems to regress.
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I've always heard he was a first class human being. He just isn't that great of a football coach imo.
 
#142
#142
All I hope is that we can get off the field on 3rd and long.

It was real tiring giving those up constantly last season.
 
#143
#143
Matt2496 said:
All I hope is that we can get off the field on 3rd and long.

It was real tiring giving those up constantly last season.
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I don't have a source for 3rd down stats, particularly 3rd & long stats. If you have one and can share it, I'd appreciate that.

Without it, I'll have to extrapolate from final scores. We kept 10 of our 13 opponents below 28 points in 2022. Less than a touchdown each quarter. That's pretty darn low, in the modern game.

Especially since our offense is out there scoring 40+ most games.

You feel like many of our opponents were frequently making it on 3rd and long ("constantly," you said). If they did, they were just wasting their time...because we usually kept them from the end zone.

I'm good with a bend-but-don't-break defense. I mean, Josh says Elite Defense is coming, but until then, I can live with beating teams 45-21 over and over.

Heh.

Go Vols!
 
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#144
#144
VFL-82-JP said:
I don't have a source for 3rd down stats, particularly 3rd & long stats. If you have one and can share it, I'd appreciate that.

Without it, I'll have to extrapolate from final scores. We kept 10 of our 13 opponents below 28 points in 2022. Less than a touchdown each quarter. That's pretty darn low, in the modern game.

Especially since our offense is out there scoring 40+ most games.

You feel like many of our opponents were frequently making it on 3rd and long ("constantly," you said). If they did, they were just wasting their time...because we usually kept them from the end zone.

I'm good with a bend-but-don't-break defense. I mean, Josh says Elite Defense is coming, but until then, I can live with beating teams 45-21 over and over.

Heh.

Go Vols!
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People have terrible memory… the Vols were significantly better on 3rd down last tae than the 2021 season as it was a huge point of emphasis… I think coach banks figured a better plan during the clemson game that aligns more with what coach heup wants in his defense… I think we will be more blitzing and less bend but don’t break next season… but also CJH plays chess he on games he knows we will win Vs lesser opponents they keep the calls more vanilla on both sides as to not put any additional film for teams to study… we upgraded our secondary in a major way plus the returning players have a lot of experience which can’t be undervalued… it was people on here that told me Aaron Beasley was one of the worst LBs they had seen 2 years ago and he developed and gained alot of experience and really came on strong last season and is now expected to be the leader of the defense… I fully trust that coach heup has built a culture that will develop an elite defense especially with how we have recruited on all 3 levels of the defense.
 
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#146
#146
VFL-82-JP said:
I don't have a source for 3rd down stats, particularly 3rd & long stats. If you have one and can share it, I'd appreciate that.

Without it, I'll have to extrapolate from final scores. We kept 10 of our 13 opponents below 28 points in 2022. Less than a touchdown each quarter. That's pretty darn low, in the modern game.

Especially since our offense is out there scoring 40+ most games.

You feel like many of our opponents were frequently making it on 3rd and long ("constantly," you said). If they did, they were just wasting their time...because we usually kept them from the end zone.

I'm good with a bend-but-don't-break defense. I mean, Josh says Elite Defense is coming, but until then, I can live with beating teams 45-21 over and over.

Heh.

Go Vols!
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The defense had a 3rd down conversion rate of 0.342 which ranked 32 in FBS.

NCAA College Football FBS Stats | NCAA.com

Again, the defense was much better than a lot of people realize.
 
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#147
#147
GoVols64 said:
We didn't lose the USCjr game because of TOP or the D wearing out. The thought that we can't have an elite defense with proper depth and scheme is not correct IMO. We played terrible in coverage and gave up more points than I care to remember. If we have even an average game defensively with depth and the right scheme we are going to be hard to beat. Allows the offense to have an off game and still beat quality opponents by a few scores.
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This^ and one of their TDs was a gift from the non forced HH injury and he dropped the ball and 7 points. Think about it even though our D was either laying down or out of sync. This unforced error caused a 14 point change in the game. Would we have been able to out score them if this doesn't happen and HH stays in the game. We will never know but this game was a perfect storm for us to lose. It had all the elements.
*20 point favorite
*D, LB leader not playing/w dissent for discipline
* Playing on the road in SEC
* Letting the crowd stay in the game
* Heisman candidate gets knocked out of the game
* Rat hits a few and gains confidence he hadn't had all year
 
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