Fire DC's before bowl game? I am still new to the board, and very confused about the season. Still wondering whether or not CLM actually did benefit from Saban residue and not from his own coaching talent. Anyway, part of me thinks that if I were him right now, I would make a very strong statement by relieving my Defensive Coaches immediately, even before the bowl game, and I would initiate a very aggressive nationwide search for a superstar replacement. I think this move would satisfy the doubt that people have about his ability to make the tough decisions related to coaching talent. It would speak loudly to potential recruits that he means business and is focused on winning. It would preserve his credibility as head football coach. Whether or not the problem is with the Defensive coaching staff or with the Coach - I think many of us still are not completely sure. BUT - something is REALLY wrong with this team, and the ultimate responsibility for the success of this team lies with the Head Coach. Doing nothing (in my opinion) reinforces the notion that the problem lies with CLM. He needs to do something sooner than later.
Re: Fire DC's before bowl game? Join the club - the Krewe of Confused, if you will. Good points, and a good post! Welcome to the board! :geaux:
Re: Fire DC's before bowl game? It's a difficult situation for Les, because he is friends with both DC's. He believed in them before the season and might still believe in them to get the job done. The fans are obviously calling for their heads but we only get small glimpses of the big picture. For all we know it's a problem of seniors not giving a damn and we're better off retaining the DCs and waiting for the bad apples to move on. From an outsider's perspective, it'd be nice to get a reputable DC in here ASAP but Les has proven to be a man of conviction and isn't one to make a decision in haste. I can see the reasoning for change, and as a Falcons fan I know first hand how a coach's loyalty to an assistant can come back to bite him (Mora should've fired Knapp years ago and would've kept his job) but to Les it might not be that simple.
Re: Fire DC's before bowl game? The scheme is the biggest part of the problem and the players have lost confidence in it. If Les is going to be a good coach he HAS to make this change. If he does not, you can start the countdown clock because his will days will be numbered. I hope he does and will be LSU's coach for a long time!:thumb:
Re: Fire DC's before bowl game? The thing is though we have no idea what the scheme really is, and whether the problem is communication or reception. Again, we are all on the outside looking in, and any talk of "scheme" by us casual observers (however rabid we may be) is just speculation. We have no idea how an SEC style "scheme" really works. Any opinion on our DC is an uninformed one. From an outsider's perspective, I'll agree that a change is necessary. But again, from Miles' perspective it might not be that simple. For all we know, we keep the two DCs and we have a light's out D next year with a new crop of front 7 talent and a more experienced secondary. Can't place all the blame on coaching, they aren't the ones taking bad angles, not wrapping up and constantly being out of position. I know, I know, coaches are supposed to correct these things in practice, but for all we know they have been all year and the players are simply just not carrying out their orders. Only Miles knows. Either way, I agree that something needs to change next year, whether it's personnel or coaching is up to Miles IMO. I have full confidence that he'll address it one way or another though.
Re: Fire DC's before bowl game? We are in year 5 of a scheme that believes in primarily rushing 4 and dropping 7. That is BIG 12 garbage that makes all of their games look like arena football (see last night). Baylor and OSU got picked a part last night giving QB's 5-7 seconds to find someone. We know that we blitz only in long down and distance situations, barely disguising it if at all. If we are down and need to come back we blitz (see Arkansas), then if we get a good lead we don't blitz to keep everything in front of us allowing teams to come back (see Arkansas). If we play a conventional offense the defense works (see OSU, MSU, Bama) if we play a team that can run or throw or spread us out...it doesn't matter what the talent level is we struggle. LSU lives off aggresive D that turns athlete's loose!! It is time for CLM to understand this!! Punk, where are you to back me up?! :wave:
Re: Fire DC's before bowl game? I agree :thumb:. "Something" is wrong with the defense this year..... it could be coaching, scheme and/or players! What fans see are results, but there are obviously many pieces to the broken up jigsaw puzzle that has to be put back together. That's heck of a challenge to Miles.
Re: Fire DC's before bowl game? I agree with your points, but with our secondary problems this year there was really so much you could call in terms of blitzing. The two or three times we left Hawkins and Peterson on islands were the times Arky hit us for big gains. The last TD and several of the other long plays were when we were caught in man coverage. I think the disguising of coverage and blitzes is what has been missing since Saban left. I don't necessarily disagree with the rush 4 creed as long as your rushers are getting to the QB. The Tampa 2 works wonders in the NFL, we just didn't have the consistent pass rush or dynamic enough LBs to survive in that offense every play. But when we did blitz and go man, the blitz took too long to get there and the corners got exposed. It happened under Saban some years too (think 4th and 14 vs. Auburn, 2004, or the UGA game that same year.) There is really no right or wrong way to call a defense, IMO, as long as the execution and tackling is top notch. Obviously this year we were sorely lacking in both of those depts. but that may be just as much on the players as it is on the coaching staff.
This team had several problems this year. First and foremost is the fact that there is no leadership on the team, on either side of the ball. We lost a lot of talent last year and do not have replacements. Secondly, our quarterback situation is horrible. We may be able to carve out a good QB out of Lee of Jefferson, but they just did not have the experience needed to win games. Thirdly, something happened to the discipline of the team as a whole. I have no idea where this is coming from, but it is obvious. Look at all the yardage we gave up this year due to penalties. I believe CLM has some tough decisions to make for this coming year. I hope he makes the right decisions.
Agree with all points. The offense cost us just as many points/wins as the defense. Like I said, it might just be a case of a lazy/uninspired group of seniors who already "got theirs" and a group of younger players who were simply not talented or outspoken enough to even make a difference. Just a bad team from a chemistry stand point. An odd mix of older and younger players, at all the wrong positions.
