Across college football , there aren't enough players that can make plays consistency against good corners. I don't agree with that quote. If we get the right corners (long , athletic) we will be fine . No matter what. That's a "let me just feed into perceptions" quote .
[Article]ACC Coaches talk anonymously about ACC teams
- Thread starter pittfanfromNC
- Start date
No. But a good coach adjusts to what he has and what he can do. We don't likely have the offense to have a defense that poor again and get away with 8 wins. Sometimes you have to suck up your ego, and do what is best to help you win.
Not only that, but the rules now are so favorable for the offensive player, that on jump balls you almost have a 50/50 chance of a defensive PI call.
Pitt plays more base 4-3 defense against teams using four and five wide receiver sets than just about any team in the country. And it's been that way since Walt Harris was the coach. I continually wonder how many times we will see some small, fast slot receiver running past our linebackers like they are standing still before someone gets the message that playing that way simply will not work.
Some of it is a talent issue. At some point if you reach a talent level, the scheme you run isn't as important. Recruiting will never be at that talent level, but any improvement in talent is going to lead to some improvement in success.
The question is: is there a scheme issue? As others have pointed out, there is certainly an improvement in the scheme/talent of the opponents in the ACC. That just can't be denied. Even 2 of the 3 recruiting powers in the Big Ten, that are perhaps capable of bringing in the kind of talent that can match southern programs, were down during Michigan State's run.
You also have to expect some weaknesses in the scheme to become apparent over time. Duzzi has been running it for a while now. Early on, teams just seemed to want to throw boundary fades towards the sideline/away from safety help. Which makes sense, at first glance that seems like the "Football 101" way to attack press coverage. And Narduzzi does a good job stopping that (although just look at the VT game for evidence of how much more difficult a task that is in the ACC compared to Big Ten).
But now teams are using the slot to exploit the safety, forcing Pitt and Michigan State to prove their safety can cover like a corner. The RPO and spread is also adding more to secondary players that are already asked to do a lot. When modern day college offenses are designed to create more "gaps" to be accounted for through spacing, overloading the box and asking the secondary to hold down their quarter becomes that much more difficult.
The question is: is there a scheme issue? As others have pointed out, there is certainly an improvement in the scheme/talent of the opponents in the ACC. That just can't be denied. Even 2 of the 3 recruiting powers in the Big Ten, that are perhaps capable of bringing in the kind of talent that can match southern programs, were down during Michigan State's run.
You also have to expect some weaknesses in the scheme to become apparent over time. Duzzi has been running it for a while now. Early on, teams just seemed to want to throw boundary fades towards the sideline/away from safety help. Which makes sense, at first glance that seems like the "Football 101" way to attack press coverage. And Narduzzi does a good job stopping that (although just look at the VT game for evidence of how much more difficult a task that is in the ACC compared to Big Ten).
But now teams are using the slot to exploit the safety, forcing Pitt and Michigan State to prove their safety can cover like a corner. The RPO and spread is also adding more to secondary players that are already asked to do a lot. When modern day college offenses are designed to create more "gaps" to be accounted for through spacing, overloading the box and asking the secondary to hold down their quarter becomes that much more difficult.
Better have an overpowering pass rush that puts the QB under intense pressure on every passing play--4 X Aaron Donald come at him!
This is exactly right! Very well stated. If you get a couple of corners who are long enough, and maybe another pass rusher, this defense will be very effective against everyone it faces.
That was my initial thought too.
They talk about how good quarterbacks pick apart that defense. I'm going to let everyone in on a closely kept secret: good quarterbacks pick apart every defense – that's what makes them good quarterbacks.
The way you slow down a good quarterback at any level is you speed up his clock. You get pressure on him and you take away his primary targets. That creates indecision, which in turn leads to bad decisions, which in turn lead to mistakes.
That's PRECISELY what Narduzzi's defense is designed to do. However, you have the athletes to actually do it. If you don't have good enough athletes, no scheme looks very good.
Narduzzi IS too stubborn and his defense WAS repeatedly torn apart last year. There's no two ways about that. However, Pitt's defensive struggles had nothing to do with the preferred style of play in the Big Ten or whether it rains more in the autumn in Illinois than it does in North Carolina.
Honestly, whichever coach said that - if anyone really did say that - is a complete bonehead.
Don't scrap it; tweak it based on the opponent and your personnel.
I say this as well but the counter will inevitably be that the turnaround is too short and the players too ... unsophisticated might be the nicest word ... to be able to grasp changes every week.
I'm not saying I would say this, but this is what the common counter will be.
That and the reality that the coach is secure in his knowledge that the rest of the coaching world, or at least the coaches in the big ten, are familiar that he can produce good defenses at schools that support him adequately with recruiting. As our last 2 coaches showed, not to mention our last basketball coach, mediocre results at Pitt don't get held against the HC for other jobs. Other schools know the score with us. In other words, Narduzzi doesn't really have to fear suffering a bad reputation if he stays stubborn and sticks with his scheme.
I don't disagree with what you say for the most part....the other consideration though here is that the rebuilding job here could be greatly accelerated by a couple of additional wins per year and in that sense a stubborn resistance to subtle changes will slow down the rebuild and isn't helping the Duzz...we weren't that far away from a 10-11 game win total last year and most assuredly would have won that many games with a "reasonably" effective D.
I know that the response to this question by NJPSU is going to be nasty but honestly, I think this is a fair question and worthy of a serious response.
First, let's throw everyone's current recruiting rankings right out the window because they are meaningless. They are mostly speculative in January and February. To be analyzing them in August is just completely absurd. Why don't we talk about something more scientific like, oh, I don't know, astrology?
As for Pitt's recruiting to date under Narduzzi, I think it has improved quite a bit, TBH. If you look at what we were doing three years ago when he arrived, and who we were recruiting against; versus what we are doing now, and who are we are recruiting against, the improvement has been undeniable.
I also understand that outside of the top 5–8 programs in the country, recruiting is largely guesswork. I think the difference between the 13th best recruiting class in the country and the 32nd best recruiting class in the country is whether or not a three star athlete or two develops better than other three star athletes in that class.
So far, this has gone pretty much all I expected it to go. We have made incremental progress and we look a lot like Michigan State did at the beginning of the Dantonio era. Obviously, we are trying to emulate that success – which is why we hired the guy in the first place.
Also, I expect this year to be a tougher year than others seem to expect. I think seven or eight wins. However, I believe that starting next year, we are going to be a tough out for every team we face.
Now, does that mean that we will be able to recapture at Pitt what they clearly captured at Michigan State? I don't know - nobody does?
However, I do know that we are bringing in better, longer athletes to play that defensive scheme and it can't possibly be worse than it was last year. I also know that with a lesser talented team, we were able to beat the champions of the Big Ten Conference and all of college football.
I think there's a lot of reason for sincere eyes-wide-open optimism.
First, let's throw everyone's current recruiting rankings right out the window because they are meaningless. They are mostly speculative in January and February. To be analyzing them in August is just completely absurd. Why don't we talk about something more scientific like, oh, I don't know, astrology?
As for Pitt's recruiting to date under Narduzzi, I think it has improved quite a bit, TBH. If you look at what we were doing three years ago when he arrived, and who we were recruiting against; versus what we are doing now, and who are we are recruiting against, the improvement has been undeniable.
I also understand that outside of the top 5–8 programs in the country, recruiting is largely guesswork. I think the difference between the 13th best recruiting class in the country and the 32nd best recruiting class in the country is whether or not a three star athlete or two develops better than other three star athletes in that class.
So far, this has gone pretty much all I expected it to go. We have made incremental progress and we look a lot like Michigan State did at the beginning of the Dantonio era. Obviously, we are trying to emulate that success – which is why we hired the guy in the first place.
Also, I expect this year to be a tougher year than others seem to expect. I think seven or eight wins. However, I believe that starting next year, we are going to be a tough out for every team we face.
Now, does that mean that we will be able to recapture at Pitt what they clearly captured at Michigan State? I don't know - nobody does?
However, I do know that we are bringing in better, longer athletes to play that defensive scheme and it can't possibly be worse than it was last year. I also know that with a lesser talented team, we were able to beat the champions of the Big Ten Conference and all of college football.
I think there's a lot of reason for sincere eyes-wide-open optimism.
Absolutely agree. Sometimes it seems that our program baffles in its seeming unawareness that winning is actually kind of important.
I'm not the "play someone else, run a different play, dammit!" type of fan (though I've certainly said it in frustration at times). There's something to the conservative "stay the course" mentality and confidence in your plan ... at times.
But when you see the exact same thing play after play game after game and it constantly produces the same result (getting bashed in teeth), they call that insanity... or indifference. And we saw similar indifference with Graham and Chryst, running the same shit and playing the same guys who produced the same results, yet moving on anyway to better jobs.
Narduzzi isn't as bad as those two, I believe/hope. I feel more earnest desire to win here with him, not merely biding time. But when I watched that abhorrent passing D and it never tried a single thing different, it definitely harkened back to Graham futilely running Pat White types of plays for Tino Sunseri ... All season.
yes...sometimes you wonder if this happens...see NC, OSU and VT tapes
what about the kid from Wisconsin?????
You know....from that all time movie classic Draft Day....featuring Kevin Costner......one of the least talented actors of this century......
Somewhere along the line we either need to recruit or develop a star quarterback, and all the rest will fall into place.
what about the kid from Wisconsin?????
You know....from that all time movie classic Draft Day....featuring Kevin Costner......one of the least talented actors of this century......
Russell Wilson? 3rd round pick.
