"Real Concerns on Defense Remain" (Report After Spring)

#26
#26
PlanetVolunteer said:
Our defense wasn't always bad last year. If it were that bad we would have struggled a lot more with missouri and uscjr. Early on we'd do well, then we just couldn't get off the field on third down.

Kinda like 2020's defense completely unable to stop a slant route.

I'll he shocked if we don't improve.

I mean I've convinced myself we're going to be pretty damn good. Like Ole Miss last year good.
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How do we improve the results without first improving the personnel though? I'm not trying to be combative about it but honestly looking at last year's roster and looking at who we have coming back, I just don't see how that happens unless we get extremely lucky and have a LOT of "dark horse" players that didn't start last year and a bunch of overachieving freshmen coming in this year who will be major contributors. With so many help wanted signs we had hanging on our defense at the end of last season, frankly I'm stunned we didn't go get more defensive players in the portal. I thought that would be a given going into this season.
 
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#28
#28
beachvol23 said:
Until this coaching staff makes it a priority that we are two deep upper level quality depth, the defense will continue to suck ands it’s not the DC’s fault! CJH MUST realize 1) HIS offense is the single biggest detriment to the defense and 2) recruiting must improve!

I like CJH but he will not make it past year 5 without these improvements!
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Right....
 
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#31
#31
Brave Volunteer said:
How do we improve the results without first improving the personnel though? I'm not trying to be combative about it but honestly looking at last year's roster and looking at who we have coming back, I just don't see how that happens unless we get extremely lucky and have a LOT of "dark horse" players that didn't start last year and a bunch of overachieving freshmen coming in this year who will be major contributors. With so many help wanted signs we had hanging on our defense at the end of last season, frankly I'm stunned we didn't go get more defensive players in the portal. I thought that would be a given going into this season.
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Uhhh you ever heard of player development?

It would be more shocking than anything if no one on the roster gets better from last year. It's more likely most of them improve.

Just look at last year! Jaquain Blakely, Matthew Butler, Theo Jackson, Jeremy Banks, Aaron Beasley, Solon Page etc all got better with this regime.

Several guys will get better. It's a given considering the coaches we have like Garner and Martinez who have put many dudes in the league.
 
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#32
#32
OrangeBeachVol said:
Hyp must have felt like he needed another season to get it all together. I would think if the D is not very much improved this season we will have a new DC next year.
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EVERYONE knew going into 2021 defense was gonna be weak, extremely weak. Then when it is, we want to fire the DC. Hmmmmm
 
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#34
#34
1...Better conditioning will help loads.

2...Better jimmies and Joes will help loads.

3...Score more on our O and when we get a 3 TD lead cut our D loose and let the guys get after them!

Blitz on most every play and run the other team ragged.

I honestly believe the priority this season will be to get a 3 TD lead as fast as possible and then for Coach Banks to cut our D loose and to blitz so much they'll always be trying to guess where all the blitzers are coming from.

Get our D totally FIRED UP!!!

VFL...GBO!!!
 
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#35
#35
wmcovol said:
EVERYONE knew going into 2021 defense was gonna be weak, extremely weak. Then when it is, we want to fire the DC. Hmmmmm
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What would you do as HC if your defense was not good for 2 straight yrs. Take the heat and pull a Pruitt and say I'm sticking with my DC or make a change. Doesn't matter if the reason is the lack of players or not, the HC has to do something to show he is trying to improve. And I never called to fire him, just stated Hyp may have to.
 
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#36
#36
beachvol23 said:
Until this coaching staff makes it a priority that we are two deep upper level quality depth, the defense will continue to suck ands it’s not the DC’s fault! CJH MUST realize 1) HIS offense is the single biggest detriment to the defense and 2) recruiting must improve!

I like CJH but he will not make it past year 5 without these improvements!
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I think certainly agree with what you say about the offense. Majority of fans for some reason don't understand that detriment as it is right on the television.

Heupel i feel absolutely understands the need for depth and talent for his defense.
If you look at how we're recruiting and the transfers he went after last year.

If he adjusted justed his offense just a bit- specifically NOT going into hypermode until the offense gets a first down. Just an opinion.

He'll figure it out. He's a good coach.
 
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#38
#38
It is too easy to forget (or in this journalist's case, never be aware) that Tennessee was really thin last year. Recall how much we hemorrhaged in the off-season a year ago after Pruitt's departure? Remember all the lads who were our starters in 2019 and 2020, but left for Oklahoma, Bama and other places? Our roster was decimated by the time Heupel arrived, and we lost even more before his calm, caring leadership could cement what was left into a new team.

Our roster had as many holes as swiss cheese. Especially bad on the defense.

And when your defense holds the field for 40+ minutes of every 60-minute game, those shortfalls are magnified even more.

That's the reason. Not A reason, but THE reason. The reason our defense ranked in the bottom quarter of many stats among FBS teams.

Our coaching staff have done a really good job so far filling the gaps. We're not fully there yet on defense (or offense), but we're a lot closer in 2022 than we were in 2021.

So yes, it is realistic to expect significant improvement, wholesale improvement in the D. If the O is just as good as or even better than 2021, and the defense is able to make the quantum leap forward that a near-full roster of talent can bring, we have good reason to expect a very nice result this coming fall.

Go Vols!
 
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#39
#39
PlanetVolunteer said:
Uhhh you ever heard of player development?

It would be more shocking than anything if no one on the roster gets better from last year. It's more likely most of them improve.

Just look at last year! Jaquain Blakely, Matthew Butler, Theo Jackson, Jeremy Banks, Aaron Beasley, Solon Page etc all got better with this regime.

Several guys will get better. It's a given considering the coaches we have like Garner and Martinez who have put many dudes in the league.
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We'll see. Some players get a year better, some just get a year older. I hope you're right and our D surprises everyone but we didn't exactly have a stable of 4 and 5* blue chips on that side of the ball to begin with.
 
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#40
#40
beachvol23 said:
Until this coaching staff makes it a priority that we are two deep upper level quality depth, the defense will continue to suck ands it’s not the DC’s fault! CJH MUST realize 1) HIS offense is the single biggest detriment to the defense and 2) recruiting must improve!

I like CJH but he will not make it past year 5 without these improvements!
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Lol, terrible analysis
 
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#42
#42
beachvol23 said:
Until this coaching staff makes it a priority that we are two deep upper level quality depth, the defense will continue to suck ands it’s not the DC’s fault! CJH MUST realize 1) HIS offense is the single biggest detriment to the defense and 2) recruiting must improve!

I like CJH but he will not make it past year 5 without these improvements!
Click to expand...

Have you submitted your blueprint to Hype?
 
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#45
#45
beachvol23 said:
Until this coaching staff makes it a priority that we are two deep upper level quality depth, the defense will continue to suck ands it’s not the DC’s fault! CJH MUST realize 1) HIS offense is the single biggest detriment to the defense and 2) recruiting must improve!

I like CJH but he will not make it past year 5 without these improvements!
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Yes. UT needs improved talent on D.

How do you know it isn't a priority?

Yes. When your D can't get off the field on 3rd down, your DC bears a lot of the blame.

No. CJH doesn't need to realize any such thing. His offense is the reason UT was competitive last fall. Mostly for reasons not the fault of the current staff, the D had talent holes. BUT many times it was not as good as it could have been. When you play that kind of O, you can't look at total D or scoring D in the same way. But you DO have to get off the field on 3rd down. UT was 13th in the SEC... significantly worse than even Vandy who had less talent.

I loved the CFB of the 80's and 90's too. But we aren't going back to that any time soon. So YOU need to realize that what Heupel does on O if paired even with "good" Defense will win a lot of games. His O is in no way, shape, or form a "detriment". That's honestly just a dumb statement. If the D were just 5% better on 3rd down... UT very likely would have been competing for the SEC.
 
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#46
#46
Jonsson said:
Pardon my ignorance but when people bring up the fact that our offensive tempo is a factor how big of a factor is it really? Do the expectations for the defense change at all due to it or does it all come down to just not having enough talent and depth?
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It moves the needle. I think you have to judge both the O and the D on a points per possession scale. In the past, I thought 30 points was a good barometer. If the O scored more than 30, they did well; if the D gave up less than 30, they did well. With the extra possessions due to tempo, I now think the amount is 45 as a barometer.
 
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#47
#47
PlanetVolunteer said:
Hes a gator who used to work for volquest. He ought to know we can only lose to UK when JG throws back to back telegraphed pick 6's.
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He's not wrong though. UT was bad on 3rd down. They gave up lots of 3rd and longs. Banks never solved the QB run out of the pocket. I loved seeing the negative plays they forced but when you get someone cornered you can't so consistently let them escape.
 
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#48
#48
Jonsson said:
Pardon my ignorance but when people bring up the fact that our offensive tempo is a factor how big of a factor is it really? Do the expectations for the defense change at all due to it or does it all come down to just not having enough talent and depth?
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It is and it isn't. Any O has to match its D. UT plays fast on O. They score fast. That means the D has to get off the field without allowing long drives and lots of third down conversions. The UT O actually sets the D up in that regard. Scoring lots of points puts pressure on opposing O's IF... IF... the D can get some stops.

UK makes a good case study compared to MU. Against MU, UT scored fast. UT's D didn't completely stop MU but they got enough stops that the O produced a big lead and took MU's game plan away. The opposite was true vs UK. UT scored quickly then the D gave up long scoring drives. That's not on the O. The reason they played over 100 plays on D... was the D.
 
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#49
#49
FlyFishnVol said:
I don't agree, they have addressed it, but the recruiting has been slim. We have the players, just need to come off IR
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I must've missed that I guess. Who's going to play linebacker this season and who's going to be backing them up? Who's going to the be the disrupting edge rusher and who's backing him up? Who's going to be the lockdown corners and who's backing them up?
 
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#50
#50
SpookyAction said:
Our defense gave up @75% as many big plays as our offense got against our opponents.

We have to get that down to about 30% and we have a formula that can win. If we can maintain that percentage against the best teams, we have a championship team.
This isn't an Al Wilson type defense, but it is a foundation to build upon. I don't love it, but it is where we can start a winning culture on the defensive side.
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😂 Hell I wish we had a defense like those mid-late 90’s teams. I’m good with seeing fireworks on both sides of the ball.
 
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