Justin Wilcox now available. Possible DC?

#29
#29
BigOrangeTrain said:
Wilcox’s best defense here ranked #36 nationally. Banks defense ranked 7th nationally last year. So how was he better than Banks?
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He never had remotely close to the same talent that Banks had last year. The schedule was much tougher in 2011. We faced 3 top 20 offenses in 2011, and 1 in 2024, which was Ohio State who scored 42 against us. That 2011 team faced final #1 Alabama, #2 LSU, #5 Arkansas, (all of whom had top 20 offenses) #9, 11-win South Carolina team, and #19 UGA (both of whom averaged 30+ppg), plus our usual house of horrors trip to Gainesville. The defense improved from the mid-80s after the chaos of Dooley's first season, to 28th in YPG. That defense got zero help from the offense as well, since we averaged 20ppg in 2011.

His talent/results vs schedule ratio here was better than anything Banks has ever managed to pull off.
 
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#34
#34
Godfatha said:
I have a feeling even if we were fortunate enough for Banks to leave, we’d just promote Inge
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Agreed. We could probably lose to Vandy by five or six touchdowns and Heup still isn’t firing Banks. Redmond and Farooq have played pretty well, but I’ve still watched those guys try and shoulder bump tackle and absolutely whiff too many times this year. There have been others, too. How that doesn’t get corrected by this defensive staff is beyond me. Farooq whiffed badly trying to do that the other night. Some of these dudes are scared of contact. Has to get fixed.
 
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#37
#37
Midas said:
For sure. He’s really good at scheming and can do more with less. He had well rounded defenses here with guys like Brent Brewer starting. In the long run it was a blessing he left cause imagine how much more damage Dooley would have done to the roster if he was given an extension after that year. Would be a great hire if we have an opening.
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So I go back and forth on that. Obviously the main thing that looks like none of it mattered was the recruiting / eligibility issues that occurred under Dooley with Bray. I think he was in over his head (as evidenced of ripping up the scheme to go with a complete 180 in Sunseri), but I also think for a putz, he had a quality staff that was led by Chaney and Wilcox.

Part of Coach O's success wasn't about scheming / gameplanning. It was being a manager surrounded with great coordinators.

Not comparing Dooley to Coach O, but Dooley did have very good coordinators his first 2 seasons.
 
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#42
#42
Maybe an easier defensive solution would be to replace Willie Martinez as secondary coach. I know the DB play has suffered this season because of injuries and inexperience, but Martinez has been a coaching liability since his first go-round on The Hill.
 
#44
#44
HollowaytoSeivers said:
Maybe an easier defensive solution would be to replace Willie Martinez as secondary coach. I know the DB play has suffered this season because of injuries and inexperience, but Martinez has been a coaching liability since his first go-round on The Hill.
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He does better coaching corners than Banks does coaching Safeties!
 
#46
#46
FranklinVFL said:
Cal just fired him. He was a decent DC here. Wonder if he would have any interest coming back? I know he is a west coast guy but wasn’t sure if it was a culture shock that had him go back west or didn’t like the HC (Dooley)
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Yea his defenses in P4 have been worse than ours
 
#47
#47
If we let go of Banks, I say that White should give Wilcox a call. He did a great job as DC. But he left because he hated working under Dooley, and I can't blame him for that. We still had good players on defense after he left, but Sunseri f****d it up by trying to change it from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Of all people Doolittle could have brought in as DC, it had to be Sal Sunseri.

But, if Banks was to be let go, by all means, Danny, talk with Josh and pick up that phone and see if he'd return to Knoxville.
 
#48
#48
We can do better than both of them.

We won’t, but we should. It’s gonna take another year of 3rd and Banks to drive the point home.
 
#49
#49
Nostalgic food never tastes as good as we remember. Same case with Wilcox. He was a stable coach and after the Sunseri debacle, CJW gets a lot more credit than he deserves. He was a good coach but that is all. He was not great and his team just got destroyed by a bad Stanford team. Our defense drives me crazy at times, but I hate to imagine us ever giving 34 points (I think there may have been a defensive score but still) to a team the caliber of Stanford.

To be somewhat analytical, Wilcox four – 2– five defense was not the best fit for the SEC at the time because so many teams were still playing heavily power football systems. Now I think the 425 that he runs would actually be fairly successful here, probably more so than it was when he was here the first time. However, I don’t think he has ever had an elite unit, regardless of where he has been, so that should tell us something.
 
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#50
#50
I think we all remember Wilcox in a favorable light because he followed what was likely the worst DC to ever walk the sideline at UT in Sal Sunseri.
I do think a lot of the issues with Wilcox at Cal is the fact that Cal has no interest in investing in NIL it seems.

Looking at some of the guys that committed to Cal and then either transferred or flipped, there were some pretty good players.
I do recall he did a decent job of recruiting here when he was DC too.

That said, he hasn't been strictly a DC in a few years, so not sure if he would fit or if he would be an upgrade over what we have now.
I think I'm with most others - IF we are looking after this season, he's worth an interview at least.
 
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