Pruitt insistent on man coverage

#51
#51
I will have to watch the All 22 in my off season to give an accurate response and even then I don’t know all of our calls for sure. I felt like they didn’t run a ton of RPOs (ran more early in the game). Looked like we just lost the LOS and did see us bust some assignments which I still think is our biggest problem. It’s a very complex defense. 28 edge blitzes once and is responsible for the QB but takes the dive and Bentley pulls and gets an easy first down. I think this happens a lot for us in terms of mixed assignments especially in the secondary where they are running a ton of different coverages and zone matching and man matching (does not mean man to man). I expect us to be much better next year with a full year to learn.

We REALLY need the 15 practices from a BOWL game. That would be so huge for us. I could care less where the bowl is as long as we made one. It would set us up for a much better defense going into next season.
 
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#52
#52
The read option on sc first drive of the second half where bentley goes for about 20, I'm not understanding how we could have possibly stopped that with the play giving sc a hat on a hat on everybody in the box and the man to account for the qb playing deep in the secondary. I know Pruitt believes you gotta win those 1 on 1's but that is a hard play to stop considering how quick the qb gets up the field. I just don't see how we are talented enough to consistently stop that by shedding blocks that quick and bringing the qb down. But, I'm nitpicking considering bentley only really hurt us on that one play by reading and keeping.
 
#53
#53
by the way, on our final drive, the 3rd and 5 rpo we ran. i'm pretty sure jg misread that. lb's stayed back in coverage, looked like to me, and jg should have handed that off. a hand off there possibly nets us 3 to 5 yards and maybe a first down. killer misread on our final drive with a chance to tie or go up, if i'm correct.
 
#54
#54
I'll be very interested to see if LSU will be able to play a significant amount of zone against bama's RPO offense. Saban says they ( LSU ) play a lot of zone, so we'll see. If they do continue to play a lot of zone and have some success against bama's offense, I'll be rewinding and rewatching a ton of snaps to see how they do it.

Saban: Haven't faced challenge like LSU in 2018
 
#55
#55
Rule #1 in coaching is not ask your players to do what they’re not capable of doing.

Great coaches adapt to their players.
 
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#56
#56
Rule #1 in coaching is not ask your players to do what they’re not capable of doing.

Great coaches adapt to their players.

I get that, but my intent with this thread was to figure out why we couldn't/didn't play more zone. It seems that against an rpo heavy offense, you gotta play mostly man. Pruitt had already stated that he believed you had to play man to have any chance at containing bama. I'm very interested to see if LSU will mix in plenty of zone, and if they do, is it effective?
 
#57
#57
Bama WRs are THE mismatch vs everyone thus far. The fact Vol coaches chose to go man with them concerns me.
 
#59
#59
What is "the long run?" These players are gone in the long run, and TN won't be hanging with Bama for a while, certainly longer than Pruitt will be coach at TN. He should try to win now, because now is all he has, at least at this stop.
 
#60
#60
I think I can see CJP's point. The history of the way this team tackles fundamentally...you're better off going man because the DB knows it's him or maybe nothing, it's his man, he must bring him down. In a zone it seems to me the way our players historically aren't aggressive about fundamental tackling assuming someone will get him, would be unwise.
 
#61
#61
It's honestly one of the most bewildering things about the entire BJ tenure. When we brought him in this place was as high as I've ever seen. Injuries we're certainly a part in 16 & 17. But, even that wouldn't turn us to that level of trash. Maybe one day we'll hear what went on.

I believe it was a mixture of 2 things. First, was Botch himself. I think he liked to meddle in everyones business. I think he had a pakn fir the defense and made Shoop adhere to his plan. Secondly, I dont think Shoop was allowed to get any of his own guys as position coaches. Thats jmo.
 
#62
#62
I believe it was a mixture of 2 things. First, was Botch himself. I think he liked to meddle in everyones business. I think he had a pakn fir the defense and made Shoop adhere to his plan. Secondly, I dont think Shoop was allowed to get any of his own guys as position coaches. Thats jmo.

I have written at least two posts that I eventually deleted before posting because I don't think we'll ever know the answer. And the insiders - players and assistants will have different opinions and perspectives that would not really help them in their careers if they divulged. But, something happened internally, no doubt, that caused a cancer that effects us to this day.
 
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#63
#63
It does not matter. Our defensive line cannot penetrate, our team cannot tackle, and our defensive backs play like high school kids.
Until we get some real talent, no scheme is going to work.
Recruiting is the answer. We have dug ourselves into a deep hole. The problem is good players would rather be third string at Alabama and Georgia than be first string at Tennessee. It will be a miracle if Pruitt can get us turned around in three years.
 
#64
#64
Bumping this thread because I think we need to play a little more zone than we do against teams that have solid QBs. We do not have the talent to play man 80 to 90 percent of the game ( which it seems to me we are doing ) imo. Mix in a little extra zone please.

Grier, tua, Bentley, Locke, and potentially shurmur. I don't really know anything about shurmur but if he carves up our man heavy defense like these other QBs, our offense better show up with 40 plus. It pains me that vandy held mizz to 33 and mizz could have hung 60 plus on us if they wanted. Vandy.

Anyway, I'm fine with Pruitt sticking with man though. Continuing to install his scheme and teaching the fundamentals for his scheme. I just really want this team to get 6 wins so they can get that bowl game and extra practices, and i don't know that we can slow vandy down enough to get that 6th win being predominantly a man to man defense ( that combined with our offensively challenged offense ). We'll see. The team and Pruitt could really make a lot of good use out of those extra practices.
 
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#65
#65
Man is the better option in the long run against teams like Bama. You have to play man to have any shot at outmanning their front and getting pressure, sacks, etc.

He understands that in the present we don’t have the talent to go man and beat them. He also understands that in the long run, to beat them, our guys must get as much experience as they can playing the right way.

We lost and got reps and players with more experience playing the right defense to beat them.

The only other option was playing zone and being less prepared the next time they roll around on the schedule.

Good job Coach.
this. and in one of the pre season "specials" where they had him mic'd up during practice, he was screaming at the DB's "we're gonna get beat, but we're gonna get beat doing it MY way!!!"

and it goes directly back to what you mentioned above.
 
#66
#66
this. and in one of the pre season "specials" where they had him mic'd up during practice, he was screaming at the DB's "we're gonna get beat, but we're gonna get beat doing it MY way!!!"

and it goes directly back to what you mentioned above.

There is more than one way, more X's and o's to football. The chess match that is football presents a coach with multiple ways/strategies to win a game. I'm simply advocating for a little more zone principles this year, for the talent on this team. Do what you gotta do to win.

Yes, I get it that we don't have the jimmies and Joe's to go man to man and contain certain offenses ( offenses with decent QB play, to go along with a run game with a little bit of a pulse ) from marching up and down the field on us like we are non existent, and that's why I'm advocating mixing in more zone principles. Will we get torched playing zone? Yes. Will we get torched at will like Grier tua Bentley and locke torched us by mixing in more zone? I would hope not considering I'm advocating more zone defense. I really need to go back and watch the mizz vs vandy game. I suspect I will see vandy using/mixing in more zone coverages than we do, but that is all speculation until I go watch it.
 
#67
#67
Vandy's QB is good enough to find the open guy. It will be just like Saturday, give him all day to find someone he will. You can play man up, cover two, dime, nickel. Whichever you like. If the guy has time to sit down eat a sandwich and stand back up to make a pass i don't care what defense you're in. Could of made Lock work a little more with some zone but he would of carved it up too. You can make Heisman candidates out of mediocre QB's if you let them have all day to throw.. They picked up our extra guy when we did send someone. They just manhandled our front. It was embarrassing.
 
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#68
#68
Bumping this thread because I think we need to play a little more zone than we do against teams that have solid QBs. We do not have the talent to play man 80 to 90 percent of the game ( which it seems to me we are doing ) imo. Mix in a little extra zone please.

Grier, tua, Bentley, Locke, and potentially shurmur. I don't really know anything about shurmur but if he carves up our man heavy defense like these other QBs, our offense better show up with 40 plus. It pains me that vandy held mizz to 33 and mizz could have hung 60 plus on us if they wanted. Vandy.

Anyway, I'm fine with Pruitt sticking with man though. Continuing to install his scheme and teaching the fundamentals for his scheme. I just really want this team to get 6 wins so they can get that bowl game and extra practices, and i don't know that we can slow vandy down enough to get that 6th win being predominantly a man to man defense ( that combined with our offensively challenged offense ). We'll see. The team and Pruitt could really make a lot of good use out of those extra practices.

Tennessee's (and Bama's) base coverage is 3 deep zone. They both do a lot of other stuff but the base is Cover 3/6 which are both 3 deep 4 under zone match.
 
#69
#69
There is more than one way, more X's and o's to football. The chess match that is football presents a coach with multiple ways/strategies to win a game. I'm simply advocating for a little more zone principles this year, for the talent on this team. Do what you gotta do to win.

Yes, I get it that we don't have the jimmies and Joe's to go man to man and contain certain offenses ( offenses with decent QB play, to go along with a run game with a little bit of a pulse ) from marching up and down the field on us like we are non existent, and that's why I'm advocating mixing in more zone principles. Will we get torched playing zone? Yes. Will we get torched at will like Grier tua Bentley and locke torched us by mixing in more zone? I would hope not considering I'm advocating more zone defense. I really need to go back and watch the mizz vs vandy game. I suspect I will see vandy using/mixing in more zone coverages than we do, but that is all speculation until I go watch it.
Good post. My personal opinion is that Pruitt intends to run the defense he knows and most believes in, come heck and high water, and that is a man on man heavy defense. I also think that he believes he gets a mulligan this season, and probably next season too, to implement his system. Fans will hate two seasons of losses, but if he can recruit well and turn the corner, the team will be competitive in every game.
 
#70
#70
Seems to me it's man on man heavy too. Pruitt even said in his Monday press conference that we didn't cover mizz's rpo pass game well. Guys have got to cover tight, if they can't, coaches need to try some zone stuff imo. But, I also see the conundrum rpo puts on a full zone defense, so maybe we have to gamble and leave only a 1 deep or 2 deep zone - everyone else underneath playing the run and short pass game ( specifically RPO run pass game ). Yeah, if they look to go deep we are torched, but what do you havw to lose? We are getting torched defensively as it is by any offense that has a decent QB
 
#71
#71
Seems to me it's man on man heavy too. Pruitt even said in his Monday press conference that we didn't cover mizz's rpo pass game well. Guys have got to cover tight, if they can't, coaches need to try some zone stuff imo. But, I also see the conundrum rpo puts on a full zone defense, so maybe we have to gamble and leave only a 1 deep or 2 deep zone - everyone else underneath playing the run and short pass game ( specifically RPO run pass game ). Yeah, if they look to go deep we are torched, but what do you havw to lose? We are getting torched defensively as it is by any offense that has a decent QB


How do you know it’s man to man? Bc the corner drives the slant or runs with the fade? In cover 3/6 (for Pruitt) if the #2 receiver is not in the seam the corner plays #1 man to man top down. If playing Rip/Liz, which is a cover 3/6 check for 2x2 formations and is a zone coverage, the corners play Mod #1 which mans man only deep. So is this zone or man? On the backside of Buzz Mable (cover 3) or Skate (cover 6) which are 3x1 checks for the two coverages I just said the corner is man to man on #1 but the rest of the defense is flooding the coverage strong and playing zone. Is this man to man or zone? My point is none of us can really watch the live broadcast and know the defensive calls and if it was zone or man. Kind of like when Gary Danielson kept saying Tennessee busted a coverage Saturday but they didn’t. They disguised it well and played Trap which is a 2 deep 4 under coverage for blitzes and why Thompson was sitting on the out. Both linebackers were correct and cut out like they were supposed to. It’s a complicated defense with a ton of answers. Tennessee, Bama and UGA pretty much run it all. Best system in college football by far with others they do things like them being Veneables and Brown.
 
#72
#72
His job is to build a winning team, not (just) win a lot his first year. I'd guess he thinks it's more important to get the existing players running his system now so that they gain experience with it. And if so, I agree, painful as it is to watch.
 
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#74
#74
How do you know it’s man to man? Bc the corner drives the slant or runs with the fade? In cover 3/6 (for Pruitt) if the #2 receiver is not in the seam the corner plays #1 man to man top down. If playing Rip/Liz, which is a cover 3/6 check for 2x2 formations and is a zone coverage, the corners play Mod #1 which mans man only deep. So is this zone or man? On the backside of Buzz Mable (cover 3) or Skate (cover 6) which are 3x1 checks for the two coverages I just said the corner is man to man on #1 but the rest of the defense is flooding the coverage strong and playing zone. Is this man to man or zone? My point is none of us can really watch the live broadcast and know the defensive calls and if it was zone or man. Kind of like when Gary Danielson kept saying Tennessee busted a coverage Saturday but they didn’t. They disguised it well and played Trap which is a 2 deep 4 under coverage for blitzes and why Thompson was sitting on the out. Both linebackers were correct and cut out like they were supposed to. It’s a complicated defense with a ton of answers. Tennessee, Bama and UGA pretty much run it all. Best system in college football by far with others they do things like them being Veneables and Brown.

Ha! I love it. I do agree it's hard to tell by watching live TV. Whatever combination of man, zone, or man zone, or zone that turns into man only if rec runs a deep route, the defense is getting torched by QBs with some talent. If there is space to throw it, they are firing it in there consistently and making us look bad. Bama could have named their score. Mizz was close to being able to name their score ( thank God their recs dropped some passes for huge gains ), Bentley had a field day from the last drive of the 1st half to the end of the game, and so did Grier in the second half.

I'm advocating more full zone, and I'm also advocating more risky 1 or 2 deep only zone with everyone else taking away underneath / medium routes and the run game. You only leave 1 deep full zone, there is all sorts of areas/routes you can cover. We gotta do a little something extra to take away the QBs first read, no doubt in my mind. Sometimes, you can even zone off the 2nd read, but the primary absolutely has to be taken away more often imo. We gotta start making these QBs uncomfortable with our coverages. Too many primary rec's getting the pass I think. Sell out every once in a while with full zone if you have to, to take away the primary, hopefully the secondary read, and force QB to go to some 3rd reads. It looks too easy out there imo.

Once again, i love the lingo. Gonna look some of this stuff up. Educational for sure.
 

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