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

[NighthawkVol]

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.

Improving the personnel doesn’t always mean replacing them. It can also mean developing them. We’ll see if they’ve developed and how much.

 

[miket4god]

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!!!

double post

 

[miket4god]

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!!!

I think that is why he tried to hire Al Washington from Ohio State is so he could help get the jimmies and joes.

 

[Titan&Volfan4life]

I'm not positive that hiring just 1 coach, even if he's the DC, will make such a huge difference in recruiting D players unless he's the # 1 Ace recruiter in the country every year.

Our HC and his staff are getting some top players now and it's only after their 1st year.

As we WIN more then I feel certain that we'll get more top recruits on the D side of the ball too.

VFL...GBO!!!

 

[Vol865]

The defense will always be a concern because they will be on the field a lot because of the offense. It is one of the concerns of the offense (not playing ball control when you are up). Until they get an SEC quality 2 deep, the defense will continue to suffer, as they will get too tired.

Chip Kelly ran the same kind of offense and still had a decent defense. We need more depth. We're going to live and die by the Hurry up. Just like some teams live and die by grinding out the clock and scoring 17 pts.

 

[Allvols1996]

From Jesse Simonton's article at On3-

"... However, situationally, Tim Banks’ unit was downright abominable."



Tennessee Volunteers: Post-spring stock report

There is plenty of room for improvement specifically on:

*Red Zone Defense (121st)

*3rd down defense (101st)

*Explosive plays allowed (109th)

I'm optimistic with the returning veterans and transfers that these numbers improve under DC Tim Banks in season 2.

Go Vols!

What is really scary is that those numbers came even though Taylor essentially shut down a 1/3 of the field. He wasn’t thrown on often. So, this damage came while only really having to scheme your other DBs to cover the rest.

 

[LittleVol]

Chip Kelly ran the same kind of offense and still had a decent defense. We need more depth. We're going to live and die by the Hurry up. Just like some teams live and die by grinding out the clock and scoring 17 pts.

That's not necessary nor is it smart if we ever want to win a championship in our conference.
Which btw Chip Kelly never won a SEC Championship. Never even beat a division champion from the conference with any of his Oregon teams.

LSU in 2011 showed how effective Oregon's offense really was when playing against a real opponent- which 1/3 of Tennessee's schedule are real opponent every year.

He needs to have a change up in his offense.

 

[Jpcisco]

I'm probably in the minority but given what he had to work with I thought Banks did a really good job. Especially with the offense Heupel runs. I wasnt a huge fan of the hire but he turned Alontae into a 2nd round pick (before the season I would have said 3rd or 4th round was his ceiling) and took 2 guys who was on nobody's draft radar before last year (Butler and Jackson) and turned them into draft picks. Alot to fix but if he gets talent, he can have a solid to good defense year in and year out in the SEC. A good defense combined with Heupels offense your going to win alot of games. I have no complaints with Banks personally. He can develop players. Once again I know I'm in the minority but just my 2 cents.

 

[Vol865]

That's not necessary nor is it smart if we ever want to win a championship in our conference.
Which btw Chip Kelly never won a SEC Championship. Never even beat a division champion from the conference with any of his Oregon teams.

LSU in 2011 showed how effective Oregon's offense really was when playing against a real opponent- which 1/3 of Tennessee's schedule are real opponent every year.

He needs to have a change up in his offense.

He doesn't need to change his offense because that's his identity and philosophy. You wouldn't tell a basketball team who plays full-court press and shoots 3s to play nothing but zone and start backing down people in the post. You play to your identity and philosophy. Oregon beat us pretty soundly twice even if we weren't great.

 

[BreatheUT]

Banks is a great coach, but I really have to believe he’s been addressing our 3rd and long issue this off-season. That was downright brutal to watch, especially with mobile QB’s. They were usually reaching the marker on 3rd and long without contact.

Struggles at pass rush and below average at the 2nd level will do that to you.

 

[BreatheUT]

The defense will always be a concern because they will be on the field a lot because of the offense. It is one of the concerns of the offense (not playing ball control when you are up). Until they get an SEC quality 2 deep, the defense will continue to suffer, as they will get too tired.

So the defense will always be a concern but it won't be a concern if we get a quality two deep?

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Th

Dealing with mobile QBs on 3rd down was a major weakness last season.

Here is a system Georgia, Alabama, and now NFL teams are using to combat this threat with success.


Odd Mirror and Sic 'Em 5
Simulated Pressures with 4 man rush and disguised formations, etc.

Thank you. Only a couple posters here on VN ...mostly HS or other level coaches...that ever post this Xs and Os stuff. Theres 1 guy who does a great job breaking down OUR film showing what schemes we use to try and stop these high powered spread offenses that everyone runs now. I played ball thru HS but never college. Love love love this stuff...and i am not alone.

I dont care about other sports much unless its UT...there are really only 2 seasons each year:

Football season.

Waiting for football season.

Go VOLS

 

[marcusluvsvols]

I'm probably in the minority but given what he had to work with I thought Banks did a really good job. Especially with the offense Heupel runs. I wasnt a huge fan of the hire but he turned Alontae into a 2nd round pick (before the season I would have said 3rd or 4th round was his ceiling) and took 2 guys who was on nobody's draft radar before last year (Butler and Jackson) and turned them into draft picks. Alot to fix but if he gets talent, he can have a solid to good defense year in and year out in the SEC. A good defense combined with Heupels offense your going to win alot of games. I have no complaints with Banks personally. He can develop players. Once again I know I'm in the minority but just my 2 cents.

You are not alone...many of us believe in Banks. Just need a couple recruiting cycles.

People forget we played our entire SEC schedule with about 60 players not hurt or gone? 65 at best? Every other team had 85 players. Thats an extra man for EVERY single player om offense and defense....that would be 22 more guys. So 85 to 63 ...about what we rolled with. It will take 2 more classes minimum to have a 2 deep like our enemies . Probably 3 classes. Off to a GREAT START

 

[Allvols1996]

That's not necessary nor is it smart if we ever want to win a championship in our conference.
Which btw Chip Kelly never won a SEC Championship. Never even beat a division champion from the conference with any of his Oregon teams.

LSU in 2011 showed how effective Oregon's offense really was when playing against a real opponent- which 1/3 of Tennessee's schedule are real opponent every year.

He needs to have a change up in his offense.

Interesting take. I think the high octane offense was a little bit of ether for us UT fans. A coach like Pruitt made it look so hard to score that fans got overly excited about the explosive offense. But, if you look at the stats, that team was likely one of the least complimentary teams in the country. The defense didn’t get stops, and while the offense scored early, it stalled late, didn’t manage the clock well, and opposing teams had record setting days with their offense.

The DBs were sooooo bad in the bowl game, you’d wonder if they’d been coached at all.

 

[catss350]

X’s and O’s only go so far. Gotta have the Jimmies and Joes to execute. We seem to be only focusing on the offensive side of the ball. Need to push for the defensive side a lot harder.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

That's not necessary nor is it smart if we ever want to win a championship in our conference.
Which btw Chip Kelly never won a SEC Championship. Never even beat a division champion from the conference with any of his Oregon teams.

LSU in 2011 showed how effective Oregon's offense really was when playing against a real opponent- which 1/3 of Tennessee's schedule are real opponent every year.

He needs to have a change up in his offense.

You mean Auburn. But Auburn only won 22-19. So while Auburn's defense stifled Oregon that day, Oregon's defense was nearly as effective against Cam Newton. So yes, having a stout defense is still very important, regardless of how potent your offense is.

 

[BJWeeks]

Need elite linebackers and DBs and we are not recruiting great there

 

[BJWeeks]

If Warren Burrell is benched then that will help a huge amount

 

[OneVolNation]

Th



Thank you. Only a couple posters here on VN ...mostly HS or other level coaches...that ever post this Xs and Os stuff. Theres 1 guy who does a great job breaking down OUR film showing what schemes we use to try and stop these high powered spread offenses that everyone runs now. I played ball thru HS but never college. Love love love this stuff...and i am not alone.

I dont care about other sports much unless its UT...there are really only 2 seasons each year:

Football season.

Waiting for football season.

Go VOLS

Thanks Marcus. I found these on simulated pressure for 3rd down situations.

3rd Down Simulated Pressure, Creeper, Double Mug, etc.

Simulated Pressure

Simulated Pressure: Banjo Technique

 

[Adam Sandler]

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.

We don’t have to have a world beating defense for banks to stay. I think the 3 biggest areas we need improvement on are 3rd down, red zone, and forced turnovers. Hard to have a great total defense with the offense putting them on the field so often (which they’ll do whether they are good or not because of the speed). But forced turnovers is supposed to be the strength of a Heupel defense. And if we could just bend but not break, get off the field and force field goals instead of touchdowns, the defense would seem remarkably improved (even if it’s really not that different from the year before).

 

[VFL-82-JP]

We don’t have to have a world beating defense for banks to stay. I think the 3 biggest areas we need improvement on are 3rd down, red zone, and forced turnovers. Hard to have a great total defense with the offense putting them on the field so often (which they’ll do whether they are good or not because of the speed). But forced turnovers is supposed to be the strength of a Heupel defense. And if we could just bend but not break, get off the field and force field goals instead of touchdowns, the defense would seem remarkably improved (even if it’s really not that different from the year before).

Quoted for truth.

Here's precisely how good our defense must be:

1. For most regular season opponents--say, all but the two best, currently Bama and UGa--the defense must ruin enough opponent scoring drives to reliably allow our offense to outscore and win the game. The word "reliably" is the key, given the "on any given Saturday" nature of football. So it has to be some percentage better than just barely good enough to do this. For example, if our offense scores a TD 70% of the time we get the ball against most opponents, our defense needs to reliably stop those opponents 35% of the time; say 40% with a buffer.
2. Beyond reliably allowing our offense to score enough for a 10-2 regular season, the defense must regularly--not always, not every year, but often enough--slow down the top teams (Bama and UGa currently, plus whoever we play in the post-season) enough that we can win championships. Again, not every year. But often enough.

In other words, we don't have to win every week by 48-10. Winning 48-35 is fine.

That's the defense's job.

In any program led by Josh Heupel, the offense will be the star of the show. The defense only has to be good enough so that the offense doing its thing is enough to win.

I like the three areas you mention: 3rd down, red zone, and forced turnovers. Of those three, the least important is red zone. If we haven't stopped them by the time they get to those final 20 yards--by 3rd down stops or takeaways--that probably isn't one of the drives where we're going to go further ahead of them. So highlight those two goals, especially.

Go Vols!


p.s. For clarity, we would certainly all love winning every game 48-10. Or even 48-0. That would be super. But having a top-5 defense isn't necessary to win championships as long as we have a top 5 offense. Sure, though, if we could have both, bring it on!

 

[OneVolNation]

Hold every opponent under 30 points and score at least 40 points every game and we win them all.

 

[LittleVol]

Hold every opponent under 30 points and score at least 40 points every game and we win them all.

Nah...

Because if we beat a team 77-10...
Then turn around and lose 28-23, 30-17, 24-6
That's 1-3
We have to be more balanced

 

[OneVolNation]

Nah...

Because if we beat a team 77-10...
Then turn around and lose 28-23, 30-17, 24-6
That's 1-3
We have to be more balanced

Nope. What I said is correct. I said hold every opponent under 30 points and score at least 40 points every game and we win them all.

In my already perfectly balanced scenario there is no "turnaround" or "lose" involved.

Go Vols!

 

[JRich]

"... However, situationally, Tim Banks’ unit was downright abominable."