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

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

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!

Banks has about 2-3 more years give or take to get it squared away

 

[RockyTopTexas]

This is my biggest criticism of our staff up to now. It doesn't appear that we've seriously addressed any of our shortcomings on defense this offseason.

“Quiet in the portal”

 

[VoltillweFall]

Excited about the new DBs Turrentine and Walker help on Backend. LB still a problem for sure

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

Am pretty sure we have had significantly worse defenses than last year's, though I can't research it at the moment.

The 2012 is the only defense that I can think of. Not sure any in the last 40 yrs were worse.

 

[OneVolNation]

Coach Heupel on the defense getting off the field on 3rd down and why it's such a big concern.

 

[jarnol32]

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!

If he wins, they will come..

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Coach Heupel on the defense getting off the field on 3rd down and why it's such a big concern.

Yep. And it's not a scheme issue. People act like these coaches don't understand or see what offenses are doing on 3rd down to keep the chains moving. It's ALL about personnel! Namely having enough speed on the outside to rush the QB or set the edge and to cover WR's in the middle of the field 5-10 yards past the LOS.

 

[BoroVol93]

Y’all Under estimating coach garner and what he can do with a full offseason and very solid players baron, young, Harrison, big E, Big O, D Terry, bumphus, some really good freshman, and the transfer from the smaller school (can’t think of his name was an all American if I remember correctly)… Coach RG will have those Guys playing and heup is building a culture that works hard and They are having fun doing it… he talks all the time about being aggressive fast and attacking on offense defense and special teams… we have concerns that could be problematic like every other team in the nation but in the grand scheme our defense doesn’t have to be great just situationally better like most have said… I think we see a big jump in offensive efficiency with hooker in year 2 the defense just has to be better on 3rd down and long and we will be a 9-10 win team. Just relax vol fans and be happy that we finally have a competent AD with a very good young and improving coach… that was the best coached UT team I saw in a very long time… this staff is strong with a proven track record give them a full offseason in year 2 they will get better on both sides.

 

[Volintheswamp]

We need to recruit a 2:1 ratio of defensive players to offensive players just so we can have a defense. Our 1’s and 2’s on defense are exhausted by the 4th quarter.

 

[bray2milton]

Any any any kind of pass rush. Any at all. Any. That would help out the back end as my internet coaches know……….

 

[bray2milton]

I also just put speakers in my Jeep and it damn sure wasn’t as easy as advertised. I also have consumed many beverages. I felt zero pass rush during any of that process. Zero. Kawitta now and let’s hear the comments.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I also just put speakers in my Jeep and it damn sure wasn’t as easy as advertised. I also have consumed many beverages. I felt zero pass rush during any of that process. Zero. Kawitta now and let’s hear the comments.

What the hell are you doing putting speakers in your jeep at 3 am?

Are you that neighbor what makes all the folks around you think it's probably smart to keep the sheriff's number handy, just in case?

Go Vols!

 

[Frozevol]

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?

I say “b”.

 

[savannahfan]

It is my belief that the defense has a ways to go on all counts. Depth, experience, coach/learning, you name it. Now as to the defense being "behind" the offense I feel that the defense has to play a much better overall team game. It takes much better team work and communication between players on the defensive side of the ball than on offensive. On offensive, the line gets their calls and communicate between themselves. The skill guys and QB work together more or less by themselves. RB's, other than pass plays and pass blocking, just do what the do, run the ball where the play calls for and when that isn't there, just run like hell for daylight!

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Banks has about 2-3 more years give or take to get it squared away

I think that should depend on his progress. If we are worse this year then Heupel should seriously start at least contemplating his replacement.

 

[sjt18]

Yep. And it's not a scheme issue. People act like these coaches don't understand or see what offenses are doing on 3rd down to keep the chains moving. It's ALL about personnel! Namely having enough speed on the outside to rush the QB or set the edge and to cover WR's in the middle of the field 5-10 yards past the LOS.

Yes. There is a need for better talent. But it is also a scheme issue. Other programs and other DC's both present and past have had worse personnel and found ways to get the job done. I'm not saying to boot the guy but at some point you at least have to force the opponent to do it a different way.... be more unpredictable.

I'm not sure why you are trying so hard to absolve Banks. No on denies that UT didn't have elite talent on D or that more time in development and more experience won't help. But Banks has to improve too.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

I think that should depend on his progress. If we are worse this year then Heupel should seriously start at least contemplating his replacement.

You can’t really judge Banks off year one considering he didn’t have a lot of SEC talent to work with.

 

[sjt18]

You can’t really judge Banks off year one considering he didn’t have a lot of SEC talent to work with.

Not a final judgment.

But when teams keep doing the same thing and succeeding week after week then you are too predictable. When you become more susceptible instead of less to certain strategies over the course of a season then that's not entirely player talent.

I don't like to fail. But worse than failing is continuing to fail the same way over and over.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Not a final judgment.

But when teams keep doing the same thing and succeeding week after week then you are too predictable. When you become more susceptible instead of less to certain strategies over the course of a season then that's not entirely player talent.

I don't like to fail. But worse than failing is continuing to fail the same way over and over.

Yeah, I'm with you.

On the other hand, even this can be caused (or partially) by lack of depth.

Every defense has weaknesses. Even the very best. But what the best do is disguise. Really good defensive execution--quick, violent, and on-assignment--can cause the other team not to recognize weaknesses until very late in the game. Having to play fellas who aren't quite ready for the challenge, as we had to do especially in the 2nd half of games last year, reveals those weaknesses much more quickly. Then the opponent starts taking advantage of them.

Some weaknesses you can scheme past--adjust to, as you say. Others are inherent in your philosophy and roster. They're built into your playbook and into who you've recruited. There's no in-game adjustment for those. And the earlier in the year those limitations are exposed, the more teams remaining on the schedule who can take advantage.

We'll be better this year in the issue of predictability. Even if the coaches don't adjust any more than they did last year. Simply because our player talent level, esp. in the 2nd string and beyond, will raise all elements of our defensive game.

That's how I think it's gonna play out, anyway. We shall see.

Go Vols!

 

[Eastknox865]

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.

Wouldn't the redshirt freshman, incoming freshman, and portal guys be part of improving the personal

 

[bpalmer28]

I don't care what the numbers say. Our defense was better than it should have been last year. Tim Banks inherited garbage on defense. We exceeded expectations on that side of the ball.

Can we get better without significantly upgrading our talent? I don't know.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

I don't care what the numbers say. Our defense was better than it should have been last year. Tim Banks inherited garbage on defense. We exceeded expectations on that side of the ball.

Can we get better without significantly upgrading our talent? I don't know.

Yeah our defense wasn't actually 99th, because of the offense. If we ran a traditional offense it probably would've been ranked in the 70's which isn't awful considering all the incredible offenses we played against.

So even if we have a really good defense the numbers will make us look worse than we are.

 

[sjt18]

Yeah our defense wasn't actually 99th, because of the offense. If we ran a traditional offense it probably would've been ranked in the 70's which isn't awful considering all the incredible offenses we played against.

So even if we have a really good defense the numbers will make us look worse than we are.

That's true. It is unlikely that we can look at numbers in a traditional way when it comes to UT's D.

Third down effectiveness is probably the most important along with stealing possessions through turnovers. My frustration with the D was that they didn't seem to really try anything different after opponents learned how to beat them.

UT got a LOT of big plays through blitzes and stunts... then almost seemed to go vanilla on 3rd down. I would have much rather seen them roll the dice against a team like UK. What's the worst case? They still score but do it in 5 plays instead of 15. So why not sell out to pressure them into mistakes?

Also... I'm not that concerned about the incredible offenses. I'm concerned about getting trucked by average offenses.

I'm concerned about UK running up 613 yds... second only to New Mexico St. Purdue had a good, not great, offense. Just counting 4 qtrs, UT gave up more yds than any other opponent. They got almost 200 more yds than their season average.

You can say that the O puts the D on the field more often... but giving up 70% of 3rd downs like they did vs UK is a MUCH bigger factor.

 

[FlyFishnVol]

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?

Can someone post the Defensive Roster please, I think all the answers are there.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Y’all Under estimating coach garner and what he can do with a full offseason and very solid players baron, young, Harrison, big E, Big O, D Terry, bumphus, some really good freshman, and the transfer from the smaller school (can’t think of his name was an all American if I remember correctly)… Coach RG will have those Guys playing and heup is building a culture that works hard and They are having fun doing it… he talks all the time about being aggressive fast and attacking on offense defense and special teams… we have concerns that could be problematic like every other team in the nation but in the grand scheme our defense doesn’t have to be great just situationally better like most have said… I think we see a big jump in offensive efficiency with hooker in year 2 the defense just has to be better on 3rd down and long and we will be a 9-10 win team. Just relax vol fans and be happy that we finally have a competent AD with a very good young and improving coach… that was the best coached UT team I saw in a very long time… this staff is strong with a proven track record give them a full offseason in year 2 they will get better on both sides.

Our defense will be considerable better this Fall.