Summary of DC performance under Mullen

[HSVDawg]

Had some time to kill and put this list together and found some interesting tidbits. Below are the final rankings for MSU in Total Defense and Scoring Defense for each year of the Mullen era. Granted, these stats aren't the end all be all when evaluating a defensive coordinator as they don't consider SOS, overall defensive talent, or the offense that each defense is paired with. However, it still prompted some thought provoking questions as we ponder who the next DC should be, and whether we want Manny back.

Some immediate questions I had:
1) Was Chris Wilson actually an upgrade over Diaz?
2) How good was Collins really?

Total Defense:
2009 - 58th (Torbush)
2010 - 49th (Diaz)
2011 - 35th (Wilson)
2012 - 52nd (Wilson)
2013 - 52nd (Collins)
2014 - 85th (Collins)

Scoring Defense:
2009 - 71st (Torbush)
2010 - 21st (Diaz)
2011 - 16th (Wilson)
2012 - 34th (Wilson)
2013 - 33rd (Collins)
2014 - 23rd (Collins)

[bluelightstar]

One thing I'll say about our defensive performance in 2011 is to look at the total offenses we played:

Memphis #116 (#115 in scoring)
Auburn #100 (#70)
LSU #86 (#17)
Louisiana Tech #51 (#42)
Georgia #39 (#33)
UAB #81 (#108)
South Carolina #74 (#42)
Kentucky #118 (#117)
UT-M (#19, FCS)
Alabama #31 (#20)
Arkansas #29 (#15)
Ole Miss #114 (#116)
Wake Forest #78 (#68)

On the flip side, in 2010, we played:

Memphis #117 (#119 in scoring)
Auburn #7 (#7)
LSU #86 (#45)
Georgia #56 (#30)
Alcorn State
Houston #11 (#13)
Florida #82 (#43)
UAB #30 (#66)
Kentucky #27 (#34)
Alabama #22 (#18)
Arkansas #9 (#17)
Ole Miss #43 (#41)
Michigan #8 (#25)

Diaz went up against 8 Top 50 total offenses and 9 Top 50 scoring offenses. Wilson went up against 3 Top 50 total offenses and 6 Top 50 scoring offenses.

[HSVDawg]

Good point. And Auburn and their 100th ranked offense scored 41 on us that year too. Granted, many of those were set up by turnovers and awful special teams play if I remember correctly. Another reason why the statistical rankings don't always tell the full story.

[engie]

You've got the 2013 total D incorrect.

And, again, defense is better measured in more advanced statistics that attempt to account for the offensive SOS they face. www.adjustedstats.com and www.footballoutsiders.com give much better representations than just baseline stats.

[sleepy dawg]

Rankings according to www.adjustedstats.com:


Total Defense:
2009 - 28 (Torbush)
2010 - 10 (Diaz)
2011 - 35 (Wilson)
2012 - 42 (Wilson)
2013 - 13 (Collins)
2014 - 85 (Collins)

Scoring Defense:
2009 - 33 (Torbush)
2010 - 6 (Diaz)
2011 - 16 (Wilson)
2012 - 26 (Wilson)
2013 - 17 (Collins)
2014 - 8 (Collins)

[BulldogDX55]

Rankings according to www.adjustedstats.com:


Total Defense:
2009 - 28 (Torbush)
2010 - 10 (Diaz)
2011 - 35 (Wilson)
2012 - 42 (Wilson)
2013 - 13 (Collins)
2014 - 85 (Collins)

Scoring Defense:
2009 - 33 (Torbush)
2010 - 6 (Diaz)
2011 - 16 (Wilson)
2012 - 26 (Wilson)
2013 - 17 (Collins)
2014 - 8 (Collins)

This is why I am cool with bringing back Manny. Yeah, his wife may hate it here and he had a ton of talent to work with, but you don't get numbers like that by accident.

[fishwater99]

Rankings according to www.adjustedstats.com:


Total Defense:
2009 - 28 (Torbush)
2010 - 10 (Diaz)
2011 - 35 (Wilson)
2012 - 42 (Wilson)
2013 - 13 (Collins)
2014 - 85 (Collins)

Scoring Defense:
2009 - 33 (Torbush)
2010 - 6 (Diaz)
2011 - 16 (Wilson)
2012 - 26 (Wilson)
2013 - 17 (Collins)
2014 - 8 (Collins)

Diaz > Wilson >Collins