McKinney quote from media day

[Coach34]

McKinney sees plenty of improvement ahead for the Bulldog defense under coordinator Geoff Collins. "We're a more juiced up defense," McKinney said. "A more mobile defense. You're going to see a lot of players doing a lot of different things."


I like hearing that

[Thick]

I like to hear that too. Defenses that are based on creating confusion and mayhem through disguised blitzing and coverages are fun to watch and hard to prepare for. They also attract talent recruiting wise.

[msstate7]

. You're going to see a lot of players doing a lot of different things."


This is the only thing that worries me. I want us to be aggressive, but I don't want us to be really complicated. I want us to be aggressive and keep it relatively simple

[msstate7]

I like to hear that too. Defenses that are based on creating confusion and mayhem through disguised blitzing and coverages are fun to watch and hard to prepare for. They also attract talent recruiting wise.

This is true, but young players sometimes confuse themselves trying to disguise coverages.

[ShotgunDawg]

I think it sounds good as well.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but have there been any other MSU quotes today that were good and may offer some insight?

[Thick]

It depends on what you're disguising. It's not confusing or complicated disguising Zone out of man, and then zone blitz. That's all I am saying, and you can dumb down the shit out of it too

[The Croom Diaries]

Mullen said players take the identity of the coach and Collins is a fiery guy with lots of aggression so he expects and intense defense with lots of aggressiveness. This was a complete contradiction to the answer of the previous question made by Stevens...but my guess is Mullen just wanted to give the douche a BS answer.

Here's the quote: Q. How have you seen the players respond to Geoff since he?s been defensive coordinator?
COACH MULLEN: I think players a lot of times are going to take on the personality of their coaches and a little bit vice versa. We spend so much time together, you do rub off on each other.
With Geoff up there leading and being the mouthpiece of the defense every single day, they?re going to take on a little bit more of his personality as a defense. When you look at Geoff, a very aggressive guy, has a lot of fun while he coaches. I think you?re going to see that within our players, within the defensive scheme of how we do things. I think you?re going to see a defense that?s going to play extremely aggressive, but also have a great time, have a lot of fun, be excited while they?re doing it.
I think that really is just a reflection of just those slight changes. Schematically, you might not see a difference in what you?re doing, you might see a slight change in personality as people take on the personality of their coaches.

Full transcript: http://blogs.clarionledger.com/secsports/mullen-ole-miss-resurgence-sparking-the-rivalry-includes-full-transcript/

[Todd4State]

This is true, but young players sometimes confuse themselves trying to disguise coverages.

I'd much rather our guys be confused blitzing than be confused in zone.

[msstate7]

I'd much rather our guys be confused blitzing than be confused in zone.

No argument there.

[TheDawgBiscuit]

They are going to start giving out "can of swag" stickers on helmets for exceptional play **

[AlSwearengen]

I honestly believe we had no real legitimate game plan on defense going into games last year. I won't say anymore b/c it has been beaten to death.

[deltadawg99]

We looked completely lost against teams that ran the spread last year. That read and react scheme was garbage under Wilson. The reacting was usually trying catch somebody from behind.

[DogBanker]

There were a couple of guys on the team who told me last year Mullen and Wilson really butted heads. It ultimately started trickling down to the players. I like the direction we might be headed in with Collins. Hopefully it'll remind me us of those late 90s defenses. I think much of Wilson's problem was trying to play that Big 12 style of ball, and that would not work in the SEC.

[engie]

I read this as "we're going to bring the heat from everywhere -- much like we did under Diaz".

That will do TONS for getting our identity back as a hardnosed football team...

[msstate7]

I read this as "we're going to bring the heat from everywhere -- much like we did under Diaz".

That will do TONS for getting our identity back as a hardnosed football team...

I agree

[FISHDAWG]

I like it, but when we give up more "big plays" .... in the words of Billy Joel- don't come bitchin to me
one thing Wilson had going was the low # of 30 yd plays .... we have to expect that # to go up with this defensive approach. Please don't misconstrue this post - I'm way past ready for this move

[Statefan]

Well, Diaz implemented his scheme in one year and it was pretty successful. With the bowl practices, I think the learning curve shouldn't be that difficult on our players

[FISHDAWG]

for me the most painful defensive display was against Troy where Wilson refused to adjust because that was their game plan ... against aTm & bama we got burned badly by better talent .... but against OM the refusal to adjust was repeated again against a team we were much better matched up with - but instead of short outs like Troy we let Moncrief fly down the field ..... that's on Wilson

[Coach34]

We were confused vs OM in the Secondary- that's on Wilson AND Melvin

[msstate7]

We were confused vs OM in the Secondary- that's on Wilson AND Melvin

Which is why I like to simplify things somewhat in the secondary. Hide where pressure is coming from, but don't confuse ourselves

[DogBanker]

I think most people get caught up with Diaz's approach and forget the fact that we had 9 NFL guys on that defense. Don't get me wrong, I think we have talent to match up with those guys from 2010 but we will be just a bit younger then that team.

[The Croom Diaries]

I think most people get caught up with Diaz's approach and forget the fact that we had 9 NFL guys on that defense. Don't get me wrong, I think we have talent to match up with those guys from 2010 but we will be just a bit younger then that team.

Maybe my memory is a little foggy, but I only recall 7 NFL players - Boyd, Fletcher, McPhee, White, KJ, Mitchell and Banks. I guess technically you could count Wade Bonner and Cam Lawrence but they aren't really NFL players. And Mitchell and Boyd probably won't make it too long.

But to compare NFL talent -
Boyd (So.), James (So.)
Cox (So.), Evans (So.)
James and Evans aren't starters now, but they don't have to be.
Autry (Sr.), McPhee (Sr.)
Mitchell (Jr.), Whitley (Sr.)
White (Sr.), McKinney (So.)
Wright (Sr.), ______
Banks (So.), Cox (Jr.)
_______, Eulls, Smith (Jr.)

I really think it's pretty even. Stronger on the line in '13, stronger at LB in '10. There is just as much youthful talent in the secondary now as there was in 2010.

[Coach34]

Skinner has a shot to be this year's KJ Wright. Him playing the Sam will take alot of coverage pressure off of him that he has had the last 2 years

Something to really watch on D this year

[FlabLoser]

We were confused vs OM in the Secondary- that's on Wilson AND Melvin

Yeah Wilson said we had trouble calling plays, especially against hurry up offenses. That is totally unacceptable. They knew the hurry up was coming. They need to be prepared for it. Getting the right personnel in the game and getting plays called is step one. If he can't do that he shouldn't coach. Glad to see him go.

I go back to aTm running their jumbo set. aTm hurries everything, but they don't teleport personnel on to the field. They subbed in their jumbo package for short yardage and we leave our gassed personnel out there to try to defend short yardage. When you are gassed against a hurry up offense, and the offense subs - YOU SUB!!! The rules are built for that. Given the chance to sub, we sub nobody.

[The Croom Diaries]

Skinner has a shot to be this year's KJ Wright. Him playing the Sam will take alot of coverage pressure off of him that he has had the last 2 years

Something to really watch on D this year

Yeah I think Skinner is undervalued. I didn't put him in there because I didn't know if the consensus was he would be a NFL player, but I think he can and will be.

[DogBanker]

I actually think the overall talent of our CBs will be better then last year. I look at Cox as a NFL player. Redmond has a really good skill set. A lot of people are doubting Jiles, but I really believe he could be the next Smoot. His work ethic and want to is bar none. Then of course you have Love and Calhoun.

[engie]

I like it, but when we give up more "big plays" .... in the words of Billy Joel- don't come bitchin to me
one thing Wilson had going was the low # of 30 yd plays .... we have to expect that # to go up with this defensive approach. Please don't misconstrue this post - I'm way past ready for this move

After seeing both in the past 3 years, I'm not ashamed to say that I prefer the quick, clean death of giving up big plays while getting 3 and outs -- to the slow death of being nickel and dimed to death and demoralized as a defense by inability to truly shut down ANYTHING. What I saw from Collins in the bowl game is a guy that is going to constantly adjust to offenses to take away whatever it is they are doing well at a given time. Those were adjustments that I hadn't seen the past two years...

2012(scrimmage, rush, pass) :
Plays of 10+ yards- 48th, 90th, 26th
Plays of 20+ yards - 61st, 40th, 77th
Plays of 30+ yards - 34th, 42nd, 39th
Plays of 40+ yards - 3rd, 1st, 12th

2011:
Plays of 10+ yards - 61st, 66th, 59th
Plays of 20+ yards - 8th, 36th, 2nd
Plays of 30+ yards - 6th, 22nd, 6th
Plays of 40+ yards - 4th, 8th, 5th

2010:
Plays of 10+ yards - 100th, 55th, 104th
Plays of 20+ yards - 38th, 13th, 70th
Plays of 30+ yards - 43rd, 22nd, 71st
Plays of 40+ yards - 38th, 37th, 43rd

Just looking at "big plays", you'd swear 2010 was the worst defense we'd had... But if you look at negative plays(MAYHEM as Collins calls it), that shows an entirely different story.

Also INCREDIBLE the schematic issues that Fletcher Cox hid for us in 2011 -- that we can see plain as day in hindsight now. The 2011 team could have been the best we'd ever had just 2 or 3 things going differently...