3-4 Front

[DawgInMemphis]

How much of our defensive woes are due to changing to a 3-4? I don't remember teams consistently breaking long runs up the gut against us like this, even during our worst years. I haven't looked at the statistics, so maybe it's not as bad as it seems... but the eye test is telling me it's pretty bad.

[Todd4State]

Statistically we're OK against the run but we're dead last in the SEC against the pass.

[thf24]

Pass defense is definitely the more glaring weakness, but it could be partially due to not getting as much pressure on the QB as a result of either rushing only three or most of our vipers struggling to get off blocks when they do rush. Regardless, I think it was a mistake to make a complete transition to the 3-4 in one offseason. Seems to me the prudent thing to do when making such a radical scheme change is recruit for it for 2-3 years before fully implementing it. Aside from putting more demand on the secondary, which was unwise even before Cleveland and Jiles went down, most of our linebackers, while talented, are not good fits.

[Jack Lambert]

It is the hardest defense to learn and run. Add into the fact the DC is getting his feet wet as a DC is a whole lot of trouble for the defense. I read somewhere that it takes a full season to learn it. The SEC is not a conference you hire a first time DC.

[RougeDawg]

It is the hardest defense to learn and run. Add into the fact the DC is getting his feet wet as a DC is a whole lot of trouble for the defense. I read somewhere that it takes a full season to learn it. The SEC is not a conference you hire a first time DC.

It is when your head coaches off field antics prevent the president from giving him more $ for his assistants. Why would a boss cave to an employees demands if they flirt worth every suitor that comes around? We have the money to pay assistants but you cannot reward Dan for what he's done the last few years. Dan is sleeping in the bed he has made and will pay for it.

[Jack Lambert]

It is when your head coaches off field antics prevent the president from giving him more $ for his assistants. Why would a boss cave to an employees demands if they flirt worth every suitor that comes around? We have the money to pay assistants but you cannot reward Dan for what he's done the last few years. Dan is sleeping in the bed he has made and will pay for it.

It's a hard defense for the players to learn. How many of them have ever played in a 3-4?

[maroonmania]

It is certainly a part of the problem but by no means the whole problem. Even if we went back to the 4-3 that wouldn't help us tackle better, give more effort or being able to make plays on the ball in the secondary. But I guess some of those things could be byproducts of not being confident in understanding responsibilities in the system we are playing in. Personally I just think Mullen made a huge blunder in hiring a coach that had never been a DC before that wanted to make a scheme change (though we still play sometimes with a 4 man front) while at the same time replacing our entire defensive staff. Guys like Brandon Bryant and Richie Brown and others seemed to be fine defenders until Sirmon came to town. Sirmon is starting to remind me of Rick Ray in that he talks a good game but is totally over his head when the rubber meets the road on translating knowledge into performance on the field or court. At this stage I'm ready to move on from the Sirmon experiment even though we've already had 362 defensive coordinators in Mullen's 8 years.

[tcdog70]

until we put pressure on the QB our dbs will get toasted. Last night the announcers said if you play a soft zone with really good dbs, they can only cover for 3 seconds. The only way we have a chance these last games (to be competitive) is to sell out with pressure and bump coverage. If we rush just 3 or 4 and play a $hitty soft zone we will be blasted. What do we have to lose, nobody expects us to have a chance. Bring the heat on defense and run the ball on offense.

[GTHOM]

We have effort, scheme, philosophy and culture problems. Its not just the 3-4. The 3-4 doesnt mean you have to run it like NFL 3-4s or even Bama 3-4s. They are getting more athletic edge players not like the pass rusher only guys you would see in the NFL (Aldon Smith, Terrell Suggs). We can recruit and get more of these type of players. I like it. As long as Mullen is here we are going to play conservative on defense and have the same idiotic scheme problems its not gonna change

[yjnkdawg]

Seems like our Coaches would finally see and realize that any decent quarterback will find receivers if you don't pressure him. If it's a really good qb, then your defense will really be toasted.