There were too many times he was stuck playing deep in "Cover 2" or "Cover 3" and not being utilized like he should have.
During his time at ND, a lot of people were hollering at his being 15 yards away from the underneath receiver, and having to play catch-up, but not realizing that Van Gorder's scheme was a horrible fit for going up against spread offenses that simply picked apart his defenses at short and medium ranges.
Even though the 2014 defense was rated pretty badly, there was a lot of excellent talent on the roster that was badly misused by Van Gorder.