No Change in the Calls: Freeman Backs Ash Despite Notre Dame Defensive Woes
Replies to: No Change in the Calls: Freeman Backs Ash Despite Notre Dame Defensive Woes
None of this makes any sense. All of a sudden the players don't know how to play defense?
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It was the Men in Black flashy thing probably.
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As has been repeated ad nauseam why not just run what we ran last year?
We put way more pressure on the QB last year.
I listened to a couple of podcasts (I think football never sleeps, and one with Jamie U, here’s what I surmised after listening)
Imho, we did more stunts, etc on the DL confusing the other team’s OL. Sneed was unblockable against OSU (the game we played at home).
You can say execution all you want, I’m not buying it because in my heart of hearts if Golden we’re still here we are 2-1, at worst, & likely 3-0, with a spring in our step.
When the new DC was interviewed in preseason he said something like this is the most talented defense he’s been around since a OSU natty year (2014? I dunno). Isn’t it time to look in the mirror? Doesn’t that statement say it’s scheme?
I don’t want to sacrifice the season for a guy that probably won’t be here in a year (hello OC Parker), let’s get more creative up front, let’s create some havoc. And see what happens.
Imho, the players are thinking what to do, instead of just reacting, playing with a natural flow and playing fast.
Just my 2 cents, as always I could be wrong
God bless & Go Irish! 🍀
It makes sense if they are adapting to a new system just as they did w Golden. But…….
……the question then becomes, “Why on earth did you change the system?!”
My theory is that MF wants to improve to get beyond OSU type teams , but his solution may not allow us to even get there to play them. He is probably thinking “delayed gratification”.
Maybe when executed properly, this system will be better - but the program might not endure such a transition well.
It makes total sense, some players are not following direction.
They can see on the film what is happening.
The decision to make wholesale change rather than incremental seems to have been a bad one
Along with a poor coaching hire that couldn't get things where they needed to be by the first game.
👆well said! Succinct & spot on. If they haven’t fixed it by now, what makes you think they can?
No way someone like Saban lets this fester like this.
We were top 10 D last year. A ton of talent and experience coming back…what changed? Exactly, this isn’t hard.
Except it's not a new system. From what I've read Ash is running the same base
defense, he's just calling it differently and not utilizing much of the pre-snap shifting and post snap stunts, games and blitzes that Golden used.
MF said he wanted continuity with what ND already had in place, unfortunately he hired the wrong guy to do it.
At first u blame the new guy but if it continues then u blame the HC.
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There seems to be a lot of confusion at both the line and secondary level.
While the D formation is the same, there's something significantly different. I can see the issue with the younger guys, but even the more seasoned players seem to be slow a step, not entirely knowing what to do.
Truth.
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Anytime you implement a new system, there is a learning curve
I wonder if the buy-in comment has more to do with position coaches knowing their guys and their abilities. Freeman has to be careful because buy-in also means doing what your team is capable of and not expecting more of them outside those guardrails. I see that a lot in the line of work I am in and it lowers morale and heightens stress. You have to have a culture that knows how to implement change.
This is what I said below. The keyword, of several, is "buy-in". He tipped his cap that coach(es)
and/or player(s) are not getting along. It has nothing to do with execution. It has everything to do with division somewhere. Either between the schemes of the D, DL, and DB, Coaches, or players involved. Until you fix that, you can't execute.
IMO, if you call a D play and then the DL calls their own play inside of that and the LBs call their own play inside of the D and the DBs call their own play. That is a recipe for disaster. Unnecessary complexity if that's how it goes. Because you have to expect the entire D to work together and expect what is happening at three different levels to be happening in unison. That is way too difficult.
Call a play, line up, and run it. Remove all the cute stuff.
Your framing makes some sense, especially as he references lack of execution.
We interpret that to mean he's throwing the players under the bus, but he likewise could be holding the position coaches accountable. Hey dummies, you endorsed this decision and assured me we could do this, but not we are shitting the bed.
A thought has occurred to me that Mickens could be sabotaging Ash, at least with respect to DB play and fundamentals such as tackling. I recognize the problems extend well beyond that.
Also agree with your point that effective changes is as much about managing the change as it as about the quality of the decision with respect to the change itself.
Don't buy Mickens sabotage. He's the secondary coach - biggest statistical dropoff has been there
I think a lot of it has to do with lack of pass rush, but the DBs have not acquitted themselves well on multiple long TDs with missed tackles. That's not a playcall issue. The long TAMU TD (should have been 1st down) and the tossup Miami TD were pure execution issues.
And to your point, incremental changes make it easier to observe success or lack of
The change to the defense may be too big with the amount of inexperience and youth on the team. The defense will continually struggle because they are not focusing on what is working and trying to do the same thing over and over, which is the definition of insanity. Do what is working and sprinkle in some wrinkles along the way to keep the opposing offense honest. Offenses knew we would pressure them last year but we still gave different alignments and coverage.