Bubba give Fedora an ultimatum
- Thread starter HeelFan58
- Start date
Actually no, its just our version of it that's so difficult to find guys for.
Defensive staff needs to be fired and replaced with someone good enough to totally take the reins on D. Give him control of the scheme, and run what he feels will be the most successful option. Fedora is an offensive guy, and there's nothing wrong with that, so long as he's smart enough to realize he needs a DC good enough to compensate for it.
A 4-2-5 can work - Ole Miss runs a form of it, and its D is mean and tough and fast and knows how to tackle. Our D seems to miss tackles for fun and is often out place, as well as mismatched. Our main issue is bad coaching.
I agree that Fedora needs to get a top DC and allow him to run the D with little input from Fedora. If Brad Lawing could be brought back as Associate HC and/or RC/DL coach along with an up and coming younger DC, then so much the better.
Solely blaming coaching, or scheme, or personnel, or effort is a reductionist way to evaluate the defensive problems. I could argue for or against each one. The truth is that there have been varying degrees of failure in each of those categories for this defense to be as bad as it's been.
The threads this season have reflected the complexity of the issue. See if any of these sound familiar: "Koenning has to go!" "The 4-2-5 is a worthless gimmick defense!" "We need to recruit better players!" "This team is soft and afraid of contact!" Or a combination of the two, like "Our personnel doesn't fit this defense!"
My point is that it isn't a simple fix. Will firing Koenning help if we retain the 4-2-5? Will switching to a 4-3 help if we keep Koenning? Will the maturation of "Fedora" recruits help? There are several variables at play here, so if we (as fans) are banking on a single course of action as a panacea for our ills, there's a good chance we're going to be disappointed.
This is where Larry earns his keep. Nobody knows this team better than him. Give him a chance to address the problems and then wait until we see the results before deciding whether it was the right call.
The threads this season have reflected the complexity of the issue. See if any of these sound familiar: "Koenning has to go!" "The 4-2-5 is a worthless gimmick defense!" "We need to recruit better players!" "This team is soft and afraid of contact!" Or a combination of the two, like "Our personnel doesn't fit this defense!"
My point is that it isn't a simple fix. Will firing Koenning help if we retain the 4-2-5? Will switching to a 4-3 help if we keep Koenning? Will the maturation of "Fedora" recruits help? There are several variables at play here, so if we (as fans) are banking on a single course of action as a panacea for our ills, there's a good chance we're going to be disappointed.
This is where Larry earns his keep. Nobody knows this team better than him. Give him a chance to address the problems and then wait until we see the results before deciding whether it was the right call.
The 4-2-5 is a defense for the spread. Three teams in the ACC run an offense that would call for such a scheme, and we are one of them. The other two are in the other division (FSU, Clem)
While its a great package to be able to bust out against those teams if you can run it right, its probably not the best option for most of the teams we play.
While its a great package to be able to bust out against those teams if you can run it right, its probably not the best option for most of the teams we play.
Good points. Remember that Fedora brought Disch and the 4-2-5 to Southern Miss to combat the spread offenses in Conference USA. It wasn't his base defense in his first three years but C-USA offenses forced his hand. Hopefully he's not stubborn about making a similar change at UNC for next season.
Also, I don't think it attracts the defensive talent that UNC needs to win. Does anyone even use it in the NFL. Players are privy to this. Butch was so successful in recruiting NFL talent on the defensive side of the ball because he was using NFL schemes. Fedora's stubbornness (and stupidity) is costing UNC big time. He needs to Wake UP!
Doesn't seem to be hurting Ole Miss in recruiting too much. These kids don't care if their playing in the same scheme they'll be running in the NFL. They care about their college careers giving them the chance to play in the NFL. They care about winning, and girls. Carolina has the best in the world of the latter, watch what happens to recruiting if we start winning 10 games a year.
Call me crazy, but there is other reasons Ole Miss is having so much success recruiting. I agree UNC should be a great place for someone to come to, but the way the defense is being coached and run if I am a high caliber recruit, I am staying away unless there is a change. And from our recruiting boards, apparently I am correct.
Yup.
I think the importance of scheme is a little overblown when it comes to recruiting. The bigger issue is probably the performance on the field. South Carolina, Ole Miss, Auburn, etc. have all signed quality defensive talent with the same scheme because they were winning games. So the question to me is how do you sell UNC to a recruit right now?
