Thomas Barber

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Was on with Mona, Max and Sid...said Gopher front seven is very good, very experienced..noted the four veteran defensive tackles and the two senior linebackers, Poock and Celestine...said appreciates Fleck energy...sounded like he was on board with concept of leadership leads, that they need players to take control of the team to succeed...said he was proud of defensive performance in bowl game with very limited secondary numbers.
 


I thought most interesting comment was in response to a question about the change to a new D Coordinator. Barber said the new defense is "different," and said the returning players were "starting to pick it up," but were still making some mistakes.

That certainly indicates a change in schemes, if not in defensive philosophy. Up till now, most of the discussion has been about the changes on offense. But, based on Barber's comments, we will be seeing some different looks/schemes/approaches on the defensive side of the ball as well.

To be fair, Barber said that he thought everyone would have the new defense down by this fall and be ready to play.

(note for the reading challenged: "different" does not mean better - it does not mean worse - it means different.) Until we see the new schemes in action, it's almost impossible to know what to expect.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I thought most interesting comment was in response to a question about the change to a new D Coordinator. Barber said the new defense is "different," and said the returning players were "starting to pick it up," but were still making some mistakes.

That certainly indicates a change in schemes, if not in defensive philosophy. Up till now, most of the discussion has been about the changes on offense. But, based on Barber's comments, we will be seeing some different looks/schemes/approaches on the defensive side of the ball as well.

To be fair, Barber said that he thought everyone would have the new defense down by this fall and be ready to play.

(note for the reading challenged: "different" does not mean better - it does not mean worse - it means different.) Until we see the new schemes in action, it's almost impossible to know what to expect.
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Can't believe that a new defensive staff may have a different philosophy
 

RatherBeGolfing said:
Can't believe that a new defensive staff may have a different philosophy
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Yeah, I don't see why that's so surprising or interesting. Just because both coaches ran a 4-3 defense doesn't mean the schemes are going to be the same.
 


joshvanklomp said:
Yeah, I don't see why that's so surprising or interesting. Just because both coaches ran a 4-3 defense doesn't mean the schemes are going to be the same.
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Fleck said on wcco they will run 3-4.
 



JTsolo612 said:
Kind of like the tree in the woods question. If no ones around to see/hear it, did it really happen?

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I thought it was a bear in the woods....
 





Nor did Max but for different reasons than Sid.
 




He has said multiple times the base will be 4-3 but they will go with 4 line backers to help get the best players on the field so we will probably see some 3-4 or maybe even only 2 down lineman in situations with the edge rushers being line backers.
 

Robb Smith has said that, the base is a 4-3, but they adjust to their personnel and how they match up with opponents. They may very well end up playing a lot of 3-4, but it will be because of necessity, not design.
 

nsmike said:
Robb Smith has said that, the base is a 4-3, but they adjust to their personnel and how they match up with opponents. They may very well end up playing a lot of 3-4, but it will be because of necessity, not design.
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Didn't MN run this last year for those same reasons? This doesn't sound real different in concept, but here we have a LB indicating that it is a change nonetheless.
 


In my own defense - there has been discussion and speculation on here about what would happen to the defense - which was seen as a strength of the team under the previous coaching staff. I've seen people wondering how much change there would be to the defense. We've heard a fair amount of information about the changes to the offense - but for me, at least, this was one of the first times I've heard a returning member of the defense talk about the adjustment to a new scheme - which indicates there is a fair amount of difference. If there were minor differences, I assume the players would have picked it up quickly. But Barber said it was a work in progress, which tells me it's quite possibly a bigger change in schemes or philosophies than some might have expected.

I thought that was interesting. if you didn't, so be it.

It was not a question of "will there be any changes to the defense?" I always assumed there would be changes.
It was a question of "will there be significant changes to the defense?" And now, it appears there will be significant changes. That was my point.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
In my own defense - there has been discussion and speculation on here about what would happen to the defense - which was seen as a strength of the team under the previous coaching staff. I've seen people wondering how much change there would be to the defense. We've heard a fair amount of information about the changes to the offense - but for me, at least, this was one of the first times I've heard a returning member of the defense talk about the adjustment to a new scheme - which indicates there is a fair amount of difference. If there were minor differences, I assume the players would have picked it up quickly. But Barber said it was a work in progress, which tells me it's quite possibly a bigger change in schemes or philosophies than some might have expected.

I thought that was interesting. if you didn't, so be it.

It was not a question of "will there be any changes to the defense?" I always assumed there would be changes.
It was a question of "will there be significant changes to the defense?" And now, it appears there will be significant changes. That was my point.
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I understood your point. I will also add another. Like under coach Sawvel, I won't be surprised if we run a multi defense. Could be a 3-4 hiding as a 4-3 and vice-versa. Wouldn't be surprised to see something like the 2-5. I will not be surprised to see multiple fronts with the blitz coming from any one of the front seven/ eight. I also won't be surprised to see the likes of DE's dropping into coverage.
 

We all need to keep in mind that 4-3 and 3-4 are basic alignments, how a team plays out of that base, can be very different. Last year was Sawvel's first as a DC, he was in the process of developing his own style, there was quite a bit of experimenting. Robb Smith has been around a while and has own more mature concepts to implement., will it be better?, time will tell.
 

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