All Things Robb Smith Thread

It’s only a kick in the junk if he was a head coach. Claeys was a good defensive coach but sucked ass as a head coach.


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9-3 with a win over WSU with half his defense unable to play says otherwise, but you are welcome to your narrative.
 

It’s only a kick in the junk if he was a head coach. Claeys was a good defensive coach but sucked ass as a head coach.


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Oh if our current coach could suck ass to 9 wins.


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I’m not defending Smith, but here goes...

Cashman plays well when he knows where he is going prior to the snap. He’s not great if he has to read and react.

Martin played sparingly as a freshmen and has played more and improved each year. He still struggles, but I don’t remember the Kamal Martin glory days of yesteryear.

As for Devers, really? He had one game with a few sacks against CSU.

Uh, what?
 

If you can't slow people down on defense unless you are loaded with playmakers, then you have to go to Ohio State or Alabama and let them know you are a perfect fit for a defense with a dozen or so NFL prospects and hope they will hire you.

Smith’s job should be in jeopardy. What happened today was an embarrassment.

Bad coaching and a lack of talent and you get what you have with the Gophers D.


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Claeys defense is pitching a shutout against Oregon.
Maybe he could moonlight and coach our defense via the internet.
 



Do college coaches change D-coordinators in-season often?

I'd have to think not, but I don't know.

Purdue fired Moe Ankney after we scored 59 points again them in 1993 (back when 59 was a lot of points). And then Glen Mason hired him as our defensive coordinator 8 years later.
 


Phildo needs to fire him after signing day, or run the risk that the fire spreads to his seat.
 



Uh, what?

Cashman is good if he is supposed to hit a gap and tackle a back or chase the QB. He doesn’t play particularly well if he is reacting to what is happening and has to change direction or cover. My opinion.
 


Robb Smirh needs to be fired for simply preparing a defense that resembled Smokey Joe's 1983 defense.

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Thoughts from this entire thread

1. Everyone agrees with the fact Smith is awful and needs to go.
2. For those saying Winfield probably wouldn't make much of a difference are completely mistaken. Tackling from our DB's are horrible, and winfield is very good at that. Winfield also probably takes away half the big plays and makes the jobs easier for every other player on that defense.
3. Who really cares how Claey's defense is doing. Everyone knows he's a great defensive coach. Its not shocking to any Gopher fans.

Its disappointing that our defense can't give this team a chance. Our offense is young, and it doesn't help that they feel like they need to score every possession to have a chance. We do have some talent on defense, but we also have some limitations with our DB's. The fact that Smith can't find ways to utilize our strengths shows he's not the guy for this job. Every coach can look good with good players around them, but the real ones shine when they can do good things with less talent.
 



Claeys defense in Washington isn't exactly pitching shutouts every week. Let's pump the brakes on that a bit.

I agree Smith is terrible. Maybe Fleck will interview Tyrone Carter. Haha.

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Cashman is good if he is supposed to hit a gap and tackle a back or chase the QB. He doesn’t play particularly well if he is reacting to what is happening and has to change direction or cover. My opinion.

I mean, nobody does those things 100%. He’s struggled at times along with everyone else but he’s probably one of our our biggest playmakers and reacts better than most IMO.

Prior to today he led the team in tackles and had 8.5 TFL. We will really miss him next year.
 

From the Strib article on the game:
Nebraska, which entered the game averaging only 23.3 pointer per game, found the perfect opponent against which to break out — the Gophers and their defense. Stanley Morgan Jr., whose 67-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter made it 46-22, found it easy.

“My last touchdown, I don’t even think the guy saw me run past him,” he said.

Fire Robb Smith!
 

Regardless of injuries and talent level, I seriously question Robb Smith's longevity as the Gophers Defensive Coordinator. If PJ Fleck wants to coach the Gophers long term, he won't be without a good defense.

Glenn Mason's undoing was he was not allowed to spend money. He should have fired his Defensive Coordinator and spend money on a good replacement.

The Gophers are being blown out the last four Big Ten games. No excuses. Claeys had a strong defense with a lot lower rated talent.
 

Claeys defense in Washington isn't exactly pitching shutouts every week. Let's pump the brakes on that a bit.

I agree Smith is terrible. Maybe Fleck will interview Tyrone Carter. Haha.

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Clary’s also started 8 seniors on defense, and gave up 20 points and 300 yards.
 

I doubt it will happen, but if Fleck knew any better he would dismiss Robb Smith by Monday morning. This defense has 9 upperclassmen starting, and not a single one of them looked prepared for what Nebraska ran today. Missing tackles is one thing, but players were out of position and left to guess. That's horrible coaching. They can make the plays if they're put in position to do so, but something is lacking in preparation. Our linebackers are getting destroyed, and there's zero pressure on the QB. Not acceptable.

I get that Nebraska has athletes, but there's also a reason they entered the game 0-6. Today: 653 total yards, 7 TDs, 9 yards per freaking play. What the hell did you talk about in defensive team meetings all week??

I knew this wasn't the year to have expectations for this program, but this is embarrassing.
 


I doubt it will happen, but if Fleck knew any better he would dismiss Robb Smith by Monday morning. This defense has 9 upperclassmen starting, and not a single one of them looked prepared for what Nebraska ran today. Missing tackles is one thing, but players were out of position and left to guess. That's horrible coaching. They can make the plays if they're put in position to do so, but something is lacking in preparation. Our linebackers are getting destroyed, and there's zero pressure on the QB. Not acceptable.

I get that Nebraska has athletes, but there's also a reason they entered the game 0-6. Today: 653 total yards, 7 TDs, 9 yards per freaking play. What the hell did you talk about in defensive team meetings all week??

I knew this wasn't the year to have expectations for this program, but this is embarrassing.
Hear! Hear!

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I wish they would have left him in Lincoln. Defense looked completely unprepared, out of position and out schemed ounce again. The defense is not nearly as young as the offense, yet I trust the offense so much more right now. Absolutely embarrassing performance by the defense.
 

The Gopher defense is a trainwreck. If its not Robbs fault then it's PJ's...these same kids were serviceable under Claeys. Fire Robb or accept the responsibility.
 

Our defense lost us that game hands down. Sure the offense didn't get going until the 3rd quarter, but your offense shouldn't have to pull you out of a 28 point deficit.

I am a PJ Fleck fan, I want him to coach here long term and I think he can do well, but Rob Smith has to go.
 

per Chipper:

Fleck gave Smith a public vote confidence as part of a meandering answer that included a straw man argument.

“I have 100 percent faith in every single one of our coaches,” Fleck said. “I’m the one that knows all of the internal things that we have to deal with every single day with what’s the program looking like internally. …

http://www.startribune.com/youth-ca...ers-defensive-meltdown-at-nebraska/498128271/

Go Gophers!!
 

per Chipper:

Fleck gave Smith a public vote confidence as part of a meandering answer that included a straw man argument.

“I have 100 percent faith in every single one of our coaches,” Fleck said. “I’m the one that knows all of the internal things that we have to deal with every single day with what’s the program looking like internally. …

http://www.startribune.com/youth-ca...ers-defensive-meltdown-at-nebraska/498128271/

Go Gophers!!
I expected nothing less. What coach is going to throw another coach under the bus at a presser?
However, as one poster has done, put up the numbers next to Robb Smith and the numbers show he has seriously under performed as a coach.
We were spoiled with the fat genius of Tracy Claeys. Now it's back to the last days of Glen Mason defense...or worse.
 

Clary’s also started 8 seniors on defense, and gave up 20 points and 300 yards.

Claeys has nothing to do with this Gophers Team. We know we have some issues, but can someone please explain to me, what changed with those issues to cause our average yardage to go from:

2017: 382.6 yds/ game in conference
2018: 503.8 yds/game through four games

Comparing the delta between a teams average yds per game to the yards they put up against us, in 2017 the difference was 75.3 yards per game. In 2018 the difference is 82.8 per game. looking at the games between the three teams we've played in both years, the delta in performance vs. average was 38.2 yds/game in 2017, and 115.9 yds/game in 2018. That is a 203% increase vs. 2017. If you take out the game today, because the Nebby team last year quit on the team, and look at just Maryland and Iowa we gave up an average of 81.6 yds/game more this year, a 113% increase.

While we have a number of games to play, and I expect the numbers may equalize when we play the likes of Illinois, we still have more teams in the top half of the Big Ten in average offense to play (Purdue (1), Wisconsin (5), and Indiana (7)) and then in the bottom half (Northwestern (10) and Illinois (11)).

The good news is Illinois is giving up 30 yards per game more than we are, so we aren't last.

We have some issues with depth and talent on D, but no more than we did last year. Our offense, in conference, is after aging 363.3 yds/game good for 9th in the conference. That's up from xx in 2017. Time of Possession is 29:01 in 2018 the same as in 2017. While we have issues on offense, it's actually improved from last year so that isn't contributing to the decline in the ability to stop anyone. This is the second year ins Robb Smith's "system" so we should be better prepared, right?

I'd love for someone to explain what changed to make this understandable and for the concerns and ire directed to Robb Smith to be shown to be misplaced.
 
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Clary’s also started 8 seniors on defense, and gave up 20 points and 300 yards.

That defense held Ducks offense to almost 200 yards under their average and 23 points under their average, so what's your point?
 





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