One thing our coaches need to work on

Gold Rush

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Actually probably several but one thing I would like to see is the ability to make in game adjustments, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously the DC had a hard time with that and he is gone and Rossi didn't give up ANY big plays and they did an excellent job.

Even good teams can and will give up a long play on occasion but they don't give up huge gains after huge gains on play after play. When you can't stop the same play you have to really question the ability of the coaches on the sideline. They need to make corrections immediately because there is a good chance you will see it again. When I see the Gopher DB's playing 10 yards off and they go with a quick pass 7-8 times in a row for several yards you wonder what is going on on the sidelines. Or like during the Illinois game they get gaffed for a huge gain - then nothing is done to correct it. The Illinois game was probably the most disheartening game for Gopher fans in some time because it looked like a big time regression.

Obviously Smith lost his job because of the debacle and there was immediate improvement. The question becomes are we indeed as good as we looked vs. Purdue or was that a one game aberration? The answer probably lies somewhere in between the Purdue and Illinois game and we are hoping Rossi has made adjustments that will permanently help us and turn us into a decent, if not very good defense.

We WILL give up a big play in the future, that is a given. But I would like to see the ability to stop it if we see the same play again. That tells us that we did something a little different to take it away. It just might be one of the keys for defensive improvement going forward and it will give us confidence that our coaches know what they are doing out there.

My question I will pose is this: If the Gophers defense shuts down Northwestern and Wisconsin and plays at a high level as they did vs. Purdue, do you give the DC job to Rossi at the end of the year??
 

The one thing our coaches need to work on is less A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.S. [emoji16]
R.T.B. I'm O.U.T. [emoji41]
 

I'm not a big believer in adjustments. Kill and Co. were thought to make a lot of half time adjustments .... but they hardly ever did it enough to come back and win, so that makes me wonder if other teams just played it more conservatively as they knew we couldn't come back to beat them and any "adjustment" was that.

I don't doubt coach's do adjustments, I'm just not sure they make a huge difference. It's just something easy to talk about.
 

Easy Trigger. Let’s shut them down first before we even begin that conversation


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

My question I will pose is this: If the Gophers defense shuts down Northwestern and Wisconsin and plays at a high level as they did vs. Purdue, do you give the DC job to Rossi at the end of the year??

If the defense sustains the level of performance from the Purdue game for the rest of the season I would be on board with Rossi getting the gig because it would be clear he made a massive difference in the defense. To go from getting lit up by mediocre teams to playing at a really high level against good teams with the same personnel would be pretty shocking.

That said, I doubt we can sustain the level of play that we showed against Purdue and more than likely we have a new DC next season from somewhere outside the program. I just hope we do enough defensively over these remaining games to give us a chance to be in the game. Tough to compete when your defense can't stop anything and you are constantly playing from behind.
 


I would agree that some people put too much stock in halftime adjustments. the game plan is the game plan - the scheme is the scheme. those are the plays and schemes that have been practiced all week. you can't just throw them out and say "OK, now we're going to do something completely different that we haven't practiced."

BUT - there is room for more subtle adjustments. Maybe you adjust the line splits on offense or defense. Maybe you have the LB's move a step closer to the line -or a step backwards. Maybe the corners press the WR's a little tighter at the line of scrimmage, and bring the safeties up a step.

On offense, it could be as simple as saying, Play X worked, so we'll run it a little more. Play Y didn't work, so we won't call it any more. Or telling the QB to go with a quicker 3-step drop instead of a 7-step drop, and get the ball out of his hand quicker.

Again, you can't re-write the game plan, but you can look at what's working, and what's not working, and adjust accordingly.
 

I would agree that some people put too much stock in halftime adjustments. the game plan is the game plan - the scheme is the scheme. those are the plays and schemes that have been practiced all week. you can't just throw them out and say "OK, now we're going to do something completely different that we haven't practiced."

BUT - there is room for more subtle adjustments. Maybe you adjust the line splits on offense or defense. Maybe you have the LB's move a step closer to the line -or a step backwards. Maybe the corners press the WR's a little tighter at the line of scrimmage, and bring the safeties up a step.

On offense, it could be as simple as saying, Play X worked, so we'll run it a little more. Play Y didn't work, so we won't call it any more. Or telling the QB to go with a quicker 3-step drop instead of a 7-step drop, and get the ball out of his hand quicker.

Again, you can't re-write the game plan, but you can look at what's working, and what's not working, and adjust accordingly.

Well said. It really is less about adjustments in scheme and more about getting with the players in a more relaxed setting where you can communicate what you are seeing from above and hopefully help get players in positions to be successful over the remainder of the game.

Smith was not able to figure how to stop teams from gashing us with big plays. For one game at least, Rossi was able to keep one of the best in the country at doing it from getting any big plays against us. Here's hoping that trend continues for a few more weeks and we can end this year on a high note.
 

If the defense sustains the level of performance from the Purdue game for the rest of the season I would be on board with Rossi getting the gig because it would be clear he made a massive difference in the defense. To go from getting lit up by mediocre teams to playing at a really high level against good teams with the same personnel would be pretty shocking.

That said, I doubt we can sustain the level of play that we showed against Purdue and more than likely we have a new DC next season from somewhere outside the program. I just hope we do enough defensively over these remaining games to give us a chance to be in the game. Tough to compete when your defense can't stop anything and you are constantly playing from behind.

I would tend to agree. If -- and granted it's a big IF the Gophers continue to do well defensively then the job should go to Rossi as he should be the guy going forward. I still can't believe the transformation in one week that the defense showed and I don't think anyone else can, either. We probably all need just a little more evaluation time. If they get gashed like they did vs. Illinois in either or both games then he probably won't even get interviewed for the position. I think it's just one more thing to watch the next 2 weeks - the game within the game if you will. If there is one guy with a lot on the line the next couple weeks it's probably him!!
 

I would tend to agree. If -- and granted it's a big IF the Gophers continue to do well defensively then the job should go to Rossi as he should be the guy going forward. I still can't believe the transformation in one week that the defense showed and I don't think anyone else can, either. We probably all need just a little more evaluation time. If they get gashed like they did vs. Illinois in either or both games then he probably won't even get interviewed for the position. I think it's just one more thing to watch the next 2 weeks - the game within the game if you will. If there is one guy with a lot on the line the next couple weeks it's probably him!!

The fact that we are even having conversations about this underscores just how bad things were prior to the Purdue game and how massive of a turnaround that was.

Think we all assumed Rossi was just a stop gap for the rest of the year (and more than likely that is what he will end up being) but that performance against Purdue really opened some eyes and at least might have gotten him into the conversation as a possible option going forward.
 



Getting a consistent effort from the team each week. Seem to get up for good teams like Ohio St & Purdue, but have done some sleep walking vs the likes of Illinois, NE, and Maryland. The team could win by 20 or lose by 40 this week, and none of us would be surprised.
 

Getting a consistent effort from the team each week. Seem to get up for good teams like Ohio St & Purdue, but have done some sleep walking vs the likes of Illinois, NE, and Maryland. The team could win by 20 or lose by 40 this week, and none of us would be surprised.

The good news in that is that Northwestern and Wisconsin would both fall in the good team category so hopefully that will lead to a good effort from the Gophers.

And you are right about not knowing what to expect week to week, although if we lose by 40 to this Northwestern team I would be surprised and extremely disappointed.
 

I would agree that some people put too much stock in halftime adjustments. the game plan is the game plan - the scheme is the scheme. those are the plays and schemes that have been practiced all week. you can't just throw them out and say "OK, now we're going to do something completely different that we haven't practiced."

BUT - there is room for more subtle adjustments. Maybe you adjust the line splits on offense or defense. Maybe you have the LB's move a step closer to the line -or a step backwards. Maybe the corners press the WR's a little tighter at the line of scrimmage, and bring the safeties up a step.

On offense, it could be as simple as saying, Play X worked, so we'll run it a little more. Play Y didn't work, so we won't call it any more. Or telling the QB to go with a quicker 3-step drop instead of a 7-step drop, and get the ball out of his hand quicker.

Again, you can't re-write the game plan, but you can look at what's working, and what's not working, and adjust accordingly.

I think what most are getting at here is changing the play or defensive set package based on what the opponent is doing or not doing. It's a tired example, but last year's MD game is a good example. MD consistently crowded the line to stop the run and left the area 5+ yards beyond the line wide open play after play. Fleck and Co never changed the play to drag a TE into that area for a quick easy pass. It became painful to watch over and over.
 

Good coaches do make adjustments for what the other team is doing. And they do get players to correct what they are doing wrong during the game. If the game plan isn't working it would be insanity, as some here are fond of saying, to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Don't worry, I know, I know, execution, execution, ....

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ftime-adjustments-defense-wisconsin/92185534/

http://www.americanfootballmonthly.com/Subaccess/articles.php?article_id=5280&output=article
 



Good coaches do make adjustments for what the other team is doing. And they do get players to correct what they are doing wrong during the game. If the game plan isn't working it would be insanity, as some here are fond of saying, to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Don't worry, I know, I know, execution, execution, ....

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ftime-adjustments-defense-wisconsin/92185534/

http://www.americanfootballmonthly.com/Subaccess/articles.php?article_id=5280&output=article

Which is why Smith was fired.

He tried to defend Maryland, Indiana, Nebraska, and Illinois the same way. I would argue he was 0-4
 

If the defense sustains the level of performance from the Purdue game for the rest of the season I would be on board with Rossi getting the gig because it would be clear he made a massive difference in the defense. To go from getting lit up by mediocre teams to playing at a really high level against good teams with the same personnel would be pretty shocking.

That said, I doubt we can sustain the level of play that we showed against Purdue and more than likely we have a new DC next season from somewhere outside the program. I just hope we do enough defensively over these remaining games to give us a chance to be in the game. Tough to compete when your defense can't stop anything and you are constantly playing from behind.

Let’s say that Rossi shuts down NW and WI and has a nice outing in the bowl game. What other schools would take him as their DC? Do you really think that he’d get looks by schools comparable to us?
 

Good coaches do make adjustments for what the other team is doing. And they do get players to correct what they are doing wrong during the game. If the game plan isn't working it would be insanity, as some here are fond of saying, to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Don't worry, I know, I know, execution, execution, ....

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ftime-adjustments-defense-wisconsin/92185534/

http://www.americanfootballmonthly.com/Subaccess/articles.php?article_id=5280&output=article

It's not like the other team doesn't adjust too....
 

Rossi gave the double A gap look which is the purest form of football genius ever witnessed.

From that alone I am sure he will get the job.

I also expect NW and Wisconsin and our bowl opponent to score a total of 27 combined points.
 

Let’s say that Rossi shuts down NW and WI and has a nice outing in the bowl game. What other schools would take him as their DC? Do you really think that he’d get looks by schools comparable to us?

Honestly have no way of knowing for sure. He has been a DC before so that combined with some solid showings down the stretch might get him an offer from somewhere. No clue how he would be viewed in coaching circles.
 

Great dialogue here guys.

I sure hope Rossi is able to successfully audition for the DC job. The players deserve to have some semblance of continuity.

If they are able to pull off wins, giving Rossi the DC job can be a win-win situation.

There are risks any way PJ Fleck decides. Bringing in someone new versus staying in-house wth Rossi.

You never know. True leaders are born on the battlefield. If Rossi keeps winning, IMHO I don't see how you'd not make him the permanent DC.
 

Great dialogue here guys.

I sure hope Rossi is able to successfully audition for the DC job. The players deserve to have some semblance of continuity.

If they are able to pull off wins, giving Rossi the DC job can be a win-win situation.

There are risks any way PJ Fleck decides. Bringing in someone new versus staying in-house wth Rossi.

You never know. True leaders are born on the battlefield. If Rossi keeps winning, IMHO I don't see how you'd not make him the permanent DC.

I don't think 3 good games makes Rossi our guy. I would really like to find someone that has proven it over at least a year or two as being highly successful. Rossi's previous DC record was not very good at all.
 

People if you think coaches don't make in game adjustments, you don't understand coaching. Also if you think they do this at halftime, you really don't get it. Halftime is for hydration, piss breaks, and some even change undergarments. Adjustments are on going. We won my 30 points on Saturday, so I assume that good adjustments were made throughout. We've lost games and those adjustments just weren't as good. There are too many factors in a game to put this much attention on in game adjustments.
 

I think Kirk made a statement this week about play calling that applies to the almighty "adjustments" too.

Kirk said "If I don't think the guys can make that play, there's no sense in calling it."

I suspect "adjustments" are similar in their limitations.
 

There are too many factors in a game to put this much attention on in game adjustments.

This. It's a part of the game, but it's not the game. Whenever an announcer talks about "halftime adjustments" without specific examples, I assume he/she is an ignoramus.

If the D performs anywhere nearly as well in the next two games as it did against Purdue, I'd be surprised if Rossi doesn't get the job. If you hire a new DC, that likely means additional coaching turnover, because the new DC is going to want to bring in at least some of his guys. That disruption of continuity is something I suspect PJ will want to avoid.

OTOH, if PJ feels the entire defensive operation has been dysfunctional, then throw 'em all over board and start from scratch. But I doubt we'll see that.

JTG
 

This. It's a part of the game, but it's not the game. Whenever an announcer talks about "halftime adjustments" without specific examples, I assume he/she is an ignoramus.

If the D performs anywhere nearly as well in the next two games as it did against Purdue, I'd be surprised if Rossi doesn't get the job. If you hire a new DC, that likely means additional coaching turnover, because the new DC is going to want to bring in at least some of his guys. That disruption of continuity is something I suspect PJ will want to avoid.

OTOH, if PJ feels the entire defensive operation has been dysfunctional, then throw 'em all over board and start from scratch. But I doubt we'll see that.

JTG

I think commentators talking about adjustments is just a replacement for "momentum change" who knows if anyone really observed something different. One guy on the other team could have just dorked up a couple times and there ya go.
 

I don't think 3 good games makes Rossi our guy. I would really like to find someone that has proven it over at least a year or two as being highly successful. Rossi's previous DC record was not very good at all.

I agree in theory but if the 3 games are all on the same level as the Purdue game then I think it would be foolish not to give him the gig. Purdue has one of the best offenses in the country and we shut them down on Saturday. The weather helped but the kids played great as well.

My money is still on a new DC being brought in next year but I also do think Rossi could earn the job if the D continues to play great under his leadership and the players really seem to like playing for him.
 

I agree in theory but if the 3 games are all on the same level as the Purdue game then I think it would be foolish not to give him the gig. Purdue has one of the best offenses in the country and we shut them down on Saturday. The weather helped but the kids played great as well.

My money is still on a new DC being brought in next year but I also do think Rossi could earn the job if the D continues to play great under his leadership and the players really seem to like playing for him.

Absolutely correct. You can be darn sure Rossi is thinking of the next couple games as an audition to prove himself as a defensive coordinator. If the team does as well as it did vs. Purdue you could always give the job to someone else, but I would rather give it to someone who got the job done than to someone who MIGHT be able to get it done. DC Smith came in with big time credentials but that proved to be a bad choice and it didn't work out. And Northwestern and Wisconsin will be two very big time tests. If you shut both those teams down and we go to a bowl, you can look at Rossi as being a big reason we were able to turn it around and many will say he saved the season.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We still have two very tough but winnable games if our defense plays at its highest level. We could get shellacked in one or both games and you watch how fast everyone goes back to worrying about the defense again. Right now the meter has turned to cautiously optimistic so hopefully we continue in that direction Saturday.
 




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