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Offense or Defense?

Hank

Hank

Bragging about his ineffectiveness
Club Member
My thoughts are that good defenses require better athletes than good offenses. In other words, you can turn around an offense on coaching, but it takes recruiting to turn around a defense.

I don't have a lot of data, but it seems that most of the turnarounds for BCS teams that are not historically recruiting hotbeds came on the offensive side of the ball. Stanford (although they had a great D), K-State, Okie State, A&M.

I'm kind of struggling with this because it seems the coaching talent pool this cycle is deeper on the defensive side of the ball.
 
Our most sucessful coach was a defensive coordinator for Meatchicken before he arrived in Boulder in 1982. Neushiel and Barnett were offensive coaches. Hawkins was one wack job and Embree was an offensive coach. Bill Snyder was Fry's DC at Iowa, Stoops was the DC at Florida before he showed up in Norman, and Saban is a defensive coach. I think it's obvious.
 
NashBuff said:
Our most sucessful coach was a defensive coordinator for Meatchicken before he arrived in Boulder in 1982. Neushiel and Barnett were offensive coaches. Hawkins was one wack job and Embree was an offensive coach. Bill Snyder was Fry's DC at Iowa, Stoops was the DC at Florida before he showed up in Norman, and Saban is a defensive coach. I think it's obvious.
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Snyder was Fry's OC at Iowa.
 
You could argue either way on this one especially in the Pac 12. Offenses put up video game numbers on a regular basis. Strong offensive mind means you'll be able to keep up with the Joneses on points. And much of the offense in the Pac 12 is based on spread which means you can get away with less than world-class athletes if execution is good.

However, the offenses put up video game numbers so having a strong defense can help keep the Pac 12 offenses in check, allowing for more flexibility on offensive strategy (e.g. see Stanford). I am not sold yet that defense still requires much more athletes than offense. Although you certainly need speed at LB and secondary to keep up.

With respect to the HCs I am not sure it matters that much really. They should be really strong on one side of the ball yet be smart enough and involved enough to support the coordinator on the other side too. That to me was one of the many weakness of Embree. He seemed completely lost on how to help GB.
 
NashBuff said:
Our most sucessful coach was a defensive coordinator for Meatchicken before he arrived in Boulder in 1982. Neushiel and Barnett were offensive coaches. Hawkins was one wack job and Embree was an offensive coach. Bill Snyder was Fry's DC at Iowa, Stoops was the DC at Florida before he showed up in Norman, and Saban is a defensive coach. I think it's obvious.
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You also reinforce my point. Stoops turned around Oklahoma. Saban turned around Alabama. Turning around a program like CU is a very different problem. Stoops and Saban did not face the same recruiting obstacles. That's why I listed programs like Okie State, KSU, etc.
 
Personally I would go for a defensive coach that has proven to be able to have a good spread offense as well. Both Doeren and Anderson fit that bill IMO.
 
Hank said:
I am talking about this in the context of turning around a BCS program that will have a tough time competing on the recruiting trail.
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Baylor has beaten some really good teams with a craptastic defense. BU got off the bottom with offense. To take the next step they will have to actually play some defense.
 
I want a big, mean, fast, stingy defense first and foremost. It will at least help us avoid embarrassment while we are regaining our respectability.
 
Defense would be my preference.

However, I will glad for someone with expertise in either one. Could Embree honestly have been described as an offensive or defensive guru?
 
CUFan said:
Defense would be my preference.

However, I will glad for someone with expertise in either one. Could Embree honestly have been described as an offensive or defensive guru?
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Give the man some credit...he was a Tight End Guru for crying out loud
 
Hank:

I disagree with some of your premises. I think in either case you need talent regardless of whether it is offense or defense. Stanford has made it on defense more than offense. Although Jim Harbaugh playing experience was on the offensive side of the ball, he emphasized defense just like he is with the 49ers. Stanford certainly is not winning this year on offense. Stanford, Okie State and Texas A&M have been recruiting good players for a long time.

I think a team should start on defense. Teams with a defensive focus are just tougher mentally. I thought that Texas and OU have lost some of that toughness when they focus too much on offense.
 
WizzersGhost said:
Did you forget or not watch the Stanford/Oregon game?
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Yes...I watched a better Oregon team miss a lot of field goals and get a very very close TD call go against them at the end of the game for that Stanford game to take first tie/lead of game.

That stated, it's a lot more difficult to win with Defense first in the Pac 12. Stanford achieved it, but we're talking about a top 5 NCAA defense here.

CU could compete much faster with an offense that isn't 100% inept like this year, not to mention creating an offense that isn't 100% inept is a lot easier to do than creating a Defense that can stop Oregon 9/10 attempts.
 
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