re: Truth about Clemson defense that Steele took over

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There is just to many variables though to make a sound judgment call.

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Like the fact that Clempsons Offense was ranked more than 100th in time of possession 2 of those 3 years.

Hard to have a good defense when it's on the field the ENTIRE season.

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Saban liked him enough to bring him back though.

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And Saban reportedly called him Tuesday morning begging him to stay... and "Don't get on the plane".

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Clemson IS NOT LSU in terms of the defensive talent they attract...jus sayin.

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Neither are Vanderbilt or Penn State...yet, somehow, Bob Shoop was able to put together top 20 defenses at those schools.

Elite coaches don't require elite talent to make themselves look good.

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2011 - #81 Scoring Defense, #71 Total Defense

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So your telling me that in three short years our D will suck like our O. That should keep from dividing the locker room.

I get the past has some merit, but prior to LSU...

Nick Saban at Mich St.
1995 6–5–1
1996 6–6
1997 7–5
1998 6–6
1999 9–2

Les Miles at OSU
2001 4–7
2002 8–5
2003 9–4
2004 7–5

Neither records were really impressive, but they were the right 'fit' for the job and both did and are doing pretty good at LSU. And I haven't looked at their records after leaving the respective schools, but I think both schools have better records since they left. It's all about the right person and the right fit and the right situation.

Quit bringing up 70 points and this and that, and wait and see what he does HERE!!!

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Guys, relax. Steele will have the very best defensive talent in the country at LSU. He has Orgeron and Raymond to help him shine.

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Who were his defensive assistants at Clemson?

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They lost some good defensive players to the draft the year prior to the downfall so there's that.

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uh, yea, that's one of the main jobs of the DC - to recruit talent to play in your defense.

If there's a big dropoff one year due to the NFL draft or graduation, it's the coaches' fault for not having young backups ready to step up.

Graduation and early exits for the draft are both predictable, to a large extent. Coaches get paid big money to anticipate that and prepare for it.

Just to add more stats to the thread for discussion:


National Rankings per NCAA's statistics database:

2009 (TOP on offense was #105):

#25 Scoring Defense
#20 Total Defense
#7 Pass Defense
#21 Pass Efficiency Defense
#67 Rushing Defense
#12 Tackles for a Loss
#11 Turnovers Gained
#64 3rd Down Defense
#114 Red Zone Defense


2010 (TOP on offense was #82):

#13 Scoring Defense
#19 Total Defense
#22 Pass Defense
#27 Pass Efficiency Defense
#28 Rushing Defense
#10 Tackles for a Loss
#72 Turnovers Gained
#49 3rd Down Defense
#98 Red Zone Defense


2011 (TOP on offense was #107):

#81 Scoring Defense
#71 Total Defense
#50 Pass Defense
#74 Pass Efficiency Defense
#83 Rushing Defense
#86 Tackles for a Loss
#49 Turnovers Gained
#73 3rd Down Defense
#83 Red Zone Defense




I'm much more worried about his 3rd down and Red Zone Defense than anything else. I think we will for sure have a top 25/20 scoring defense with this talent, position coaching, and TOP offense.

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I think we will for sure have a top 25/20 scoring defense with this talent, position coaching, and TOP offense.

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And our 2 minute Defense can ONLY get better than it has been.

If you go look at those classes they were very week on the defensive side especially DB...