re: WOW !!! I hope this is accurate - Mike Detillier on Dandy this morning

My comment touched this current nega-pumper debate, so allow me to clarify. I wasn't saying that Chavis sucked. He's a very good coach. My point is that, just like the offensive staff struggled to find a way to make the pieces fit the strength of the talent they have to work with, Chavis had the same issues last year, and this year to a lesser degree. It's the same problem. He didn't change up his scheme to fit the strengths or hide the weaknesses of the players. Hence, 2 years of struggles in sacks and turnovers.

I wasn't blaming everything on Chavis. I'm simply hoping that a more aggressive scheme, if implemented correctly, will get more out of the 4 and 5 star talent on the D line that has produced so little to date. A large chunk of our fanbase has just given up on guys like Herron and Bain, but they were highly regarded recruits for a reason.

We have a new defensive staff, like it or not, so it's time to move on. I was simply pointing out that if the scheme they will likely be running gets more out of the talent we already have, then it should have the welcomed bonus of helping the offense out as well.

First, ranking of defenses is overrated. LSU had the #1 defense in the SEC IF you include ALL games. LSU tore it up vs SHSU and ULM (even more than others tore up their cupcakes). I believe the rankings of SEC games only...LSU is #4 in the conference, not #1. You can do anything with stats. I just remember a bunch of 3rd and long and 4th and long conversions along with some very tense moments at end of games. And yeah, 3rd and Chavis was the DC I believe. I didn't make that name up...the TN fans did years and years ago.

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What were the strengths we did no utilize on defense?

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Not that hard to point them out. 1) when you defend 3rd and 10 you rush at least 4 which he did...but then he dropped the other 7 back almost past the down marker. Obviously for some bizarre reason, he didn't think to play the same aggressive defense he played successfully on 1st and 2nd down 2) it's really neat to go around and call everybody a "hybrid LBer" but I found them to be "tweeners"...not big enough to stop guys from going forward after contact and not fast enough to cover some backs, etc. 3) when you stop a team for 57 minutes like Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama, A&M, why all of a sudden do they move the ball right down the field on you? Either they amazingly improved on offense or you changed up your defense huh?

3rd and Chavis - a name that TN fans gave him and confirmed with his stint at LSU. Now, spin away!

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Let's all hope that this is the moment where all those random speculative comments that flow from Mike Detillier's arse begin to be true.

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...LSU is #4 in the conference, not #1.

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Ok

we were 13th in points scored in the SEC, so I suppose we could be worse.

Overhaul the D.

Ok, lets act as if everyone was calling for Chavis's head It makes everyone feel better. Everything is better now that we got a new DC

Chavis is a good DC against teams with traditional style offenses. His greatest difficulty is coordinating a defense that can stop the spread. Notre Dame knew exactly how to beat Chavis' defense, and they even changed their starting QB to do it. And it worked for them. Maybe Chavis should've recognized ahead of time why ND was changing their QB and developed a defensive strategy to stop them...But then again, he couldn't figure it out all season long, so why would I think he could do it for the bowl game. Would've been the same next year too. At least maybe, Coach Steele might have an idea on how to stop the spread and a QB that just runs up the middle all day long. Just sayin'

[quote] I'm honestly very surprised people respect his opinion as much as it seems people in the media do.
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Didn't he come out after the Auburn game and say LSU wouldn't win an SEC game other than KY, and had us last in the West? Now, I know a lot of knee jerk posters on here said the same thing, but most of us realistic ones knew LSU would improve throughout the year.

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Chavis defended the spread pretty well. Aggies, Ole Miss....better than anyone else in the conf did anyway.

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No one can deny that Chavis had the Aggies nailed three years in a row. However, the OM argument doesn't hold water at all. They absolute killed our defense two years in a row using the spread and running Wallace. This year, they had no run game at all and Wallace was dinged up coming into the matchup, which limited his ability to run. They played a much more conservative offensive gameplan against us, and struggled mightily because of it. That's not to say the defense didn't play very well, but the situation definitely favored us this year.

Speaking of the Ole Miss game, your comment on our 3rd down ranking this year (we were the top 3rd down defense in the league) comes to mind. Those of us who know the game don't discount this statistic. Not at all. However, you can't throw the baby out with the bath water and say that the end of game issues with our defense don't exist because of it. If anything, the exact opposite is true. The 3rd and 4th down issues brought on by the end of game/half prevent and soft zone are underlined in bright red ink BECAUSE of the excellent 3rd down performance the rest of the game. That's why the letdowns stand out so much.

The Ole Miss game is a perfect example. We held their offense down until the last drive and kept them to 3 points, but suddenly they march quickly down the field, only to be undone by their idiot QB. If he had run the play he was given, they would have had a chip shot FG for OT and, like Bama going into OT with us, all the momentum.

The term "3rd and Chavis" gets tossed around loosely, but if you ask fans specifically what stands out to them, it isn't usually random 3rd downs through the first 3 quarters (except maybe the bowl game). It is the end of game philosophy shifts that they are referring to. Don't get hung up on the semantics. Look at the results. Going from being one of the best 3rd down Ds in the FBS to letting 4 teams (Florida, Ole Miss, Bama, ND) make late drives to affect the outcome of the game with multiple 3rd and 4th down conversions is too much to ignore. It is a constantly repeating pattern.