re: What percentage of the blame do you put on the players ability vs the coaching staff?

I think that the lack of a d-line coach hampered the defense mightily. Yes, a GA can run the linemen through drills and get them aligned but it's coaching every play and every practice. When Coach Jenkins was at LSU in his first tenure, he coached every dang second...hand placement, reads, alignment, down and distance, read feet/heads, tendencies, etc. I'm assuming that this present group didn't get that level or intensity of instruction. I think Greg Brooks being unable to play was a huge hinderance for the secondary. He was responsible for formation reads, coverage adjustments, blitz calls and kills, and simply being the smartest guy back there for the young kids. Finally, Buddy Nix would always stress that great defenses tackle well...LSU didn't tackle well this year...for whatever reason.