re: What happened to House and this defense in one year?

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The whole team is behind the play every time. Speed! This is the slowest D I’ve seen at LSU.

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That’s not all on the players. House ran a read and react scheme. One of the most difficult things about that is getting players to understand the system to the point that they react quickly enough that they don’t get caught flat footed.

What did you see from our players all season? They looked like they were waiting at the line for blockers to come at them. They were slow to close on receivers on pass plays. There was no movement in the zone defense. If you delay moving of .5 seconds, that all it takes to be roasted on a play and you saw that over and over.

It wasn’t just an overall lack of athleticism. Our players were thinking too much and playing passive rather than reacting instinctually. That’s the scheme. There is a reason that most college DCs don’t run this kind of defense. It’s hard to get younger college players to master it, especially with the limited practice time allowed in college football. It’s a bad fit and we saw the worst of it.

Put our current players in an attacking scheme that they understand and watch how much faster they look and more aggressive they play. It won’t solve everything, but it will definitely help.