Twitter reacts to Harbaugh's hiring on Don Brown (Hint: You will love this)

Submitted by Maizen on

Thought this deserved its own thread.

 

SI is reporting that #Michigan has hired #BC's Don Brown as Wolverines new defensive coordinator. That'd be a terrific hire for Jim Harbaugh

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 20, 2015

RIP Big Ten. Brown is a mad scientist. https://t.co/8vOCiBuDFl

— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) December 20, 2015

Crazy thing about Don Brown's defenses is even going back to UConn they've been insanely good and never paired with even a decent offense.

— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) December 20, 2015

Everyone can have their own opinion but I don't think there's a better defensive coordinator in college football. https://t.co/FuKWGBFFU3

— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) December 20, 2015

Just to reiterate what @MarkEnnis has been saying, Don Brown is that good. I'd take him over Venables, Smart, anyone. He's the best.

— M. Ryan Hayes (@mRyanHayes) December 20, 2015

Michigan made an outstanding hire in Don Brown as defensive coordinator. About as good a hire as they could have made.

— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) December 20, 2015

#Wolverines just hit a major home run in the DC hire of Don Brown. Grand Slam.

— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) December 20, 2015

Other than Virginia Tech retaining Bud Foster, Don Brown (Michigan) and Greg Schiano (Ohio State) two best staff additions on defense.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 20, 2015

Michigan got really good today with the hiring of Coach Don Brown! The B10 should be afraid, very afraid...

— Steve Costello (@CoachStello) December 20, 2015

I have an absolute pit feeling in my stomach for having lost Don Brown. But great for him to go to Michigan. You can't say no to that job.

— Dan Rubin (@DanRubin12) December 20, 2015

Quick CFB note: Michigan reportedly hiring Don Brown as DC. That's a HUGE get. Brown consistently puts top defenses on the field.

— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) December 20, 2015

Don Brown isn't a good defensive coordinator, he's a GREAT defensive coordinator. Huge for Michigan. https://t.co/PAA6PV3phZ

— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) December 20, 2015

Michigan…this is what you are getting in Don Brown. Results. https://t.co/Z7WURpPP6R

— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) December 20, 2015

Terrific hire by Harbaugh. Top D in the country in 2015. RT @ThayerEvansSI: Boston College DC Don Brown will be Michigan's new DC per source

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) December 20, 2015

Don Brown has directed lots of kick-ass defenses paired with substandard Os at BC and UConn. That looks like a very good hire by Harbaugh.

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) December 20, 2015
MGoBoard

LSA Superstar

December 20th, 2015 at 6:53 PM ^

Alum96 rejects yardage-based stats and has consistently done so.  He's looking t a defense that was ranked in the mid-sixties in FEI for that year - that's slightly below average.

If you'd like to advocate for the superiority of your metric, that's a discussion we can have.  I'm in his side on that one, but reasonable minds can disagree.

But this line of discrediting him is weak sauce because you're not confronting his premises when rejecting his conclusion.

Joined: 10/03/2009

MGoPoints: 3323

Franz Schubert

December 20th, 2015 at 7:02 PM ^

How about the fact that BC has not signed a single 4-star since 2011. The accomplishments of Coach Brown at BC is unbelievable. The fucking #1 defense with 2-3 star talent does not happen by chance, especially when you factor in an offense that was completely inept. Which explains why this hire is being universally praised as a grand slam! Maybe everyone has it wrong, but I am doubtful when other coaches are also singing his praises. Anyway, at this point how about moving on sheesh.

Joined: 07/20/2009

MGoPoints: 4453

LSA Superstar

December 20th, 2015 at 7:36 PM ^

I definitely do.  I had grave concerns about Borges, and I didn't have faith in Hoke.  I have mild concerns about Brown, and I have infinite faith in Harbaugh.

Both times, the board told me I was a degenerate doom-sayer nearly to a man.  Othertimes I've been optimistic and the board has been pessimistic and I've been wrong.

I'm calling it like I see it.  I think this was the best hire under the circumstances, and I also think it was okay.

Joined: 10/03/2009

MGoPoints: 3323

Stringer Bell

December 20th, 2015 at 9:00 PM ^

Borges has consistently had below average units.  The only time he didn't was when he had a great talent like Denard Robinson and that one year at Auburn where he had 2 top 5 picks at running back.  He's never had a unit as great as Brown's defense this year, and Brown has consistently had top 40 defenses at UConn and Maryland where it's not exactly easy to acquire talent.  Borges' units got worse every year, Brown's defenses have gotten significantly better at BC every year.  That's a good sign as to Brown's ability to develop and coach up talent.

Joined: 11/06/2014

MGoPoints: 53125

wesq

December 21st, 2015 at 12:19 AM ^

I remember a diary/post on here talking about how hard it was to have consistently great defenses without consistently great recruiting. The correlation between defensive recruit rankings and defensive statistics is very strong. Last year was almost certainly part anomaly for Brown. I am more pleased with how well respected he seems to be.

Joined: 08/21/2009

MGoPoints: 3442

LSA Superstar

December 20th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^

Brother, we don't have any input here.  Of course I wouldn't speak in a room where Harbaugh was making a decision.  He's a top five active college football coach.  He could have rehired Robinson and I would have thought there was probably a sound basis for the move.

But why even have a board if "knows better than Jim" is an eligibility requirement to weigh in on a coaching hire?  Why have recruiting threads?  Why do UFRs?

Joined: 10/03/2009

MGoPoints: 3323

LSA Superstar

December 21st, 2015 at 9:37 AM ^

I've acknowledged this point multiple times; including so far as to say that I'd be excited even if harbaugh chose to hire Greg Robinson again. Most commenters on this blog loved Alum96's criteria for a good DC all year... until those criteria suggested that the guy we hired had a mixed record. Not even a bad record! But a mixed one.

Joined: 10/03/2009

MGoPoints: 3323

M-Dog

December 20th, 2015 at 7:25 PM ^

I feel left out.

OK, I'm convinced.  Alum96, you're a hack.  Don't you know that once we make a coaching hire or a recruit commits, all "analysis" thereafter shall consist of smiley face thumbs up emoji's?

Time to get on the group-think bandwagon.  We don't like your type here.

 

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257573

look up see blue

December 20th, 2015 at 6:30 PM ^

I think he looks like a solid coach and has seen a lot. I expect 2016 D to be good as its stacked at DL and 2 All Americans at DB. We'll see what he does in 2017 when he has a young D. 

You always bring up the "young D in 2017", but you fail to mention that by 2017 Harbaugh's offense will be firing on all cylinders. If that's the case, we should be able to survive without a dominant defense.

Joined: 12/01/2015

MGoPoints: 2155

evenyoubrutus

December 20th, 2015 at 6:33 PM ^

I will admit to being one of those who said that BC was a fraud because of their schedule. However, I will also admit to never watching a single one if their games this year. But the more important thing that I did not realize is that the advanced stats really like BC. I did not realize this until now. You can't really fake it against bad teams with S&P.

Joined: 11/04/2008

MGoPoints: 178669

alum96

December 20th, 2015 at 6:37 PM ^

Some passing stats vs the 2014 defense of BC

  • Hackenberg 34/50, 371 yds, 4 TD 0 INT  - his best game of the year
  • Michael Brewer (VT) 31/48, 345 yds, 2 TD 0 INT - his best game of the year
  • Cody Kessler, 31/41, 317 yds, 4 TD 0 INT - Kessler is very good so understandable

http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/gamelog/_/id/514481/year/201…

http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/gamelog/_/id/513329/year/201…

Defense gave up in 2014:

  • 30 to Pitt
  • 31 to USC
  • 31 to VA Tech
  • 38 to Louisville
  • 31 to PSU (in OT)

Did well against Clemson and FSU to be fair that year.  Forget 2013 it was a a bad year.

Again, very good D in 2015 - very important to marry this guy to a good group of defensive backs as his defenses were getting obliterated in the air in 2014 and 2013.  Improved on that this year.  

So can he stop the spread?  Not really the question ... can he consistently form a D to stop good passers in basic pro style. (Again Kessler is a top end NCAA QB so understandable) 

/downvotes

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82812

turd ferguson

December 20th, 2015 at 7:34 PM ^

For someone who claims to be so objectively analytical, you're oddly fine with cherry-picking your stats here.  

The guy's defenses, with advanced stats, have tended to be in the 30s or so nationally, with two clear exceptions.  His 2015 defense was spectacular and his 2013 defense was bad.  If that were his record at Michigan or Florida State or USC, I'd be worried.  At those schools, you never should do much worse than the 30s.  At Maryland, UConn, and BC, that's excellent.  Those stats don't control for your own institutional disadvantages. 

Joined: 12/09/2009

MGoPoints: 26493

School 4 the Gifted

December 20th, 2015 at 8:16 PM ^

You keep bringing up that PSU game. PSU scored 24 points in regulation. Your brought up Hackenberg........ QBR for the game 53.1 which tells you his stats are overinflated. 72 yards and a TD of his stats came from one pass which was on a 3rd and 12 early in the game. I would say that BC did a pretty good job against PSU if you take that one pass out of the equation it took almost 50 other passes to get 300 yards passing including OT. Michael Brewer's QBR was 33.1. This is all pretty meaningless though since we can't really judge a DC based on a few games otherwise, we should have fired Durkin after OSU. Sometimes we look for stats to back up our opinion and ignore stats that may tell a different story. Perhaps, fans of this move are doing the same. But it seems an awful lot like you are trying to find fault in this hire by any means necessary. Finally, we need to consider relational stats......we do need to consider what he gets out of what he has. Not fair to compare apples to apples for a guy like Durkin at UF vs a guy like Brown at BC. I don't think ANYONE can argue this guy has overachieved to a major degree with the talent he's had. Respectfully.....

Joined: 12/04/2011

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