RichRod's defenses by the numbers
There have been discussions about the defense and RichRod's "managment style" of delegation to the DC for execution. Can a head coach delegate so much and still have a successful defense? Here is a summary of RichRod's defenses over the past 10 years.
|
Year |
Team | Total D (yd/game) | Total D (rank) | Scoring D (pts/game) | Scoring D (rank) |
| 2001 | West Virginia | 350 | 40 | 24.4 | 51 |
| 2002 | West Virginia | 335 | 33 | 23.2 | 40 |
| 2003 | West Virginia | 391 | 74 | 22.8 | 44 |
| 2004 | West Virginia | 339 | 37 | 20.5 | 28 |
| 2005 | West Virginia | 311 | 15 | 17.7 | 13 |
| 2006 | West Virginia | 337 | 62 | 21.7 | 49 |
| 2007 | West Virginia | 302 | 7 | 18.1 | 8 |
| 2008 | Michigan | 367 | 67 | 28.9 | 84 |
| 2009 | Michigan | 393 | 82 | 27.5 | 77 |
| 2010 | Michigan* | 441 | 82 | 28.4 | 105 |
*through 7 games
Averaged by Team:
| Year | Team | Total D (yd/game) | Total D (rank) | Scoring D (pts/game) | Scoring D (rank) |
| 2001-2007 | West Virginia | 338 | 38 | 21.2 | 33 |
| 2008-2010 | Michigan | 400 | 77 | 28.3 | 89 |
RichRod has finally able to install his high-yardage offense from West Virginia to Michigan. Defensively, the numbers above show that RichRod had a top-40 defense most years at West Virginia, which obviously has not transpired at Michigan.
Assuming that RichRod delegated to the DC at West Virginia like he has done at Michigan, then my conclusion is that his "management style" has worked in the past. RichRod's defenses have been better than average almost every year at West Virginia. So then why are the number so horrible at Michigan?
2008:
Offense run by Threet/Sheridan couldn't keep the Michigan defense off the field
2009:
Offense run by freshman QBs couldn't keep the Michigan defense off the field
2010:
Michigan defense couldn't keep the Michigan defense off the field (attrition, injury)
Related to this discussion http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/sigh-wvu-dc-jeff-casteel-jeffs-defenses-kept-us-games, stability with the defensive side of the team, players and coaches, is what has been lacking. RichRod had talent on the defensive side of the ball when he arrived. So in hindsight, it was a mistake to hire Shafer who lasted only a year. Again in hindsight, should RichRod have kept Ron English? Would there have been more stability or were the faulty offenses of 2008 and 2009 too much to overcome? We will never know.
West Virginia in 2007 was one victory over Pitt away from playing for the national championship. Notice in that year, WV had a top 10 defense which adds to the conventional wisdom that defense wins championships (or in that year, almost playing for the NC). The numbers show that RichRod has put together elite defenses before. Will it arrive or wil the fanbase lose patience? That, will we definitely know either way.
October 20th, 2010 at 7:04 PM ^
ass on the recruiting trail and rebuild the depth in the secondary and LB.
Given these Loki-like angry deities looming over Schembechler Hall the last 10 years, we have to expect even more post 2010 season player attrition and fluke injuries.
Beating Penn State on the road in two weeks might help.
October 20th, 2010 at 7:06 PM ^
Incoming freshmen aren't likely to make a major impact on next year's D (or any year's for that matter). What we really need is for the current underclassmen to get it together.
October 21st, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^
it is vital to our future success to get all three levels of our D re-stocked with quality talent, and what better time to start that than this year?
October 20th, 2010 at 7:13 PM ^
It is an entertaining thought, but who knows what would have happened. Maybe he would have gotten a better job than EMU, but maybe he would have been scapegoated for what has happened here the last two years.
I'm more on the side of RR and his Lombardi quote at this point; it doesn't really matter a whole lot with the current personnel, particularly its youth.
October 20th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^
It would seem that RR's former DC having to stay behind for his family would turn out to be more painful then anyone would realize. I am not sure if GERG is as much the problem as the Schaffer hire and resulting coaching changes.
October 20th, 2010 at 7:23 PM ^
One thing about playing so many freshmen on defense is that very few of them redshirt. This only exacerbates the depth problem, because you have to replace your defense a full year earlier than your offense (4 years instead of 5). Building some depth now is important, because in 2014-16 range you will have your experienced defense with redshirt juniors and seniors who know how to play their position.
Also, I wonder if playing guys like Ezeh early in their career can hurt their development , because you don't have that extra motivation of earning playing time. Of course, that doesn't hold true in a number of other cases, so it could be a coincidence.
October 20th, 2010 at 7:48 PM ^
Hmmm...#7 in the nation I saw up there. So your saying there is hope?
Please say yes.
October 20th, 2010 at 8:03 PM ^
were also playing against Big East teams. Hard to say where those defenses would be ranked if they played in a better conference.
October 20th, 2010 at 8:29 PM ^
Right now I would kill to have RR's worst year defensively from WVU.
The 2008 defensive numbers weren't all that bad considering how bad the O was that year and how long they were on the field each game. Then again, we did have a bunch more juniors and seniors in the two-deep than we have now.