Gerg's NCAA D Team Stats
2003 (before Gerg) Texas 4th in team D in Big 12
2004 Texas 3rd in team D in Big 12 (co d coordinator that year)
2005 (after Gerg) Texas 1st in team D in Big 12
2004 (before Gerg) Syracuse 7th in team D in Big East
2005 Syracuse 7th in team D in Big East
2006 Syracuse 8th in team D in Big East
2007 Syracuse 8th in team D in Big East
2008 Syracuse 8th in team D in Big East
2009 (after Gerg) Syracuse 5th in team D in Big East
In the NFL: He was good at Denver. Not at Kansas City, not at the Jets.
I want Michigan to win as much as any of you. That's why I would like to see a new DC next year.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:25 PM ^
Telling...
September 27th, 2010 at 2:25 PM ^
We should totally switch coordinators and coaches constantly and never let any kind of system evolve. It's worked wonders for the Domers over the past 15 years and it can work here too!
September 27th, 2010 at 2:28 PM ^
but, are you suggesting that Weis should still be there?
September 27th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
As a Michigan fan I don't see why not.
Weis had his time, my point was more to the fact that ever since Ara the Irish have been cycling through coaches rapidly.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:59 PM ^
ND has a LONG history of cycling through coaches. Since Rockne died following the 1930 season, ND has had 14 head coaches with an average tenure of just over 6 years with a median of 5 seasons. Only 3 coaches since Rockne have had tenures of at least 10 seasons - Leahy, Parseghian, and Holtz, all for 11 seasons. Not including those 3, the average tenure since Rockne is 4 seasons (not including 1 game interim coach Kent Baer post-Willingham).
Contrast that to Michigan over approximately the same timeframe. Kipke took over in 1929 and coached 9 seasons, followed by Crisler (10), Oosterbaan (11), Elliott (10), Bo (21), Moeller (5), Carr (13) and now Rodriguez (3rd season). The average Michigan coach tenure is 11 seasons, and the median is 10. Michigan has only had 3 coaches with FEWER than 10 seasons, and Rodriguez clearly isn't done yet.
Moral of the story is that any Domers who laud their proud history of commitment to coaches is full of it. I don't know the details behind it, but I do know that they've had twice the number of coaches (15, including Kelly, excluding Baer or O'Leary) than Michigan (8, including Rodriguez) since 1930.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
Absolutely.
Love me some playaction on 3rd and 4 with the lead and 3:00 left.
September 27th, 2010 at 4:33 PM ^
No but how many DCs have changed hands? Really, truth be told, the Irish D has led to their demise. Tenuta was pretty solid at GaTech, and then didn't have the chance to make things happen at ND.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
I didn't know he was the defensive coordinator at Syracuse.
Also the Texas numbers are so unbelievably irrelevant since he was only there for a year, and you'd have to take into account personnel, etc. If he were there three or four years we'd have a better idea, so this post gets an epic FAIL ime.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
I want Gremlin to post logically as much as any of you. That's why I would like to see a new OP next post.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
Gerg at Syracuse was a terrible head coach. Nobody (not even him, I would guess) will argue this point.
However, he's a very experienced DC with solid credentials (and super bowl rings as a DC). He has a ton of young players and we had a mass exodus at CB.
Bend don't break is never a preference for anybody, but it's our only chance this year.September 27th, 2010 at 2:32 PM ^
However, he's a very experienced DC with solid credentials (and super bowl rings as a DC). He has a ton of young players and we had a mass exodus at CB.
I'm sorry but just because he has a super bowl ring doesn't mean he's a great DC. I would say that in the NFL a teams success is mostly predecated on the head coach and the general manager for bringing in the players. Now if he a a nation championship ring this argument would work because a DC can mold and build his players up.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:43 PM ^
There is this tiny detail of calling the defensive plays (DC), suggesting and implementing a gamplan based on film (DC), day to day personel decisions etc etc. I get the idea that the head coach is important, but in reality the only way you can discount a coordinator is if he isn't calling the plays. Otherwise, it's more than likely his decision on the gamplan on when to blitz etc.
And what exactly about a national championship ring is better than a superbowl ring? I get it, a national champion has to recruit players, but this is basically free agency, substituting money for playing time/stadium/facilities/fan base etc.. I fail to see the monumental difference between a championship ring and a championship ring.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:47 PM ^
Im just saying that i think in the NFL you can be a not so good DC and still win a ring because the rest of your team is so much better and that would fall on the coach and GM. In college if your defense isn't that good, you will not win a championship period!!!!
September 27th, 2010 at 2:52 PM ^
In the last 50 years, name one superbowl-winning team that didnt have at least a better than average defense.
And Im going to assume you mean that in the NFL, based on the talent level of the players, your DC can be terrible but your defense will still be good.
Absolutely false. The amount of coaching, preperation and implementation that a DC needs to put into the job makes it almost ludicrous to say that you can win on talent alone (see Redskins 09, Oakland for the 2000s etc)
September 27th, 2010 at 4:25 PM ^
just getting an NFL DC job in the first place implies you are a good coach.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:48 PM ^
September 27th, 2010 at 3:42 PM ^
Our defense is bending AND breaking. In some instances not even bothering to bend.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:28 PM ^
This is what I have been trying to tell people about him, he is not as good as a D coordinator as people think. When you ty saying that, people say were to young, which we are but if we are this bad on D next year then we need to go a different direction with a D coordinator.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:31 PM ^
I agree with that...I mean look at RR's system...took 3 years to finally get some people that can fit his system. Now we have been rotating D coordinators for a while and therefore not being able to get the right people for the right system becasue most of our recriuting was focused on getting offensive players . The only exception was last years class which was defensive for the most part.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:32 PM ^
I know man. GERG is shitty defensive coordinator. He can't make a bunch of freshman corners and a thin LB depth chart play like a bunch of seniors right away. It's just like all my profs were shitty because it took them four years to teach me everything I needed for degree instead of being able to do it in one year.
Any D-Coord at Michigan should be able to take a bunch of walk ons (no offense Kovacs), teach them a new system, and turn them in Leon Halls, Marlin Jacksons, Brandon Grahams and Lamar Woodleys in just one summer camp right?
September 27th, 2010 at 3:25 PM ^
Why must you attack straw men?
September 27th, 2010 at 4:13 PM ^
(Just trying to help!)
September 27th, 2010 at 3:09 PM ^
if we are this bad on D next year then we need to go a different direction
Hold your breath for 12 months.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:28 PM ^
blah blah blah blah GERG SUCKS blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah DERP DERP DERP Fire GERG blah blah blah blah.
Seriously we're 4-0, instead of making up perceived problems with this team, go find something productive to do.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:34 PM ^
Making up problems???
Are you retarded? We were also 4-0 last year. Our defense let us down, and is posting even worse numbers this year. You are the worst type of poster. I hate you.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:39 PM ^
is that Gremlin is a dude who needs to find something more productive to do with his time? I love you
September 27th, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^
What let us down in the Ohio State game? Oh right.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:32 PM ^
I must say that Offensive and Defensive Coordinators can be great in of themselves, but isn't it the head coaches job to make sure that they are getting it done? So he was down in Texas with Mack Brown and he was good.........for a short period......maybe because he was surrounded with talent and a HC who knew what he was doing. Or that they had a great Offense that took the pressure off the D.
Then he moved onto Syracuse where he was the HC not the DC. While there his DC had nowhere near the same level of talent and was not able to improve the D. GR was then fired and he has since moved onto M.
So here he is now in his second year and already people are calling for him to be fired without giving him the talent nor the time to develop a Defense. Unreal......people need to relax and give this thing time. Impossible to ask a DC to fix a mess and then make it better while a large portion of the recruiting class talent has been used to fill the Offense. he deserves the same patience as RR has gotten.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:34 PM ^
Was "Moron" taken?
September 27th, 2010 at 2:36 PM ^
i think that michigan should get a Tyrannosaurus Rex to be DC.
excuse me while i go read TomVH's diary that contains actual interesting things to read.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:55 PM ^
September 27th, 2010 at 2:59 PM ^
Wouldn't you rather recruit the T-Rex and play him? Graham and his short little stubby arms worked out well enough for us.
The personal fouls the T-Rex would draw would be kill, until he eats a few refs of course. Also while we're at it, how about some raptors for the secondary?
September 27th, 2010 at 3:26 PM ^
Triceratops for DE. GG.
September 27th, 2010 at 4:27 PM ^
get it on...
September 27th, 2010 at 4:23 PM ^
[...] your DC lets out an ear splitting shriek, runs out onto the field, and starts eating opposing team members.
This seems like a brilliant strategy, why hasn't Gerg tried it yet? He really is a terrible coach who should be replaced immediately by someone with a track record of innovatively devouring the opposition.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:35 PM ^
Lets think about this...
He does pretty well at Texas where he has top notch talent available.
He does crappy at Syracuse as a head coach and where top flight recruits are few and far between.
So available talent might have a little to do with this...
Not to completely let GERG off the hook on this, but available talent has a lot to do in this equation and it seems like we are so willing to overlook it. The cupboards were bare...
"All we are saying, is give GERG a chance" - John Lennon
September 28th, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
Syracuse has produced Dwight Freeney, Keith Bulluck, Donovan Darius, Steve Gregory, and a number of other NFL players on the defensive side of the ball in recent years.
Just because SU doesn't get the 5-stars doesn't mean the cupboard is bare.
The truth of the matter is, he took a 6-6 bowl team, and one of the top-15 winningest programs of all time, and in one year turned it into 1-10 and in his four years at Syracuse, three of those years were the worst defenses in the over 100 history of Syracuse football.
How much worse could he possibly be?
You can rationalize that he's a terrible head coach but a good DC, but he was the DC at Syracuse. He took it over himself and it was terrible. An absolute unmitigated disaster.
If any of us were as good at out job as he was at Syracuse, we'd be living in a van down by the river.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
Are you looking at total defense, or scoring defense? I don't care about yards. I care a lot more about points.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:40 PM ^
he gets a least next year. we return 9 starters. if the D doesn't improve dramatically after next year, i let him go.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:49 PM ^
Let the man build a defense of returning players who have experience in the systema dn game experience executing the scheme and let's see what they can do.
Part of playing defense as a TEAM is knowing and believing in the other players around you so you can focus simply on your job. That's pretty tough to do with freshmen and sophomores who haven't played or seniors who just shouldn't be starting.
September 27th, 2010 at 11:37 PM ^
If you're good enough to have D1 schools recruit you, you were probably the "freak" on the field at your high school. You were a ball hawk, and big hitter because you were the best kid on the field - THEN. Not so much now.
It has taken a year for the game to SLOW down for both Denard and Tate. You can see it in the way they run the Offense with more confidence. I'll admit that Devin Gardner is a freak athlete and was "that guy" who could dominate a high school game all by himself. But even my untrained eye can see that he is playing like a good true freshman out there - but clearly behind both Sophomores, Denard and Tate, at this point. The guy has skills, but he is "not there", yet.
Too many of these kids on Defense are GREEN in their positions, some playing DBack positions after switching over from offense. Playing against older, more experienced players - and FEARING that they're going to make a big mistake and get gouged for "the big one". Misjudge a long ball, get faked out of your jock and get behind a few steps, or take the wrong angle on a tackle and whiff completely - so far this season, in front of a hostile ND crowd -- or worse yet - 110,000 hometown fans with HIGH EXPECTATIONS. It's a lot to live up to at any age - let alone anyone under 20.
That is why we see "bend don't break"; don't get beat; contain and keep the play in front of you as long as you wrap up on the tackle;
The more these kids play, the better they will get; the slower the game will become for them. And if they start gaining confidence in themselves and the players around them, they can "flip the thinking switch off" and start playing football by instinct.
So often, people are thrown into situations where they feel incapable and very uncomfortable. Either they find confidence in themselves and rise up to their God given ability -- or they give up and walk away.
I think that once the Defense knows that the Offense can score at will on any given team this year, they will loosen up and not have to carry the mental burden of having to carry their weight, as well as the Offense's weight in order to win a game. Once they loosen up and start playing by instinct to win (instead of playing safe not to lose) you will see a Defense that will dominate.
Jordan Kovacs will never be a Brandon Graham in size or strength - but I believe that if he plays with that kind of heart, you can't do anything but respect his efforts. It would be nice to field a defense of 11 Brandon Grahams, one at every position, but that just isn't going to happen. Give me a bunch that play up to their abilities, with his heart, and I'll be satisfied. They will win far more than they lose; win their fair share of Big Ten championships; and in the few years a lifetime where it all comes together, they will get their chance to win it all.
This year will be exciting to watch. The following two years will be mindblowingorgazzzzmic.
Go Blue!
September 28th, 2010 at 11:03 AM ^
Best post in the thread. I guess I'm too new for the posbang, so here's a fake +1 for you.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:40 PM ^
All this tells me is that he is just like any other coach. When he has talented players he has a good defense. There are no miracle workers in the coaching profession. GERG's M.O. is as a good talent developer anyway which is what we need and he has a good rapport with the coaches and players. It seems foolhardy to want to make a change after only 16 games with GERG as our DC. But you can see whatever you like.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^
Whether or not he is good or bad really still remains to be seen
Perhaps you should add up all the paper rock scissor UFR comments
if he is very negative maybe you can have a case
but its not his fault guys aren't tackling
September 27th, 2010 at 2:45 PM ^
Aren't Gremlins and Trolls related?
Sorry for the ad hominem attack, but his argument is tired and annoying.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:46 PM ^
Seriously
September 27th, 2010 at 6:51 PM ^
You really need to take a break from MGoBlog.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:47 PM ^
Gremlin is now posting and running. No where to be found...
September 27th, 2010 at 2:56 PM ^
but GERG has 2 Super Bowl rings. Denver won Super Bowls XXXll and XXXlll following the '97 and '98 seasons, respectively.
September 27th, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^
"I'll go make a thread on mgoblog with numbers. Numbers tell the whole story and are always right!"
Oh, you!