Spaulding Roundup: More Names For The DC Search

Whoa, let’s not say Denver fans were high on Robinson. Before his college days, Robinson was DC for for the Denver Broncos in the late 90’s (and I was a season ticket holder in the South Stands). Robinson ran a very gimmicky gap control defense that had little to no room for error and was maddeningly prone to giving up numerous big plays. It was the same story every week: if a single player missed an assignment, esp near the point of attack (i.e. filled the wrong gap, missed a tackle, blitz got picked up), there was no one else available to stop the play. The defense was repeatedly burned for big yardage plays several times a game.

The weakness of his scheme was hidden somewhat by the fact that he had guys like Steve Atwater (future HOF), Alfred Williams, Bill Romanowski (I hated the freak but he does have like 4 rings), Mike Lodish (Bruin who played in like 6 Super Bowls), Neil Smith (future HOF), and several other very good players, but was mostly covered up by the fact that John Elway (HOF), Terrell Davis (HOF if not for injury), Shannon Sharpe (soon to be HOF), Rod Smith (deserves HOF), and Gary Zimmerman (HOF) and the best OL in the NFL were putting up 35+ points a game and other teams were forced to play catch up. Robinson has 2 Super Bowl rings, but it was NOT a Super Bowl worthy defense in any way.

Greg Robinson coming to Westwood would be a disaster. We do not have (and cannot ever reasonably expect to have) the talent on either side of the ball to cover up for his “bend and break several times” defense. His “success” in Denver is an illusion. His days in Syracuse tell the truth.

Take it for what its worth. I asked a buddy of mine who is a diehard Nebraska fan about Cosgrove and this is what he wrote back:

YOU DON’T WANT HIM!!!!!!!!! He takes defenses where they go to die!!!! The dude gives up more big plays than any coach I’ve ever seen. If you get him you will get less turnovers and 0 picks because his D backs don’t look back at the ball. He’s F’in brutal.
 
This is an honest to god story. I worked with a guy in Omaha who has a brother in Wisconsin. He went to a Wisconsin game with his brother and wore a Nebraska shirt. The crowd cheered him walking to his seat and they all thanked him for taking Cosgrove. Nuff said!!!!!!

I then asked him to expand a bit, if his philosophy was conservative or aggressive. Does he run a bend but don’t break system and why the DB’s never looked back for the ball. His reply:

It’s pretty conservative. He doesn’t blitz a whole lot, but plays a lot of man coverage with his corners. He was good at Wisconsin because he had great athletic corners and safeties. If you have that, his D can work. The biggest problem I had with him is the lack of pressure on the QB. I think that he is easily out coached, makes poor halftime adjustments and is very predictable. I don’t know why the DB’s don’t look back but I knew a guy who went to NU and said they weren’t taught to look back at the ball. They were to keep their eyes locked on the receivers.
 
I think the best comment on his is what I said above…… he doesn’t adjust well, he’s predictable and just gets out coached. He’s good with superior talent (but let’s face it, you and I could coach with great talent) but can’t plug his weaknesses.

Callahan was a horrendous coach but the pathetic performance of the D I put on Cosgrove because Callahan loves his O and I can’t see him spending too much time to dictate what the D does. During his tenure, he pretty much killed Nebraska’s Black Shirt tradition. They weren’t physical at the point of attack nor did it seem like the players knew what the hell they were doing let alone supposed to do. I can’t get that suc game in Lincoln out of my mind. There were HUGE holes for suc RB’s to run through and no defender even touched them until 10 -15 yds down the field. Shocking to say the least.

Regarding Robinson, I think gbruin sums it up well. His success IMO was due to the level of talent that he had to work with. I don’t think he is a good tactician nor do I think he makes adjustments very well. I just don’t like his scheme because without talent (We don’t have Texas level talent right now), it’ll get ugly.

I don’t know much about Hauck besides what has been reported. UCLA has a storied tradition in the secondary. I believe we have that talent right now in the program and it is never an issue for us to find the talent locally. Our problem has always been our ability to get DL, especially DT’s. A lot of that has to do with the lack of quality DT’s that are produced in the West region as opposed to the South. The Pac 10 has always been ahead of the nation when it comes to Offense and has historically been a Quarterback conference. Unless we have the DL talent like the NYG who can get pressure on the QB with 4 down lineman, we cannot play a Cover 2 scheme in the back 7 such as TB. It won’t work, especially in college as opposed to the NFL where everyone is big & fast.

My point is due to these factors, I think a more aggressive/innovative DC is what we need. A “Bend but don’t break” philosophy won’t be able to get pressure on the QB. Pressure the QB and the Offense will struggle. The offenses and QB’s in the Pac 10 are too good. DW wasn’t perfect but I agreed with his philosophy on D. I’m pretty sure he could have had better results if he had a bit more talent on D. I hope we look for somebody that can think outside of the box and has an aggressive philosophy on D.
A bit longer than I expected but oh well……

’nuff said.

I don’t care about his USC ties, but he’s only been a coach for five years. What exactly makes anyone think he’d be a good DC?

People say it is a pipedream to get Tuberville for the defensive coordinator job, but why hasn’t he been offered one single job since he resigned from Auburn over a month ago?

I have a hunch that he will be again a defensive coordinator somewhere before he is ever again a head coach. (He is burned out as a head coach.)

to let CRN and staff decide who the best candidate is. He’s been pretty astute in filling positions so far, and I don’t have reason to doubt him in this latest search.

In the past, we have seen that so-so, or even good, coordinators under bad HCs were bad coordinators. And, bad coordinators under bad HC’s were atrocious coordinators.

But, a good HC changes everything. Whoever it turns out to be, it will be because our staff sees, and are capable of bringing out, the best in a new DC.

It was in his “Answers, Part VI” blog post today at the Daily News. If you’re not familiar with this, it’s a weekly feature where he answers questions from readers.

Do you know anything of UCLA hiring a “mind blowing” coach? I read UCLA could possibly be hiring a great coach who no one thought of.

Yes, I know who that person is, but I’m not sure if it will happen. Again, sources ask me to keep it quiet, so for now I will.

Any ideas who this person could be?