Mean Green Defense

[wardly]

So we have the worst defense in D1 football. We have been heading that direction for the past few years , but does anyone remember in the past 25 years when we were really good?

[DentonLurker]

Skladany is the best DC we have had in the last 20 years by far

I may be misremembering, but I feel like maybe there was a decent season with Reffett and a decent season with PB but the rest have been awful.

Edited November 5, 2023 by DentonLurker

[Side.Show.Joe]

Defense wins championships. Littrell never learned this. Morris has yet to figure it out. I miss Skladany.

[El Paso Eagle]

30 minutes ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

Defense wins championships. Littrell never learned this. Morris has yet to figure it out. I miss Skladany.

 

This is something that Mike Leach must not have believed in and taught. I cannot think of one of his coaching tree coaches that has a good defense.

[Mean Green 93-98]

We had a great defense in 2011.  A couple of years during the Dickey bowl run we had a great defense.  A few of the Littrell years were solid, but never great.

[Coffee and TV]

includes FCS teams too

[southsideguy]

I think those stats lead to one thing and I dont need a eight ball to tell me the answer.

[Side.Show.Joe]

1 minute ago, El Paso Eagle said:

This is something that Mike Leach must not have believed in and taught. I cannot think of one of his coaching tree coaches that has a good defense.

Exactly. In his 22 seasons as a head coach Leach never won a conference title. Great offense. No defense. 

[southsideguy]

 

[rcade]

1 hour ago, wardly said:

So we have the worst defense in D1 football. We have been heading that direction for the past few years , but does anyone remember in the past 25 years when we were really good?

Darrell Dickey was hired 25 years ago and his teams had some really good defenses during the 26-game conference winning streak in the Sun Belt.

[Meangreen Fight]

2 hours ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

We had a great defense in 2011.  A couple of years during the Dickey bowl run we had a great defense.  A few of the Littrell years were solid, but never great.

Some of Dickey's defenses held their own against P5 offenses for a half.  One game against a high ranked Texas of Mack's tenure stood out in particular.  Dickey's team scoring 28 points on offense was an explosion.  

[NT93]

The defense is obviously not good, but I think the 3 turnovers contributed more to the loss than anything the defense did or didn’t do.

[MeanGreenZen]

Gary DeLoach was an outstanding defensive coordinator here until UCLA paid him more to become their linebackers coach, lol.

[wardly]

13 hours ago, rcade said:

Darrell Dickey was hired 25 years ago and his teams had some really good defenses during the 26-game conference winning streak in the Sun Belt.

So it's been a number of years since the Mean Green was Mean on defense. While our current defense is at the bottom of the NCAA barrel we have been in the well for quite a while regardless of who was coaching, which brings me to the assumption that for what ever reason UNT has not been able to recruit and keep the quality of players necessary to get Mean again. Also, for those of us who thought this was not going to be a rebuilding year my question to them is why? The defense players that came back from last year were not exactly stellar. Just asking.

[GreenEggs&Ham™]

Seems like I remember hearing that Dickey era teams practiced full speed hitting too and this caused the expected injuries. But it was the price to be paid, I guess.

I heard WKU's football HC (Helton) say last week that Steve Spurrier would have rather lost and put up 500 yards of offense than win a low scoring game. This might be the same mentality coming from the Mike Leach tree of coaching. 

But don't forget too, UNT isn't winning many football games scoring only 29 points either. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by GreenEggs&Ham™

[Cooke County Kid]

The problem is so obvious and glaring, with just an average defense we would be doing fairly well.  If the coach doesn’t take care of it, will the AD step in, I am not sure we can stand another year of this defense or lack there of.

[Side.Show.Joe]

19 hours ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

Exactly. In his 22 seasons as a head coach Leach never won a conference title. Great offense. No defense. 

Ha! I got down-voted for posting actual facts. Not that I care, but it says a lot about how much some in our fan base need to open their eyes to reality and embrace higher expectations for our program. It amazes me that someone got riled up just because I posted actual facts. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Side.Show.Joe

[mgfan]

19 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

This is something that Mike Leach must not have believed in and taught. I cannot think of one of his coaching tree coaches that has a good defense.

Exactly 

[wardly]

1 hour ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

Ha! I got down-voted for posting actual facts. Not that I care, but it says a lot about how much some in our fan base need to open their eyes to reality and embrace higher expectations for our program. It amazes me that someone got riled up just because I posted actual facts. 

Not riled up, and appreciate the data. My point is that our lack of a consistent defense has been a recurring problem since Darrell Dickey left nearly 20  years ago and has yet to be addressed.

[Side.Show.Joe]

7 minutes ago, wardly said:

Not riled up, and appreciate the data. My point is that our lack of a consistent defense has been a recurring problem since Darrell Dickey left nearly 20  years ago and has yet to be addressed.

I disagree. Skladany had a very good defense, and we won the HOD with that strong defense.

Air Raid coaches, which Morris is, have along track records of failing to field respectable defenses. Leach never won a conference title. His coaching tree is flawed when it comes to defense. Those are just the facts. If you can show me an Air Raid coach that is good at defense, I'll be shocked. Less than an hour ago, Lincoln Riley (Leach Air Raid coach) fired his DC. It is what it is. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Side.Show.Joe

[rcade]

6 hours ago, wardly said:

So it's been a number of years since the Mean Green was Mean on defense. While our current defense is at the bottom of the NCAA barrel we have been in the well for quite a while regardless of who was coaching, which brings me to the assumption that for what ever reason UNT has not been able to recruit and keep the quality of players necessary to get Mean again.

I feel like there were a handful of years of good defenses under McCarney and Littrell, but I can't figure out where to find those stats. Dickeyball was the last time I remember watching the defense being as much fun as watching the offense. Especially Booger bursting through lines like the Kool-Aid Man.

[wardly]

3 hours ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

I disagree. Skladany had a very good defense, and we won the HOD with that strong defense.

Air Raid coaches, which Morris is, have along track records of failing to field respectable defenses. Leach never won a conference title. His coaching tree is flawed when it comes to defense. Those are just the facts. If you can show me an Air Raid coach that is good at defense, I'll be shocked. Less than an hour ago, Lincoln Riley (Leach Air Raid coach) fired his DC. It is what it is. 

If memory serves most of those players were recruited by Dodge. Also, wasn't that nearly a decade ago?

[untbowler]

easy solution is stop trying the 3-3-5 Defense, when it does not work, stop forcing the players into poor positions

[Green with Envy]

7 hours ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

Air Raid coaches, which Morris is, have along track records of failing to field respectable defenses. 

And that is baffling to me.  At some point you would think one would marry up with a top-flight DC.  The law of averages says it should happen eventually.  Yet here we are.  

[meaniegreenie]

I wish someone would ask Morris what benefit is being achieved by continuing to run this defense this year w/o the necessary players.  I would accept (not necessarily agree with) a response that defends it but not a response that doesn't provide some sort of rationale for continuing this. 

Actually, he said in his after-game interview that he is accepting any suggestions.  Well, I think we have a few ideas of things to try.