Fired Casteel

[dc4azcats]

Some of you have real deep faith / hope. I guess I don't. I have blind spots with AZ, but I tend to lean on facts or trends...

I may need more faith. I just don't see anything concrete (trends, stats related to trends as a team, facts) that lead me to think or expect Turituri and Ippolito healthy this year would have made much a difference. Some difference, maybe. But enough to overcome total defense or scoring defense differentials (at being pretty bad).

Both played last year, think both may have had some starts. LY defense still finished toward the bottom of FBS. What's concrete that it would be any, much different TY if healthy? Another year? That's back to hope. Neither were highly recruited. Unless you're counting that scheme and Casteel would make them stars or really good players. So many are commenting negatively on scheme, Casteel and others on coaching that if Turituri and Ippolito played it would be much better defense TY that scheme, Casteel and others not an issue any longer.

Those two would have made it much different because they "would" be real good? Same goes for Deandre Miller and some others. I just don't see for myself that there aren't real depth issues here. Recruiting issues here. I just can't make the leap of faith that those aren't issues. Bigger than the injuries.

Personally, I think it's more recruiting related. Just poor recruiting on defensive side team wise. I lean towards even better recruiting with Casteel and sticking with 3-3-5that the defense would be much better. I also believe that's harder to recruit better recruits to a 3-3-5 so there's that. I also can't believe coaches philosophy is to build a defense around one, maybe two guys and take on the risk if they go down to injuries we should understand the entire defense would struggle or collapse. Maybe go from near bottom of FBS to just about bottom of FBS if that happened. Which it did.

Here you go - I posted this in another thread and you tell me whether they make a difference or not?

Scooby made everybody else better because of his ability and I would think that nobody would argue that point? Who was 2nd in TFL's LY after Scooby (29)? Parks with 13 followed by Ippolito (6.5), Gilbert(5.5) and Turituri(5). Of the guys coming back who was the leading tackler after Scooby? Parks, Ippolito, Gilbert and Turituri. Of the guys coming back who had the most sacks after Scooby(14)? Gilbert and Turitur with 3 each. So of the 5 leading defensive players we had LY only 2 are healthy in Parks and Gilbert.

Our leading tackler TY is Parks with 51, followed by Allah, Neal and Magloire. Parks is the only one that has played every game. 20 different players have at least 10 tackles on the year. 30 with 5 or more. Our leading tackler LY was Scooby with 163 total tackles. The 4 guys mentioned above beat Scooby out by less than 10 total tackles.

So LY we had a total of 59 TFL's amongst the 5 players (98 as a team) mentioned above and TY we have Parks and Gilbert with 3.5 each and Turituri with 2. For those of you scoring at home that's 9 with 3 games left. As a team TY we have 45.

LY in sacks we had a total of 20 amongst Scooby, Gilbert and Turituri and 38 as a team. TY we have 17 as a total defense. Banda with 3 and Worthy with 2.5 lead the way.

You could argue that the 3 guys we could least afford to lose on this entire team were certainly Scooby and any combination of Parks, Gilbert, Turituri and Ippolito. We lost 3 of the 5 most important players on this D and 3 of the 5 best players on this D, including the single most important player. But it's all about scheme, gimmicks and coaches.

[RazorsEdgeAZ]

I still stand with LY's defense was bad still. near bottom of FBS. Even with the stats difference LY to TY, last year's defense was still poor. Which is in part what I'm highlighting.

[gumby]

Rich Rod must owe Casteel something fierce.

Is it leeway due to the million injuries we've had?

I'm confused as to why fans think 27 different starters on D would be more effective in a 4-3 defense.....

They wouldn't and you've killed this thread by saying as much. Nobody wants to take into account how much of an impact Scooby had on this D and this team. It was devastating and the stats bare that out but it's easier to say the system sucks and the coaches suck.

Not a good sign when one guy means that much.

Well when you have the national defensive player of the year and predicate your defense to play around him and him be the focal point it's kind of hard to recover.

When you have to do that to be successful, it's a sign. Big gap in talent.

Plus, with Scooby, we gave up 451 yards per game, and finished 10th in the league in total defense.

Currently, give up 453.6 (a whopping 2.6 more yards per game) and are ranked 11th in total defense.

We won with offense last year. Defense was and still is a problem.

[Harvey Specter]

Some of you have real deep faith / hope. I guess I don't. I have blind spots with AZ, but I tend to lean on facts or trends...

I may need more faith. I just don't see anything concrete (trends, stats related to trends as a team, facts) that lead me to think or expect Turituri and Ippolito healthy this year would have made much a difference. Some difference, maybe. But enough to overcome total defense or scoring defense differentials (at being pretty bad).

Both played last year, think both may have had some starts. LY defense still finished toward the bottom of FBS. What's concrete that it would be any, much different TY if healthy? Another year? That's back to hope. Neither were highly recruited. Unless you're counting that scheme and Casteel would make them stars or really good players. So many are commenting negatively on scheme, Casteel and others on coaching that if Turituri and Ippolito played it would be much better defense TY that scheme, Casteel and others not an issue any longer.

Those two would have made it much different because they "would" be real good? Same goes for Deandre Miller and some others. I just don't see for myself that there aren't real depth issues here. Recruiting issues here. I just can't make the leap of faith that those aren't issues. Bigger than the injuries.

Personally, I think it's more recruiting related. Just poor recruiting on defensive side team wise. I lean towards even better recruiting with Casteel and sticking with 3-3-5that the defense would be much better. I also believe that's harder to recruit better recruits to a 3-3-5 so there's that. I also can't believe coaches philosophy is to build a defense around one, maybe two guys and take on the risk if they go down to injuries we should understand the entire defense would struggle or collapse. Maybe go from near bottom of FBS to just about bottom of FBS if that happened. Which it did.

Here you go - I posted this in another thread and you tell me whether they make a difference or not?

Scooby made everybody else better because of his ability and I would think that nobody would argue that point? Who was 2nd in TFL's LY after Scooby (29)? Parks with 13 followed by Ippolito (6.5), Gilbert(5.5) and Turituri(5). Of the guys coming back who was the leading tackler after Scooby? Parks, Ippolito, Gilbert and Turituri. Of the guys coming back who had the most sacks after Scooby(14)? Gilbert and Turitur with 3 each. So of the 5 leading defensive players we had LY only 2 are healthy in Parks and Gilbert.

Our leading tackler TY is Parks with 51, followed by Allah, Neal and Magloire. Parks is the only one that has played every game. 20 different players have at least 10 tackles on the year. 30 with 5 or more. Our leading tackler LY was Scooby with 163 total tackles. The 4 guys mentioned above beat Scooby out by less than 10 total tackles.

So LY we had a total of 59 TFL's amongst the 5 players (98 as a team) mentioned above and TY we have Parks and Gilbert with 3.5 each and Turituri with 2. For those of you scoring at home that's 9 with 3 games left. As a team TY we have 45.

LY in sacks we had a total of 20 amongst Scooby, Gilbert and Turituri and 38 as a team. TY we have 17 as a total defense. Banda with 3 and Worthy with 2.5 lead the way.

You could argue that the 3 guys we could least afford to lose on this entire team were certainly Scooby and any combination of Parks, Gilbert, Turituri and Ippolito. We lost 3 of the 5 most important players on this D and 3 of the 5 best players on this D, including the single most important player. But it's all about scheme, gimmicks and coaches.

Your assertion that Ippolito is one of the five best players on this D when healthy points to a huge problem that has nothing to do with injuries.

[Harvey Specter]

Is it leeway due to the million injuries we've had?

I'm confused as to why fans think 27 different starters on D would be more effective in a 4-3 defense.....

They wouldn't and you've killed this thread by saying as much. Nobody wants to take into account how much of an impact Scooby had on this D and this team. It was devastating and the stats bare that out but it's easier to say the system sucks and the coaches suck.

Not a good sign when one guy means that much.

Well when you have the national defensive player of the year and predicate your defense to play around him and him be the focal point it's kind of hard to recover.

When you have to do that to be successful, it's a sign. Big gap in talent.

Plus, with Scooby, we gave up 451 yards per game, and finished 10th in the league in total defense.

Currently, give up 453.6 (a whopping 2.6 more yards per game) and are ranked 11th in total defense.

We won with offense last year. Defense was and still is a problem.

BOOM!

[azgreg]

When you have to do that to be successful, it's a sign. Big gap in talent.

Plus, with Scooby, we gave up 451 yards per game, and finished 10th in the league in total defense.

Currently, give up 453.6 (a whopping 2.6 more yards per game) and are ranked 11th in total defense.

We won with offense last year. Defense was and still is a problem.

All true, however we did seem to make a play or 2 with Scooby and Ippolito in there.

[ChooChooCat]

Arizona's defense was tolerable due to two playmakers last season in Scooby and Bondurant. Both are not a part of the team this year and nobody filled their spots in the playmaking department. The numbers as posted by gumby aren't much different, but the results are, and that's because last year those two player forced turnovers and came up big on third downs. Once again no one else on this defense is capable of doing that this year.

[azpenguin]

There was a difference with last years defense. The yards per game is not drastically different, but this is: Teams are finishing drives. They weren't doing so nearly as much last year. Spread the yards out among more drives, give teams more drives and give Arizona more drives = Arizona usually wins. This year, teams are getting the same amount of yards in fewer drives. They're converting more of those yards to points. They're also keeping Arizona off the field which means the Cats have zero margin for error on offense. That was the difference with Scooby/Turituri/Ippolito. They put teams behind the chains and forced them to throw before they were ready. They got turnovers and got the ball back to the offense. That's not happening this year. The offense is having some issues of their own to be sure. But last year you knew the defense had a good shot at getting off the field after third and long or getting the offense a short field.

[ASUHATER!]

Our rrd zone defense and ability to create turnovers was much better last year. I think our pac 12 opponents have scored tds on nearly every red zone possession and we have only caused 2 tos in pac 12 games.

[Merkin]

Since Gumby is throwing some stats out, last year the Cats were 116th in total defense. This year so far the team is 120th.

Cats inability to move the ball on offense too inevitably leads to more points for the other team since they will have the ball more.

[wyo-cat]

Bump.

[eoe]

Major props to Casteel and the D

It's hard enough to stay competitive and fierce when you're banged up beyond belief and your offense takes all of 2 minutes to score. It's even harder when the team you're facing is painfully methodical.

Utah had the ball almost twice as long (38 min to 22 min), yet the D made big stops again and again as well as bringing pressure all night long on Wilson. We did a good job (stats be damned) on Booker, though he was a bit slowed down (no tears from us).

Don't know how we did it, but we pulled one out of our ass. No Anu, no Nick, no 1st line D, there's no way we should've won that game.

[azpenguin]

Casteel likes to really turn up the heat late if the Cats have a lead. Tonight he had a chance to do just that and the guys came through.

[catinfl]

\

I'm confused as to why fans think 27 different starters on D would be more effective in a 4-3 defense.....[/quote]

They wouldn't and you've killed this thread by saying as much. Nobody wants to take into account how much of an impact Scooby had on this D and this team. It was devastating and the stats bare that out but it's easier to say the system sucks and the coaches suck.[/quote]
Not a good sign when one guy means that much.[/quote]

Well when you have the national defensive player of the year and predicate your defense to play around him and him be the focal point it's kind of hard to recover.[/quote]
When you have to do that to be successful, it's a sign. Big gap in talent.

Plus, with Scooby, we gave up 451 yards per game, and finished 10th in the league in total defense.

Currently, give up 453.6 (a whopping 2.6 more yards per game) and are ranked 11th in total defense.

We won with offense last year. Defense was and still is a problem.[/quote]


Defense caused way more turnovers last year and that's the difference. Arizona had 13 INT's last year to go along with 13 fumble recoveries. So far this year we have had 6 INT's and 5 fumble recoveries. While last years defense was bad they turned the ball over and it was a huge part of our success. Defense was not nearly as much as a problem last year due to them always being opportunistic.

[The Butcher]

That is indeed the difference with this defense. You MUST turn the ball over to get that extra one or two possessions a game. Otherwise you're f'd.

I hate playing defense that way. Zero margin for error and a lot of 42 to 45 or 38 to 30 losses. If you fail on turning them over you will lose.

Because with this defense, you aren't stopping anyone. It's basically a prevent defense the entire game.

If you have stud corners you can send pressure on the qb, but if he sees it, he'll simply scramble for a first.

I really hate playing defense this way. I would rather attack and die that way.

[Merkin]

Still gave up 27 points in regulation. D was gritty, and finally had some nice stops, but Utah's top RB played hurt, and their QB was off.


Anu was extremely sharp though.

[SCCats]

31 points allowed in the first half to a very average ASU offense

[Salty]

He better be gone.

Inexcusable.

[SCCats]

Inexcusable.

The entire season's been that way, but some find excuses anyways.

[OSUCat]

I hope we have new position coaches next year.....

[Salty]

Inexcusable.

The entire season's been that way, but some find excuses anyways.

All about that bottom line baby!

Find a way to win. This staff ain't cutting it. New direction is needed

[cordera89]

Inexcusable.

The entire season's been that way, but some find excuses anyways.

All about that bottom line baby!

Find a way to win. This staff ain't cutting it. New direction is needed

Yea after this staff got us too a 10 wins season and division title last season and this season we been plague by injury. Their isn't going to be a new direction if RR make that choices in which isn't going to happen.

[ASUHATER!]

Please please fire casteel. For those saying we don't have athletes and will still be bad...that's a chancr you take. Either are guaranteed to be bad or get a new DC and take a chance to be good.

[Salty]

Inexcusable.

The entire season's been that way, but some find excuses anyways.

All about that bottom line baby!

Find a way to win. This staff ain't cutting it. New direction is needed

Yea after this staff got us too a 10 wins season and division title last season and this season we been plague by injury. Their isn't going to be a new direction if RR make that choices in which isn't going to happen.

Makeing excuses for this seasons failures and futures seasons failures based on what happened last year isn't going to cut it.

[NYCat]

The defense hasnt been good since Casteel arrived, besides Scoob no positive momentum forward has happened.

We lack something.. I think it's called talent. Unless we start getting SEC level classes with talent, speed, size - it'll will continue to be a terrible defense. Two wins vs Oregon isn't worth it, heck last year the team only won 10 games because they outscored the opposition in shootouts.

And I'm done with the whole OKG thing, imagine the basketball program with a bunch of Daniel Dillons, Garland Judkins, Alex Jacobson's, Zane Johnson, Brandon Lavender's, Bret Brielmaier, Kirk Walters etc. Ugh.

And the big one, how have the players that been in the system for 2-4 years now regressed?!? The defense despite more experience in the system has gotten worse, inexcusable.

[cordera89]

Inexcusable.

The entire season's been that way, but some find excuses anyways.

All about that bottom line baby!

Find a way to win. This staff ain't cutting it. New direction is needed

Yea after this staff got us too a 10 wins season and division title last season and this season we been plague by injury. Their isn't going to be a new direction if RR make that choices in which isn't going to happen.

Makeing excuses for this seasons failures and futures seasons failures based on what happened last year isn't going to cut it.

Salty is not excuse for the problem on defense of losing our best player.

[cordera89]

The defense hasnt been good since Casteel arrived, besides Scoob no positive momentum forward has happened.

We lack something.. I think it's called talent. Unless we start getting SEC level classes with talent, speed, size - it'll will continue to be a terrible defense. Two wins vs Oregon isn't worth it, heck last year the team only won 10 games because they outscored the opposition in shootouts.

And I'm done with the whole OKG thing, imagine the basketball program with a bunch of Daniel Dillons, Garland Judkins, Alex Jacobson's, Zane Johnson, Brandon Lavender's, Bret Brielmaier, Kirk Walters etc. Ugh.

And the big one, how have the players that been in the system for 2-4 years now regressed?!? The defense despite more experience in the system has gotten worse, inexcusable.

Most of our talent was due to player leaving Arizona for multiple reasons.

[SCCats]

52 points allowed to a very average 5-5 (3-4) rival? GG.

[Merkin]

52 points allowed to a very average 5-5 (3-4) rival? GG.

Offense allowed 14 of them.

[uacat540]

I hope over the next week RR reviews the staff and makes some serious changes. Good bye Ragel,Lockwood,Caponi and Kirelawich. Casteel can stay for another year or so but Arizona absolutely needs a dynamic recruiter on D.

[cordera89]

I hope over the next week RR reviews the staff and makes some serious changes. Good bye Ragel,Lockwood,Caponi and Kirelawich. Casteel can stay for another year or so but Arizona absolutely needs a dynamic recruiter on D.

It not going to happen unless Byrne start putting his foot down and demand improving on the Defensive of the ball. Only ones I probably see gone is Kirelawich and Caponi.

[3goggles]

31 points allowed in the first half to a very average ASU offense

And the only gave 7 in the 2nd half. Those points in the 1st half are on the offense( Randall)

[Merkin]

I hope over the next week RR reviews the staff and makes some serious changes. Good bye Ragel,Lockwood,Caponi and Kirelawich. Casteel can stay for another year or so but Arizona absolutely needs a dynamic recruiter on D.

Ragel is Special Teams coordinator, and they really had an amazing game and a very good year.

[SCCats]

31 points allowed in the first half to a very average ASU offense

And the only gave 7 in the 2nd half. Those points in the 1st half are on the offense( Randall)

So should we only start keeping stats once the game gets out of hand?

It's interesting...our stats would probably get much better nationally because the D let so many games get out of hand so early. It could be a new stat: adjusted ass kicked defense.

[Harvey Specter]

The defense hasnt been good since Casteel arrived, besides Scoob no positive momentum forward has happened.

We lack something.. I think it's called talent. Unless we start getting SEC level classes with talent, speed, size - it'll will continue to be a terrible defense. Two wins vs Oregon isn't worth it, heck last year the team only won 10 games because they outscored the opposition in shootouts.

And I'm done with the whole OKG thing, imagine the basketball program with a bunch of Daniel Dillons, Garland Judkins, Alex Jacobson's, Zane Johnson, Brandon Lavender's, Bret Brielmaier, Kirk Walters etc. Ugh.

And the big one, how have the players that been in the system for 2-4 years now regressed?!? The defense despite more experience in the system has gotten worse, inexcusable.

This. All of it. We are undersized and slow.

The "OKG" strategy is coach speak for "we can't find a way to get the guys everybody else wants." well our hit rate on avoiding transfers and defections does not seem any better than anywhere else. Time to drop this cute little buzz-phrase.

We are Oregon State under Mike Riley... And I want to shoot higher than that.

[CalStateTempe]

Rr is the king of gimmicks.

[cordera89]

Harvey, Tell us how RR is going to shoot higher in the Recruiting Grounds. Even if he try to go after several quality recruit that we wants or he wants? some of them wouldn't fully committed too Arizona. Now RR can steal a few of them and get early pledges. Now we lost numerous of his own commit do too transfers and defection and others injury related issue during his last 3 recruiting classes. He going to continue to recruit OKG prospects no matter what.

[SCCats]

Harvey, Tell us how RR is going to shoot higher in the Recruiting Grounds.

Here's a honest question to ask yourself. I think the answer is informative.

Do you think we recruit better players on offense than we do on defense?

If yes, why do you think that is?

Can we emulate the reason we draw better players on offense on the defensive side of the ball?

That's how we recruit better.

[dmjcat]

Personally I give RRod/Casteel a bye for the first two losses to the scum........Stoops didn't leave much in the cupboard. CTG had better players...period.

Going forward RRod needs to address an obviously unacceptable defensive scheme and recruiting.

The recruiting issue is a tough nut to crack. Tucson is not LA, but on the other hand its not significantly worse than Tempe, Salt Lake City, Corvallis or Pullman. Some programs have had nice runs focusing on JUCO's (Kansas State). Utah has made a living off recruiting Polys mixed in with JUCO's. My hope would be that RRod cleans house on the defensive side of the ball (assistants) and brings in a younger crowd with West Coast ties and proven recruiting skills. An up & coming JC coach, a Poly coach (please come home Joe Salavea), and a couple of Southern Cal area coaches would be nice.

And yes, a practice bubble/facility would help. I'm sure it doesn't help when the competition points out that potential recruits get the pleasure of playing in 100F+ heat in humidity every year.

Another area we could improve on would be JUCO entrance standards. We need to re-adjust our entry requirements as we have, over the years, lost good players as a result of the UA's academic requirements (Gabe Long comes to mind). We can't afford to handicap ourselves when it comes to attracting the top talent in the west.

Edit: Personally I would like to see us emulate TCU and run a 4-2-5 defensive scheme. Its another "hyper-modern" defense designed to stop the spread attacks.......but with more upfront pressure and a more attacking style.

[BMalo]

We will never sustain success in this conference by continuing to recruit "OKGs" and playing a 3-3-5.

[cordera89]

Harvey, Tell us how RR is going to shoot higher in the Recruiting Grounds.

Here's a honest question to ask yourself. I think the answer is informative.

Do you think we recruit better players on offense than we do on defense?

If yes, why do you think that is?

Can we emulate the reason we draw better players on offense on the defensive side of the ball?

That's how we recruit better.

SC How can RR draw better Defense prospect if a lot of the quality ones don't want to play in the 3-3-5. RR can draw better offense prospect because of his offense which is not a problem.

It about Coach, Develop, Evaluate. Were getting to point now that were asking him to recruit better and have a better result in the future.

I'm not disappointed of how our season has been or recruiting class, Those kids are our future teams. And it up too RR and Staff to make those kids play Arizona football.

[Harvey Specter]

Harvey, Tell us how RR is going to shoot higher in the Recruiting Grounds. Even if he try to go after several quality recruit that we wants or he wants? some of them wouldn't fully committed too Arizona. Now RR can steal a few of them and get early pledges. Now we lost numerous of his own commit do too transfers and defection and others injury related issue during his last 3 recruiting classes. He going to continue to recruit OKG prospects no matter what.

Not my job... I am not paid 10% of program revenues to figure it out. But he needs to recruit better.

Develop better relationships in the HS coaching ranks... Hire a staff that is better at recruiting... Hire Tosh Lupoi... Make scheme adjustments to produce players more attractive to the NFL... Send more guys to the league... Win big in year 5... Prove we can beat more than 1 good team for year.

Bottom line... Sell the advantages of his staff and program better that Tempe Turd, and get bigger, faster players. For all the obstacles that people want to point to, recruiting comes down to this more than anything else.

We have disadvantages.... So does nearly every school. I believe they can be overcome. I do not expect us to rub elbows in the stratosphere of recruiting classes with USC, Bama, Ohio State, or the like. I do expect us to recruit as well or better than ASU.

We cannot recruit with UO because we do not have their facilities.
We cannot recruit with USC because they play in a major media market and have great tradition.
We cannot recruit with Stanford because we do not have their scholastic reputation.
We cannot recruit with UW because it is too hot here at the beginning of football season.

How do they recruit against each other to gather top-tier classes? They identify great players that are susceptible to THEIR advantages and sell their story effectively,

Time for us to come up with a better version of "What our big appeal is" and do a better job of selling it. Set that "program vision" is, and send the organization on a path to make that vision a reality. That is what transformative leaders do... and that is what we need. The "OKG" vision ain't gonna get it done.

Would you rather recruit to Wisconsin or Iowa or Minnesota or Michigan State or any other place that has dogshit weather and has to butt heads with Michigan and Ohio State every year with less than an abundance of local talent (MSU may be the exception)?

Everybody has excuses if they choose to use them as a crutch.

[Harvey Specter]

Personally I give RRod/Casteel a bye for the first two losses to the scum........Stoops didn't leave much in the cupboard. CTG had better players...period.

Going forward RRod needs to address an obviously unacceptable defensive scheme and recruiting.

The recruiting issue is a tough nut to crack. Tucson is not LA, but on the other hand its not significantly worse than Tempe, Salt Lake City, Corvallis or Pullman. Some programs have had nice runs focusing on JUCO's (Kansas State). Utah has made a living off recruiting Polys mixed in with JUCO's. My hope would be that RRod cleans house on the defensive side of the ball (assistants) and brings in a younger crowd with West Coast ties and proven recruiting skills. An up & coming JC coach, a Poly coach (please come home Joe Salavea), and a couple of Southern Cal area coaches would be nice.

And yes, a practice bubble/facility would help. I'm sure it doesn't help when the competition points out that potential recruits get the pleasure of playing in 100F+ heat in humidity every year.

Another area we could improve on would be JUCO entrance standards. We need to re-adjust our entry requirements as we have, over the years, lost good players as a result of the UA's academic requirements (Gabe Long comes to mind). We can't afford to handicap ourselves when it comes to attracting the top talent in the west.

Edit: Personally I would like to see us emulate TCU and run a 4-2-5 defensive scheme. Its another "hyper-modern" defense designed to stop the spread attacks.......but with more upfront pressure and a more attacking style.

Retrospectively that argument can be made. Prospectively not at all... Those asu Recruiting classes were not better at the time they were signed, and Erickson's did not perform for shit.

So I guess we can 'thread the needle' to make ourselves feel better that 'Erickson's was actually a genius at finding underrated talent in those last 2-3 classes only' and would have improved the program if he had been given the opportunity to'. Actually I thin Graham did a better job of coaching up his talent than did his predecessor.

All we heard those first 2 years was 'Graham is mortgaging his programs future by bringing in JC mercenaries to produce right away' ... But WE were doing things the RIGHT way and it would surely pay dividends 4-5 years down the road. We'll see what happens next season, but I will not hold my breath.

It's one excuse after another, and it's always fate's fault. The performance last year was great; it felt more like an anomaly than a breakthrough.

The future will reveal this program's true trajectory. Hopefully it will reveal that this year is the real anomaly and a speed bump in our ascension. I hope so.

[SCCats]

SC How can RR draw better Defense prospect if a lot of the quality ones don't want to play in the 3-3-5.

It's not clear that we can draw better prospects than the ones the staff has been bringing using 1) the same people and 2) the same scheme.

RR can draw better offense prospect because of his offense which is not a problem.

EXACTLY! But that's the point isn't it? Looking back to my questions the answers are...

Do you think we recruit better players on offense than we do on defense? Yes.

If yes, why do you think that is? Because we have a genius running a highly attractive set and who cares about recruiting his side of the ball and can sell it to recruits.

Can we emulate the reason we draw better players on offense on the defensive side of the ball? Yes. Just get someone on the defensive side of the ball that has the attributes mentioned in the answer directly above.

$700,000 is a good chunk of change to spend on a D coordinator who will be paying Tucson living expenses. Take a look at this article to get a feel for other big time programs costs for their D coordinators: http://work.chron.com/salaries-defensiv ... -9383.html" target="_blank

For $700,000 you can get someone VERY good. Someone who runs an attractive set, who is into recruiting and can sell his ideas to defensive recruits.

[Merkin]

I can see why DL prospects don't want to play in the 3-3-5. Their job is to tie up the blockers so the LBs can get the QB or RB.

You think LB prospects would be chomping to get all those tackles and sacks.

But UA uninjured would start 3 2-star LBs, although the recruiting sites whiffed on Scooby, just as RR whiffed on the 2 4 star LBs he signed.

[cordera89]

I can see why DL prospects don't want to play in the 3-3-5. Their job is to tie up the blockers so the LBs can get the QB or RB.

You think LB prospects would be chomping to get all those tackles and sacks.

But UA uninjured would start 3 2-star LBs, although the recruiting sites whiffed on Scooby, just as RR whiffed on the 2 4 star LBs he signed.

Even thou it three man front, I cant ever understand why some DT prospects don't want to play in the 3-3-5. Maybe it not that. Maybe it the lack of big DT in the position that isn't sitting well with DT prospect when the view or see the 3 man front.

Even if Cobb and Ware would of got in, it have to be on Defensive staff because both of the were OLB not MLB.

[azcat49]

I think we just need to change a fewcthings, such as both Casteel and Kirelawich do not recruit. To me that is symptomatic of the problems with our defense.

This big uglies that are top line are recruited hard by there position coach and DC. I am not as sold on it being the scheme as in the Larry Smith days the lineman had to same responsibilities as these guys today at AZ.

We need to some top line recruiters on defense and retire the old man and get Casteel on the road

[Harvey Specter]

I think we just need to change a fewcthings, such as both Casteel and Kirelawich do not recruit. To me that is symptomatic of the problems with our defense.

This big uglies that are top line are recruited hard by there position coach and DC. I am not as sold on it being the scheme as in the Larry Smith days the lineman had to same responsibilities as these guys today at AZ.

We need to some top line recruiters on defense and retire the old man and get Casteel on the road

Great post 49 and I agree.

If I knew that Casteel was exempt from having to recruit, I forgot. The fact that we are paying a DC $700K per year to field the defenses he has fielded, and give him a pass on having to recruit, would be funny if it was not so sad.

I am not sure I believe that Byrne should dictate to RR what changes he should make to his staff... But he better put his foot down on this issue.

He is not good enough to get that kind of special treatment and that kind of pay. That's an epic fail.

[Merkin]

I didn't realize Casteel was exempt from recruiting.

Not really all that surprising how the UA can't get elite players when other schools sent out coordinators, and UA only sends out position coaches.

[azgreg]

I can see why DL prospects don't want to play in the 3-3-5. Their job is to tie up the blockers so the LBs can get the QB or RB.

You think LB prospects would be chomping to get all those tackles and sacks.

But UA uninjured would start 3 2-star LBs, although the recruiting sites whiffed on Scooby, just as RR whiffed on the 2 4 star LBs he signed.

You can say that about every defensive scheme.