PonyFans.com

Grant Carter wrote:I have heard mason say a number of times that he switched to the 3-4 because to combat the spread offenses you need more quickness.

David70 wrote: Having a 3-4 defense is harder to recruit for DL.

David70 wrote:When the defense has done well this year has been when they have added either a LB or DL and pressured the QB. They have to run stunts with the LB's which then puts pressure on the secondary. With a 4-3 I believe we could be more consistent in slowing the run and putting pressure on the QB with the DL we have now.

Grant Carter wrote:

redpony wrote:Prolly not important- If jj is still here there won't be more than 5k in the stands to see this continuing disaster. Remember his recruiting for the last year and this year is a joke. He has checked out and is now only interested in getting his check.

The original poster framed the question as a tactical question that applies whether we have a new coach or not. There are a lot of threads where your comment would be relevant (though perhaps not original), but this is not one of them. What is wrong with a discussion about football tactics on their merits independent of who is coaching and how many people will be in the stands? If you feel like the discussion does not matter then just click on another thread and let those that do want to discuss the specific topic do so.

East Coast Mustang wrote:Not sure if any coaching staff changes are going to be made next year, and I'm just thinking out loud here, but would it make sense for us to go back to a traditional 4-3 next season? Personnel wise, we are razor thin at both MLB and DT, but it seems to me that a 4-3 would allow us to put more of our best players on the field in the front seven, moving Sanders to DE and allowing Seals and Yenga to man the OLB spots:

DE: Sanders, Minor (could start opposite Sanders too), Nabusoshi
DT: Wright, McCleneghan
DT: Reed (if he's not eclipsing Eric Dickerson's records), Hollie
DE: Barnes/Wood, Lawler
OLB: Seals
MLB: Bordano, D. Halverson (?)
OLB: Yenga

Obviously you don't change defensive schemes to accommodate your personnel for one year, but the 3-4 requires some pretty specific personnel requirements (big MLBs who can stop the run, massive NT who can occupy blockers) that are difficult for a lot of teams to recruit for, not just us. 320lb nose tackles who can effectively occupy blockers and free up LBs to make plays don't grow on trees.

Given our defensive struggles recently, especially against the run, I think it's something to consider.

feelthehorsepower wrote:

East Coast Mustang wrote:Not sure if any coaching staff changes are going to be made next year, and I'm just thinking out loud here, but would it make sense for us to go back to a traditional 4-3 next season? Personnel wise, we are razor thin at both MLB and DT, but it seems to me that a 4-3 would allow us to put more of our best players on the field in the front seven, moving Sanders to DE and allowing Seals and Yenga to man the OLB spots:

DE: Sanders, Minor (could start opposite Sanders too), Nabusoshi
DT: Wright, McCleneghan
DT: Reed (if he's not eclipsing Eric Dickerson's records), Hollie
DE: Barnes/Wood, Lawler
OLB: Seals
MLB: Bordano, D. Halverson (?)
OLB: Yenga

Obviously you don't change defensive schemes to accommodate your personnel for one year, but the 3-4 requires some pretty specific personnel requirements (big MLBs who can stop the run, massive NT who can occupy blockers) that are difficult for a lot of teams to recruit for, not just us. 320lb nose tackles who can effectively occupy blockers and free up LBs to make plays don't grow on trees.

Given our defensive struggles recently, especially against the run, I think it's something to consider.

Our Coach's name is June "June Bug" Jones, not East Coast Mustang! Stop opening threads already!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

David70 wrote:I disagree. Having a 3-4 defense is harder to recruit for DL. In the NFL or high level colleges like Alabama, OU, & LSU type schools you can either draft or recruit the type of athelete you need to run a 3-4 from a DL perspective. Where SMU is right now I believe that they have the talent for a 4-3 defense and it is much easier to recruit the HS atheletes to run a 4-3 scheme. When the defense has done well this year has been when they have added either a LB or DL and pressured the QB. They have to run stunts with the LB's which then puts pressure on the secondary. With a 4-3 I believe we could be more consistent in slowing the run and putting pressure on the QB with the DL we have now.

Stallion wrote:From a recruiting perspective that goes against the actual numbers. You can count on 1 hand the number of great Interior defensive lineman even in the State of Texas. There is just not enough to go around. Multiple times more top DE and LB prospects-plus schools recruit RBs, TEs and tall SSs and make great LBs and DEs in College. I doubt you can find a coach or recruiting analyst to dispute those facts. For example, there are only 5 DTs rated in Rivals Texas Top 100 and that's common pretty much every year. In comparison there are 13 LBs and 10 DEs and that doesn't even include the many kids moved to those positions who were RBs, TE and Tall SSs in high school.

Example: Kevin Pope was RB in high school,

PonySnob wrote:We can find some "diamonds in the rough".........

CenTXpony wrote:

PonySnob wrote:We can find some "diamonds in the rough".........

Do we even have those? I've seen nothing but rhinestones.