Top Five Improvements Areas for 2010

[vatz22au 142]

Getting a better-than-Duke-caliber DC to coordinate the (hopefully incoming) young defensive talent we'll sign

I guess you see what typically happens on this board when you express an opinion. You express it and duck for cover. Almost everyone says they respect other people's opinion but that's usually BS. Sad but true as evidenced by this thread.

It only happens to certain types that are wrong the majority of the time. Don't complain buddy. You do that too much.

[woody 11]

Getting a better-than-Duke-caliber DC to coordinate the (hopefully incoming) young defensive talent we'll sign

I guess you see what typically happens on this board when you express an opinion. You express it and duck for cover. Almost everyone says they respect other people's opinion but that's usually BS. Sad but true as evidenced by this thread.

It only happens to certain types that are wrong the majority of the time. Don't complain buddy. You do that too much.

I am constantly amazed at guys who say something they know will ruffle feathers and then cry like a school girl and say "Well it's just my opinion". We have our honest critics who don't catch crap! But they do it such a way as not to insult either. Try and call someones kid ugly and see if you can just get away with "well its just my opinion"

[Shug2003 1]

Maybe people forget that the reason for our improvement in the Bammer game was three fold. First of all, we had a weeks rest to rehab our wounded, Secondly, after a long season, our players improved under Roof. Thirdly, perhaps Chizik got involved in the defensive strategy for the last game. In any event, I believe CTR is a decent D coach and with HIS players for HIS system, he will be even better. JMO.

[weagl1 1,796]

The one thing that MUST improve the most is kickoffs and kickoff coverage. How many times did the other teams start at the 40 or beyond this year?. If any one thing lost the game againist UAT that was it. Even thought the defense played very well they had field position all day becasue we can't kick off or cover kicks. We simply must get deeper kicks and better coverage before the 2010 season rolls around.

[Mikey 16,781]

The one thing that MUST improve the most is kickoffs and kickoff coverage. How many times did the other teams start at the 40 or beyond this year?. If any one thing lost the game againist UAT that was it. Even thought the defense played very well they had field position all day becasue we can't kick off or cover kicks. We simply must get deeper kicks and better coverage before the 2010 season rolls around.

[IndyTiger 3]

The one thing that MUST improve the most is kickoffs and kickoff coverage. How many times did the other teams start at the 40 or beyond this year?. If any one thing lost the game againist UAT that was it. Even thought the defense played very well they had field position all day becasue we can't kick off or cover kicks. We simply must get deeper kicks and better coverage before the 2010 season rolls around.

Kickoff coverage could have been better throughout the year, but I wouldn't use the bama game to point it out. They had one of the best return teams in the country with Arenas back there. They had one of the best starting positions of any team in the country all year.

[AUBoggs 0]

1. Linebacker play - Poor angles & tackling

2. Pressure on the opposing QB - Far too many instances allowing the QB time to go to his 3rd, 4th and 5th option

3. Kickoff and punt coverage - The defense was already thin and way too many opportunities to defend a short field

4. Consistent QB play - Interceptions were low, however, many balls were forced into coverage. Would like to see more of a running threat behind center in this offense

5. A replacement for Ben Tate

[sntemp 0]

I don't think Roof was the problem at all, I agree with most who say it was depth.

I remember play after play where a defender was in the right spot to stop a play and wasn't able to make the tackle. In my opinion that was a result of being tired because of no depth.

I can't remember AU ever being so thin at linebacker.

[Duder 241]

I think there were a myriad of problems and yes, Roof will shoulder the blame for some of them.

As for the shotty linebacker play, Roof is the linebacker coach. When he saw the poor angles he should've addressed that in practice the first week it happened. Now, I also understand that we played with 3-4 linebackers most of the year and I do pawn some of our woes off on that. Fundamental inherently fail under the stress of fatigue. The problem is, we tackled like hell in the first quarter.

As for whether Roof or his assistants should be blamed, both. Although, Chizik has to accept part of that also. Chizik as a former D coach should've stepped in and forced Roof's hand when it was apparent that it wasn't working. Some games we played well, and others we just got gashed.

Defensively we will be fine with a bit more depth and an off-season for Chizik and Roof to sit down and work it out. Roof's schemes were great at times and terrible at others. Fundamentals will be a HUGE part of spring practice I'd say. Keep in mind that both staffs had to put in new schemes this year so it doesn't surprise me that fundamentals waned a bit.

As for the rest of the team, Malzahn needs to become more consistent with making adjustments, adjustments that actually work that is. There were games where his playcalling was golden. and others where we seemed too slow to react, if we reacted at all. WVU he adjusted well and part of the Arkansas game we adjusted well. However, when we had a chance to go for the jugular in the Iron Bowl we went into a shell. I have no doubt that his offense will click when he gets more of his recruits in here but that certainly needs to be a point of focus.

We need to work to find more than a serviceable QB. We need an actual threat. Caudle or Rollison may well give that to us as they both have more speed than Todd. If Caudle can avoid staring down receivers as he's always done he'll be the starter. The receivers will continue to grow and I think we can all say we are fine in the backfield with Fannin and McCalleb already on board and at least Dyer coming. Our offense won't miss a beat losing Tate, which speaks volumes to how well this staff has coached some of these players up.

Defensively we will have some work to do up front. SEVERAL young linebackers will play. Neiko will benefit from his mistakes this year I truly believe and will develop into one of the better cover corners in the SEC. We will be fine at safety, especially if we end up getting McNeil, Savage or Etheridge back (provided Bates doesn't move down to corner, of course). We really got hit by injuries on D. After Etheridge went down we had people playing out of position just to fill the gaps in the roster.

To summarize:

Defense: better fundamentals (read: tackling

Offense: Better adjustments, not necessarily waiting until halftime to make them

Special Teams: HOLD ON TO THE DAMN BALL