Fireside Chat with The Living Legend

geez, that is amazing, I didn't even notice that. I mean, they played a team that runs the ball plenty, and a MLB just by being out there should have at least 10 tackles by accident. Here I thought I only noticed the plays he missed -- I didn't even recognize the plays all the others he had no part off

They ran the ball 50 times. Our starting MLB had one tackle.

That’s a Baker special.
 
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The excuses for our inept defense are fugging EPIC!!

Have a seat. Just for a fugging moment. Have a seat and peep the defensive stats. If YOU couldn’t see it live. If you don’t know what you’re watching... Just browse the fugging stats. #44 is credited with ONE(?) tackle and ONE(?) sack.

LMAO. Bro. He’s our starting MLB. 😭🤮😭🤮😭🤮😭

GOOD GAWD. I have been a fan for more than three decades and I have never seen that stat line for a starting linebacker at Miami.

The opposing team had a RB carry the ball 27 times - and our starting MLB tackled him ONCE?

Bruh.

Baker is a HORRID LB COACH. Horrid.






Ok...proceed with the “it’s the year 2040 and our defensive personnel can’t be expected to tackle opposing 3-star RBs....” trash.
LB play needs to improve. Hoping it does by the younger guys simply getting reps and reading keys better. Also can't underestimate guys coming off injury that need to learn to re-trust their bodies. I thought McCloud played well and I think the defensive playcalling was actually decent in the first half. Holding Louisville to 6 points, keeping them out of the endzone, really limiting the big plays they live off of, I recall one stunt that worked perfectly, it was very much a bend dont break gameplan, make them earn each yard and it worked.

Second half different story, missed assignments, poor discipline, no adjustment, and with everyone the delayed long distance blitzing on obvious passing situations are dumb. So dumb. I kind of get it for stopping the run. Have a guy coming from center field, OL can't/doesn't account for him, and being that far back offers the player time to pick the correct gap instead of being caught in the wash.

If anyone caught the Pats/Seahawks game last night thats what they did with Jamaal Adams. Now we don't have an adams on out team but there were multiple times he snuffed out a running play from a "delayed" blitz playing off the line.
 
Your post is excellent and also raises the question - Why the **** would he not do this?

Or why hasn't he? Is it arrogance?

A little. But I think it has more to do with habit.

Make no mistake. Teams will still get some yards and points.
Your post is excellent and also raises the question - Why the **** would he not do this?

Or why hasn't he? Is it arrogance?

Maybe. I think it’s more habit than anything.

These are the best defensive lines he has ever had. I wish he would act like it more.
 
Tru, I always thought having a dominant front four (at least in terms of pass rushing) meant you could be simpler in terms of just rushing those four upfront and mixing up basic coverages on the back end. I get that more teams are spread and having more guys go out into routes, but sometimes it just seems like we do complicate things needlessly. Also with so much shotgun nowadays, delayed blitzes are really useless vs veteran QB's in my view that have any football IQ

K9, remember how dominant zone blitz coordinators were in the 90s and 2000s? Guys like Dom Capers and **** Lebeau were crushing the league.

There is a reason teams don’t play like that much any more. The quick pass from shotgun shreds that defense. Now everybody plays shotgun every snap. See where this is going?

A well timed safety blitz is a devastating play, but every 3rd and long? With pass rushers like Phillips and Roche.?

Why not force quarterbacks to throw into actual TRAFFIC with those guys closing in for the kill?
 
K9, remember how dominant zone blitz coordinators were in the 90s and 2000s? Guys like Dom Capers and **** Lebeau were crushing the league.

There is a reason teams don’t play like that much any more. The quick pass from shotgun shreds that defense. Now everybody plays shotgun every snap. See where this is going?

A well timed safety blitz is a devastating play, but every 3rd and long? With pass rushers like Phillips and Roche.?

Why not force quarterbacks to throw into actual TRAFFIC with those guys closing in for the kill?
yeah, we need the KISS philosophy - Keep it simple, stupid!!
 
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I'll start with some general philosophy and then hit you with the pros and cons. It's time to celebrate, boys. Learn to celebrate the wins in life, and this was a big one. 2020 sucks for most even though I've never been happier, so breathe this one in and enjoy it.

Again, a large segment of the national media had us losing just like a lot of them picked UAB to beat us. They don't know what the astute UM fans know and what a few of us have been trying to tell you--we have a lot of talent on this team. All we needed was a leader at QB and a modern OC who would cater to the type of talent we have and not try to foist that 1970s Big 10 Boner Hayes pro style bro **** on us. We have both now.

Learn to accept that our defense isn't going to be a Sonny Lubick/Greg McMacken 9 points per game defense. Those days are over. Get over it. This is a defense built on creating havoc and splash plays. We hope to get the O off balance and in long yardage situations and force turnovers. It's not a sound defense, and it will always give up plays to good passing teams. Keep in mind that when you have a real O you don't have to be perfect every game or series on D.

OU makes the playoffs every year with a D that is complete dog ****; our D is better than theirs. It's all relative, boys. The entire Big 12 struggles to stop each other every year because football is an offensive game today. LSU was always a tough D, but they never had an O, and they struggled even with loads of talent. They get a great O, and they dominate everyone including Clemson and their great D. Look at the game holistically and stop focusing on one play or one player or one side of the ball. It's the ultimate team game, so when your D is struggling or playing a good O, then you lean on your O. We can do that now.

Pros:

Lash: This dude brings that big dyck swagger to our entire team. Just watch how he carries himself and how he coaches. He's tough, but he cares. He's not just a screamer who the players hate. He'll kick your *** then share some cookies his daughter made. He teaches and relates and demands excellence. On top of that, he brings the diversity I've been screaming for while most of you guys were telling me "but Dorsey and Booch and pro style is the Miami way."

King: Winner. Calm. Leader. Oh yeah, and he makes plays too. That throw to Harley where he was twisting and turned sideways and looked like Kareem dropping a sky hook was a thing of beauty. He looks a little robotic at times in the read option, but I still think they're trying to limit the hits on him. You don't want to destroy your QB in the first half of the season.

Cam Harris: I was tough on him last year, but he's proving to be a legit homerun hitter. Give him and edge or a crease, and he's gone. He's not going to be a guy who consistently picks up yards, but he's going to drop pellets on you if he gets a crease. And I love seeing that upright long stride of his when he gets loose. The turnover is fun to watch.

Brevin: Best TE in college football. Great job by Lash making him a focus. When you have a guy like that, you have to force feed him.

Joe B.: The ball explodes off his foot. I actually felt confident when he went out there for a 57 yarder. I would have been surprised if he missed it. It's a cannonading blast off his **** foot. Love the tats and eye black and the swag. This kid is Miami personified.

Cam Williams: Love his speed and length off the edge. He's playing like people were telling me Harvey was going to play last year. Future big time star.

Phillips: Stud. Warrior. Nonstop motor. He's all over the field and is a total disruptor. He might not have a million sacks, but he is constantly disrupting which is way more important than an occasional sack and then disappearance for 30 plays.

B. Bold: I actually saw idiots ripping him in the gameday abortion thread. This dude was everywhere. He's got great speed to the ball, and when he gets there he makes the play. Asking him to cover PooPoo AssSmell is retardation or complete lack of trust in your CB depth.

Cons:

CB Depth: If we can't get a 4th corner ready or god forbid lose 1 to injury, we will continue to have problems covering people. You simply can't ask any S to try to cover little fast dudes like AssSmell.

Jennings: Love his willingness to trade paint, but he's not a UM MLB right now. I'm not sure Brooks is either because I hear about how good he is, but I just don't see him jumping off the screen at me. None of our LBs seem to be jumping out at me. As a UM fan, you know when you have a great LB. We've seen them.

Harley: He was terrible. Can't drop TD passes. That's like a turnover in my book. Then, what the fck was he doing on that onside kick? That was awful.

Manny sitting on the ball at the end of the 1st half: That was horrible. You have all the momentum, 2 TOs, 1:40, and the ball in plus territory. And you take the air out of the ball. That was reminiscent of Booch's weak **** from the 90s.

Refs: They let UL hold and cheap shot all night. Pathetic.

Sissy UM fans: Fck you and buck up. LOL at you fools eating Splatterfield's *** all week, and then Manny owned him again for a 3rd time. And you're still making excuses for him.
Good stuff and nicely written. Sometimes time your love of nasty language makes my forget you are actually smart. Not that I mind nasty, it just seldom sounds smart. I agree that it looks a little brighter but then the bar has been set low. Love the LB comment -- we do know what great LBs look like.
 
Your point is well taken but fans calling for a much better defense aren't necessarily living in the past. Nobody that watches the game today truly thinks that we can have some Sonny Lubbick 11 pts a game juggernaut. What we do want and what this team needs is to be the best they can be in the context of today's wide open scoring orgies.

We need to address to gaping hole at CB and find a way to play to our strengths on a consistent basis. The constant mindless and gratuitous blitzing and playing soft zone behind it setting up a virtual pitch and catch clinic by the offense is just plain asinine! We regularly sit back and allow any WR to be high school wide open on any in cutting route.

I don't have a problem living and dying with the pros and cons of the Diaz system. The issue is Baker isn't capable of running that system to its true potential. In this game your defense is going to get beat but my problem is that on many of these defensive calls by Baker we are not even attempting to challenge the play.

I'm very happy about this win and right now I am pumped by the direction of this program seeing where we were 1 to 2 years ago. Diaz made the moves he had to make and he made them well, real well. The Lashlee effect on the offense? Check! The addition of Borregalles? Check! Getting a mature experienced playmaker and leader at QB? Check! Enhancing the recruiting operation while galvanizing the program by adding Ed Reed and guys like Telly Lockette? Check! Seeing the early results of these moves in recruiting as evidenced by the commitments of giants like James Williams and Leonard Taylor both super blue chip elite 5 star national recruits who we supposedly had no chance at getting because Alabama, LSU, Clemson, Georgia and every other elite level program had the red carpet super star treatment all laid out for them? Check! Those are boss like moves and we should all be super pumped and excited about them and what they truly mean/signify.

We still have a few move hurdles to clear in the next off-season and those will most likely be...

Closely evaluating the Defensive Staff and upgrading it.

Having the cojones to part ways with Baker and some position coaches even if they are personal friends.

Manny needs to make a great DC hire. It doesn't have to be a household name like Brett Venables. It does have to be a substantive hire that can have a similar effect to what Lashlee has had in offense.

This a subpoint of the above but crucially important. Address the CB situation in the short term by aggressively going after the best player/s possible through the portal or Junior College or whatever.

Figure out which position coaches on defense to fire or reassign. Rumph, Patke and Baker should all be on the block. It's not personal it's business.

It is all about improving the team in any way you can so there should be no sacred cows. Think about getting a better DL coach in terms of coaching and developing. Stroud has done an excellent job on the trail but we could move him to a role in the recruiting department and bring in a better position coach. Stroud was originally hired to an administrative role so maybe he is best suited to that. Nothing against Stroud. I'm just making the point that we should always be looking to improve.

That's basically it in a nutshell. There is a very positive energy going through this program right now. I am more optimistic than I have been in a very long time. We have made great strides in one off-season that we should all be proud of. What we need to focus on now apart from having the best season possible is to finish the job.
If you like waffle fries, don't go to McDonalds expecting Ronald McDonald to fix some waffle fries. He's going to give you the shoestrings. That's what you get at McDonalds.

And what you get at UM right now is Manny's chaotic, gambling, unsound defense. It's Manny's D. Manny has had the EXACT same issues with his D in the past that Baker has had at times. Manny hired him because he taught Baker the D, and Baker runs it the way he wants. I think you guys need to accept that Manny will change a lot of things, but I don't see him changing his own philosophy on D. It's his baby, and he seems pretty committed to running it how he wants.
 
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The excuses for our inept defense are fugging EPIC!!

Have a seat. Just for a fugging moment. Have a seat and peep the defensive stats. If YOU couldn’t see it live. If you don’t know what you’re watching... Just browse the fugging stats. #44 is credited with ONE(?) tackle and ONE(?) sack.

LMAO. Bro. He’s our starting MLB. 😭🤮😭🤮😭🤮😭

GOOD GAWD. I have been a fan for more than three decades and I have never seen that stat line for a starting linebacker at Miami.

The opposing team had a RB carry the ball 27 times - and our starting MLB tackled him ONCE?

Bruh.

Baker is a HORRID LB COACH. Horrid.






Ok...proceed with the “it’s the year 2040 and our defensive personnel can’t be expected to tackle opposing 3-star RBs....” trash.
That's bad recruiting, bad evaluations, and bad choices. Jennings shouldn't be our staring MLB. It's terrible no doubt, but Shaq wasn't having 1 tackle, and he was coached by the same guys. Jennings simply isn't a Miami caliber MLB.
 
I agree with you in principle.... I happen to think that we aren’t nearly as well coached as LSU was/is on defense. They weren’t dominant. But their defense wasn’t smoke and mirrors either... and their back seven was much better coached. We’re not even on the same planet in comparison to their defensive staff. We don’t have the same level of talent either. But we can clearly see that we have fundamental Coaching issues on defense. We don’t even line up properly at times.

We don’t have to face LSU’s 2019 schedule. So we can certainly make it to the ACC championship with our current defense. But at the end of the day I think we’re just going to get exposed when we play a championship caliber team.
You're right about all that. But that's Manny's D. That won't change as long as he's HC unless he gets forced to change it to keep his job.

I don't think anyone's arguing against your position that our D is full of holes. I've been screaming the same thing you are for years.

All I'm saying is that a significantly better offense will put us in place to win a lot more games just like it did LSU. Winning a lot more games could put us in place to acquire better players. Better players might help us out on D. The D was pretty solid in 2017 or 18 (I forget the year) when we had better talent. Our CB recruiting is an abomination, and our talent at LB isn't any better.
 
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JFC take your L like a man dude.

You completely botched the basis for your argument and looked like a fool. Before that I posted ANOTHER half dozen games where pedestrian offenses scored a ton of points agains them.

Doubling down on your nonsense only makes you look dumber. Move on dude, it's ok.
He should have just disappeared, as his entire argument was based on a mistake he made. Instead, he comes back with his chin out. LOL. Classic CISpool.
 
You're right about all that. But that's Manny's D. That won't change as long as he's HC unless he gets forced to change it to keep his job.

I don't think anyone's arguing against your position that our D is full of holes. I've been screaming the same thing you are for years.

All I'm saying is that a significantly better offense will put us in place to win a lot more games just like it did LSU. Winning a lot more games could put us in place to acquire better players. Better players might help us out on D. The D was pretty solid in 2017 or 18 (I forget the year) when we had better talent. Our CB recruiting is an abomination, and our talent at LB isn't any better.
2018 was the year. Which leads me to asking, what do we have to do to closely resemble our D from that year?
 
2018 was the year. Which leads me to asking, what do we have to do to closely resemble our D from that year?
In 2018 we had Redwine and Jaquan on the back end. Great chemistry, lots of experience, athletic, instinctual. Hall/Bolden I think can get there, but arent yet.

Strike was Finley and I actually prefer the ceiling of Gil/Keontra to Finley

CB was M. Jackson, and Bandy, with Dean and Ivey backing up. Blades will give us similar production as Bandy or Jackson, but there is obviously a drop after that.

Dline: Joe Jack, Bethel, Willis and Garvin. Willis was a manchild that year, no reproducing him. But Phillips, Roche, Nest, Miller, Hunte can produce similar dline #s.

LB Shaq, Pick, McCloud: our current LB are more athletic, but still learning and I unfortunately do not have much faith in our LB coaching.

Overall we just have a young D and lack some top end talent at certain positions.
 
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Chise very well done.
Loved your analysis......
My take is that before the game starts our Joe B, has us ahead by 14 points for the game....all we have to do is set it up and get it there.
He is a difference maker.....confirmed...
 
You're right about all that. But that's Manny's D. That won't change as long as he's HC unless he gets forced to change it to keep his job.

I don't think anyone's arguing against your position that our D is full of holes. I've been screaming the same thing you are for years.

All I'm saying is that a significantly better offense will put us in place to win a lot more games just like it did LSU. Winning a lot more games could put us in place to acquire better players. Better players might help us out on D. The D was pretty solid in 2017 or 18 (I forget the year) when we had better talent. Our CB recruiting is an abomination, and our talent at LB isn't any better.
Here's my take on Manny's defense. It's been solid since he came to the U. The flaws are obvious, but for the most part, the D has kept us in games even though the O has been dog **** for the most part.

When Manny became the HC, it was obvious he had to make changes to the O side of the ball. It was the weakest link. He made a valiant attempt in hiring Penos and his minions and it was an abject failure. He didn't hesitate at the end of last season to correct his mistake and, so far, hit a home run with Lashlee.

My question is this: if the D doesn't perform as expected this year, will Manny be as savage and make changes to the D staff?

I hope the D doesn't regress much this year but it'll be interesting to see that if it does, will Manny make any changes.
 
If this conversation is going to turn to LSU’s defense, let me tell you what IS dominant about it: Stingley, Jr.

They have a preseason 1st team AA. A top 10 guy that takes away half the field. We have middle of the road ACC CBs.

We need an influx of talent at CB and LB to really see what this defense can be.
Stingley would probably be sitting the bench here. He has to wait his turn, get stronger to set the edge and make sure he can tackle
 
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Here's my take on Manny's defense. It's been solid since he came to the U. The flaws are obvious, but for the most part, the D has kept us in games even though the O has been dog **** for the most part.

When Manny became the HC, it was obvious he had to make changes to the O side of the ball. It was the weakest link. He made a valiant attempt in hiring Penos and his minions and it was an abject failure. He didn't hesitate at the end of last season to correct his mistake and, so far, hit a home run with Lashlee.

My question is this: if the D doesn't perform as expected this year, will Manny be as savage and make changes to the D staff?

I hope the D doesn't regress much this year but it'll be interesting to see that if it does, will Manny make any changes.
He would have to do more than make changes on the D staff to make any appreciable difference. He changed the entire philosophy and approach on offense. That was easy for him because he's not an offensive coach.

For him to change his approach on D, it will be much tougher because he'll have to go away from what he does and hire a DC who runs his own D. He hired his sons on D to run Manny's D. 3 of those guys are literally his sons with no experience outside of what Manny taught them.
 
He would have to do more than make changes on the D staff to make any appreciable difference. He changed the entire philosophy and approach on offense. That was easy for him because he's not an offensive coach.

For him to change his approach on D, it will be much tougher because he'll have to go away from what he does and hire a DC who runs his own D. He hired his sons on D to run Manny's D. 3 of those guys are literally his sons with no experience outside of what Manny taught them.

Sad if true. It means he's got a killer attitude for replacing mediocrity wherever he sees it except in himself. If he doesn't make those changes, even with classes that include guys like James Williams and Leonard Taylor, we're going to lose to good teams who have OCs like Lashlee that are smart enough to exploit a faulty system. We may go 10+. But we'll never get that ring back without fundamental change on the defense.
 
If you like waffle fries, don't go to McDonalds expecting Ronald McDonald to fix some waffle fries. He's going to give you the shoestrings. That's what you get at McDonalds.

And what you get at UM right now is Manny's chaotic, gambling, unsound defense. It's Manny's D. Manny has had the EXACT same issues with his D in the past that Baker has had at times. Manny hired him because he taught Baker the D, and Baker runs it the way he wants. I think you guys need to accept that Manny will change a lot of things, but I don't see him changing his own philosophy on D. It's his baby, and he seems pretty committed to running it how he wants.
You're right Chise. I do prefer waffle fries. I have no issue with McDonald's fries but if I am going to be served McDonald's fries I expect them to be fresh and hot. I don't want the old stale fries that have been sitting under some lamp for 30 minutes.

I understand about the pros and cons of Manny's defense and I'm ok with that. I understand that this defense has had similar issues in the past. My point is that the issues we are seeing now are greatly magnified. You have said it yourself that the defense in 2017 and/or 2018 was very good. I'm not expecting Lubbick and I really don't need to have Lubbick as I'm cool with Diaz. I just want a DC who can run the Diaz defense as well as it can be run and I don't think Baker is that guy.

Now if you tell me that you think that what we have seen from Baker is mostly the result of a glaring talent deficiency at CB and LB then I'm inclined to listen and I would agree to certain point. My theory is that this D is what it is due to Baker not being a UM level DC and the issues at CB and LB. Would you agree with that?
 
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