Football Robb Smith named DC

[eceres]

He still is

Nov 14

Hope we beat Michigan again and this is the beginning of the ebd of AC & staff's time in Michigan. I'll be excited for his return to NJ.

 

[OriginalKnight]

He still is

Nov 14

Fail

 

[RU-AGK]

Looking at defensive stats at his DC stops (Top 20 rankings in bold):

Rutgers (2012) - Scoring Defense 14.2 ppg (4th nationally), Total Defense 311.6 ypg (10th), Rushing Defense (97.2 ypg, 6th), Passing Defense (214.5 ypg, 30th), Pass Eff Defense 111.6 (17th)

Arkansas (2014) - Scoring D 19.2 ppg (10th), Total D 323.4 ypg (10th), Rush D 114.6 ypg (12th), Pass D 208.8 ypg (37th), Pass Eff D 123.4 (49th)

Arkansas (2015) - Scoring D 27.4 (68th), Total D 391.6 (58th), Rush D 116.5 (12th), Pass D 275.2 (116th), Pass Eff D 141.7 (103rd)

Arkansas (2016) - Scoring D 31.1 (85th), Total D 426.6 (78th), Rush D 205.5 (94th), Pass D 221.2 (58th), Pass Eff D 129.5 (65th)

Minnesota (2017) - Scoring D 22.8 (56th), Total D 346.7 (30th), Rush D 172.2 (73rd), Pass D 174.5 (11th), Pass Eff D 127.3 (59th)

Minnesota (2018) - Scoring D 26.5 (59th), Total D 385.8 (54th), Rush D 173.4 (78th), Pass D 212.4 (51st), Pass Eff D 131.1 (73rd)

Don't know what the personnel was in those years (key departures, injuries, etc) or what the overall level of competition was (held under averages or no). But those are the raw stats.

On Schiano's D Staff from 2009-2011. Flood's DC with Schiano's players in 2012

In 3 of those 4 years he was part of the team that led a National Top 20 Defense.
2 of those years were Top 10 including his year as DC which was Top 5.

He obviously works well with what Schiano can give him and I'd assume from their success and this encore that he is willing to take the input into the D that you know Schiano will provide.

Anybody who doesn't like this hire because he didn't/doesn't like to recruit has a screw loose. We have 6 other guys on staff that like to schmooze including the Head Coach.

 

[Jake 01]

From his bio:

"Smith spent the 2019 season as a defensive analyst with Texas A&M and prior to that, served as the defensive coordinator at Minnesota during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The Golden Gophers allowed a total of 274 points in 2017, the fewest permitted by the team since 2004. Smith also worked with the linebackers and saw Thomas Barber earn All-Big Ten Third Team honors after posting 115 tackles.


Smith came to Minnesota from Arkansas, where he spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach. His defense ranked No. 10 in both scoring defense (19.2 points per game) and total defense (323.4 yards per game) in 2014. It was the first time since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992 that the Razorbacks had finished in the top 10 in either statistic. In addition, Arkansas became the first unranked team in college football history to post back-to-back shutouts of ranked opponents when the Razorbacks blanked No. 20 LSU and No. 8 Ole Miss in November.

In 2015, Smith's unit excelled against the run, as Arkansas held 12-of-13 opponents below their season rushing average. The Razorbacks allowed only 116.46 yards per game on the ground, which ranked second in the Southeastern Conference and 12th in the nation. Then in 2016, Smith's defense was at its best in the second half of games, as Arkansas allowed only 51 points in the third quarter and 73 in the fourth quarter. His defense also yielded only 12 passing touchdowns in 13 games, while it made 10 interceptions, forced 14 fumbles and recovered 11."

Let's take a look:
Minnesota:
2016 (pre-Smith): 26.1 ppg/354 ypg
2017: 22.8 ppg/346 ypg
2018: 27.9 ppg/394 ypg
2019 (post-Smith): 22.4 ppg/312 ypg

Seems they improved after he left from previous year, but 2017 was a good year. Were there reasons for the decline in 2018, such as a lot of graduations, and did those players mature in 2019?

Arkansas:
2013 (pre-Smith): 30.8 ppg/413.4 ypg
2014 20.3 ppg/345.4 ypg
2015 27.8 ppg/404 ypg
2016 30.8 ppg/428.7 ypg
2017 (post Smith): 36.2 ppg/438.3 ypg
2018 34.8 ppg/413 ypg

Did at least as well or better than before/after he was there.

Will touch on 2018 as a Gopher fan. Prior to Smith getting fired we were giving up big plays at an alarming rate. Here is the best example I can give you of what 2018 was like:

We gave up 53 points to Nebraska and 55 to Illinois = 108 total.

Smith was fired, Rossi took over, without a single personnel change over the remainder of the year we gave up the following point totals:

Purdue - 10
Northwestern - 24
Wisconsin - 15
Georgia Tech - 10
Total - 59 points allowed post Smith.

He may do well there but our 2018 defense under him was a joke and his firing seemed to trigger a massive turnaround in our program. Since he was let go the team has gone 15-4 and just knocked off Auburn in the Outback bowl.

Coaching is weird and sometimes a guy that fails one place succeeds somewhere else (Rossi being a perfect example). I sincerely hope he works out for you guys but you won't find any Gopher fans with much good to say about him.

 

[Knight Shift]

Will touch on 2018 as a Gopher fan. Prior to Smith getting fired we were giving up big plays at an alarming rate. Here is the best example I can give you of what 2018 was like:

We gave up 53 points to Nebraska and 55 to Illinois = 108 total.

Smith was fired, Rossi took over, without a single personnel change over the remainder of the year we gave up the following point totals:

Purdue - 10
Northwestern - 24
Wisconsin - 15
Georgia Tech - 10
Total - 59 points allowed post Smith.

He may do well there but our 2018 defense under him was a joke and his firing seemed to trigger a massive turnaround in our program. Since he was let go the team has gone 15-4 and just knocked off Auburn in the Outback bowl.

Coaching is weird and sometimes a guy that fails one place succeeds somewhere else (Rossi being a perfect example). I sincerely hope he works out for you guys but you won't find any Gopher fans with much good to say about him.

As someone else pointed out, our defenses under Joe Rossi were horrific. Sometimes it is the combination of the Coordinator, the HC and the position coaches. I know you said that nothing else changed--maybe Rossi learned from his mistakes and quietly observed what Smith was doing wrong.

Perhaps Smith learned from his mistakes, and grew a little in his time with the Aggies. We shall see.

 

[Jake 01]

As someone else pointed out, our defenses under Joe Rossi were horrific. Sometimes it is the combination of the Coordinator, the HC and the position coaches. I know you said that nothing else changed--maybe Rossi learned from his mistakes and quietly observed what Smith was doing wrong.

Perhaps Smith learned from his mistakes, and grew a little in his time with the Aggies. We shall see.

Anything is possible. It still blows all of us away how much the Gopher defense changed with only a change in coordinator in 2018.