Why did Coach Ellis Johnson Fail?

[tigeraddikt 1,590]

Now that we are a week into Will's tenure as DC, several articles and reports are out indicating defensive players are excited and playing with renewed energy and enthusiasm for Muschamp. This got me to thinking... Why the collapse for CEJ?

Seems to me he had the defense trending upward until South Carolina game. Then the wheels came off. My guess is that his age, demeanor, and energy level did not motivate our guys to come close to fulfilling their potential. Also seemed to be a lack of accountability team wide for fundamental mistakes that hardly semed to get corrected.

15.6 ppg through first five games. 33.8 ppg through final six games. (Not including Miss State game bc first two offensive plays resulted in 2 turnovers, resulting in short field opportunities and a 0-14 hole.)

[cooltigger21 0]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

[smackydoodle 200]

I think the first half of the season was misleading because of scheduling. With your exception of Miss State, all but one game was at home against average to below average teams. In the last half, only only meaningful game was at home, the others were in hostile environments against solid SEC teams.

[StatTiger 3,188]

His version of the 4-2-5 was going to require consistent play from the DL. Losing Lawson was huge not just because of his potential but the opportunities he would have created for the other 3 DL just by being on the field. In a nutshell, all the issues began up front and carried over to the back-7.

[alexava 6,973]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

most people on here demand we run man coverage.

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

most people on here demand we run man coverage.

Who...?

[kd4au 1,145]

It always does start up front on both sides of the ball.

[cooltigger21 0]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

most people on here demand we run man coverage.

If you've got the personnel to do that, it is great. It was painfully obvious that the corners this year were not capable of playing man to man. You have to adjust your scheme to your personnel not the other way around.

[alexava 6,973]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

most people on here demand we run man coverage.

If you've got the personnel to do that, it is great. It was painfully obvious that the corners this year were not capable of playing man to man. You have to adjust your scheme to your personnel not the other way around.

the safeties and LBs were not sound enough to play zone either. pick your own poison, nothing worked.

[StatTiger 3,188]

It always does start up front on both sides of the ball.

Yep.... from 1996-2014, Auburn compiled a record of 94-23 (.803) during seasons they won the TFL battle for the season and 65-57 (.533) during the seasons they did not.

[1TexasTiger 55]

His version of the 4-2-5 was going to require consistent play from the DL. Losing Lawson was huge not just because of his potential but the opportunities he would have created for the other 3 DL just by being on the field. In a nutshell, all the issues began up front and carried over to the back-7.

Thank you Stat. This has more to do with the collapse than anything. The Carolina Panthers are a prime example of exactly what happened to us this year. With the loss of Greg Hardy, that defense has gone from one of the best to one of the worst one season. Point is Ellis was showing improvement but compound the loss of Lawson with the fracture in the team after the Whitehead incident, this was the outcome.

[McLoofus 35,182]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

most people on here demand we run man coverage.

If you've got the personnel to do that, it is great. It was painfully obvious that the corners this year were not capable of playing man to man. You have to adjust your scheme to your personnel not the other way around.

No secondary is capable of playing man-to-man effectively when there is no pressure on the quarterback.

[cooltigger21 0]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

most people on here demand we run man coverage.

If you've got the personnel to do that, it is great. It was painfully obvious that the corners this year were not capable of playing man to man. You have to adjust your scheme to your personnel not the other way around.

No secondary is capable of playing man-to-man effectively when there is no pressure on the quarterback.

You're right about that. That was my earlier point about forcing his scheme on the personnel. Honestly I'm not sure those guys could play man anyway. They gave the receiver a free release off the LOS and then promptly were 10 yards away from him.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

Because we had no pass rush and our players didn't perform well enough. Could be coaching or a lack of true talent.

[AUwent 3,747]

I know losing Lawson hurt, but a sign of a strong program is one that does not let the loss of one player ruin the season. That being said, getting him back next year will be huge.

[gman87 398]

I think all of those reasons plus the insistence on man to man when we clearly couldn't handle that. He seemed to not be able to adjust to anything before halftime for whatever reason.

We didn't play man well in the second half of the season, probably due primarily to the caliber of offenses we played, but our zone has been horrendous for the past 3 years at least. We were actually picking off a fair amount of passes up till the Ole Miss game.

[war eagle6 0]

Hate to bring the guys name up but he said it best, we just wasn't listening. Reuben Foster said "I look at him like my grandfather". We should have saw it then, nothing against Ellis,but maybe that's how most saw him as such, players and recruits.

[tigeraddikt 1,590]

I think the first half of the season was misleading because of scheduling. With your exception of Miss State, all but one game was at home against average to below average teams. In the last half, only only meaningful game was at home, the others were in hostile environments against solid SEC teams.

I agree to an extent, yet KState averaged 33.7 ppg in their BIG12 schedule, Arky averaged 30.4 ppg against Tex Tech and their SEC schedule other than AU, and LSU averaged 21.8 ppg vs Wisconsin and their SEC schedule. In each of those contests, Auburn held these teams to well below these averages. From South Carolina (& really Miss State) onward, they didn't.

[skyvoyager 0]

Why did he fail? 17-40 as a head coach

True colors shining through

[cooltigger21 0]

Why did he fail? 17-40 as a head coach

True colors shining through

Failure as a head coach does not mean you can't be a good coordinator.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Why did he fail? 17-40 as a head coach

True colors shining through

I take it you're not very excited about the Muschamp hire.

[1TexasTiger 55]

Why did he fail? 17-40 as a head coach

True colors shining through

Bill Belichek

Pete Carroll

both say hello

[skyvoyager 0]

let CEJ answer the question for you then.....

"When you're not performing well in so many different areas, you have to start back

at the coach's feet." - CEJ

“You have to say it’s coaching, because if you don’t think it’s coaching, what do you do to correct it?” - Ellis Johnson

"You can't dismiss the fact that I don't think that this is a very well coached team" - Ellis Johnson

"If we've felt like we're doing the right thing, it doesn't matter to me what the results are. That's what we're going to keep doing." - Ellis Johnson

[cooltigger21 0]

let CEJ answer the question for you then.....

"When you're not performing well in so many different areas, you have to start back

at the coach's feet." - CEJ

“You have to say it’s coaching, because if you don’t think it’s coaching, what do you do to correct it?” - Ellis Johnson

"You can't dismiss the fact that I don't think that this is a very well coached team" - Ellis Johnson

"If we've felt like we're doing the right thing, it doesn't matter to me what the results are. That's what we're going to keep doing." - Ellis Johnson

The fact that he failed as a head coach doesn't have anything to do with his success or lack thereof as a DC at Auburn. He has been a successful DC for many years. If every coordinator that ever failed as a head coach could never return to being a coordinator then we couldn't have WM here now.

[skyvoyager 0]

Why did he fail? 17-40 as a head coach

True colors shining through

I take it you're not very excited about the Muschamp hire.

Muschamp was 28-21 ... EJ was 0-12 in his last job ... he coached a team up that won 12 games the previous year