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Ellis Johnson


Ed_

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I'm not one to get on here and call for any one to be fired,but sometimes a change has to be made and start fresh.It's like the old saying if the hole your in is deep enough stop digging.

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I'm not one to get on here and call for any one to be fired,but sometimes a change has to be made and start fresh.It's like the old saying if the hole your in is deep enough stop digging.

If you get to six feet, you're in trouble.

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I haven't said much on the defense because I am pretty much on the fence as to whether Ellis should come back. There is no denying the defense has been down right awful the past few weeks. At least in spots. But I'm not sure if it's a scheme thing or a player thing. At A&M I was really perplexed as to why we decided to sit back in base D and let a freshmen QB throw the ball at will. But I don't think the strategy shifted in the second half and we played better then so I don't know what the problem was. Then in the Uga game the whole team got beat up. Offense, Defense, and special teams. I don't know why that happened but I don't blame Ellis solely for that debacle because it was the whole team. And I don't think he called a bad game...our guys were just getting whipped. Very frustrating to see that in a rivalry game.

I also don't like the idea of changing D coordinators again. 2 years seem a bit quick to give up on something if there are any hopeful results there. And there have been hopeful results this year whether people want to admit it or not. Defense played damn good against a k state team that is no slouch. I also thought the D played well against State. We did good against S Car if you take away 4th down. A team doesn't convert that many 4th downs without not converting that many 3rd downs. I know it's not much consolation but had they not been throwing everything and the kitchen sink at us then maybe the stats would have read better after that one. We also played great second half defense against arky and A&M. So to me the D has been half good half terrible this year. Maybe with another year they get better. Or maybe they get worse. Hard to say. I guess in the end I won't freak out too much if he stays or goes.

I do like the 4-2-5 scheme. I'm not sure we have the personnel to play it right but I like the scheme and hope we stick with it. I think that is the scheme football will go more to in the NFL since it is a passing league and i like us to be ahead of the game there.

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If you want to complain about lbs's tackling then blame EJ. If you are complaining about any other position' s tackling and you're blaming EJ then you are misguided.

Do you feel like there may be (or needs to be) some changes in position coaches on defense?

to me, a coach needsat least 3 years to determine their performance. First year, new scheme. 2nd year, doesn't have his players. 3rd year is when you start to see the difference. One of our problems is we have been too impatient when it comes to DC's . in order to have success, you need to have players in a scheme for more than a year or two. Look at our seniors, they have had 2-3 DCs to have to learn under. There has been absolutely no defensive consistency. I'm not saying our D looks good, but some of yall's angst and ire is misplaced.

Jeremy Pruitt seems to be doing just fine in his first year
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You have to be in a position to tackle. You have to get off a block to tackle. They know how to tackle. The defensive line is getting blocked and linebackers are a half step or more out of position on their bad plays. On cut back runs our DE's at times are not getting off blocks to tackle. Defensive backs have been exposed at times. The gut knee jerk reaction to have a head roll for the sake of poor performance is just that. Knee jerk. I have not read many constructive reviews in our threads on defense. Everyone is disappointed in the out come of the last two games. Our strengths and weak spots are there to see. I read more blow hard bully fantasy football fixes and that is more frustrating than the losses.

Very well said.

If we were talking one bad performance, I would agree. However, we are talking the first time in AU football history that over 30 points have been given up in 5 consecutive games. The worst 5 game stretch in the 122 year history of AU football being judged is not a knee jerk reaction. It has gone way past knee jerk , beyond educated guess and into the realm of fact. There is no possible way to defend the worst 5 game stretch in AU history. I am sure there are excuses out the yin yang, but in the previous 122 I am sure all the same excuses could have been used many many times, yet the previous record for 30 point games by the D in the history of AU football was THREE. This D surpassed the worst ever by 66 percent. They not only tied the worst ever, they blew it out of the freaking water so high it landed on a mountain. That is not a knee jerk reaction, that is the proper reaction to the worst performance under any DC in AU history by a very large margin. 122 years worth of excuses only gave 3 games in a row this bad. EJs D topped 122 years of possible excuses by 66 percent in one year. There is no defending this defense.

Best post to date^^
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If you want to complain about lbs's tackling then blame EJ. If you are complaining about any other position' s tackling and you're blaming EJ then you are misguided.

Do you feel like there may be (or needs to be) some changes in position coaches on defense?

to me, a coach needsat least 3 years to determine their performance. First year, new scheme. 2nd year, doesn't have his players. 3rd year is when you start to see the difference. One of our problems is we have been too impatient when it comes to DC's . in order to have success, you need to have players in a scheme for more than a year or two. Look at our seniors, they have had 2-3 DCs to have to learn under. There has been absolutely no defensive consistency. I'm not saying our D looks good, but some of yall's angst and ire is misplaced.

Jeremy Pruitt seems to be doing just fine in his first year

usce and uf exposed them
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Honest question:

For those defending Ellis Johnson and asking for a 3rd year... If we get blown out by Alabama, does your opinion change?

For those calling for Ellis Johnson to be fired, if we blow Alabama out and hold them to minimal points, does your opinion change?

I too am on the fence about bringing him back. But if we get blown out again, then I definitely think it's time that we make a change. Especially if we can get someone better.

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CEJ appears to be a great teacher of details about playing defense. What we have failed to do all year are:

1.Have a game plan specific to each opponents strength and weakness

2. Try other players at different positions - especially during cup cake games

3. Try other alignments 4-2-5, 4-3-4,3-4-4, etc during cup cake games.

4. Load the box with 8 or 9 players against teams that have had trouble passing

5. Blitz every down against teams with inexperienced QB - we let A&M get comfortable when we should have knocked him on his butt

6. Had the same players make the same penalties over and over

7. Tackle - we try to bump opponents off balance rather than hit - wrap up - drive thru

and on and on

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Honest question:

For those defending Ellis Johnson and asking for a 3rd year... If we get blown out by Alabama, does your opinion change?

For those calling for Ellis Johnson to be fired, if we blow Alabama out and hold them to minimal points, does your opinion change?

I too am on the fence about bringing him back. But if we get blown out again, then I definitely think it's time that we make a change. Especially if we can get someone better.

Well you don't have to be concerned with Auburn blowing out Alabama. That isn't going to happen. If Auburn is to win it will be close, Even in years when Auburn is clearly the better team, they don't blow out Alabama.
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Honest question:

For those defending Ellis Johnson and asking for a 3rd year... If we get blown out by Alabama, does your opinion change?

For those calling for Ellis Johnson to be fired, if we blow Alabama out and hold them to minimal points, does your opinion change?

I too am on the fence about bringing him back. But if we get blown out again, then I definitely think it's time that we make a change. Especially if we can get someone better.

The 1st will happen before the 2nd. I hated to see the performance of the players last week and it will carry through to the end of the season. I hope I am wrong, but probably not. We can't take care of business when needed. I have not said CEJ needs to be fired. He would not have lasted as long as he has if he does not know what he is doing. I know before he came to AU he had a rough stretch, but it takes more than 2 years for a coach to implement his system. When Coach Van was at AU he said AU did not have the talent on D needed to compete in the SEC, and in my opinion the talent looks about the same.

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I like Bird's reading of the situation. Year 1 - get through it. Year 2 - players start to get the system down, but you're still not working with your own guys. Year 3 - real improvement based on your own recruiting and system continuity. He made a good point the other day - most of these players have had 3 DCs in the last 4 years: Roof, Van Gorder, and CEJ. As painful as it can sometimes be, gotta stay the course.

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You have to be in a position to tackle. You have to get off a block to tackle. They know how to tackle. The defensive line is getting blocked and linebackers are a half step or more out of position on their bad plays. On cut back runs our DE's at times are not getting off blocks to tackle. Defensive backs have been exposed at times. The gut knee jerk reaction to have a head roll for the sake of poor performance is just that. Knee jerk. I have not read many constructive reviews in our threads on defense. Everyone is disappointed in the out come of the last two games. Our strengths and weak spots are there to see. I read more blow hard bully fantasy football fixes and that is more frustrating than the losses.

Very well said.

If we were talking one bad performance, I would agree. However, we are talking the first time in AU football history that over 30 points have been given up in 5 consecutive games. The worst 5 game stretch in the 122 year history of AU football being judged is not a knee jerk reaction. It has gone way past knee jerk , beyond educated guess and into the realm of fact. There is no possible way to defend the worst 5 game stretch in AU history. I am sure there are excuses out the yin yang, but in the previous 122 I am sure all the same excuses could have been used many many times, yet the previous record for 30 point games by the D in the history of AU football was THREE. This D surpassed the worst ever by 66 percent. They not only tied the worst ever, they blew it out of the freaking water so high it landed on a mountain. That is not a knee jerk reaction, that is the proper reaction to the worst performance under any DC in AU history by a very large margin. 122 years worth of excuses only gave 3 games in a row this bad. EJs D topped 122 years of possible excuses by 66 percent in one year. There is no defending this defense.

I am not offering or proposing excuses. Your pulling a 3 game stretch out of 122 years as a basis and only using defensive stats. Total team performance is down over that three game stretch. Compare 2012 to 2014 and tell me where we are as a team. That three game stretch doesn't even come close to worse in 122 years of Auburn football. Wins and losses are a better stat. Not trying to make an Ellis Johnson fan out of you. Make voodoo dolls and burn him in effigy if you like, but to wholesale and discount 2014 season as EJ's fault is very narrow. Where is the offense in getting only 7 points against Ga? Special team turn overs with offensive turnovers.... did EJ cause those as well? Show me a stat where getting rid of EJ will make special teams not turn the ball over and make the offense more productive. Defense has problems beyond x's and o's. Against A&M and Georgia our defensive front has not taken the fight to their offenses. We didn't win those areas. If you don't win up front then next level of defense is 5 yards down the field. Then the offense has the advantage. Our offense did not take advantage of A&M by turnovers. Our offense did not take advantage of Georgia's defense. Our team has under performed the last three games as a whole.
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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

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I like Bird's reading of the situation. Year 1 - get through it. Year 2 - players start to get the system down, but you're still not working with your own guys. Year 3 - real improvement based on your own recruiting and system continuity. He made a good point the other day - most of these players have had 3 DCs in the last 4 years: Roof, Van Gorder, and CEJ. As painful as it can sometimes be, gotta stay the course.

Ok but how long do you let it go on? You can't stick with it forever. If I saw even the tiniest bit of improvement over last year I could see it but this years team has regressed. You still have to have the talent and recruiting on defense is not producing the kind of players we need.
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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Bingo
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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Most teams rotate defensive linemen in because it's probably the position on the field that requires the most energy and stamina over the course of a game. If you don't, you'll get run over in the 4th quarter.

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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Most teams rotate defensive linemen in because it's probably the position on the field that requires the most energy and stamina over the course of a game. If you don't, you'll get run over in the 4th quarter.

That may be true, but it's not helping when your being run over in the 1st qtr
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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Most teams rotate defensive linemen in because it's probably the position on the field that requires the most energy and stamina over the course of a game. If you don't, you'll get run over in the 4th quarter.

That may be true, but it's not helping when your being run over in the 1st qtr

Our defensive line has been underperforming outside of Nick Fairley since 2008. That's not a CEJ issue.

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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Most teams rotate defensive linemen in because it's probably the position on the field that requires the most energy and stamina over the course of a game. If you don't, you'll get run over in the 4th quarter.

That may be true, but it's not helping when your being run over in the 1st qtr

Our defensive line has been underperforming outside of Nick Fairley since 2008. That's not a CEJ issue.

What is it?

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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Most teams rotate defensive linemen in because it's probably the position on the field that requires the most energy and stamina over the course of a game. If you don't, you'll get run over in the 4th quarter.

That may be true, but it's not helping when your being run over in the 1st qtr

Our defensive line has been underperforming outside of Nick Fairley since 2008. That's not a CEJ issue.

In 2009 our dline was better than this years version
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I like Bird's reading of the situation. Year 1 - get through it. Year 2 - players start to get the system down, but you're still not working with your own guys. Year 3 - real improvement based on your own recruiting and system continuity. He made a good point the other day - most of these players have had 3 DCs in the last 4 years: Roof, Van Gorder, and CEJ. As painful as it can sometimes be, gotta stay the course.

I think that process is reasonable but its success is predicated on continual improvement during that three year period. When you see the defense seriously regressing then it is very reasonable to question whether the DC is effectively implementing his system and getting the right players in. You know I could even give him the benefit of the doubt if we took a step back from the end of year one to the beginning of year two due to loss of key players but significant regression during the second half of year two is extremely disconcerting and should be a major reason to question whether the process will play out as planned.

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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Most teams rotate defensive linemen in because it's probably the position on the field that requires the most energy and stamina over the course of a game. If you don't, you'll get run over in the 4th quarter.

That may be true, but it's not helping when your being run over in the 1st qtr

Our defensive line has been underperforming outside of Nick Fairley since 2008. That's not a CEJ issue.

In 2009 our dline was better than this years version

I would agree. I'd also say that a lineup of Michael Goggins, Zach Clayton, Antonio Coleman, Mike Blanc and Antoine Carter would start over anyone in this year's bunch.

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One way our dline can bring the fight to opposing offenses is to STOP taking them out when they make a play. It's hard to get in a rhythm when they are subbed like that. Put your best out there and let them play until they tap their helmet for a replacement.

This has been happening for many years now, and I do not understand it. If a guy is making tackles leave him in. Because as soon as you take him out the O is headed right for the guy that just came in and then we get burnt for a big play. It is the same on O a running back gets in a rhythm and we send in another back and run a sweep and lose yardage.

Most teams rotate defensive linemen in because it's probably the position on the field that requires the most energy and stamina over the course of a game. If you don't, you'll get run over in the 4th quarter.

That may be true, but it's not helping when your being run over in the 1st qtr

Our defensive line has been underperforming outside of Nick Fairley since 2008. That's not a CEJ issue.

What is it?

I'm not sure. I don't know if we've badly misevaluated on several players, if we need to change the S&C program for the defensive line or what. But it's been a persistent issue through Roof (aside from Fairley...pass rush was virtually nonexistent when he wasn't in the game), Van Gorder and now CEJ.

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