Ellis Johnson

[AURandy56 148]

Not only for the showing tonight, but you also have to look at the D play against USCe and Ole Miss. AU was 17 pt favorite against the Cocks and won late by 7. Bo Harris looked like a Heisman candidate against the AU Defense. The D is regressing as the season goes on. Johnson needs to go and take Coach Cheese with him.

BTW, what is AU paying the Tight Ends coach? For that matter, WHO IS the tight ends coach. What is his responsibility for coaching tight ends?

[Ed_ 3]

Bye Ellis hope you're not a coach next week for auburn

Hope all you want, but that would be just plain stupid. That move would be so devastating to the team. Not calling you out, but some on here are very near sited when it comes to football and/or football programs..

Agreed Bird. If it happens it will more likely be like the Ted Roof situation where he suddenly gets another "opportunity".

[auburntiger1987 759]

I know it won't happen but because he deserves nothing else. KnOwing how ignorant auburn brass is he will Bree here next year too

[bigbird 60,523]

This should not be a conclusion folks are just now reaching based on one frustrating loss. The best argument Johnson's had in his favor these 2 seasons is not enough time yet to recruit and teach. But there's always been alarming parts to his DC stint at Auburn. From day one hes persisted in using his star system, which is heavy on man on man coverage...a tall order in the SEC. Ellis is historically a good recruiter and he's overseen landing guys like Moncrief that on paper fit the system. We do NOT have the players to play what Ellis refuses to abandon or even modify. But MOST alarming is the direction we're headed (and but for LSU have been heading). Remember chiziks last month? Look at our defense's body language now. UL-Monroe's D last week did better against aTm than we did in Auburn. It's not getting better, it's getting much worse. Carl Lawson blah blah...Johnson is continuing his historic inability to coordinate winning defenses in the SEC.

This one statement negates any credibility in your words due to its complete lack of truth.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

I just don't get it. It seems like DCs all of a sudden forget how to field a defense when they step foot at Auburn.

[Randman5000 4,228]

This should not be a conclusion folks are just now reaching based on one frustrating loss. The best argument Johnson's had in his favor these 2 seasons is not enough time yet to recruit and teach. But there's always been alarming parts to his DC stint at Auburn. From day one hes persisted in using his star system, which is heavy on man on man coverage...a tall order in the SEC. Ellis is historically a good recruiter and he's overseen landing guys like Moncrief that on paper fit the system. We do NOT have the players to play what Ellis refuses to abandon or even modify. But MOST alarming is the direction we're headed (and but for LSU have been heading). Remember chiziks last month? Look at our defense's body language now. UL-Monroe's D last week did better against aTm than we did in Auburn. It's not getting better, it's getting much worse. Carl Lawson blah blah...Johnson is continuing his historic inability to coordinate winning defenses in the SEC.

This one statement negates any credibility in your words due to its complete lack of truth.

Agreed. Might want to take a look back.

He's completely disappointing me this year though

[PCBAuburnaFan 1]

Worst angles I've seen us take l year and Mincy is playing like his girlfriend dumped him

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

Worst angles I've seen us take l year and Mincy is playing like his girlfriend dumped him

He's really struggling.

[aucanucktiger 1,794]

Bye Ellis hope you're not a coach next week for auburn

Hope all you want, but that would be just plain stupid. That move would be so devastating to the team. Not calling you out, but some on here are very near sited when it comes to football and/or football programs..

Agreed Bird. If it happens it will more likely be like the Ted Roof situation where he suddenly gets another "opportunity".

Were you guys with that faction on this board that opposed recruiting Russell Wilson to AU because it would mess up the wonderful chemistry between kiehl Frazier, barrett trotter and Clint Moseley too? What do you think, gus malzhan will stop coaching 40+ point games? What exactly will be "devastating" vs the current state of affairs? An Auburn caliber DC like oh, say Garner, would be worse? Don't guess about recruiting short term either, you have no idea how that would impact D recruiting.

[Ed_ 3]

Worst angles I've seen us take l year and Mincy is playing like his girlfriend dumped him

This is an area that has surprised me. We seemed to be doing much better on fundamentals last year and early this year in comparison to the Chizik years but we are currently as bad if not worse than any of the poor fundamentals I saw under Chizik.

[auburntiger1987 759]

What defensive recruiting?? Any decent defensive coach will be. Better then anything we have even if we lose recruits

[war eagle6 0]

Bye Ellis hope you're not a coach next week for auburn

Hope all you want, but that would be just plain stupid. That move would be so devastating to the team. Not calling you out, but some on here are very near sited when it comes to football and/or football programs..

Lol

[auburn4ever 1,266]

It's not just the lose tonight. Go back and watch the Miss. State and 2 HUGE losses against LSU & FSU from 2013.

[WarEagle10 77]

I have been in denial about our D. Half way through the second quarter it finally dawned on me that it sucks. I just find it hard to believe that the cupboard is that bare on that side of the ball. We usually play solid in the second half of games. Does he not come into games with a gameplan? An O should not have to consistently score as much as we need to win games each week. I don't ever expect to see Tub era D's with the uptempo O we run. However, there is no reason we can't be decent on that side of the ball. We are far from decent. It's very frustrating.

[meh130 1,043]

I see three issues on defense. First, we have weaknesses in personnel. We lack speed rushers and have inconsistent play on the DL. We have a lack of depth at LB. We have been shuffling people since fall camp. Second, we have poor execution at every level. Third, CEJ's schemes have become predictable. Note I said schemes, not base formations. This has less to do with base formations and more to do with pass coverage and run support schemes, USCe isolated their best receiver on our Star by moving him dorm the outside to the slot. The introduced a quick pitch option run.

Too many games this year have looked like the second half of the BCSNC game last year, probably because opposing coaches looked to that film. Likewise, the USCe game film will be preferred by the remaining teams we face.

The 4-2-5 requires the DL to be playmakers. They must stop, slow down, or force running plays. That has not been happening enough this year. The 4-2-5 requires the base 4-man line to pressure the QB. That has also not happened enough this year. CEJ likes to play man defense. But man D works only if the QB has to act fast due to pressure.

Changing back to a 4-3 will not fix anything. Changing to a 3-4 will not change anything. Bama, a 3-4 base team, has run more snaps from a 4-2-5 alignment than any other this year. But their DBs are much better, their LBs are much better, and their pass coverage schemes are different.

[war eagle6 0]

I see three issues on defense. First, we have weaknesses in personnel. We lack speed rushers and have inconsistent play on the DL. We have a lack of depth at LB. We have been shuffling people since fall camp. Second, we have poor execution at every level. Third, CEJ's schemes have become predictable. Note I said schemes, not base formations. This has less to do with base formations and more to do with pass coverage and run support schemes, USCe isolated their best receiver on our Star by moving him dorm the outside to the slot. The introduced a quick pitch option run.

Too many games this year have looked like the second half of the BCSNC game last year, probably because opposing coaches looked to that film. Likewise, the USCe game film will be preferred by the remaining teams we face.

The 4-2-5 requires the DL to be playmakers. They must stop, slow down, or force running plays. That has not been happening enough this year. The 4-2-5 requires the base 4-man line to pressure the QB. That has also not happened enough this year. CEJ likes to play man defense. But man D works only if the QB has to act fast due to pressure.

Changing back to a 4-3 will not fix anything. Changing to a 3-4 will not change anything. Bama, a 3-4 base team, has run more snaps from a 4-2-5 alignment than any other this year. But their DBs are much better, their LBs are much better, and their pass coverage schemes are different.

and their d-coordinator is better too

[KenTiger74 0]

I'd like to blame the loses on Coach Johnson but from what I've seen this year alone players are having a hard time holding on to the ball on offensive. That game was within 2 yards from a victory and the defense held them almost getting a safety in the process. The offense still couldn't hold the ball when they got it back. The defense has struggled but the offense has put the defense in bad spots a lot this season. If Auburn plays like they did tonight I see 8-4 at the end of the season easy.

[AURandy56 148]

The AU Defense cannot stop anyone 3rd and long, and how many 4th downs did USCe get against the AU defense? Weren't they 4 for 4 or maybe even 5 for 5? This is on Johnson. He's the leader of the defense. It's also on Gus since he's the head coach.

[WarEagle10 77]

We scored 38 and lost. A team should not need to score 42 points to win a game. Their O has been struggling mightily. We mad a freshman QB, making his second start, look like a Heisman contender.

[Ed_ 3]

Another issue that was touched on is his game planning. It drives me nuts that we always seem to have trouble first half against anyone we play and it isn't until the halftime adjustments that we start playing decent D (when we do). To me that shows a major and consistent lack of preparation on CEJ's part and that is one that can't be put on the rest of the staff or the players.

[PCBAuburnaFan 1]

The AU Defense cannot stop anyone 3rd and long, and how many 4th downs did USCe get against the AU defense? Weren't they 4 for 4 or maybe even 5 for 5? This is on Johnson. He's the leader of the defense. It's also on Gus since he's the head coach.

this still baffles me... How can you be SO awful at 3rd and long ?

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Just last week, A&M with a true freshman QB beat mighty Louisiana-Monroe 21-16. It's a scary thought that La-Monroe has a better defense then Auburn has been putting on the during these last 3 games

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

It's a scary thought that La-Monroe has a better defense then what Auburn has.

Most accurate thing you've ever said.

[war eagle6 0]

There's no excuse for this defense to be this bad this late into the season. There's also no excuse not to have a pass rush either. La Monroe has a pass rush, Alabama a&m has a pass rush

[doc4aday 1,887]

If Gus goes, then who do we get? I like Pat Narduzzi from Michigan State. He can flat out coach, and is one of the best in all of college football. TCU's DC, Dick Bumpus is another outstanding DC. Kansas State DC is also a very solid DC. I like CEJ, but we cannot continue to have to score over 35 points a game to win.

If you would have told me yesterday that we would score 38 points today, I would say we would win this game with ease.