Question Of The Day: Akina?

by PB @ BON on Jan 2, 2007 1:06 PM CST in Football

Apologies for the light posting - I'm scrambling to meet several non-Texas writing deadlines here as the new year gets under way.

But there's something on my mind, on which I'll write a full column later, that I'd like reader input on.

Should Duane Akina be hired as full time Defensive Coordinator?

Now, a few things to consider:

*Bear in mind that Chizik, our linebacker coach, left for Iowa State. He also brought along his graduate assistant Jeff Koonz and promoted him to LB coach at Iowa State. So that's both of our primary LB guys gone. If you do vote to retain Akina, bear in mind that Texas needs a new LB coach. I'd be interested to see a proposed list of LB coach candidates.

*You probably shouldn't judge Akina "just" on the Alamo Bowl. If you recall, my saying that the Alamo Bowl was a "tryout" was an explanation that if the defense got absolutely torched and Texas lost, the fan pressure for change would be too great for Mack to keep Akina.

*In reviewing Akina, you'd be wise to include his entire body of work - not just 2006. Football is a fluid sport with a LOT of variability - both in terms of the talent of the players and the performance of the players (week to week, and year to year).

*I think you can make a good case either way, but let's start hearing some proposals. I'll include the best comments and notes in the column.

--PB--

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Jerry Gray?

Per the Washington Post:

Cornerbacks coach Jerry Gray also is a potential candidate to join his alma mater, the University of Texas, as a defensive coordinator.

He was also the Defensive Coordinator at Buffalo for five years (and they were pretty damn good in that five year stretch). The big knock on him is that the 2006 Washington Redskins (that he coached cornerbacks for) had a horrid defense.

Something to consider.

by Red Blooded on Jan 2, 2007 1:14 PM CST 0 recs

love to see Gray...

A good move whenever you can bring a capable Alum back into the fold. Good for recruiting as well.
Not being a Redskin watcher, any idea of the 2006 Washington D. was all around stinky or lopsided in one direction...i.e. great against the pass but horrible against the run (in which case it could be said Gray's area was covered)?

by longhornJ on Jan 2, 2007 2:25 PM CST up 0 recs

No.

The Redskins were horrible against both the pass and the run. 27th in the league rushing, 23rd against the pass. 31st overall. Opposing QBs posted a 97 Rating, which was tops in the league.

2006 Redskins D set franchise records for...
fewest interceptions (6)
fewest sacks (19)

They also set the NFL record for fewest takeaways, with 12. That includes strike shortened seasons.

All that said, I don't think Gray should be measured for what happened exclusively in 2006 to the Washington Redskins. Injury and coaching problems plagued throughout the organization, combined with suspect or confusing personnel decisions. There were communication problems between the safeties coach and Gray, as well as D-Coord Gregg Williams (who was HC in Buffalo when Jerry was there). Key injuries as well, especially to Shawn Springs and Pierson Priolieau (first play of the season).

To put it another way, I'm a Redskins fan and I would be super pissed and disappointed if Jerry Gray left the team. I'd be comfortable having him as D-Coord on my college team. He's a good coach.

by Red Blooded on Jan 2, 2007 2:48 PM CST up 0 recs

Our favorite announcer

Sorry, this is off the subject, but AOL Sports has a poll going in which you can vote for Andre Ware as the biggest Heisman bust.

"Only angry people win football games." --DKR

by OBdoc on Jan 2, 2007 1:32 PM CST 0 recs

Now would be the time for change

since there will be so many new players starting on D.

The co-coordinator stuff doesn't work. I think they should just promote Akina and be done with it.

Cats and dogs sleeping together.

by EYESofBEVO on Jan 2, 2007 1:58 PM CST 0 recs

keep Akina but no promotion to Def Coord.

Someone posted earlier that we seem to have lost site of the fact that Akina's non-recruiting roll at UT was that horrid secondary. I don't know what conversations took place between departing Coord Chizik and Akina from the time our secondary was exposed as a sore spot (game #2 of the year) but whatever was said between them did NOT produce any kind of substantive changes.

Why is it that Terrell Brown was so off his game? I just saw the replay of the Rose Bowl last year and he had a really solid game. If it really was the injury then isn't it the coaches' job at some point to say "Son, I know you want to play but we have to take you out, you just can't get it done." And if you do make that move and put a freshman in there, how's about trying to scheme to protect him a bit instead of putting him on an island and crossing your fingers?

Now there's little doubt in my mind that Akina is probably a recruiting stud, and as such he 'earned' the right to be co-coord with Chizik, but if the only way our defenses can work is if we have 2 or 3 lock down corners and safety, then we're dreaming. I've also privately wondered if there wasn't something about our scheme that was taking away from potential help for the secondary but contributing to the great run stopping. I don't know the X's and O's enough to outright declare that but the disparity top 5 Run D and bottom 5 Pass D is too great to not beg explaination.
Does anyone out there in the BON think Gene didn't want to have to come up with the 'real' reason that took place? Bottom line, UT should give up on 'Co' anything. Co-starting QB's, Co-Coords, and put clear lines of authority out there for the kids to take direction from. If we can keep Akina in place fine, but if not I'm for a fresh start. With the youth of the 2007 Horns, its as good a time as any I can imagine in recent years.

by longhornJ on Jan 2, 2007 2:22 PM CST 0 recs

No Akina

I agree that Texas should use one person as the coordinator. The co-stuff does not work.

Akina should not get the job. The Texas defense has not been dominant in a MNC sense for much of this decade. It has shown flashes but look at the Texas Tech games the past five years, and OU during their five game winning streak. Texas will see more teams throwing the ball especially since the 'Horns were unable to defend it.

Chezik's departure allows Texas to go in a different direction. Brown and company should seize that opportunity.

As to the Redskins, the defense had a lot of injuries including Shawn Springs. Adam Archelutta proved to be a bust. That is not Gray or Gregg Marshall's fault. It was not a good season for the Redskins, but I would pin very little of that on the defense or on Gray.

by milevin on Jan 2, 2007 2:44 PM CST 0 recs

Re: Redskins

We agree on most of the above. Carlos Rogers had a sophmore slump, likely brought on by being in over his head with the absence of Shawn Springs. Blaming Rogers' regression on Gray produces the absurd result that he somehow forgot to coach cornerbacks, which I doubt.

There were concerns that Safety coach Steve Jackson was having player meetings independent of Jerry Gray and the rest of the defense, which is just nuts.

Adam Archuleta was a bust, and an unfixable one because of Pierson Priolieu's season ending injury. Having to rely on Vernon Fox and an aging (and injured) Troy Vincent as safeties proved too much as well.

Also I think you mean Gregg Williams, not Gregg Marshall.

by Red Blooded on Jan 2, 2007 2:52 PM CST up 0 recs

um

didn't the co-defensive coordinator thing work to the tune of a national championship last year with an amazing defense?

don't blame this year's bad secondary on the fact that there were co-coordinators unless you have something to back it up with.

by billyzane on Jan 2, 2007 3:05 PM CST up 0 recs

true enough...

and I don't have anything beyond what we all have seen to back up what I'm saying. I'm just musing out loud. And what I saw happen over the last two years was as follows:

personnel we had for 2006 RoseBowl win were exeptional at EVERY position especially secondary(i.e. healthy T. Brown and a slate of guys playing on Sundays now). Playing man coverage with that kind of talent is sort of like saying its brillant coaching to let Michael Jordan take as many shots as he wants in a game when he was in his prime...
I'm truly curious to know why Gene Chizik bailed so quickly, Iowa State was not exactly the spot you'd expect him to want to go to, AND for that matter why did we go get Chizik in the first place if Akina was capable enough to run the show? Akina interviewed for the spot and for some reason was not considered sole Def Coord material...what and now he is after a really disappointing year highlighted by a total breakdown in HIS area? Not trying to be a conspiracy guy here but you can't help but wonder if there was a "It's either him or me!" conversation had by someone.
Final point related to #2, if Chizkik really wanted out he surely had to know before end of the season that there were going to be some much bigger programs with vacancies. Why pull the trigger so fast and stay in conf?

by longhornJ on Jan 2, 2007 4:52 PM CST up 0 recs

What do we know about Akina?

He's been here for years and I don't know anything about him other than he's apparently an excellent recruiter and the players love him.

And I think that's okay. I think defensive schemes are way overrated. Defense, way more than offense, relies on superior athletes rather than superior schemes. You get the best players and make sure they know their assignments. I mean, obviously, if you're playing a team like Tech you have to scheme some, adding nickel and dime packages and rotating D-linemen, but everyone knows that. That's not a secret that Chizik and the other golden boys keep locked up. For evidence of this, see the Indianapolis Colts. Dungy was "defensive genius" with the Bucs, but now his defenses suck in Indy. Why? His Cover 2 scheme hasn't changed at all, but he doesn't have enough good players.

So how well does Akina get the best players and make sure they know their assignments and play hard? Apparently, he's an amazing recruiter and the players love him, so that's a pretty good start. If Chizik had left after last year, we would have loved the idea of promoting Akina. The secondary was great last year. So what happened? We effectively traded Mike Huff for Marcus Griffin. The players weren't the same. You get the best players in there and you're going to be good. And as far as I can tell, Akina is one of the best at doing that. And the evidence is in the freshman class of DB's we had this year. They're going to be great.

All of this isn't to say that Akina would be the best D-Coordinator we could get. It's only to say that we may be looking at the wrong factors in trying to figure that out.

by billyzane on Jan 2, 2007 3:03 PM CST 0 recs

excellent points...

especially the Dungy point...if you looked at him just from his work as a Colts coach you'd dub him an offensive genius, and the exact opposite on his resume at Tampa Bay.

I just hope and pray that we don't make a coaching decision based on something other than who the best talent is out there in the country. There is only so much a scheme/coach can do, and for the record the Akina D adjusted really well for the second half of the Tamale Bowl. I guess it really comes down to who you think made the biggest contribution to the championship D we had: Chizik, Akina, or overwhelming talent we had. I for one kept hearing all year before this past season that our D was going to be 'even better than the previous year' and 'really dominate' and had visions of defenses like the championship teams at OU, Neb, or even an old Miami or Fl State team. Really scary D's that just intimidated the other side before the first snap...we never got anything close to that and I just wonder why?

by longhornJ on Jan 2, 2007 5:00 PM CST up 0 recs

Questions about Jerry Gray's coaching?

In 2003, Gray's defense finished the year ranked second in the NFL in total defense, second against the pass and eight against the run.

In 2004, he led a defense that finished in the top five in the NFL in touchdowns allowed (29), yards allowed per game (264.2), passing yards allowed per game (164.0) and sacks registered (45). The unit led the league with 39 turnovers forced.

Prior to his time in Buffalo, Gray served four seasons as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans, including the last two as defensive backs coach. He helped Tennessee finish as the NFL's No. 1 ranked pass defense and total defense in 2000.

As for Chizik, remember he was the SECOND consecutive DC to immediately catch the 1st train out of town. Greg Robinson and Chizik both left for very poor programs. You don't build great defenses by coddling players. The frustration was intense. Great D-Coachs don't appreciate having their methods questioned at every turn. They both jumped on the 1st opportunity to get out of town.

--- We have pansies scheduling our patsies. ---

by HornChamps on Jan 2, 2007 8:20 PM CST 0 recs

they left for HEAD coaching jobs

if they were leaving UT for DC positions at other schools, I might buy your argument. They didn't leave because they were somehow unhappy with the system at Texas, they left because they got promotions.

Who was questioning their methods? Mack? What the hell are you talking about?

by billyzane on Jan 2, 2007 8:31 PM CST up 0 recs