Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

Gray's problem was he didn't keep up on the big time commits he got. From what I heard he kept telling MB that the grades with Wade, Fili and Thompson were fine and they would be in school so UO didn't recruit any backup plans those years. By all accounts we could have Christian Tupou (who really wanted to play w/his brother) rather than SC had we gone after him but supposedly Wade and Fili were good to go according to Gray.

IIRC, Tupou wasn't the only DT passed over in favor of those never will be Ducklings...

Didn't Topou start for USC last year?

At least part time

[quote="woundedknees"]
"Azzinaro's defensive line collected 29 of the team's 40 sacks, including Freeney's NCAA, BIG EAST and SU single-season record 17.5 sacks. Azzinaro's crew also collected 62 tackles for a loss. His troops also forced 10 fumbles and recovered eight." (Remember, we're talking about just the D-Line here...)

Maybe your on to something.
Remember early in the season when they got CK on record about the defensive scheme and all the problems we were having with defensive backs being responsible for making most of the tackles making them prone to play action. Maybe this is the part of the response to make CKs defense better up front, but of course only time will tell.

With Azzinaro coaching the line, Marshall’s defense allowed 164.4 rushing yards per game last fall, sixth in Conference USA; the Ducks allowed 119.4 rushing yards per game in 2008, second in the Pac-10.

During his tenure at Duke (D-Coordinator) from 2004-2006 -

Rank out of 119 teams
Duke 2004 Rush Defense 113
Total Defense 100

Duke 2005 Rush Defense 108
Total Defense 89

Duke 2006 Rush Defense 99
Total Defense 105

?????

rcook wrote:With Azzinaro coaching the line, Marshall’s defense allowed 164.4 rushing yards per game last fall, sixth in Conference USA; the Ducks allowed 119.4 rushing yards per game in 2008, second in the Pac-10.

During his tenure at Duke (D-Coordinator) from 2004-2006 -

Rank out of 119 teams
Duke 2004 Rush Defense 113
Total Defense 100

Duke 2005 Rush Defense 108
Total Defense 89

Duke 2006 Rush Defense 99
Total Defense 105

?????

It's called coaching at DUKE.

Or Marshall right?

Just curious what specifically Mr Azzinaro has done that makes you say "wow"?

For the purpose of discussion, what has Mr Gray done (good or bad?)

Our D-line last year - Reed, Linehan, Harris, Tukuafu... did we get the most we could have out of them? Would a different coach have made a difference in their performance?

With the limitations of recruiting to Duke or Marhall, I can see why there were some issues. Neither of those places will ever be considered a football powerhouse...

The talent & players he was working with was not near to what he'll have here. I'd look more at how his D-lines performed within the team & the defensive concept:

"Azzinaro's defensive line collected 29 of the team's 40 sacks, including Freeney's NCAA, BIG EAST and SU single-season record 17.5 sacks. Azzinaro's crew also collected 62 tackles for a loss. His troops also forced 10 fumbles and recovered eight."

Our D-line last year - Reed, Linehan, Harris, Tukuafu... did we get the most we could have out of them? Would a different coach have made a difference in their performance?

rcook wrote:Our D-line last year - Reed, Linehan, Harris, Tukuafu... did we get the most we could have out of them? Would a different coach have made a difference in their performance?

A different coach wouldn't have had the recruiting failures that Gray had. We have had to scramble & find JC replacements because he told MB that everything was all good, Wade & Fili both were going to qualify. Obviously the didn't even come close so we ended up with a major gap & lack of depth at the DT spot.

Last year we had a very veteran D-line, Gray didn't have to do much coaching with them. They would have performed at their best level, regardless.