Robb Smith

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BroncoRedux

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It was interesting to watch the Buffalo/Gopher game tonight. During that game it was obvious (to me) that Robb Smith had built his defense around Antoine Winfield Jr. Would he have survived if Antoine had? Let’s get this discussion started.
 

Did we fell like AWJ being out was the problem?

I don't remember feeling that was the issue.
 

The problem with Robb was he coached at Arkansas. Cursed for the rest of his life because of Burt B.
 




BroncoRedux said:
It was interesting to watch the Buffalo/Gopher game tonight. During that game it was obvious (to me) that Robb Smith had built his defense around Antoine Winfield Jr. Would he have survived if Antoine had? Let’s get this discussion started.
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Terrible terrible coach. Plain and simple horrible coach
 

BroncoRedux said:
At the time I didn't either. AW just seemed in the middle of every play.
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That's one of those things that I'm always curious about with a defensive secondary.

Like having a safety who can bail you out can be huge on a given play. But if he is out ... then he maybe just doesn't make some plays. Maybe you even drop some games because a critical play isn't made.

But the whole defense shouldn't suck as a group suddenly because the safety is out. .. unless maybe you abandon everything and try to go bananas with coverage and play calling to make up for one dude.... who no matter what you do still isn't there.

My understanding of play calling is limited but even in zone and other coverage it strikes me as still a 1:1 game in the secondary. No amount of "help" outside of actually double teaming some guy really changes that 1:1 nature.
 





A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Did we fell like AWJ being out was the problem?

I don't remember feeling that was the issue.
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Do you remember when he got hurt against Maryland? Losing Winfield was a huge problem.

I disliked Robb Smith's defense with a passion, but losing Winfield definitely cost the Gophers a game or two in 2018.
 
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A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Did we fell like AWJ being out was the problem?

I don't remember feeling that was the issue.
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I never felt that way either, but the 2018 Fresno game was by far the high-water mark of Robb Smith's tenure here. Wasn't sure whether to attribute the bad Big Ten defense to improved competition or AWJr missing basically two Big Ten seasons.

Also, his replacement seemed to do just fine without AWJr.
 

hungan1 said:
IMHO, Robb Smith's defensive scheme was an end in itself when he was with the Gophers. The kids were over thinking. They had to fit into a complicated scheme rather than the scheme adjusted to fit the personnel.
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This is what all the players said later on - they would have to do a complex series of checkdowns on each play, oftentimes leaving them still thinking about reacting to a situation rather than swarming to the ball. Smith should have been able to see what he was doing wasn't working and made adjustments to his defense. Firing Smith was probably the smartest thing Fleck has done since he has been here because the team was headed like a tank off a cliff.
 

Smith is now DC at Rutgers. We shall see what he does there.
 



Word said:
Smith is now DC at Rutgers. We shall see what he does there.
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He keeps getting defensive coordinator jobs so that tells me he is fairly respected in the coaching fraternity. I think he is probably very good at x's and o's and defensive theory, but for whatever reason it just didn't work here. But I will give him a little coaching tip -- you have got to know your personnel and know what they can and can't do. If something isn't working you have got to make some adjustments putting them into the best situation to make them effective and useful components on your team. That's just coaching 101 there.......
 

hungan1 said:
IMHO, Robb Smith's defensive scheme was an end in itself when he was with the Gophers. The kids were over thinking. They had to fit into a complicated scheme rather than the scheme adjusted to fit the personnel.
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Agree with this. And as for the OP,
AWJ covered up a lot of mistakes of others
 

Gold Rush said:
He keeps getting defensive coordinator jobs so that tells me he is fairly respected in the coaching fraternity. I think he is probably very good at x's and o's and defensive theory, but for whatever reason it just didn't work here. But I will give him a little coaching tip -- you have got to know your personnel and know what they can and can't do. If something isn't working you have got to make some adjustments putting them into the best situation to make them effective and useful components on your team. That's just coaching 101 there.......
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Sounds to me like a guy that should be coaching in the pro's.

He can obviously talk a good game, very smart in analysis, knows what he wants the kids to do.

College kids just can't do what he wants them to do, at this level. It's too hard. You need to be a professional, focusing solely on football all week, to be able to do that.

My guess.


Guessing Rossi came in and just simplified it.
 

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