Maile- Defensive Improvement?

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AggiePride
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Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by AggiePride » July 19th, 2017, 11:26 am

There has been a lot of talk on here about Wells, our new OC and our desperate need for offensive improvement, but I'd love to have more insight on our Defense. We obviously were not great on D last year and are not the top 10 D we used to be. We were very spoiled with the caliber of DC's we had in Aranda and Orlando for sure, but I really thought with Maile coming back we would get that blue collar toughness back and it wasn't there last year outside of Leavitt and a few others.

I know 22 is putting out his position breakdowns and that is very helpful, but my question I guess is more around Maile. When he left everyone was sad as he was known for being a players coach and well liked. When he came back everyone was pretty happy to have him and I know I felt optimistic the D would get back to it's old self under him.

I'm not looking to start a thread of criticism, just curious to see if those that are close to the program have some kind of a feel for if is this a case of yes, Maile is the players coach and man for the job we thought he was and he just needs more time to rebuild things or not so much?

Since he's been back, I really don't hear much about him at all. I would love to see him be here a long time and us have a great D again- hope that ends up being the case.



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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by AggieDude » July 19th, 2017, 11:45 am

The jury is still out on Maile for me. The defense was good enough to keep us close in a lot of games last year especially when you consider how often the offense went 3 and out. However, it was not a MWC championship level defense. By that I mean if our offense was MWC Championship caliber it would've been our defensive shortcomings that kept us from winning a MWC championship. If our offense steps it up this year (still have reservations about this) and the defense remains about the same Maile should receive a little more criticism.

*EDIT*

I find it more likely that the defense will improve in Maile's second year at USU than the offense making incredible strides in Yost's first season here.



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newhouse9
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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by newhouse9 » July 19th, 2017, 12:25 pm

I agree...offensive improvement will do great things for the defense. More rested, more confident, less carrying of the full load for victory. The D has to get their mojo back. Great kids over there, and great coaches. No reason they should not be successful this season.



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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by Madmartigan » July 19th, 2017, 1:54 pm

Aranda and Orlando were fantastic coordinators running great schemes. I think Maile has a lot less to work with talent wise than the other two. Look at the LB unit alone. Aranda and Orlando had great LBS and solid front sevens. I agree with the assessments of others that the defense would've looked a lot better in past years with a semblance of an offense that could maintain drives.



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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by Intermeddler » July 19th, 2017, 2:38 pm

I think some criticism of Maile is fair. Aranda and Orlando might be the two best DCs in the country and are paid like it so it is tough to judge him by that standard.

I think our talent in the front 7 has declined dramatically the last couple of years and that will make things harder for any DC obviously. Add to that an impotent offense and our lack of talented depth is exposed even more.



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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by Aggieforlife » July 19th, 2017, 3:50 pm

I have a few friends on the team (all on defense) and they have spoke highly of Maile on multiple occasions, and said all the players like him. But as we all know being liked as a coach does not always translate to success, I think this year and next will speak a lot about what we can expect from Maile.



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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by Aggs&Jazz12 » July 19th, 2017, 5:41 pm

I spoke with a few LB's in Springball, and they were are happy with replacing Coach Kotolski with Collins & Shaver. Apparently Koto really just had no idea what was going on and the LB's had a really hard time being on the same page as the rest of the Defense due to poor coaching. Glad that that has been addressed.

Combine that with a stagnant offense (also "addressed" with Yost hiring), inexperienced front 7, and injuries to Leavitt and Rocquemore, and you discover most of the struggles from last year's Defense. May not have pieces like Vigils and Fackrell to work with this upcoming season, but I don't see any reason why we shouldn't see a legitimate step forward in our Defense this year, it all depends on the development of the Front 7 IMO. The best Secondary in the world can't do anything if you can just run all over them.



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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by AggieDude » July 20th, 2017, 6:40 am

Aggs&Jazz12 wrote:I spoke with a few LB's in Springball, and they were are happy with replacing Coach Kotolski with Collins & Shaver. Apparently Koto really just had no idea what was going on and the LB's had a really hard time being on the same page as the rest of the Defense due to poor coaching. Glad that that has been addressed.

Combine that with a stagnant offense (also "addressed" with Yost hiring), inexperienced front 7, and injuries to Leavitt and Rocquemore, and you discover most of the struggles from last year's Defense. May not have pieces like Vigils and Fackrell to work with this upcoming season, but I don't see any reason why we shouldn't see a legitimate step forward in our Defense this year, it all depends on the development of the Front 7 IMO. The best Secondary in the world can't do anything if you can just run all over them.
I wonder, if Koto was really that bad, why Maile didn't sideline him and take over the lb unit? There are times when micromanagement is warranted, IMO. If he was a major reason for lb struggles last year I'm glad something was done about it. As I said earlier in this thread, I find it more likely that the defense will make significant improvements in their second season under Maile than the offense will in its first season under Yost. Unless Yost is a special talent, I expect there to be growing pains on offense to some extent.



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BLUERUFiO
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Re: Maile- Defensive Improvement?

Post by BLUERUFiO » July 20th, 2017, 9:18 am

I may have missed this somewhere, but, I thought it was a Shaver/Maile co-defensive coordinator situation? Are we sure it isn't/wasn't Shaver calling the shots?


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