Based on Dino’s comments, it sounds like not only will the DC be changing, but a change to the whole scheme used on defense is also being seriously contemplated.
The ACC is a tough league for a DC. You have a bunch of teams that like to use 3 and 4 WR sets and feature great speed, and a bunch of teams that like to use power rush schemes, often with a traditional FB and sometimes with two TEs.
It seems to me that the teams that have the most success defending in this conference with mid level talent are the ones that rely heavily on man coverage and multiple blitz packages. These kinds of defenses are proactive instead of reactive and put a lot of pressure on the offense. These approaches have been very successful shutting down our offense this season, for example.
It is going to be very hard for us to have a defense that consistently puts pressure on the QB using 3 and 4 men fronts with little blitzing. I think, and this is just my opinion, Dino has realized the Tampa 2 can only be successful in this conference with very good talent and experience. There isn’t much margin for error. The QBs in this conference are good enough to tear it up too often. In short, we have to do something different.
I expect we will go In a completely different direction on defense, finding a DC who embraces an extremely aggressive, attacking style.
Regardless of who the new DC is, I think it is likely he is going to want to bring in at least a few coaches who he has worked with in the past and know his scheme well.
IMHO, Dino made some mistakes setting up his staff initially. He needed to get some coaches on the staff with strong ties to Northeast recruiting but he almost completely ignored geography starting out and our recruiting in the Northeast has suffered greatly as a result. Even the guys he got to recruit the Northeast, Beatty and Hart specifically, ended up leaving before making any impact on the recruiting trail.
He has made a couple of recent hires with more background in the NE. Hope we add a couple more guys with ties up here. It is fine to recruit Detroit and Chicago but our natural recruiting area is the Northeast, and we have to recruiting better here.
This is a major moment in the Babers era. Dino is wise to take his time and make sure he makes good choices. We had the talent and experience to be at least a mediocre defense this season. The total collapse of the unit must lie mostly on Ward’s shoulders and Dino made a move he had to make. Let’s hope he makes some good decisions rethinking his defense this time. I think he will.
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