NEW DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

[BobcatBuiltTexan]

I think vigen is in a bit of a spot....I know everyone here keeps saying Owens...I know he's a Bobcat but bapb and shep have been on staff for a while, have had great units every year and have been VERY instrumental in bringing in top db talent and other talent from Texas. I think bypassing them could speak then seeing no upward mobility at msu and we lose two gray coaches men and awesome recruiters. I don't know the right answer to this question..... happy to see Howe elevate but hate seeing him go.

[BelligerentBobcat]

I think vigen is in a bit of a spot....I know everyone here keeps saying Owens...I know he's a Bobcat but bapb and shep have been on staff for a while, have had great units every year and have been VERY instrumental in bringing in top db talent and other talent from Texas. I think bypassing them could speak then seeing no upward mobility at msu and we lose two gray coaches men and awesome recruiters. I don't know the right answer to this question..... happy to see Howe elevate but hate seeing him go.

I don’t think the fear of losing a coach factors in because it really doesn’t matter. By that I mean, if they’re good, they’re going to move on eventually. Howe was “only” making $120k, which is solid, but most FBS position coaches are making more. It’s just like when we have good young players…them moving on is inevitable. So, just hire the best person for the job, don’t worry about people leaving.

[catgrad05]

I think vigen is in a bit of a spot....I know everyone here keeps saying Owens...I know he's a Bobcat but bapb and shep have been on staff for a while, have had great units every year and have been VERY instrumental in bringing in top db talent and other talent from Texas. I think bypassing them could speak then seeing no upward mobility at msu and we lose two gray coaches men and awesome recruiters. I don't know the right answer to this question..... happy to see Howe elevate but hate seeing him go.

That’s an interesting way to look at it. And while I agree with supporting loyalty how does Vigen handle this situation?

In a way this is similar to the philosophy of building from the high school ranks. Build from within

[MountainCat]

I think vigen is in a bit of a spot....I know everyone here keeps saying Owens...I know he's a Bobcat but bapb and shep have been on staff for a while, have had great units every year and have been VERY instrumental in bringing in top db talent and other talent from Texas. I think bypassing them could speak then seeing no upward mobility at msu and we lose two gray coaches men and awesome recruiters. I don't know the right answer to this question..... happy to see Howe elevate but hate seeing him go.

Like you BBT, I think Bap is plenty capable of running the D. He and Coach Howe are close, have worked side by side for a few years now, and have many of the same coaching traits and ideals. Bap is loved by his players and a great guy overall.

[MSU01]

I think vigen is in a bit of a spot....I know everyone here keeps saying Owens...I know he's a Bobcat but bapb and shep have been on staff for a while, have had great units every year and have been VERY instrumental in bringing in top db talent and other talent from Texas. I think bypassing them could speak then seeing no upward mobility at msu and we lose two gray coaches men and awesome recruiters. I don't know the right answer to this question..... happy to see Howe elevate but hate seeing him go.

Great points, many of us likely gravitate towards Owens since he was a Bobcat player and we're more familiar with him and his career so far. But there are likely multiple guys on staff who could do the job. And one thing that's definitely true is that Vigen knows his coaches way better than any of us do, so I trust him 100% to pick the right one of them (or decide on an outside hire) to fill the DC spot!

[wbtfg]

I think vigen is in a bit of a spot....I know everyone here keeps saying Owens...I know he's a Bobcat but bapb and shep have been on staff for a while, have had great units every year and have been VERY instrumental in bringing in top db talent and other talent from Texas. I think bypassing them could speak then seeing no upward mobility at msu and we lose two gray coaches men and awesome recruiters. I don't know the right answer to this question..... happy to see Howe elevate but hate seeing him go.

Same argument could be made for jody if shep is named dc. I don’t think bap is in contention at the moment. Also Jody has been a successful D2 DCoord.

That said, i wouldn’t be shocked to see co-coordinators with JO and Shep.

[nanacat]

I think vigen is in a bit of a spot....I know everyone here keeps saying Owens...I know he's a Bobcat but bapb and shep have been on staff for a while, have had great units every year and have been VERY instrumental in bringing in top db talent and other talent from Texas. I think bypassing them could speak then seeing no upward mobility at msu and we lose two gray coaches men and awesome recruiters. I don't know the right answer to this question..... happy to see Howe elevate but hate seeing him go.

Same argument could be made for jody if shep is named dc. I don’t think bap is in contention at the moment. Also Jody has been a successful D2 DCoord.

That said, i wouldn’t be shocked to see co-coordinators with JO and Shep.

That's been done before with Howe and Daly, and seemed to work. That could be a good option.

[VimSince03]

Jody was the DC at Pittsburg State so has playcalling experience at a DII.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter in terms of speculation. Has Vigen ever got it wrong other than maybe Willie Mack?

[tetoncat]

Jody was the DC at Pittsburg State so has playcalling experience at a DII.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter in terms of speculation. Has Vigen ever got it wrong other than maybe Willie Mack?

That is the only hire I haven't liked.

[Common Cat]

Question for you all- what would you like to see in our defense? Exactly the same? Some tweaks?

[VimSince03]

Question for you all- what would you like to see in our defense? Exactly the same? Some tweaks?

I do think we're going to have to get a little more creative in 2026 because while I think we have a great pass rushing defensive line, I'm expecting a drop-off in the run defense. That's nothing against any of the 8-9 guys we have along the defensive line rotation but our best run defender coming back is Dom Salano. Marsh/Black are solid but both will have to take a step in the run game. Zac Crews is our best overall player on the D-line but he still has moments in the run game that hold him back.

However, our LBs will be a year better and Taylor/Grebe are very stout run defenders with Daily/Ahrens/Krahe are solid. Daily/Ahrens are arguably our best coverage guys but Taylor is pretty damn good there too (he should be because he's our best LB). I think Ahrens is going to take another leap so I really think our LBs are going to be the #1 strength of our team next year other than the S/NB group (Dowler, Taki, Gray, Meredith, Dolan, Petre, and Ross/Dethman will be added to that mix somewhere too).

I don't think we're going to change out of a 4-2-5 by any means but wouldn't be surprised if we have to change some things in run defense alignment.

[allcat]

Question for you all- what would you like to see in our defense? Exactly the same? Some tweaks?

No scoring allowed until 2 minutes left in game. Oh well, skip that don't even allow 1st downs when we beat gris.

[ZebraCat]

Question for you all- what would you like to see in our defense? Exactly the same? Some tweaks?

Fewer alignments where we have one LB in the middle of the field, making it easy to run a QB or RB draw. More pressure off the edge from the NB and LB lined up outside the tackle.

[kwcat]

Question for you all- what would you like to see in our defense? Exactly the same? Some tweaks?

Fewer alignments where we have one LB in the middle of the field, making it easy to run a QB or RB draw. More pressure off the edge from the NB and LB lined up outside the tackle.

Replacing Okada has been a challenge. Hopefully nickel takes a step forward this year and that will alleviate some of these issues.
To be clear, I think Nick play has been decent but a step back from NFL Caliber Okada

[MSU01]

Vigen has his basic defensive system he wants to run, so to me the two key attributes a successful DC needs to have are:

1) Adjust the general system as needed based on the strengths and weakness of the players who are running that system on the field as well as the strengths and weakness of opposing teams for week to week game plans.
2) Make effective mid-game adjustments depending on what the opponent is doing on offense.

Particularly with respect to #2 I think we've seen over the years that some coaches are definitely better at this than others. Nothing more frustrating than seeing a team exploit the same weaknesses over and over with no adjustments made to counter it.

[imacat]

I had not seen what role Shawn will have with the Steelers. This article says he will be coaching the outside linebackers.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/pitts ... 09533.html

[91catAlum]

Question for you all- what would you like to see in our defense? Exactly the same? Some tweaks?

I'd like to see us get a bit more aggressive as far as QB pressure. But that's not really Vigen's style. It seems like he prefers to play coverage, keep things in front of you, don't give up the big play, and force the opponent to drive the field without mistakes. And who am I to question Vigen. But the most ferocious defenses are the ones that heat up the QB often. Just look at the natty and Illinois States defense in the 1st half when Lamson carved them up vs the 2nd half when they sent 6 guys every play and nearly beat us.

Of course, this is based on the opponent that week and their QBs weaknesses.

[blueandgoldblitz]

Does the fact that we haven't named/hired a new defensive coordinator point to us not hiring from within? I feel like it's typical for a team that's hiring from within to name the successor pretty quickly if it's an internal promotion. Thoughts?

[wbtfg]

Does the fact that we haven't named/hired a new defensive coordinator point to us not hiring from within? I feel like it's typical for a team that's hiring from within to name the successor pretty quickly if it's an internal promotion. Thoughts?

I feel like it’s only been one day. Theres not a huge hurry on this.

[blueandgoldblitz]

Does the fact that we haven't named/hired a new defensive coordinator point to us not hiring from within? I feel like it's typical for a team that's hiring from within to name the successor pretty quickly if it's an internal promotion. Thoughts?

I feel like it’s only been one day. Theres not a huge hurry on this.

I hear you and I understand why you feel that way, but I just feel like Vigen probably knew this was coming and if he had a slam dunk internal hire that he wanted to replace Howe, we would have heard about it already. Howe was promoted to DC almost immediately when Bobby left for UTEP, and I feel like Bobby and Howe were promoted immediately upon firing Garza