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Ole Miss Football: Coaching Changes Have to Be Made
The Ole Miss football team lost to LSU 38-21 tonight in Baton Rouge and there were some glaring errors. Changes have to be made, or Ole Miss is in trouble.
Dave Wommack needs to be fired. There, I said it. I have made the statement multiple times this season, and even on social media on Saturday night during the game, but now is the time.
The Ole Miss defense is atrocious. The defensive line is the only thing holding the unit together, and that is due to sheer talent.
Where is Wommack on gameday? I have yet to see him on the sideline like other defensive coordinators in the SEC are. The disconnect between Wommack and this team is insane.
Announce that Dave is retiring and move on to greener pastures. My choice for his replacement is former Ole Miss linebacker coach Tom Allen.
You will notice a connection between the great Landshark defense and the defense of Ole Miss since Allen has left.
Tom is currently the defensive coordinator at Indiana, a job that Ole Miss should easily be able to pry him away from.
But don’t take my word for it, let us look at some team defensive stats in 2014 (Allen’s last season) and 2015 (first season without Allen).
While there are some differences in the talent of the team, Allen did make an impact as a coach.
Stats
In 2014, Ole Miss ranked 13th in the nation in Total Defense. In 2016, the Rebels are currently 102nd in the nation in Total Defense.
The Rebels give up an average of 446 yards per game. Ole Miss is 104th in the nation in rushing defense, giving up an average of 213 yards on the ground per game.
In 2014, Ole Miss allowed only 137 yards per game on the ground. Overall, the Rebels only gave up 329 total yards per game in 2014.
The writing was on the wall for Wommack last season, when the Rebels regressed and the defense finished the season ranked 60th overall in total defense.
If Ole Miss wants to salvage their reputation as a top-SEC team, they better start now.
After Wommack “retires”, Corey Batoon needs to be the next one to be forced out. Batoon was brought on the coach the special teams and safties while recruiting the West Coast.
While the recruiting still has some time to work out with Batoon, the coaching has been insanely bad. The Ole Miss safties are constantly out of position or miss assignments.
This was evident in the LSU game when Chark took the top off and was wide open for a 40-yard touchdown reception.
Both the safety and the defensive back turned in and defended the low post and left the vertical route wide open.
Now Ole Miss is only giving up 233 yards per game on the air, but why would you throw against this defense when you can rush for 200 yards?
The Rebels are giving up 11 yards per pass, a first down every time the opposing team throws the ball.
Analysis
Part of that stat is due to the fact that Ole Miss runs a very conservative, soft-coverage style defense on most passing plays. When the defensive backs are 10 yards off the line, short passes will eat you up.
I’ve seen a lot of suggestions that Ole Miss just clean house on the defensive coaching staff, but I’m not sure that is the correct action here.
The defense is young and talented and there is room for improvement in all facets, but the only two assistants I think need to be sent packing are Wommack and Batoon.
Chris Kiffin continues to recruit at a high level and his position group plays all-out the majority of the season.
Jason Jones and the defensive backs are still improving and injuries have torn that unit apart.
More Stats
Using the advanced statistics of SBNation.com, one can see how each unit on the defense plays using the Havoc Stat.
The defensive Havoc stats is defined as follows.
The percentage of plays in which a defense either recorded a tackle for loss, forced a fumble, or defensed a pass (intercepted or broken up). If QB hurries were a reliable stat (at the college level, there is far too much inconsistency in how they are recorded), they would be included here, too.
Using the Havoc Stat, the Ole Miss defense as a whole is ranked 103rd in the nation with a Havoc Rating of 13.8%. That means that on 13.8% of plays, the Ole Miss defense makes a big time play.
The national average is 16.2%.
The only position group with a Havoc Rating above the national average is the defensive line. The Rushmen have a rating of 5.1%, which is ranked 56th in the nation. The national average is 5.0%.
The Havoc Rating is not the only stat that SBNation uses to rank teams.
Let’s take a look at the special teams, a unit coached by Batoon.
On punting and kicking the ball, the Rebels are an average team. On punts, the Rebels are actually a pretty good team. The Rebel punt success is currently 70.8%, which is good for 19th in the country.
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The Ole Miss kickoff success is 79.5%, which is good for 49th in the country. So when Ole Miss is giving the ball to the other team, they are pretty good. But when receiving the ball, the Rebels have some troubles.
Ole Miss currently has a punt return success rate of 16.7%, which is an atrocious 124th out of 128 in the country.
Kickoff returns are little better, with a 26.7% return success rate, which is 115th in the country.
The last time Ole Miss had a special teams touchdown was in 2013 when Jeff Scott returned a punt 73-yards against Texas.
On punt returns this season, Carlos Davis is averaging 3.3 yards per return. On kickoffs, he is averaging 22.3 yards per return.
Looking at the field position for the Rebels, they start at the 27 yard line on average, which is ranked 105th in the country.
Conclusion
Ole Miss has a talented team and is wasting it. Dave Wommack needs to “retire” and Corey Batoon needs to be moved as well.
Freeze needs to hand over the play-calling to Dan Werner and focus on running the team and not a unit.
The Rebels will most likely finish 6-6 and make the Compass Bowl, so get ready for Legion Field again.
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