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Oct 24, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; South Florida Bulls defensive back Jamie Byrd (2) is congratulated by defensive coordinator Tom Allen after he forced a fumble against the Southern Methodist Mustangs during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Ole Miss football team has some tough decisions to make on the coaching staff, especially on the defensive side.
On Sunday I posted the story linked above calling for the dismissal of Dave Wommack and Corey Batoon after the atrocious loss to LSU.
The article garnered mixed emotions, something I expected would happen.
Most Rebels fans are divided on this issue. They want to stay loyal to their team and their coaches, but also want to win as many games as possible and to not lose recruits.
I understand that, and I want to point out that acknowledging a problem and wanting it fixed does not make you a bad Ole Miss fan.
Bad Ole Miss fans are the ones who tweet at recruits and coaches after a tough loss. To be honest, tweeting at a recruit is wrong, even if it is meant to be nice.
But, besides that, Ole Miss is still facing a pressing issue this morning. Do they fire Dave Wommack at the end of the season, or bring him back for another season of the 4-2-5 show.
While I personally don’t believe Wommack will be fired, I do think the administration understands the issues and will handle them with pride and respect.
The issue, in this case, is that Freeze is too loyal to his assistants. This was the downfall of Les Miles at LSU and Freeze could be next.
So who would I replace Dave Wommack with? Well, a young coach who can recruit linebackers and will take an active role in the recruiting process. A coach who is not afraid to stand on the sideline with his team, unlike Wommack.
Do the Rebels need to change coaches? Well, I will let you make that decision for yourself based on this season’s defensive stats.
Total Defense: 107th out of 128
Scoring Defense: 31.4 points a game | 89th out of 128
Sacks Per Game: 2.0 | 68th out of 128
Rushing Defense: 226.9 yards a game | 112th out of 128
Passing Defense: 229 yards a game | 71st out of 128
Opponent’s First Downs: 23.9 per game | 107th out of 128
Nov 21, 2015; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins running back Brandon Ross (45) gets wrapped up by the Indiana Hoosiers defense at the line during the third quarter at Byrd Stadium. Indiana Hoosiers defeated Maryland Terrapins 47-28. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Tom Allen | Defensive Coordinator | Indiana
Tom Allen is the first person that I call. He has worked with Hugh Freeze in the past and knows the administration and the 4-2-5 scheme that Freeze wants to run.
Allen has made vast improvements to every defense he has worked on. After being the linebackers coach on the 2014 Ole Miss defense that was ranked #1 in the nation in points per game, Allen left Ole Miss for the defensive coordinator position at USF.
The year before Allen took over the position at USF, the Bulls were ranked 71st in the nation in Total Defense. The Bulls gave up 402.8 yards a game and went 4-8 as a team.
When Allen took over as the DC in 2015, the Bulls jumped to 52nd in the nation in Total Defense and lowered the amount of yards given up per game to 380. The Bulls went 8-5.
Following the 2015 season, Allen was hired by Indiana as their defensive coordinator. The Hoosiers ranked a whopping 121 out of 128 in Total Defense in 2015. Giving up 509 yards (!) per game.
After Allen took over, the team is currently ranked 49th in the nation in Total Defense and only allow 377 yards per game.
Using SBNation’s team stats page, one can view a team’s Havoc Rating on defense. This is one of my favorite stats, as it measures the percentage of plays where a defense causes havoc, aka forces a fumble, tackle for loss, sack, interception, etc.
These are the plays that make a talented defense.
In 2015, the South Florida Bulls Havoc Rating per position is a very interesting one. On the defensive line, the Bulls caused a Havoc Play 7.3% of the time, which ranked 15th in the nation.
Their defensive backs caused a Havoc Play 7.7% of the time, ranking 20th in the nation.
Now at the position of interest for Rebel fans, at linebacker, the Bulls caused a Havoc Play 2.6% of the time, which was 111th in the nation.
I think this stat tells more about the 4-2-5 defensive scheme than anything.
In a 4-2-5, the linebacker has less opportunities for a havoc play due to the fact that there are less linebackers on the field.
Allen should be the 1st choice for Freeze and the Rebels.
Oct 22, 2016; West Point, NY, USA; An Army Black Knights player wearing a helmet decal honoring defensive back Brandon Jackson (28) watches a game from the sidelines during the second half against the Army Black Knights at Michie Stadium. Jackson was killed in a car crash on Sept. 11, 2016. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Jay Bateman | Defensive Coordinator | Army West Point
Jay Bateman has held the title of defensive coordinator at three different schools. He first earned the title of defensive coordinator at Elon in 2006. After the 2010 season, Bateman was hired by the Ball State Cardinals.
Now he is currently the defensive coordinator at the service academy in West Point.
Statistically, while at Ball State, Bateman and his defense struggled at first. In his second season with the Cardinals in 2011, Bateman’s defense finished 119th out of 120 in total defense.
To be honest, it is actually impressive how bad the 2011 defense was for the Cardinals. Allowing 510 yards a game.
But, in 2012 and 2013, the Cardinals defense improved to 105th and 78th in total defense respectively.
After leaving Ball State and joining the Army squad, Bateman’s defense in 2014 was ranked 91st in the country in total defense.
Improving their total defense to 47th in 2015 and 3rd in 2016.
From looking at some game film of Army when they faced Rice earlier this season, it appears that Bateman and Army West Point runs a 4-2-5 defense, which appears Freeze wants to run.
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While the traditional stats do not paint a great picture for Bateman, despite his improvement from each season, the advanced stats prove that Bateman can really coach linebackers.
Again, using SBNation’s Havoc stat, Army’s havoc rating for the linebackers this season is 10.6%, which is ranked 1st in the country.
The national average linebacker havoc rating is 4.5%.
Both of the linebackers on the Army football team lead the team in tackles with 56 and 51 a piece.
Andrew King has 4 sacks to go along with his 56 tackles.
One important stat that sticks out to me is the rushing yards allowed per game by Army. The team as a whole has only allowed 101 rushing yards per game through 7 games.
While one of the knocks on Bateman will be his strength of schedule that the Knights face every season, but Army has faced Duke and will face Wake Forest and Notre Dame this season.
Bateman’s salary is currently $285,000 a year, so paying the man will not be an issue for the Rebels, who pay Dave Wommack $725,800 a year.
Nov 1, 2014; Boulder, CO, USA; The Washington Huskies offensive line faces off against the Colorado Buffaloes defense at the line of scrimmage in the third quarter at Folsom Field. The Huskies defeated the Buffaloes 38-23. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Jim Leavitt | Defensive Coordinator | Colorado
While Leavitt is not my first choice, due to his background, he is one of the brightest defensive minds in the country.
Leavitt really should not be coaching if what Joel Miller alleged was true, but since he is, he is on my radar for the Rebels.
The Colorado Buffalos defense ranks 12th in the nation in total defense this season as the Buffs only allow 308 yards a game.
Looking at some tape of the Buffalo defense, it appears that Leavitt runs a traditional 4-3 defense, something Ole Miss has not seen since Freeze took over the Rebels.
There were some plays where the Buffs would line up in a 4-2-5 type defense, but it was usually due to a fifth receiver making his way out. I also saw the rare 5-2-4 when Leavitt would rush 5 at the quarterback.
In the all important Havoc Rating, Colorado’s defense is very talented outside of the defensive line. The linebacking corp is ranked 9th in the country with a havoc rating of 7.4%.
The defensive backs are just as good, coming in with a havoc rating of 9.1%, which ranks 7th in the country.
The defensive line of the Buffaloes does rank 122nd in the nation with a 2% havoc rating, but if the Rebels retained Chris Kiffin after hiring Leavitt, I imagine that goes up.
Leavitt is making $541,600 this season from the Buffaloes, so the Rebels could most likely offer a higher salary than the Buffs could.
Again, not a fan of Leavitt and what he was alleged to have done, but he is one of the best defensive minds in the league.
Sep 17, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; The Washington Huskies defense surrounds Portland State Vikings running back Nate Tago (25) during the second quarter at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
Pete Kwiatkowski | Defensive Coordinator | Washington
Former Boise State Broncos defensive coordinator, Pete Kwiatkowski is now the defensive coach at Washington. The Huskies are undefeated and ranked #4 in the country as of today, in part because of the defense that Kwiatkowski has implemented.
The Huskies are ranked 15th in the nation in total defense right now, in a conference that is all about scoring points.
Guess which position group has scored the highest in the havoc rating for the Huskies this season? That is right, linebacker, the position most Rebels feel needs to be addressed.
In his four seasons with Washington, Kwiatkowski’s defense has been ranked 56th, 80th, 31st, and 15th in total defense.
While pulling Kwiatkowski away from Chris Peterson might be an issue, since he followed Peterson from Boise State, I think an increase in pay could motivate Kwiatkowski to consider Ole Miss.
Oh, and when Kwiatkowski was at Boise State, the Broncos were ranked 2nd, 16th, and 12th in the nation in total defense.
The season after Kwiatkowski left the Broncos fell to 76th in the nation in total defense.
Washington also ranks highly in scoring defense, which is the amount of points a team allows per game. In 2015, the Huskies allowed 18.8 points a game, which was good enough for 13th in the nation.
They are currently ranked 6th in the nation, only allowing 14.3 points a game.
Compare that to the Ole Miss defense this season which is currently allowing 31.4 points a game, which is 88th in the country.
Changes are needed in Oxford.
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