🏈 Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele snubbed by Broyles Award

[BAMANEWSBOT]

No one was more critical of Kevin Steele’s hiring this off-season than I was. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Steele has coached masterfully this season, providing Auburn with its best defense in at least a decade.

Despite that, Steele was not chosen as one of the five finalists for the Frank Broyles’ Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach.



While all of the men selected have done an outstanding job this year, putting Alabama’s Jeremy Pruitt on this list ahead of Steele is absurd. And yes, I know Alabama has the top-ranked scoring and top-ranked total defense in college football for 2016.

Pruitt has merely continued the great recent tradition of Alabama defenses. Steele renewed a great defensive tradition at Auburn. It’s much easier to keep an object moving than it is to start it moving – just ask noted college football expert Isaac Newton.

What’s more, everyone knows that the Alabama defense is primarily Nick Saban’s. Pruitt is merely doing his bidding, which, again, takes talent, but no where near the talent required of Steele working with an offensive-minded coach in Gus Malzahn who has handed all defensive responsibilities over to him.

Auburn’s defense is Kevin Steele’s. Alabama’s is Saban’s. Putting any Alabama defensive coordinator on this list is dumb. And I think highly of Pruitt, but Alabama’s defensive coordinators are caretakers. It would be like putting Malzahn’s offensive coordinator, Rhett Lashlee, on the list – gosh, that’s a laugh.

But you get my point. Malzahn’s offensive coordinator is merely an extension of Malzahn, not an independent mind making decisions separate of the head coach.

Kevin Steele is singularly responsible for the marked improvement in Auburn’s defensive productivity this season (6th nationally in scoring defense).

I’m not going to pretend to be knowledgeable about all the other finalists, and I’d be OK if neither Steele nor Pruitt were on the list. My problem rests with including Pruitt and not Steele when Steele’s job is much more difficult while the results have been similar.

Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele snubbed by Broyles Award

 

[TerryP]

@planomateo Was it you and I that were having a conversation about Chadd a month or so ago where I was cautioning "he's an Auburnite?"

I do like this line: "I’m not going to pretend to be knowledgeable about all the other finalists..."

He doesn't know anything about what this defense (UA's) has done this year, either. Just as an example, go look at the top 20 rushing teams in the conference. You'll find four on the Bama schedule, less than 10 from P5 schools.

You can make a comparison with the Mississippi State game, if you like. It's close. LSU tells a different story with Auburn giving up 220, Bama 33.

What a freakin' joke Scott has become...old news, I know.

 

[bamaledge]

Subbed is not the correct description. Their defense absolutely sucked in a couple of games.

 

[TUSKtimes]

The defense has evolved under Pruitt and they look more dangerous against both spread and pro-style teams. I love his aggressive style of play at the LOS.

 

[planomateo]

@planomateo Was it you and I that were having a conversation about Chadd a month or so ago where I was cautioning "he's an Auburnite?"

Negative. He's a terrible writer.

 

[TerryP]

Negative. He's a terrible writer.

how Christie Dosch saw somehing in him I'll never figure out

 

[sean]

My problem rests with including Pruitt and not Steele when Steele’s job is much more difficult while the results have been similar.

well, too bad for him they don't give the award based on how difficult the job was for the defensive coordinator.

this isn't based on things like strength-of-schedule. it's based on how the defense plays as a unit and how good they are in allowing points to be scored against them, how many points they score themselves, how running backs fair against them, how many times they sack a quarterback, how many hurries, etc., etc., etc.

it's based on tangible facts and numbers, NOT how easy or difficult the defensive coordinator had it.


i guess auburn fans are still looking for their moral victory this season.