As a long time Tampa Bay Bucs fan, I was kinda bummed to hear Monte was leaving - he really helped create some great defenses over the years. The UT fans, since his hiring was announced, held him up to be some sort of legendary defensive genius that would dominate the college game (just as they contend he did in the NFL, all the while ignoring that his defenses were consistently bettered through his career at TB by the Steelers and Ravens). Regardless, I like the guy, despite how his son turned out, and expected to see some great defense from UT this season - and what we've seen has been pretty good.
To hear the Vols fans talk, with Monte having two weeks to prepare for Bama, our offense will be lucky to move the ball at all. I decided to start comparing this year's UT defense to last, which was pretty dang good (3rd in total defense at the end of the season), but soon realized comparing last year's 'body of work' to this year's defense wasn't very accurate, so I tallied the defensive numbers for their first six games as the schedules were pretty similar:
2008: UCLA, UAB, UF, Auburn, NIU, UGA
2009: WKU, UCLA, UF, Ohio, Auburn, UGA
Here's what I found, by way of comparing last year's UT defense to this year's, under the vaunted genius of CMK:
2008 Rushing Defense: 100.16
2009 Rushing Defense: 110.17
2008 Passing Defense: 179.83
2009 Passing Defense: 161.83
2008 Total Defense: 280
2009 Total Defense: 272
2008 Scoring Defense: 18.1
2009 Scoring Defense: 19.5
So, looking at the numbers, we see a couple of things - Monte's defense is better against the pass and overall yardage, while Chavis's defense was better against the rush and scoring. The main point to note is that none of the these numbers are appreciably better or worse than last year, so while UT's defense will be good, there's been little in the way of performance upgrade so far with CMK.
If you want to see great defense, look at our numbers (note: our numbers through 7 games):
2009 Rushing Defense: 63.29
2009 Passing Defense:163.29
2009 Total Defense: 226.57
2009 Scoring Defense: 11.57
Just sayin'...
To hear the Vols fans talk, with Monte having two weeks to prepare for Bama, our offense will be lucky to move the ball at all. I decided to start comparing this year's UT defense to last, which was pretty dang good (3rd in total defense at the end of the season), but soon realized comparing last year's 'body of work' to this year's defense wasn't very accurate, so I tallied the defensive numbers for their first six games as the schedules were pretty similar:
2008: UCLA, UAB, UF, Auburn, NIU, UGA
2009: WKU, UCLA, UF, Ohio, Auburn, UGA
Here's what I found, by way of comparing last year's UT defense to this year's, under the vaunted genius of CMK:
2008 Rushing Defense: 100.16
2009 Rushing Defense: 110.17
2008 Passing Defense: 179.83
2009 Passing Defense: 161.83
2008 Total Defense: 280
2009 Total Defense: 272
2008 Scoring Defense: 18.1
2009 Scoring Defense: 19.5
So, looking at the numbers, we see a couple of things - Monte's defense is better against the pass and overall yardage, while Chavis's defense was better against the rush and scoring. The main point to note is that none of the these numbers are appreciably better or worse than last year, so while UT's defense will be good, there's been little in the way of performance upgrade so far with CMK.
If you want to see great defense, look at our numbers (note: our numbers through 7 games):
2009 Rushing Defense: 63.29
2009 Passing Defense:163.29
2009 Total Defense: 226.57
2009 Scoring Defense: 11.57
Just sayin'...
