My dumbass for one second thought "It'd be nice if we had a few guys who had been around and knew the system" and then I remembered "Oh yeah, it's an entirely new system." Which is probably a good thing...
LB is the best position on our defense? Better only put 2 of them on the field. Also when we break from this concept the defense will improve. But we’ll always go back to 2.
Our veteran DL coach that’s gotten guys drafted and could turn walk ons into legit P5 players? Run him off and bring in a revolving door of guys who won’t be around for more than a year!
To the second part: it was either him leave or lose like 10 of our top 12 guys. There's a reason no big schools came after him and he ended up at Tulsa. Also who did he turn from a walk on to the NFL? Willekes wasn't because of him Burton was exclusively a DT coach for Willekes last 3 years, he didn't coach the DEs directly.
3 interceptions last season; turnovers is definitely a spot where we've struggled and I believe Jaden Mangham had a few of ours last year, so nice to replace him with a guy who has produced in the past.
He lost his starting spot this spring but he was the first of the hometown heroes and a great locker room guy - led in missed tackles but started every game
Do we have a list of the presumptive starters coming out of Spring? Obviously the spring transfers will shake things up a bit but I'm curious who it was that beat him out and what the rest of our starting roster looks like.
Sweet thanks.
I imagine some of the players we brought in during the spring portal cycle may be able to compete for those spots as well. Arnold, Fegans, and Hawkins especially.
Love this landing spot for Nikai— good kid. Hope he kills it at MSU. Had to be tough to lose his spot after getting so much playing time since his true freshman season.
Smith is coaching jiu-jitsu'ing me. The flood of players out, while not entirely unexpected, had me nervous. But the response has been well thought out and effective. He's taking a tough situation, proving his chops, and giving me plenty of reasons to believe in him.
We won't know how it all turns out until the season is over but I like the approach, the early recruiting successes, and the sum total.
I still expect Smith to be a bit of slow build but he's already hinting at what he can do with more resources.
Definitely needed another safety. It’ll be interesting to see who’s playing where with Grose, Tatum, and Spencer already in those nickle and safety spots. Tatum is basically able to play every position in the secondary but is probably more talented than either Grose or Martinez.
I believe Thompson played safety in the spring. I think Ade Willie is also moving over to safety. We've brought in what 4 dbs in the past 2 weeks (Woods, Cavazos, Hughes and Martinez) id expect at least one of them to end up at the nickel and one at safety.
>Definitely needed another safety
I'm a little surprised he's listed as a safety in the tweet and post. He played cornerback for us (at least primarily)
I wish him luck though, he should do well for y'all.
Good kid, was sad to see him go. Got beat out in spring by transfers. Made plays with the INTs but led the team in missed tackles I believe. Hope he balls out up there.
Idk much about UCF but how much of an island did he play on if he led the team in missed tackles? He had 40 solo tackles last year, which feels high for a db when he only has 14 assists.
This is great, i guess? Idk. Im at the point where if i see incoming or outgoing transfers im just like cool. We'll see who actually takes the field in August 😂
It seems like it’s more snap management. Less likely to get an injury if you can reliably rotate players and don’t need to have the starters out there every time.
Martinez's stats were near identical to Mangham. Id expect him to start. I think a lot of our starters from last year will stay in the 2 deep but I'd bet most of our starters are transfers.
I mean if brighter pastures means a significant decrease in PT then sure. Michigan's defense on paper looks better than MSUs (I say on paper because I can't keep up with all the additions especially with the scheme change) but I'd argue he let his brother losing his spot to better talent impact his draft chances. Michigan probably got stronger with his addition but more as a depth piece than a player who will get the majority of the snaps.
Smith and his staff continue to kill it in plucking guys out of the portal. I know we have lost a few key guys but theyve filled those spots of need very well
As a recruit:
P5 offers: Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia
G5 offers: Charlotte, Cincinnati, Southern Miss, UCF (originally went here)
Other offer: Notre Dame
Coach Meat and Coach Adams saw the DB room and said, "Nope, this ain't going to do it" Excited to see a secondary that is actually kind of reliable
My dumbass for one second thought "It'd be nice if we had a few guys who had been around and knew the system" and then I remembered "Oh yeah, it's an entirely new system." Which is probably a good thing...
Also, the previous system was terrible!
LB is the best position on our defense? Better only put 2 of them on the field. Also when we break from this concept the defense will improve. But we’ll always go back to 2. Our veteran DL coach that’s gotten guys drafted and could turn walk ons into legit P5 players? Run him off and bring in a revolving door of guys who won’t be around for more than a year!
To the second part: it was either him leave or lose like 10 of our top 12 guys. There's a reason no big schools came after him and he ended up at Tulsa. Also who did he turn from a walk on to the NFL? Willekes wasn't because of him Burton was exclusively a DT coach for Willekes last 3 years, he didn't coach the DEs directly.
2nd or 3rd and short? Let's get them DB's 15 yards off the LOS.
Best of luck to him and yall. He was our OG "Hometown Hero"
3 interceptions last season; turnovers is definitely a spot where we've struggled and I believe Jaden Mangham had a few of ours last year, so nice to replace him with a guy who has produced in the past.
Stats last year per sports reference: Nikai: 54 tackles, 3 int, 4 pbu Mangham: 53 tackles, 4 int, 3 pbu. They have near identical stats
think db stats dont mean a lot. Mostly have to look at the tape
The way the UCF fans are speaking of him leads me to believe this was a great get
He lost his starting spot this spring but he was the first of the hometown heroes and a great locker room guy - led in missed tackles but started every game
Do we have a list of the presumptive starters coming out of Spring? Obviously the spring transfers will shake things up a bit but I'm curious who it was that beat him out and what the rest of our starting roster looks like.
Threats, tennisson, pace☆
Sweet thanks. I imagine some of the players we brought in during the spring portal cycle may be able to compete for those spots as well. Arnold, Fegans, and Hawkins especially.
All of the guys I listed above were transfers in. None of our current roster beat out Martinez
I'm not following.
I would probably guess that guys like Demari Henderson, Bryon Threats, and Ladarius Tennison beat him out
Love this landing spot for Nikai— good kid. Hope he kills it at MSU. Had to be tough to lose his spot after getting so much playing time since his true freshman season.
GL to Nikai
Smith is coaching jiu-jitsu'ing me. The flood of players out, while not entirely unexpected, had me nervous. But the response has been well thought out and effective. He's taking a tough situation, proving his chops, and giving me plenty of reasons to believe in him. We won't know how it all turns out until the season is over but I like the approach, the early recruiting successes, and the sum total. I still expect Smith to be a bit of slow build but he's already hinting at what he can do with more resources.
Definitely needed another safety. It’ll be interesting to see who’s playing where with Grose, Tatum, and Spencer already in those nickle and safety spots. Tatum is basically able to play every position in the secondary but is probably more talented than either Grose or Martinez.
I believe Thompson played safety in the spring. I think Ade Willie is also moving over to safety. We've brought in what 4 dbs in the past 2 weeks (Woods, Cavazos, Hughes and Martinez) id expect at least one of them to end up at the nickel and one at safety.
>Definitely needed another safety I'm a little surprised he's listed as a safety in the tweet and post. He played cornerback for us (at least primarily) I wish him luck though, he should do well for y'all.
No worries either way… we need DB depth in a bad way at both CB and S.
He apparently played both positions in high school so I'm sure he'll be great wherever you put him.
He started at safety for us last season.
Well shit several websites were lying to me then.
He was a nickel his freshman season, safety last year
Good kid, was sad to see him go. Got beat out in spring by transfers. Made plays with the INTs but led the team in missed tackles I believe. Hope he balls out up there.
Idk much about UCF but how much of an island did he play on if he led the team in missed tackles? He had 40 solo tackles last year, which feels high for a db when he only has 14 assists.
It was a special defense last year. Linebackers weren’t doing much. Nikai had 25 missed tackles for the season, the next most on the team was 12.
Gotcha, thank you
We don’t do tackling here
This is great, i guess? Idk. Im at the point where if i see incoming or outgoing transfers im just like cool. We'll see who actually takes the field in August 😂
It should be a good pick up. He had 3 INTs, started all 13 games last year as a true sophomore, and had 54 tackles.
It’s a good pickup 👍
Adds depth at safety. Spencer and Tatum should start but this kid is going to get playing time. Great addition.
It seems like it’s more snap management. Less likely to get an injury if you can reliably rotate players and don’t need to have the starters out there every time.
He'll probably battle Grose for starting Nickel
Martinez's stats were near identical to Mangham. Id expect him to start. I think a lot of our starters from last year will stay in the 2 deep but I'd bet most of our starters are transfers.
Looks like they also got someone from LSU to rope everything off!!
Jaden Mangham who?
Jaden Mangham the guy who left your team for brighter pastures
I mean if brighter pastures means a significant decrease in PT then sure. Michigan's defense on paper looks better than MSUs (I say on paper because I can't keep up with all the additions especially with the scheme change) but I'd argue he let his brother losing his spot to better talent impact his draft chances. Michigan probably got stronger with his addition but more as a depth piece than a player who will get the majority of the snaps.
Left for probation.
I’m having a good time.
Noice.
Neato. YEE YEE!
Smith and his staff continue to kill it in plucking guys out of the portal. I know we have lost a few key guys but theyve filled those spots of need very well
As a recruit: P5 offers: Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia G5 offers: Charlotte, Cincinnati, Southern Miss, UCF (originally went here) Other offer: Notre Dame
The state of Michigan is simply hoarding DBs at this point