It is safe to say that the 2021 Canes defense will not be at the level of past National Championship
Groups. But can it be good enough to support the goal of winning the Coastal division?
Trying to be optimistic; so the good news is the failed Blake Baker experiment is over. Manny is back to
being the DC. He had been developing a reputation as a up and coming DC, which ultimately got him
the Temple HC offer. So let’s look back to 2017, the best defense in the Richt/Diaz era. That was a
good, not great defense. But it was good enough to win the Coastal. Given the current talent level that
defense is the most logical blueprint to use for 2021 success. That defense was probably the best
“Manny Diaz style” defense. It was aggressive and created turnovers. It did give up some big plays
but the pressure and turnovers fit the talent available. In looking at the 2021 roster, this year’s talent is
similar to 2017, possibly better in some areas.
It all starts up front. 2017 was somewhat DL by committee. Inside were Gerald Willis, Ken Norton, RJ
McIntosh and Andrew Moten. Willis was the disrupter inside with McIntosh also playing a good 3
technique. Is it a stretch to say that Nesta and Harrison Hunte have similar styles and could play at the
same level? No one is going to say that Ford and Miller are 1 st or 2 nd day draft picks, but they both have
experience and size to hopefully be solid run stuffers. Everyone talks about the lack of a Rousseau or
Phillips. But in 2017 Chad Thomas, Joe Jackson and Trent Harris provided a good pass rush and solid run
defense. All three were good enough to get some NFL time. Harvey, Johnson, McCloud and Williams
are not going to be 1 st or 2 nd Day Draft good. But can they play to the level of the 2017 DE’s? Can they
play to the level of Roche?. And the DL coach for 2017 group was Jess Simpson. His tutelage helped all
the mentioned DL improve. He is back. If he can get Harrison Hunte to play like McIntosh and McCloud
to play like Harris, etc. the DL could be solid, especially if Manny gets all four positions back to playing
aggressively.
Linebacker is the scariest position group. 2017 earned Shaq, Pinkney and McCloud a lot of praise. In
hindsight they probably had more press than production. Shaq did control the middle. Can Flagg,
Brooks or Jennings? This is probably the most important question for the defense. I can see K Smith
providing similar play to Pinkney. The 2021 defense has Frierson at Striker rather than McCloud at LB.
That change is more in line to current offenses. But again, the 2017 defense was far more likely to blitz
(both run and passI) than 2019 or 2020. The LB’s will need to make up for no Round 1 DE’s. But
hopefully an aggressive style will better fit the talent on the roster.
The secondary is where the 2021 defense might be a lot better and could make it better than 2017. The
2017 aggressive style defense blitzed from all angles, LB’s and DB’s. They could do that because Johnson
and Redwine were two really good college safeties that could erase mistakes in front of them. They
allowed the other nine to be aggressive. Since those two went to the NFL, UM’s safety play has been
“Meh”. By potential, Bolden and Hall could be as good or better. If they can play as well as the 2017
pair it allows Manny to run an aggressive defense and makes everyone else better. And by sheer talent,
the 2021 CB play could be much better. 2017 CB’s were Mike Jackson, Jahvonte Dean, Dee Delaney and
Trajan Bandy. Wow, the 2021 group starts to look amazing? Stevenson is on a different level than
anyone there. He can be the lockdown CB that has not been seen in a Cane uniform for a long time.
Couch and Bandy as slot corners are similar. And both were very good on the blitz. Expect to see Couch
coming off the edge a lot in 2021. Blades is more talented than anyone in the 2017 group and for that
matter, even with all the hate he receives Ivey has equal talent and hopefully is better by experience.
Better CB play and Safety play would allow the LB’s to blitz more often to make up for the departure of
Rousseau and Phillips,
I am not going to even speculate on some of the incoming freshmen. But Williams, Taylor, C Smith and
Kinchens all have the potential to be special. And some of the 2020 recruits could also emerge. If any of
them push their way into playing time, things only get better.
So now to the “X” factor, coaching. Manny has to be that good of a DC. That is not an easy thing with
being the HC. Can he put the necessary time into coaching and preparation. He must! I really don’t
want to see him in front of cameras talking about jewelry, his Daddy or his time at ESPN. I would hope
he is often hidden off camera, studying film, in practice coaching and game planning. It should be a
major upgrade having TRob coaching the DB’s. Having Simpson back on the DL, better than before after
recent years in the NFL should help a lot. Having Shoop, Rumph and Stroud in the background to help
could be huge. Again the question is can Manny pull off handling both jobs?
A lot of “ifs” in this scenario. But IMO, that is the most likely scenario to a successful 2021 defense. And
therefore the success of the Canes 2021 season.
Groups. But can it be good enough to support the goal of winning the Coastal division?
Trying to be optimistic; so the good news is the failed Blake Baker experiment is over. Manny is back to
being the DC. He had been developing a reputation as a up and coming DC, which ultimately got him
the Temple HC offer. So let’s look back to 2017, the best defense in the Richt/Diaz era. That was a
good, not great defense. But it was good enough to win the Coastal. Given the current talent level that
defense is the most logical blueprint to use for 2021 success. That defense was probably the best
“Manny Diaz style” defense. It was aggressive and created turnovers. It did give up some big plays
but the pressure and turnovers fit the talent available. In looking at the 2021 roster, this year’s talent is
similar to 2017, possibly better in some areas.
It all starts up front. 2017 was somewhat DL by committee. Inside were Gerald Willis, Ken Norton, RJ
McIntosh and Andrew Moten. Willis was the disrupter inside with McIntosh also playing a good 3
technique. Is it a stretch to say that Nesta and Harrison Hunte have similar styles and could play at the
same level? No one is going to say that Ford and Miller are 1 st or 2 nd day draft picks, but they both have
experience and size to hopefully be solid run stuffers. Everyone talks about the lack of a Rousseau or
Phillips. But in 2017 Chad Thomas, Joe Jackson and Trent Harris provided a good pass rush and solid run
defense. All three were good enough to get some NFL time. Harvey, Johnson, McCloud and Williams
are not going to be 1 st or 2 nd Day Draft good. But can they play to the level of the 2017 DE’s? Can they
play to the level of Roche?. And the DL coach for 2017 group was Jess Simpson. His tutelage helped all
the mentioned DL improve. He is back. If he can get Harrison Hunte to play like McIntosh and McCloud
to play like Harris, etc. the DL could be solid, especially if Manny gets all four positions back to playing
aggressively.
Linebacker is the scariest position group. 2017 earned Shaq, Pinkney and McCloud a lot of praise. In
hindsight they probably had more press than production. Shaq did control the middle. Can Flagg,
Brooks or Jennings? This is probably the most important question for the defense. I can see K Smith
providing similar play to Pinkney. The 2021 defense has Frierson at Striker rather than McCloud at LB.
That change is more in line to current offenses. But again, the 2017 defense was far more likely to blitz
(both run and passI) than 2019 or 2020. The LB’s will need to make up for no Round 1 DE’s. But
hopefully an aggressive style will better fit the talent on the roster.
The secondary is where the 2021 defense might be a lot better and could make it better than 2017. The
2017 aggressive style defense blitzed from all angles, LB’s and DB’s. They could do that because Johnson
and Redwine were two really good college safeties that could erase mistakes in front of them. They
allowed the other nine to be aggressive. Since those two went to the NFL, UM’s safety play has been
“Meh”. By potential, Bolden and Hall could be as good or better. If they can play as well as the 2017
pair it allows Manny to run an aggressive defense and makes everyone else better. And by sheer talent,
the 2021 CB play could be much better. 2017 CB’s were Mike Jackson, Jahvonte Dean, Dee Delaney and
Trajan Bandy. Wow, the 2021 group starts to look amazing? Stevenson is on a different level than
anyone there. He can be the lockdown CB that has not been seen in a Cane uniform for a long time.
Couch and Bandy as slot corners are similar. And both were very good on the blitz. Expect to see Couch
coming off the edge a lot in 2021. Blades is more talented than anyone in the 2017 group and for that
matter, even with all the hate he receives Ivey has equal talent and hopefully is better by experience.
Better CB play and Safety play would allow the LB’s to blitz more often to make up for the departure of
Rousseau and Phillips,
I am not going to even speculate on some of the incoming freshmen. But Williams, Taylor, C Smith and
Kinchens all have the potential to be special. And some of the 2020 recruits could also emerge. If any of
them push their way into playing time, things only get better.
So now to the “X” factor, coaching. Manny has to be that good of a DC. That is not an easy thing with
being the HC. Can he put the necessary time into coaching and preparation. He must! I really don’t
want to see him in front of cameras talking about jewelry, his Daddy or his time at ESPN. I would hope
he is often hidden off camera, studying film, in practice coaching and game planning. It should be a
major upgrade having TRob coaching the DB’s. Having Simpson back on the DL, better than before after
recent years in the NFL should help a lot. Having Shoop, Rumph and Stroud in the background to help
could be huge. Again the question is can Manny pull off handling both jobs?
A lot of “ifs” in this scenario. But IMO, that is the most likely scenario to a successful 2021 defense. And
therefore the success of the Canes 2021 season.
