Why it should not be surprising that Texas A&M has struggled defensively under coordinator DJ Durkin:

Since 2016, Durkin has coached in 50 games against Power Five teams. His defense held their opponent to less than 100 rushing yards in only eight of those matchups. They surrendered 150-plus rushing yards in 37 of those games (74%), 200-plus in 27 (54%), 250-plus in 17 (34%), 300-plus in seven (14%), 350-plus in five (10%) and 400-plus in two (4%).

Total defense: When facing Power Five teams since 2016, Durkin-coached defenses are often burned on the ground or through the air … or both. They have surrendered 315-plus passing yards or 175-plus rushing yards in 41 of those 50 games, including 16 of the last 19 and each of the last five.

In all five seasons, they finished worse than 70th in defensive grade, 80th in run defense grade, 30th in tackling grade, 40th in pass rush grade and 30th in coverage grade. They were worse than 75th in tackling grade two times, 60th in pass rush grade three times and 70th in coverage grade three times.

For comparison, the Aggie defense across the last two seasons under Elko ranked the following in each grade on average: No. 20.5 (defensive), No. 24 (run defense), No. 28.5 (tackling), No. 30 (pass rush) and No. 33.5 (coverage).

A&M comes in at No. 106 (defensive), No. 54 (run defense), tied for No. 117 (tackling), No. 72 (pass rush) and No. 123 (coverage) in each grade this season.



Every defensive coach out there would be foolish not to bring this up when recruiting against us.

How is Jimbo so oblivious to this when he talks about how great a DC Durkin is?

ag94ag said:

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How is Jimbo so oblivious to this when he talks about great a DC Durkin is?

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Did you see how long it took him to hire an OC? You think he's ready to admit he hired the wrong DC in less than 2 years?

If Elko had stayed, we win the Natty this year.

Elko for head coach!

I'm sure Durkin is a decent Xs and Os coach, that is not the problem.

He calls a terrible game and most importantly he was a terrible philosophical hire.

His defense NEVER sets the edge on a run play, never.

He doesn't believe in pressuring the QB by brining a 5th rusher if needed.

Too often he will go with a 3 man DL front, there may be a 4th DL on the field as a DE but in a 3-2-6 formation.

His entire philosophy is to not give up big plays, keep the ball in front, cover and run to the ball. Hope they make a mistake or don't execute.

That is not the way I want Texas A&M to play defense. I want A&M to play defense the way we did under Elko, under Chief (or tried to under Chief), RC, heck even DeRuyter.

ATTACK the offense, pressure the QB, set the edge on running plays and force it inside, if you aren't getting QB pressure with 4 then bring a 5th.

I don't care that we had some young DL last season, Elko could have schemed up a JV HS team to defend Ole Miss and Bama better than Durkin did.

Jimbo has NEVER fielded a defense playing the way our defense does under Durkin. It was a mistake to hire him if that is how he is going to scheme the defense. It is even a bigger mistake to retain him or not force a change immediately, either by how he calls the game, the D game-plan, or demoting him and letting Robinson or another D staffer call the defense.

Any DC whose unit give up THREE HUNDRED NINETY (390!) rushing yards on Kyle Field should be fired, period.

I'm confident we will win 7-8 games, and I am hopeful / semi-confident that Durkin will be let go in January.

Jarrin' Jay said:

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I'm sure Durkin is a decent Xs and Os coach, that is not the problem.

He calls a terrible game and most importantly he was a terrible philosophical hire.

His defense NEVER sets the edge on a run play, never.

He doesn't believe in pressuring the QB by brining a 5th rusher if needed.

Too often he will go with a 3 man DL front, there may be a 4th DL on the field as a DE but in a 3-2-6 formation.

His entire philosophy is to not give up big plays, keep the ball in front, cover and run to the ball. Hope they make a mistake or don't execute.

That is not the way I want Texas A&M to play defense. I want A&M to play defense the way we did under Elko, under Chief (or tried to under Chief), RC, heck even DeRuyter.

ATTACK the offense, pressure the QB, set the edge on running plays and force it inside, if you aren't getting QB pressure with 4 then bring a 5th.

I don't care that we had some young DL last season, Elko could have schemed up a JV HS team to defend Ole Miss and Bama better than Durkin did.

Jimbo has NEVER fielded a defense playing the way our defense does under Durkin. It was a mistake to hire him if that is how he is going to scheme the defense. It is even a bigger mistake to retain him or not force a change immediately, either by how he calls the game, the D game-plan, or demoting him and letting Robinson or another D staffer call the defense.

Any DC whose unit give up THREE HUNDRED NINETY (390!) rushing yards on Kyle Field should be fired, period.

I'm confident we will win 7-8 games, and I am hopeful / semi-confident that Durkin will be let go in January.

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You claimed he was a good X and O guy and then proceeded to make a compelling argument that he's a terrible one.

No, you have a reading comprehension problem or I need to clarify. First of all I never claimed he was a good Xs and Os coach.

Regardless, even if he is a good Xs and Os coach, that has nothing to do with defensive philosophy or how he calls a game.

His D philosophy sucks, and the way he calls a game sucks, even if he is a great Xs and Os coach of his own D philosophy.

Hope that makes sense.

TecRecAg said:

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ag94ag said:

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How is Jimbo so oblivious to this when he talks about great a DC Durkin is?

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Did you see how long it took him to hire an OC? You think he's ready to admit he hired the wrong DC in less than 2 years?

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I don't think he had many choices

ag94ag said:

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Why it should not be surprising that Texas A&M has struggled defensively under coordinator DJ Durkin:

Since 2016, Durkin has coached in 50 games against Power Five teams. His defense held their opponent to less than 100 rushing yards in only eight of those matchups. They surrendered 150-plus rushing yards in 37 of those games (74%), 200-plus in 27 (54%), 250-plus in 17 (34%), 300-plus in seven (14%), 350-plus in five (10%) and 400-plus in two (4%).

Total defense: When facing Power Five teams since 2016, Durkin-coached defenses are often burned on the ground or through the air … or both. They have surrendered 315-plus passing yards or 175-plus rushing yards in 41 of those 50 games, including 16 of the last 19 and each of the last five.

In all five seasons, they finished worse than 70th in defensive grade, 80th in run defense grade, 30th in tackling grade, 40th in pass rush grade and 30th in coverage grade. They were worse than 75th in tackling grade two times, 60th in pass rush grade three times and 70th in coverage grade three times.

For comparison, the Aggie defense across the last two seasons under Elko ranked the following in each grade on average: No. 20.5 (defensive), No. 24 (run defense), No. 28.5 (tackling), No. 30 (pass rush) and No. 33.5 (coverage).

A&M comes in at No. 106 (defensive), No. 54 (run defense), tied for No. 117 (tackling), No. 72 (pass rush) and No. 123 (coverage) in each grade this season.



Every defensive coach out there would be foolish not to bring this up when recruiting against us.

How is Jimbo so oblivious to this when he talks about how great a DC Durkin is?

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Excellent analysis. Thank you, Jay! No confidence in Durkin. If this were a parliamentary democracy, he would be on the back bench by now.

I noted in a previous post that he is a good recruiter. Good recruiters are often kept on various staffs for that reason alone, but the numbers rarely lie about about their coaching ability. It is good to see someone compile them for Durkin.

Well multiples of our recruits are now newly taking visits to the goofy Sips, so there ya go. Myles & Tyanthony

Nice work OP.
Durkin just doesn't get good results, and needs to be replaced. I think Addazio needs to go too.

The defense is the X

The offense is the O, except for the center.

The center is a square with an X in it.

That's how I was taught the X's and O's.

Durkin's defense isn't suited for SEC football philosophically which is a Jimbo responsibility. The fact that in we aren't seeing him adapt in season two is all that needs to be seen. Maybe Jimbo will wait to see if Aranda is available at the end of the season? Fairy tale! It needs to be dealt with NOW.

Durkin was hired because no one else would come.

The Chicken Ranch said:

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Durkin was hired because no one else would come.

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That isn't true at all.

Jimbo chose this.

Just like Jimbo chose Adazzio

Time to start over, so we can start the next cycle of overpayment and disappointment.

Jimbo is not a good football coach and he's not a good evaluator of coaching ability. That's how this happened.

ag94ag said:

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Why it should not be surprising that Texas A&M has struggled defensively under coordinator DJ Durkin:

Since 2016, Durkin has coached in 50 games against Power Five teams. His defense held their opponent to less than 100 rushing yards in only eight of those matchups. They surrendered 150-plus rushing yards in 37 of those games (74%), 200-plus in 27 (54%), 250-plus in 17 (34%), 300-plus in seven (14%), 350-plus in five (10%) and 400-plus in two (4%).

Total defense: When facing Power Five teams since 2016, Durkin-coached defenses are often burned on the ground or through the air … or both. They have surrendered 315-plus passing yards or 175-plus rushing yards in 41 of those 50 games, including 16 of the last 19 and each of the last five.

In all five seasons, they finished worse than 70th in defensive grade, 80th in run defense grade, 30th in tackling grade, 40th in pass rush grade and 30th in coverage grade. They were worse than 75th in tackling grade two times, 60th in pass rush grade three times and 70th in coverage grade three times.

For comparison, the Aggie defense across the last two seasons under Elko ranked the following in each grade on average: No. 20.5 (defensive), No. 24 (run defense), No. 28.5 (tackling), No. 30 (pass rush) and No. 33.5 (coverage).

A&M comes in at No. 106 (defensive), No. 54 (run defense), tied for No. 117 (tackling), No. 72 (pass rush) and No. 123 (coverage) in each grade this season.



Every defensive coach out there would be foolish not to bring this up when recruiting against us.

How is Jimbo so oblivious to this when he talks about how great a DC Durkin is?

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So Maryland sucked and so did Ol Miss his first year there. Why did the guy pick only those years?

Jarrin' Jay said:

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I'm sure Durkin is a decent Xs and Os coach, that is not the problem.

He calls a terrible game and most importantly he was a terrible philosophical hire.

His defense NEVER sets the edge on a run play, never.

He doesn't believe in pressuring the QB by brining a 5th rusher if needed.

Too often he will go with a 3 man DL front, there may be a 4th DL on the field as a DE but in a 3-2-6 formation.

His entire philosophy is to not give up big plays, keep the ball in front, cover and run to the ball. Hope they make a mistake or don't execute.

That is not the way I want Texas A&M to play defense. I want A&M to play defense the way we did under Elko, under Chief (or tried to under Chief), RC, heck even DeRuyter.

ATTACK the offense, pressure the QB, set the edge on running plays and force it inside, if you aren't getting QB pressure with 4 then bring a 5th.

I don't care that we had some young DL last season, Elko could have schemed up a JV HS team to defend Ole Miss and Bama better than Durkin did.

Jimbo has NEVER fielded a defense playing the way our defense does under Durkin. It was a mistake to hire him if that is how he is going to scheme the defense. It is even a bigger mistake to retain him or not force a change immediately, either by how he calls the game, the D game-plan, or demoting him and letting Robinson or another D staffer call the defense.

Any DC whose unit give up THREE HUNDRED NINETY (390!) rushing yards on Kyle Field should be fired, period.

I'm confident we will win 7-8 games, and I am hopeful / semi-confident that Durkin will be let go in January.

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it's interesting that the defense you describe that you want..

is the defense that Miami was running last saturday.

cevans_40 said:

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So Maryland sucked and so did Ol Miss his first year there. Why did the guy pick only those years?

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He did well at Florida and Michigan, but that was 7-10 years ago. His last 3 stops, here, Ole Miss, and Maryland, have been absolutely abysmal, and if you're going to try to justify keeping him based on his accolades from 7+ years ago, good luck with that.

The guy's not good anymore, and he needs to go.

Aggie1188 said:

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Well multiples of our recruits are now newly taking visits to the goofy Sips, so there ya go. Myles & Tyanthony

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I can't blame them.

4 said:

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TecRecAg said:

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ag94ag said:

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How is Jimbo so oblivious to this when he talks about great a DC Durkin is?

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Did you see how long it took him to hire an OC? You think he's ready to admit he hired the wrong DC in less than 2 years?

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I don't think he had many choices

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He could easily just fire Durkin now then elevate Robinson to DC. I really don't see how they could objectively be worse, they literally just have to be dead average (no. 50) and their performance would be MARKEDLY better.

Agreed

How in the hell Durkin flipped Ole Miss's Defense in one year and then turns around and fooks up ours is just unbelievable!!!!!!!!!

If I'm not mistaken, when Durkin was at ole piss, he was a co-defensive coordinator.

12thmanfootball said:

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How in the hell Durkin flipped Ole Miss's Defense in one year and then turns around and fooks up ours is just unbelievable!!!!!!!!!

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That defense was not as good as people seem to want to remember