Kelly feels the same way you do apparently as he continues to run interference for our much maligned Uncle Rico at post game post mortems. I would only say that there is more to defense than simply holding the opponents to as few points as possible ( 33 per game to date ). A good defense maintains field position and creates opportunities and points of its own. In our case, only Applachian State is without a sack through three games..... besides us. And we usually are looking at a very long filed when we do take possession. This defense is not the biggest story so far for the Irish, in fact, after three years it is about par for the course for Uncle. The offensive line getting shoved around is the big story so far.
I agree, the OL is the real story. We had hopes this would be one of the best OL's in the country. Everybody knew we'd have to hold our breath on the defense, and count on a lot of young players suddenly becoming good and BVG coming up with a scheme that college players can execute. That was always going to be a long shot. Not the OL and the running game though. Josh Adams...All American Tauren Folston...Solid Veteran Dexter Williams....rising star. Not so far.
Re: Van Gorder. I believe that you play the hand you're dealt for the rest of the season. If a change needs to be made, do it after the season is over. To do otherwise creates two problems: 1) It upsets continuity among the players, which could be infinitely more disastrous than keeping the DC in place; 2) It throws the DC under the bus and puts him on an island in terms of finding another job. Irate fans with no skin in the game may not care, but that's not the kind of attitude I want to see in my head coach. I don't think Kelly is that kind of guy, and I'm OK with it. We play the hand we've been dealt for the rest of the season and evaluate after it's over. IMO that's what a class program and a class coach does.
I agree with you Sid. Not to mention I'm not sure I can think of any situation where a team got better after a Coord was fired/replaced. Might be one, but I can't think of it. As an aside, I have to feel bad for Montgomery Van Gorder, his dad is getting roasted all over the Internet and I'm sure more than a few of his classmates that aren't on the team have to stop their criticism when he walks in the room. It can't be easy to be a coaches wife or kid when things are going bad.
Here are some defensive stats that the prosecution may use against Uncle Rico ( through three games ): Scoring defense: 94th Rushing defense: 99th Passing defense: 84th 3rd down defense: 89th Red zone TDs allowed: 107th Total defense: 102nd Ave yards yielded per carry: 5.0 Sacks: 0 I'm not sure the late Johnnie Cochran could have saved him.