Looking Forward - Defensive Line

by KoolBell777 on Apr 29, 2011 3:00 AM CDT

Mike Pelton, Auburn's first year defensive line coach. via the official site.

When Tracy Rocker left, he left a slightly inexperienced, and very young group of Tigers. The same ones he recruited, and coached for the last two years. It was going to take someone of tremendous quality to come in and take Rockers place.That leaves us with some questions. Are Auburn fans going to see the same quality level of play they have grown accustomed to? In short, can Mike Pelton get the job done at Auburn?

Let's take a look at the young men that Coach Pelton inherited.

There are Eleven men listed on the roster at various positions along the defensive front. Some of them have extensive playing time, as rotation players. The only returning player with a start in a game is #94 Nosa Equae. His stats look like this -

YEAR	G/GS	TT	UT	AT	TFL-YDS	QBS-YDS	FF/FR	PD	I/YDS
2010	14/11	22	14	8	7.5-28	3.5-22

#95 Dee Ford has played in 26 games with one start and recorded 22 tackles and is credited with 4.5 tackles for a loss.

#55 Corey Lemonier started one game and played in all of them last season with 17 total tackles including five for a loss.

# 97Derrick Lykes has seen playing time. As a redshirt Junior Lykes has totaled 12 tackles in 2 years.

#92 Ken Carter played in 8 games last season with 6 tackles to his credit.

#74 Jamar Travis played in all 14 games last season recording two tackles from the DL position, but played quite a bit on special teams.

# 54Jeff Whitaker played in all 14 games recording 7 tackles.

#13 Craig Sanders played in 13 games last season with quite an effort on special teams recording eight tackles, including one for a loss from the defensive end position.

The other members of the eleven returning players are #52 Justin Delaine, and #91 Joel Bonomolo. Add in freshman #99 Brian Walsh.

Add to this list a very impressive defensive line class that includes the likes of Angelo Blackson, Jabrian Niles, Keymiya Harrell, Devaunte Sigler, and highly touted Gabe Wright. Coach Pelton will have an opportunity to field an above average quality line for a few more years to come.

Auburn has a long tradition of quality defensive line play, I see no reason for this not to continue. Even with the loss of Nick Fairley, Zac Clayton, Antoine Carter, Mike Goggans, and Mike Blanc the cupboard is not bare. The coaching position change was a good one in this writers opinion. Not that it was good to lose Coach Rocker, just that, the Pelton hire seems to fit the program well. Coach Chizik has worked with Mike before at Iowa State, and seen something he liked. Pelton certainly has the pedigree, although a short amount of time has been spent as DL coach, he has sent a couple of really good ones on to the NFL. That list is about to grow exponentially in the next four years.

Gene Chizik hit a grand slam on this, his first replacement hire.

Continue reading after the jump...

Excuse me while I take the liberty to tell a story about a young man who has been practicing football as a defensive lineman for two years, here in Enterprise, Alabama. This young man is a straight A student, and has not missed one single practice, or summer workout in two years of Junior varsity football. Also, he has played in two games last year, on the varsity level. He will be attending the 11th grade next fall.

Obviously, you can tell this young man is not a starter, and will rarely see the football field, although he is the consumate team mate, and devoted to his efforts. He wants to be a coach one day. He absolutely loves football. It is only behind his love for his family, and his devotion to his church. To say it's a part of his life doesn't do this justice.

A couple of weeks ago, this young man had his heart broken. It seems the High School coach wants him to quit playing football, and become the team manager. No reason was given, and no explanation was offered in the letter the coach gave him. Even after telling all the parents at the football banquet, that everyone of the returning kids will play on the team. Understandably the parents of this child were in shock. How could the coach say one thing, and do another?

The Mother of this fine young man contacted the coach, via email, and asked him, if he knew how bad he had hurt her son. She told the coach that she realized her son was never going to be a starter, and she never demanded that he play, just let him be a part of the team, that he has given his heart and efforts to.

The coach emailed her back, and said he did not ever want to hear from her again.

The Mother contacted the school Principle, and the Superintendant of Education for Coffee county, and pleaded her story for her son to be on the football team, to no avail.

Through the shining grace of God, some of the players had found out about the situation, and demanded that the young man, be put back on the team, or they would not play either.

A team effort was needed last season for Auburn to win the Championships they won. A team effort was needed to put this young man back where he belonged, on the team. Too bad, the coach was too ignorant to see what he was supposed to be coaching, teamwork!

If I lived in a town where the head football coach acted like this, I would try everything I could to get his butt fired! Since I do live here, I am telling you this story, and doing my part. This type of coach needs to be unemployed!

WAR EAGLE!

Poll

Do you believe that Mike Pelton will get the job done at Auburn?

I sure do, without a doubt.

280 votes

Unsure about his coaching ability

57 votes

Seems like Coach Chizik is taking a chance with this hire

15 votes

I wish AU had hired someone else.

6 votes

358 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

The D line is all about technique and strength. As long as the coach knows his stuff, there should be no drop off in execution.

During an ESPN show about the upcoming draft and how one should evaluate good picks, Bill Parcells said the three things he looks for in a D lineman are size, strength, and speed, in that order. The only thing that made me think twice was the way he used the average size as a floor rather than as the average.

For example, he said the average size of an NFL tackle is 6 ft 6, 315 pounds, or something close to that. He then said how a guy smaller than that would not get his attention. Instead of plotting 6 ft 6, 315 at the center (zero) of his X-Y graph, with the X axis being weight and the Y axis being height, and using that center point around which one would draw a circle of acceptable deviation, he seemed to be saying he would only consider guys in the upper right quadrant of his graph as potential picks. This has the effect of moving the average upward in the future.

A good thing about the D line is that there aren’t as many complicated schemes as say a linebacker might have to learn. Leverage is key, as well as a few stunts. This mitigates the effect that changing coaches would have at that position as opposed to a new OC. I think there will be no problems on the D line as a result of the coaching change.

New players, expecially freshmen, will always present risks because of the uograde in talent being faced. These kids are no longer big fish in a little pond who can muscle their way at will on the field.

Working hard in the weight room and learning advanced technique will be keys to their growth and success. Yoxall has proven himself to be at the top of the strength and conditioning game. We are lucky to have him.

by KungFuPanda9 on Apr 29, 2011 6:59 AM CDT reply actions

So whats the deal?

Is the coach gonna let the kid back on the team after so many of the other players demanded it using their eligibility as leverage?

You’re right that the coach seems wrong in this instance. Is there a limit on the number of kids allowed on the team and he is trimming the fat? If not then why does he want the kid off the team?

The D-line is a big question mark for me. Pelton seems like a good coach but until I can see his effect in a game situation I will be under the “Unsure about his coaching ability” catagory. Granted Auburn is very young there and it could take some time to get the experience there. No hurry though, This is a rebuilding season for us. Pelton has some time to prove himself.

"Wishful thinking is not the same thing as objective evidence." - jdhinsc

by Paratiger on Apr 29, 2011 8:50 AM CDT reply actions

Pelton fits into the coaching staff that Chizik has carefully built.

He knows what a successful SEC line looks like. He will get the job done.

by Tiger on the mountain on Apr 29, 2011 9:20 AM CDT reply actions

Absolutely

AubTigerman
"The reason you come to Auburn is because of Auburn people.This is a special place, from the coaches all the way to the fans" - Andrew McCain OT

by aubtigerman on Apr 29, 2011 12:28 PM CDT up reply actions

Defense will be OK and ...

… improve with each game. You got to be high on Dee Ford and I still think Lemonier may be another Quentin Riggins. Some (like Todd92) think he will even be better.

AubTigerman
"The reason you come to Auburn is because of Auburn people.This is a special place, from the coaches all the way to the fans" - Andrew McCain OT

by aubtigerman on Apr 29, 2011 12:32 PM CDT reply actions

You are correct sir...

and I stand by my statement. I think Corey Lemonier barring injury or personal meltdown can be the best DE to ever be on the plains……think Dwight Freeney in Orange and Blue.

I don't troll so I reserve the right to berate trolls as I see fit.

Just so you know I won't forget.....LSU Jonno predicted we would finish 5th in the west in '11.

by Todd92 on Apr 30, 2011 9:07 PM CDT up reply actions

I was impressed

with Craig Sanders as well. He’s real aggressive on special teams, hopefully it contributes on the D line if thats where he ends up.

by mgizmo2005 on Apr 29, 2011 7:50 PM CDT reply actions

Sad story

It’s a shame that this is the new state of EHS football. I’m sure that this wouldn’t have happened in Coach Bacon’s days.

by PAAuburnfan on Apr 30, 2011 8:48 AM CDT reply actions

Well, in a twist of fate......

The young man in question has been let back on the team. He received a letter reinstating him from the Coach’s office. The coach has yet to speak to the young man. I do not want to heap fuel on the fire, so I won’t speculate as to why he hasn’t spoken to the young man yet.
If I didn’t know the parents of this young man, and him personally I never would have run that story without asking the coach for his side of it. I can tell you that it is not from having too mant dressed out for football this coming season. I do not know what the rules are on that, but EHS can not possibly be close to the limit.

Come and join me at http://trackemtigers.com

by KoolBell777 on Apr 30, 2011 12:14 PM CDT reply actions

Coach Pelton will

do fine and the future of the d-line is in good hands. I played HS with him & have followed him through the years. He is not only a good coach, but a class act, too. The only reason I feel that he was not hired from the begining is because Coach Rocker was available.

As for the young man form EHS, I am glad his teamates took up for him and his Coach sounds like a guttless, petty little man.

by Ken Baker on Apr 30, 2011 3:05 PM CDT reply actions