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Banker... on the defense

StrongArm517

Offensive Coordinator
Gold Member
Aug 29, 2005
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This is taken from MeKewon's article in the Omaha World Herald but thought some might be interested in his vision for the defense and where he see's it now:
http://www.omaha.com/sports/
"Nebraska has to play better in the first 50 minutes. Specifically, the defense.

Again, Banker knows this. And here’s his answer when I asked how close his defense is to being where he wants it.

“Not close,” Banker said. “Not close. I just think the guys we have, have to learn exactly what our expectations are, whether it be technique or just the way to execute the things we’re trying to do. And we’re always trying to upgrade players. There’s no doubt about that. That’s what competition is. That’s what’ll keep these guys going. They’ll compete to remain on the field.”

In other words, watch this recruiting cycle. Nebraska will be aggressive and try to hit some home runs with top talent.

And watch Nebraska’s “want-to” factor on defense. I liked what I saw from the Huskers on Saturday night, but it was a marquee opponent and a live crowd. What about Rutgers? Will NU show up, or will it send a postcard like it did at Purdue?

What will Nebraska’s defense look like when Banker has it where he wants it?

“What will it look like? Oh (expletive), it’ll be toughness, speed, tacklers. When people finish playing you, they know they’ve been in a game whether you win or lose. Physicality. Just dogs in coverage ... you just want guys up in people’s grills and playing tight coverage. Just battling. I guess the word is: more gritty. Just totally getting after people. You don’t need all these magical calls and all this other stuff. It’s you and him and take him out.”
 
He needs to make sure he is careful about how his desire to upgrade players is communicated. Could potentially be misinterpreted by current defensive players.

Banker, thus far, has talked a good game but I've not seen consistent play that backs up his talk.
 
He needs to make sure he is careful about how his desire to upgrade players is communicated. Could potentially be misinterpreted by current defensive players.

Banker, thus far, has talked a good game but I've not seen consistent play that backs up his talk.

Not sure there's much to misinterpret. Seems pretty clear to me. Any objective Husker fan can look at our team and know we don't have the talent we need to be a consistent top tier team.
 
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Not sure there's much to misinterpret. Seems pretty clear to me. Any objective Husker fan can look at our team and know we don't have the talent we need to be a consistent top tier team.

The front 7 gives up a play or two now and again, but overall they perform pretty well for as banged up as they have been. If we could get decent secondary play, we'd be a real force to be reckoned with.

This is just by my unprofessional eye.
 
Not sure there's much to misinterpret. Seems pretty clear to me. Any objective Husker fan can look at our team and know we don't have the talent we need to be a consistent top tier team.

The talent isnt bad. Is it marquee talent? No. But it's good enough to produce better results than what it has. The bottom line is that many of the players aren't yet comfortable in the scheme so they are playing tentative. A top tier coach would adjust his scheme to his talent to make them feel less uncomfortable. Riley said he would do so offensively, and in many ways, I think he has. Banker, apparently, didnt get that same Riley "memo" as to "it's not what we'd like to do, it's what's best to do with the talent we have."
 
The front 7 gives up a play or two now and again, but overall they perform pretty well for as banged up as they have been. If we could get decent secondary play, we'd be a real force to be reckoned with.

This is just by my unprofessional eye.

Our offense has put up some pretty decent numbers this year. Just think what they could do if the had a defense that could get it in their hands a little more often.
 
Our offense has put up some pretty decent numbers this year. Just think what they could do if the had a defense that could get it in their hands a little more often.
The play of Chris Jones gives me hope. We get the guys with the right skill set at corner and we'll be better.
 
Banker, thus far, has talked a good game but I've not seen consistent play that backs up his talk.

I've been impressed with his run defense and at times the pass D does fairly well but they're not nearly consistent enough to be impressed with. They're a group that takes one step forward and two steps back often.

We have some work cut out on D but those short yardage stops are a thing of beauty.
 
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I've been impressed with his run defense and at times the pass D does fairly well but they're not nearly consistent enough to be impressed with. They're a group that takes one step forward and two steps back often.

We have some work cut out on D but those short yardage stops are a thing of beauty.

Love the short yardage stops. There's struggles but it's also obvious the talent isn't exactly where it needs to be. Some of these same players can get there with more work.
 
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I'm just glad he didn't say "we're close. We just have to execute better."
Right, so refreshing that he admits we're not even close! I am also encouraged by the improvment in Kalu. I think he looks like he can be outstanding. He was robbed at Illinois which changes that game.
 
I like what he says. Much of it is the same thing you'll hear from every defensive coordinator. No DC is going to say they're going to be passive, play soft, etc. His honest comments about not being close and needing to upgrade are refreshing. The big question is...can be deliver?
 
Nothing in his career makes me think he is suddenly going to figure out how to field an elite defense. He has plenty of experience - mostly with average to below average defenses statistically. I am very concerned going forward that Banker will be the albatross around Riley's neck that ends his tenure in Lincoln.
 
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I thought the DB's played a better game against Michigan State. Lots of plays where the pass had to be perfect to get through coverage, and unfortunately at times it was.

The single biggest Achilles heal on this defense is the inability to get to the QB.

My own take is staying with the same (4) guys has proven to not be working.

If it was me, I'd take my chances with:

McMullen
Collins
Valentine
Maurice

....and instead of sending the DE's to try to get outside, I'd be trying to crush the pocket.

On a technique level, the other thing I really want to see is the DL getting their hands up once they get stood up. There have been a lot of low balls just over their heads this year that could've been knocked down if they got their hands up.

On to Rutgers!


M.
 
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It's easy for QBs to have confidence to pick apart our secondary when they have no fear of our pass rush. That piece can make a huge difference for our defense. When you combine that with our short yardage run D you'll have a pretty salty unit, even without an improved secondary.
 
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i thought our CB played much better against MSU--but anytime you give ANY QB, let alone someone like Conner Cook, some time he will throw strikes. Our safety play, in terms of adjusting to what the corners do, could stand some improvement.
 
Nothing in his career makes me think he is suddenly going to figure out how to field an elite defense. He has plenty of experience - mostly with average to below average defenses statistically. I am very concerned going forward that Banker will be the albatross around Riley's neck that ends his tenure in Lincoln.

I considered Banker an iffy hire, but I won't go so far to say as "nothing in his career". We can look at what he's done here. He's had a Top 15 run defense pretty much all year long, in a transition year, on a roster that starts two walk-on DE's or a frosh converted TE when he's healthy, and had 3 LB's on the roster 6 months ago. That's a pretty radical turn around, and should give pretty good confidence that when we build more depth and more talent, we can keep up the "stop the run" mantra.

The pass defense gives cause for concern, but even a lights out defensive team *that runs the exact same scheme* in MSU is having DB problems in year 9 of Dantonio. This would indicate to me that its probably too early to judge the development of our secondary as experience seems to be the key driver of success in the back 4.
 
Nothing in his career makes me think he is suddenly going to figure out how to field an elite defense. He has plenty of experience - mostly with average to below average defenses statistically. I am very concerned going forward that Banker will be the albatross around Riley's neck that ends his tenure in Lincoln.

I am in the same boat as you on this one. It looks like his best defense was in 2007. They were #8 in Total D, #33 in Scoring D, #1 in Rush D and #37 in Pass D. In 2012 his defense was in the top 30 in all of those categories. Most of the other years you are looking at ratings in the 80-100 range across the board. Not really the consistency you want to see.
 
I guess my biggest concern about the defensive system is that if it requires superstars in the backfield, our defense is only going to be as good as the recruits we get. Some years we may be lights out, and other years we're going to be really bad. Maybe that's true of all systems, but it seems like this is really dependent upon that.
 
I am in the same boat as you on this one. It looks like his best defense was in 2007. They were #8 in Total D, #33 in Scoring D, #1 in Rush D and #37 in Pass D. In 2012 his defense was in the top 30 in all of those categories. Most of the other years you are looking at ratings in the 80-100 range across the board. Not really the consistency you want to see.
I chalk that up to the OSU roller coaster. Time will tell who's right.
 
I will say, I do prefer the top 15 pass D consistanly, and get the right players to play DB moving forward. Add a rush and that can contain when needed, and the defensive backs will look a lot better.
 
I chalk that up to the OSU roller coaster. Time will tell who's right.

Me too. Iowa State under McCarney was good here and there, but ISU never became a KSU level of consistency. Lots of non-football power schools exhibit this.
 
The pass defense gives cause for concern, but even a lights out defensive team *that runs the exact same scheme* in MSU is having DB problems in year 9 of Dantonio.
Year 1 without Narduzzi.

Honest question for anyone that knows, is this the first year Bankers has used the quarters coverage?
 
Year 1 without Narduzzi.

Honest question for anyone that knows, is this the first year Bankers has used the quarters coverage?

They did lose Narduzzi who is a good coach. But losing the coach doesn't mean the scheme is automagically schiit either. Nor does it address the fact that the upper guys in their system were around for a few years of Narduzzi to begin with.

I believe the answer to your question is no. Quite a lot recently has been made of Dantonio and staff talking defense with the OSU staff a couple years ago. Hard to believe they only talked run scheme.
 
The front 7 gives up a play or two now and again, but overall they perform pretty well for as banged up as they have been. If we could get decent secondary play, we'd be a real force to be reckoned with.

This is just by my unprofessional eye.
I remember Riley stating during the run up to spring practice that corners are "gold." They are key to this defence in combination with an effective pass rush. I actually think we have the guys at corner, but it is going to take time. I remember the BYU game--their first TD--I think it was Kalu who lost inside leverage and just for a tenth of a second it looked to me like he thought ok, I have underneath (inside) help I am fine. That uncertainty resulted in a TD. That is all it takes. But I think at this point the real problem is an effective pass rush as we saw in the last play of Saturday's game, where an effective pass rush and tight coverage forced a very good QB into a toss out of bounds. I am hopeful but we will still see some big plays in the next few weeks that will be frustrating. But I Agee with you that we do have potential to be a good BIG defence over time.
 
I thought the DB's played a better game against Michigan State. Lots of plays where the pass had to be perfect to get through coverage, and unfortunately at times it was.

The single biggest Achilles heal on this defense is the inability to get to the QB.

My own take is staying with the same (4) guys has proven to not be working.

If it was me, I'd take my chances with:

McMullen
Collins
Valentine
Maurice

....and instead of sending the DE's to try to get outside, I'd be trying to crush the pocket.

On a technique level, the other thing I really want to see is the DL getting their hands up once they get stood up. There have been a lot of low balls just over their heads this year that could've been knocked down if they got their hands up.

On to Rutgers!


M.

Good stuff here. I'm excited to see this defense after a couple recruiting classes are inked.
 
Good stuff here. I'm excited to see this defense after a couple recruiting classes are inked.

The DB play was noticeably better at times to me vs MSU as well. Jones in particular has come along. There's more than a little truth to Gerry's statement about "guys are just making perfect throws on some of these".
 
I'm likely in the minority, but I like his scheme. If we had some difference makers at the DE position, this D improves significantly.
 
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The DB play was noticeably better at times to me vs MSU as well. Jones in particular has come along. There's more than a little truth to Gerry's statement about "guys are just making perfect throws on some of these".

Agreed. And just wait until we can actually generate a pass rush. It's going to be an entirely different picture.
 
I don't know why he just don't come out and say "my belief is to stop the run game and make them beat us with the pass". That is obviously his mindset as we don't have a pass rush (more speed at DE would help) and he leaves the corners on an island to defend much better athletes at WR.

As for his saying, we are always looking to upgrade the talent, I think that is kind of a crappy thing to say and degrades what we currently have (which no we don't have elite talent but as a coach you don't say that). No wonder these kids haven't bought into the system yet.
 
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