• The KillerFrogs

joe gillespie and the broken toy defense

Eight

Member
when i was a kid my absolute favorite toys were the building toys, legos, lincoln logs, and the erector sets, loved them and had them all.

the one problem with all of those is invariably you are going to lose a few pieces, the dog chews up part of your stuff, or your dad accidentally steps on the erector set project you are working on and leave out over night bending a few key pieces out of shape not that any of those ever happened in my childhood home

my mom was and is a neat freak and there was a card board box in my bedroom that was labeled in big letters "broken toys" even though very few of the contents of that box were actually broken, the contents were actually a mishmash of the various incomplete sets, chewed up legos, bent erector pieces etc.... funny part is that there was a point as a kid that if you gave me a new set of legos or the others or i could build whatever i wanted out of that box of "broken toys' i just the broken toys because the fun to me was creating something out of that box

most likely what i made from those random pieces looked a great deal more like the collage i made in 3rd grade for my mom as the christmas present that mysteriously disappeared shortly after new year's that year than a house or car or crane or whatever, but in the end those "broken toys' did their job by entertaining me, keeping me occupied, and growing my imagination

when sonny dykes took over this program and announced his new staff the discussion of how the tcu defensive personnel would fit in joe gillespie's 3-3-5 popped up early and watching the frogs struggle at times early against colorado and smu were a bit concerning.

throughout it all we saw and heard the same calm voice of joe gillespie, we heard about an emphasis and execution, and fundamentals. the defense has continually rotated players on all three levels and something strange has started to happen on the defensive side of the ball.

not only have we seen a defense that has started to take over games, but also show some depth and i think that has gone a very long way in how the frogs' defense has played, especially the last two weeks. the staff of gillespie, mcfarland, buckels, and gonzales plus their support staff has done a great job bringing this group along

consider just from a personnel side where this group started last spring when the transition process for players such as terrell cooper, george ellis iii, colt ellision, dee winters, jamoi hodges, wyatt harris, shadrach banks, zach marcheselli, th-t, noah daniels, kee'yon stewart, abe camara, nook bradford, and bud clark

holdovers from a defense that was ranked 9th in conference play in 6 different categories including rushing ypc at 6.0 and 8th in 3 others.

gillespie and his staff hit the transfer portal and did bring in help, but look where this help came from:

johnny hodges - navy
mark perry - colorado
ish burdine - missouri
namdi obiazor - iowa western juco
josh newton - ulm
tymon mitchell - uga
caleb fox - sfa
lwal ugak - uconn

one guy coming from a defense that had been successful, one that you would want the frogs to mirror that success and mitechell didn't get many snaps there

finally add a really young, defensive line recruit from socal who not many of the recruiting experts gave a second thought too in dam williams and you have a pretty good collection of broken toys. guys with traits and potential that needed to be developed, put in the right places, taught the right techniques, and guys who have pushed each other

if you had to guess, what is the number of defensive categories the frogs are ranked in the top 5 in conference play this year?

looking at the big 12 statistics the frogs are ranked in the top 5 in ever single defensive category this year in conference play and top 2 or 3 in many of them.

here is the breakdown through 7 games:

scoring defense - 4th at 26.9 ppg (1st is isu at 20.0)
total defense - 2nd at 378.9 ypg (1st is isu at 300.1)
rushing ypg - 3rd at 149.3 (1st is isu at 124.6)
rushing ypc - 3rd at 4.0 (1st is isu at 3.4)
passing ypg - 3rd at 229.6 (1st is isu at 175.6)
passing efficiency - 1st at 118.4
sacks - tied for 2nd at 16 (1st is texas at 18)
opponent 1st downs - 2nd at 19.6 (1st is isu at 16.1)
opponent 3rd down conversion - 3rd at 31.7% (1st is isu at 30.4%)
opponent 4th down conversion - 4th at 45.5% (1st is 27.8%)
red zone defense - 5th at 84.6% (1st is texas at 75.8%)

funny how far off perception can be from the actual results because based upon those numbers joe gillespie, his staff, the players have put together one of the better defenses in the big 12 and last saturday night in austin wasn't apparently something that just came out of nowhere but been building for some time
 
Last edited:

Wexahu

Full Member
Texas Tech was 3 of 16 on third down.
Texas was 1 of 13.
So 4 of 29 on 3rd down for the last 2 game.
Is that in1985 Bears territory?
Don't overextend on the rush and create running lanes for the QB (or RBs for that matter), flood the intermediate zones with defenders, and don't give up big plays. Most college QBs like to either 1) throw to receivers that they see are open or 2) take off running when they can't find that open guy. And most college QBs aren't very good at throwing a ball to a spot that will be open. It's hard to get guys open when there are 7-8 in coverage, and as long as teams line up in shotgun every play, a "power" running game can be contained with 3 down lineman.

In very simple terms, I think that is the genius of the 3-3-5 scheme.
 

HornyWartyToad

Active Member
when i was a kid my absolute favorite toys were the building toys, legos, lincoln logs, and the erector sets, loved them and had them all.

the one problem with all of those is invariably you are going to lose a few pieces, the dog chews up part of your stuff, or your dad accidentally steps on the erector set project you are working on and leave out over night bending a few key pieces out of shape not that any of those ever happened in my childhood home

my mom was and is a neat freak and there was a card board box in my bedroom that was labeled in big letters "broken toys" even though very few of the contents of that box were actually broken, the contents were actually a mishmash of the various incomplete sets, chewed up legos, bent erector pieces etc.... funny part is that there was a point as a kid that if you gave me a new set of legos or the others or i could build whatever i wanted out of that box of "broken toys' i just the broken toys because the fun to me was creating something out of that box

most likely what i made from those random pieces looked a great deal more like the collage i made in 3rd grade for my mom as the christmas present that mysteriously disappeared shortly after new year's that year than a house or car or crane or whatever, but in the end those "broken toys' did their job by entertaining me, keeping me occupied, and growing my imagination

when sonny dykes took over this program and announced his new staff the discussion of how the tcu defensive personnel would fit in joe gillespie's 3-3-5 popped up early and watching the frogs struggle at times early against colorado and smu were a bit concerning.

throughout it all we saw and heard the same calm voice of joe gillespie, we heard about an emphasis and execution, and fundamentals. the defense has continually rotated players on all three levels and something strange has started to happen on the defensive side of the ball.

not only have we seen a defense that has started to take over games, but also show some depth and i think that has gone a very long way in how the frogs' defense has played, especially the last two weeks. the staff of gillespie, mcfarland, buckels, and gonzales plus their support staff has done a great job bringing this group along

consider just from a personnel side where this group started last spring when the transition process for players such as terrell cooper, george ellis iii, colt ellision, dee winters, jamoi hodges, wyatt harris, shadrach banks, zach marcheselli, th-t, noah daniels, kee'yon stewart, abe camara, nook bradford, and bud clark

holdovers from a defense that was ranked 9th in conference play in 6 different categories including rushing ypc at 6.0 and 8th in 3 others.

gillespie and his staff hit the transfer portal and did bring in help, but look where this help came from:

johnny hodges - navy
mark perry - colorado
ish burdine - missouri
namdi obiazor - iowa western juco
josh newton - ulm
tymon mitchell - uga
caleb fox - sfa
lwal ugak - uconn

one guy coming from a defense that had been successful, one that you would want the frogs to mirror that success and mitechell didn't get many snaps there

finally add a really young, defensive line recruit from socal who not many of the recruiting experts gave a second thought too in dam williams and you have a pretty good collection of broken toys. guys with traits and potential that needed to be developed, put in the right places, taught the right techniques, and guys who have pushed each other

if you had to guess, what is the number of defensive categories the frogs are ranked in the top 5 in conference play this year?

looking at the big 12 statistics the frogs are ranked in the top 5 in ever single defensive category this year in conference play and top 2 or 3 in many of them.

here is the breakdown through 7 games:

scoring defense - 4th at 26.9 ppg (1st is isu at 20.0)
total defense - 2nd at 378.9 ypg (1st is isu at 300.1)
rushing ypg - 3rd at 149.3 (1st is isu at 124.6)
rushing ypc - 3rd at 4.0 (1st is isu at 3.4)
passing ypg - 3rd at 229.6 (1st is isu at 175.6)
passing efficiency - 1st at 118.4
sacks - tied for 2nd at 16 (1st is texas at 18)
opponent 1st downs - 2nd at 19.6 (1st is isu at 16.1)
opponent 3rd down conversion - 3rd at 31.7% (1st is isu at 30.4%)
opponent 4th down conversion - 4th at 45.5% (1st is 27.8%)
red zone defense - 5th at 84.6% (1st is texas at 75.8%)

funny how far off perception can be from the actual results because based upon those numbers joe gillespie, his staff, the players have put together one of the better defenses in the big 12 and last friday night in austin wasn't apparently something that just came out of nowhere but been building for some time
Clever analogy- Coincidentally, there's a recent episode of Blue Bloods where there is a somewhat secretive NYPD unit referred to as the Broken Toys. They are the cops who get sent to quietly hammer the worst of the bad guys. Sort of dovetails. :)
 

Hoosierfrog

Tier 1
when i was a kid my absolute favorite toys were the building toys, legos, lincoln logs, and the erector sets, loved them and had them all.

the one problem with all of those is invariably you are going to lose a few pieces, the dog chews up part of your stuff, or your dad accidentally steps on the erector set project you are working on and leave out over night bending a few key pieces out of shape not that any of those ever happened in my childhood home

my mom was and is a neat freak and there was a card board box in my bedroom that was labeled in big letters "broken toys" even though very few of the contents of that box were actually broken, the contents were actually a mishmash of the various incomplete sets, chewed up legos, bent erector pieces etc.... funny part is that there was a point as a kid that if you gave me a new set of legos or the others or i could build whatever i wanted out of that box of "broken toys' i just the broken toys because the fun to me was creating something out of that box

most likely what i made from those random pieces looked a great deal more like the collage i made in 3rd grade for my mom as the christmas present that mysteriously disappeared shortly after new year's that year than a house or car or crane or whatever, but in the end those "broken toys' did their job by entertaining me, keeping me occupied, and growing my imagination

when sonny dykes took over this program and announced his new staff the discussion of how the tcu defensive personnel would fit in joe gillespie's 3-3-5 popped up early and watching the frogs struggle at times early against colorado and smu were a bit concerning.

throughout it all we saw and heard the same calm voice of joe gillespie, we heard about an emphasis and execution, and fundamentals. the defense has continually rotated players on all three levels and something strange has started to happen on the defensive side of the ball.

not only have we seen a defense that has started to take over games, but also show some depth and i think that has gone a very long way in how the frogs' defense has played, especially the last two weeks. the staff of gillespie, mcfarland, buckels, and gonzales plus their support staff has done a great job bringing this group along

consider just from a personnel side where this group started last spring when the transition process for players such as terrell cooper, george ellis iii, colt ellision, dee winters, jamoi hodges, wyatt harris, shadrach banks, zach marcheselli, th-t, noah daniels, kee'yon stewart, abe camara, nook bradford, and bud clark

holdovers from a defense that was ranked 9th in conference play in 6 different categories including rushing ypc at 6.0 and 8th in 3 others.

gillespie and his staff hit the transfer portal and did bring in help, but look where this help came from:

johnny hodges - navy
mark perry - colorado
ish burdine - missouri
namdi obiazor - iowa western juco
josh newton - ulm
tymon mitchell - uga
caleb fox - sfa
lwal ugak - uconn

one guy coming from a defense that had been successful, one that you would want the frogs to mirror that success and mitechell didn't get many snaps there

finally add a really young, defensive line recruit from socal who not many of the recruiting experts gave a second thought too in dam williams and you have a pretty good collection of broken toys. guys with traits and potential that needed to be developed, put in the right places, taught the right techniques, and guys who have pushed each other

if you had to guess, what is the number of defensive categories the frogs are ranked in the top 5 in conference play this year?

looking at the big 12 statistics the frogs are ranked in the top 5 in ever single defensive category this year in conference play and top 2 or 3 in many of them.

here is the breakdown through 7 games:

scoring defense - 4th at 26.9 ppg (1st is isu at 20.0)
total defense - 2nd at 378.9 ypg (1st is isu at 300.1)
rushing ypg - 3rd at 149.3 (1st is isu at 124.6)
rushing ypc - 3rd at 4.0 (1st is isu at 3.4)
passing ypg - 3rd at 229.6 (1st is isu at 175.6)
passing efficiency - 1st at 118.4
sacks - tied for 2nd at 16 (1st is texas at 18)
opponent 1st downs - 2nd at 19.6 (1st is isu at 16.1)
opponent 3rd down conversion - 3rd at 31.7% (1st is isu at 30.4%)
opponent 4th down conversion - 4th at 45.5% (1st is 27.8%)
red zone defense - 5th at 84.6% (1st is texas at 75.8%)

funny how far off perception can be from the actual results because based upon those numbers joe gillespie, his staff, the players have put together one of the better defenses in the big 12 and last friday night in austin wasn't apparently something that just came out of nowhere but been building for some time
Calculate Rhett And Link GIF by Rooster Teeth
 

Rex Kramer

Active Member
Good work here. Can't help but notice ISU is first in many of these categories. Got to get through BU first, but it's a quality D coming to FW in two weeks.
 

Eight

Member
Dance Too Long Didnt Read GIF by Francisco Negrello

Seriously tho, nice info.

One thing that irks me this year is everyone saying that TCU is undefeated on the back of Gary's recruits. Offensively to a large degree, yes. Defensively, not at all. The other major piece, being young Domanic, was recruited and signed by this staff.

agreed, there is a core of prior players who have made a big impact on defense but consider the #1, 3, and 5 leading tacklers are all transfers

the 2nd defensive line at times recently has been ugak, mitchell, and fox and dam starts so 4 of 6 defensive linemen on the first 2 units.

pass defense newton has played well as has perry and obiazor
 

hiphopfroggy

Active Member
Gillespie is the LB whisperer and has coached these dudes into one of the best LB core in the nation.

Our D Coordinator, while at Tulsa took a 3 star with no P5 offers (Zaven Collins) and molded him into a Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award winner. Collins also won the Lombardi Award and was a 2021 1st rd draft pick (16th Arizona).

All you have to do to see the difference in LB units before/after Gillespie is watch the last 2 UT games, night and day, just ask Bijan.
 

Eight

Member
Good work here. Can't help but notice ISU is first in many of these categories. Got to get through BU first, but it's a quality D coming to FW in two weeks.

looking at their numbers they really have played well defensive this year, especially when you consider they struggle to run the ball and primarily

they have 5 conference losses by 7 points or less and the most points they have given in conference play to date is 27 to ou
 

Eight

Member
Gillespie is the LB whisperer and has coached these dudes into one of the best LB core in the nation.

Our D Coordinator, while at Tulsa took a 3 star with no P5 offers (Zaven Collins) and molded him into a Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award winner. Collins also won the Lombardi Award and was a 2021 1st rd draft pick (16th Arizona).

All you have to do to see the difference in LB units before/after Gillespie is watch the last 2 UT games, night and day, just ask Bijan.

agreed, and jeremy clark mentioned this on his podcast so i won't take credit for the idea, did anyone really notice dee winters being out in the first half?

shadrach played his arse off and hodges has really been coming on strong.

really interested what a healthy marcel brooks can do under gillespie and even moreso want to see jonathan bax get on campus with kaz and gillespie
 

Frog-in-law1995

Active Member
agreed, and jeremy clark mentioned this on his podcast so i won't take credit for the idea, did anyone really notice dee winters being out in the first half?

shadrach played his arse off and hodges has really been coming on strong.

really interested what a healthy marcel brooks can do under gillespie and even moreso want to see jonathan bax get on campus with kaz and gillespie
They scored more (3-0) with him out there in the second half. BENCH WINTERS!!
 
Don't overextend on the rush and create running lanes for the QB (or RBs for that matter), flood the intermediate zones with defenders, and don't give up big plays. Most college QBs like to either 1) throw to receivers that they see are open or 2) take off running when they can't find that open guy. And most college QBs aren't very good at throwing a ball to a spot that will be open. It's hard to get guys open when there are 7-8 in coverage, and as long as teams line up in shotgun every play, a "power" running game can be contained with 3 down lineman.

In very simple terms, I think that is the genius of the 3-3-5 scheme.
Noah Daniels? He has been hurt a lot but they said he had NFL level talent. He cannot seem to get on the field now.
 

Horned Toad

Active Member
Don't overextend on the rush and create running lanes for the QB (or RBs for that matter), flood the intermediate zones with defenders, and don't give up big plays. Most college QBs like to either 1) throw to receivers that they see are open or 2) take off running when they can't find that open guy. And most college QBs aren't very good at throwing a ball to a spot that will be open. It's hard to get guys open when there are 7-8 in coverage, and as long as teams line up in shotgun every play, a "power" running game can be contained with 3 down lineman.

In very simple terms, I think that is the genius of the 3-3-5 scheme.
Wex, thanks for that description. I’ve been trying to figure out the angles of the 3-3-5 and that explains it perfectly.
 
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