Wither Minter?

Irish fans have been gnashing their teeth over the play of Rick Minter's defense this year. The Irish defense has repeatedly given up deep passes to the likes of Tedd Ginn Jr., Mario Manningham, and Selwyn Lymon over the past two seasons. The Irish rank 91 in pass defense this year and 69 in passing efficiency.They rank 88 in scoring defense, and 79 against the run. Is Rick Minter the problem?

On one hand, a compelling argument can be made against Minter. The defense is not performing well. There is no debate about that. They have been statistically very poor, and their inability to prevent deep passes has been very alarming.

More alarming was a recent comment made by strong safety Tom Zbikowski. In a recent press conference, Zbikowski said that the Irish have struggled in the first half because the defense reacts to the offense in the first half. He said that ND's defensive coaches are very good at making adjustments, which explains why their play improves as the game wears on. However, this brings up an intriguing question. Couldn't first half defense be improved through better film study, game planning and preparation?

On the other hand, Minter is coaching a defense that has to compensate for undersized linebackers. This forces the safeties to cheat forward to help out on run defense. When the safeties have to keep one eye on the linebackers, they are succeptible to long passes. Rick Minter is a Monte Kiffin disciple and would like to be able to play Tampa 2 like the Bears, Colts, and Buccaneers. They were the top three teams in NFL scoring defense last year. However, Tampa 2 requires strength up the middle and quick pass rushers, which he does not have. Instead, he is forced to compensate for his defenses inadequacies through unconventional scheme selection.

There is something to be sadi for both sides of the argument. However, the most important thing to keep in mind is that Charlie Weis was one of the best minds in the NFL, and he demands success. Whether Weis keeps or retains Minter at the end of the season, his actions will have told us which school of thought was correct.