I thought it was injuries and suspensions??
Look, I'm the first to say that I'd just as soon see the Cane gone. That being said, this defense ISNT on him. He isn't the RC and he wasn't the one making these decisions. He wasn't the ones taking DEs instead of DTs and OLB instead of inside LBs after we missed on our inside LBs (Mack Wilson is definitely coming bc he loves Mac /bowl). Shannon didn't hire HIS clueless buddy to handle the S&C program that was supposed to grow those DEs into DTs and OLBs into ILBs.
The LBs suck this year. They sure as hell didn't last year though did they? Even when the first two got hurt, Johnson and Reese stepped up and played well.
Now? They are getting sucked up into the line instead of scraping, stuff kids get taught in middle school. Why? I don't know but they didn't do it under RS (same kids) but now they are doing it under Skipper.
I've seen RS defenses for decades. They will be sound if not somewhat conservative. Not my cup of tea but it was primarily Butters' recruiting that got us here, not RS.
RS also provides a calming influence to our players, who are in a rough spot.
Let's see where it goes.