Football Robb Smith named DC

Block R

All-Conference
Jan 28, 2004
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It will be interesting to see what he gets paid.
My suspicion is he was returning to RU this season regardless but his role was in question. I don't think he was plan A or plan B for the DC spot so my guess is his salary will be on the lower side, closer to what Buh was making than what Gleeson is getting paid.
 
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sct1111

All-American
Nov 30, 2014
6,115
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AC had to have been offered a co-coordinator or assistant head coach role with increased salary. It's really the only way I could see him turning the offer down.
 

Knightmoves

Heisman
Jul 31, 2001
30,475
16,385
113
If Smith can recruit Texas A&M and Minnesota recruits for us I’ll be happy. We have plenty of other recruiters on staff and don’t need him to be a top recruiter.

Smith understands and will be on board with Greg’s defensive philosophy. That makes it a good hire in my book.

But some of our fans will want to nitpick his resume because he’s not a sexy choice. That’s what they do.
 

Yeah Baby

All-American
Aug 14, 2001
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I'm underwhelmed by the hire and I fear that some recruits may be as well. But I hope to be, and look forward to being, proven completely wrong about that.

The good news is that the DC hire, while important, was nowhere near as critical as the OC hire, given Schiano's long experience as a defensive-side coach. And Smith should get better w/Schiano's tutelage.
You’re the guy that always wants to be proven wrong. Lmao
 

Laurentdalmeida

Redshirt
Jan 16, 2017
180
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If Smith can recruit Texas A&M and Minnesota recruits for us I’ll be happy. We have plenty of other recruiters on staff and don’t need him to be a top recruiter.

Smith understands and will be on board with Greg’s defensive philosophy. That makes it a good hire in my book.

But some of our fans will want to nitpick his resume because he’s not a sexy choice. That’s what they do.


Yoi really think rob can recruit Minnesota? Hahs he couldn't even recruit Minnesota while here. Fleck & wr coach, Minnesota guy recruited Minnesota
 

Ole Cabbagehead

All-American
Apr 21, 2011
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ITT Lots of people trying to pump sunshine. Look, it is what it is. Be happy that the most underwhelming hire, by far: (1) is at a position GS is capable of handling on his own, (2) has experience calling plays so can handle that duty; and (3) is at a position where GS will have no problem attracting a quality candidate in the future.

This is not on the same planet as Ash-Mehringer.
 

RU4Real

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
50,955
30,733
0
ITT Lots of people trying to pump sunshine. Look, it is what it is. Be happy that the most underwhelming hire, by far: (1) is at a position GS is capable of handling on his own, (2) has experience calling plays so can handle that duty; and (3) is at a position where GS will have no problem attracting a quality candidate in the future.

This is not on the same planet as Ash-Mehringer.

Preach.
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
88,689
86,686
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Yoi really think rob can recruit Minnesota? Hahs he couldn't even recruit Minnesota while here. Fleck & wr coach, Minnesota guy recruited Minnesota
OK then. Schiano and Fran Brown will recruit Minnesota for Rutgers.
After all, PJ thinks Schiano is one of the greatest coaches, and he owes his entire coaching career to Greg. :ThumbsUp

 
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Full Measures

Heisman
Jun 14, 2013
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Hope it works out for you guys. When he was initially hired at MN, the concerns were how his D's seemed to get progressively worse at Arky. At the time their fans expressed no love loss by his departure. Then he came to MN and the same thing happened. His defenses got worse and became a mess at times prior to his termination. As mentioned ITT, Rossi became the new DC and the rest was history. Fleck used terminology like 'we need to simplify' the defense. Same players. Same season. Much better results overnight. MN fans (myself included) were left scratching our heads. Proceed with caution.
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
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AC had to have been offered a co-coordinator or assistant head coach role with increased salary. It's really the only way I could see him turning the offer down.
Maybe. Or maybe he just didn’t want to deal with the move at this time for personal reasons and he figures staying at UM will be a perfectly good, very low risk, springboard to his next job (which is probably true).

Maybe he’ll end up here in a couple years anyway. You never know.
 

chase07470

All-American
Oct 16, 2010
10,118
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I'm underwhelmed by the hire and I fear that some recruits may be as well. But I hope to be, and look forward to being, proven completely wrong about that.

The good news is that the DC hire, while important, was nowhere near as critical as the OC hire, given Schiano's long experience as a defensive-side coach. And Smith should get better w/Schiano's tutelage.
Any defensive has plenty to be excited about with Schiano as HC. It's possible a DC could add to that recruiting juice but since the Michigan Man spent three years here and didn't recruit anyone of note, he wasn't a guy that was going to move that needle, anyway.

We're better off with Smith, he and Schiano have chemistry something that may not have worked as well with Michigan Man.
 
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chase07470

All-American
Oct 16, 2010
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Hope it works out for you guys. When he was initially hired at MN, the concerns were how his D's seemed to get progressively worse at Arky. At the time their fans expressed no love loss by his departure. Then he came to MN and the same thing happened. His defenses got worse and became a mess at times prior to his termination. As mentioned ITT, Rossi became the new DC and the rest was history. Fleck used terminology like 'we need to simplify' the defense. Same players. Same season. Much better results overnight. MN fans (myself included) were left scratching our heads. Proceed with caution.
Probably our most dominant and entertaining defense was 2012 with Rob Smith at the helm, so we Rutgers fans have fond memories of Smith. With Schiano next to him, he will have a lot more support and management than PJ is capable of providing.
 

hoquat63

All-Conference
Mar 17, 2005
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Hope it works out for you guys. When he was initially hired at MN, the concerns were how his D's seemed to get progressively worse at Arky. At the time their fans expressed no love loss by his departure. Then he came to MN and the same thing happened. His defenses got worse and became a mess at times prior to his termination. As mentioned ITT, Rossi became the new DC and the rest was history. Fleck used terminology like 'we need to simplify' the defense. Same players. Same season. Much better results overnight. MN fans (myself included) were left scratching our heads. Proceed with caution.
What was the quality of the teams played pre and post firing?
 

rufeelinit

All-Conference
May 16, 2010
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If I recall correctly similar quotes were thrown out about GS when he left OSU. Hafley came in and simplified things and just let the players talent shine whereas previously they were thought to be thinking too much about their roles in complex schemes. Hmmm...
 

BigWill

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
53,491
31,972
113
Minny went from some experienced players on the roster to one of, if not the youngest rosters in football the following year he was fired by Rowwy.

2 years later the kids are not teenagers anymore and their O was functioning at a very high level.

Knowing that he has called the defenses in now RU, Arky, and RowBoat is a HUGE plus.
 
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Laurentdalmeida

Redshirt
Jan 16, 2017
180
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Minny went from some experienced players on the roster to one of, if not the youngest rosters in football the following year he was fired by Rowwy.

2 years later the kids are not teenagers anymore and their O was functioning at a very high level.

Knowing that he has called the defenses in now RU, Arky, and RowBoat is a HUGE plus.

Loom at Nebraska, Illinois, northwestern, Maryland games! He wasn't teaching fundamentals tackling or putting the players in the right system to succeed. Gophers under him in terms of defense were out of place, not at right place to make a tackle
 

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
19,270
13,695
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Looking at the departures of personnel from Minnesota and Arkansas between his first and second years:

2015 - Defense lost half the two deep on the front 7 including 3 starters (2 most productive linemen, most productive LB). Also lost their starting FS. All vs. the 7th best SoS (per sports-reference.com, at least).

2018 - Lost 3 of the top 5 linemen, and 4 of the top 9 in the secondary - at least per Bill Conelly's SBNation 2018 season preview.

So it looks like departures were at least a factor in his 2nd seasons with both Arky and Minny.
 

DHajekRC84

Heisman
Aug 9, 2001
30,709
19,818
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With all of that assist. Money we sure seem to have a lot of the old schiano group back.
I thought the two critical things we we're gonna spend cash on and get were a top notch oc (seemed to get) and the same for a DC...(not sure).
If this guy really doesn't like to recruit we could gave kept Ash as DC and saved A TON of cash since we're already paying him ( ).[roll]
 
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koleszar

Heisman
Jan 1, 2010
37,372
58,719
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He doesn't recruit, guy just won't do it. He's been fired from his last two jobs for under performance. This stinks of Schiano hiring based solely on familiarity. I think the last guy used that strategy.

 
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Scoutnmayo

Sophomore
Oct 6, 2012
238
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Richard Schnyderite wrote: "When he was here last, he had some great numbers. His defense was fourth in the country in points against per game (14.2ppg) and managed to record 25 sacks, 18 interceptions, force three fumbles and score two touchdowns...Rutgers ranked first in the country in blocked kicks (31 total)."

So let's hope he can get some of this done again. Nothing like a blocked kick or an interception to get the crowd going.
 
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Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
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Minny went from some experienced players on the roster to one of, if not the youngest rosters in football the following year he was fired by Rowwy.

2 years later the kids are not teenagers anymore and their O was functioning at a very high level.

Knowing that he has called the defenses in now RU, Arky, and RowBoat is a HUGE plus.
You could say the same thing about Andy Buh, having been the DC at Cal, Maryland, Nevada and Rutgers. Would anybody be crowing about landing him as a DC? No. This does not mean the same thing applies to Smith, however, being fired at his two last stops should give one some pause.
 
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Caliknight

Hall of Famer
Sep 21, 2001
196,498
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With all of that assist. Money we sure seem to have a lot of the old schiano group back.
I thought the two critical things we we're gonna spend cash on and get were a top notch oc (seemed to get) and the same for a DC...(not sure).
If this guy really doesn't like to recruit we could gave kept Ash as DC and saved A TON of cash since we're already paying him ( ).

Ash would have to agree to be the DC, which he most assuredly would not agree to.
 

MADHAT1

Heisman
Apr 1, 2003
31,466
16,291
113
I'm underwhelmed by the hire and I fear that some recruits may be as well. But I hope to be, and look forward to being, proven completely wrong about that.

The good news is that the DC hire, while important, was nowhere near as critical as the OC hire, given Schiano's long experience as a defensive-side coach. And Smith should get better w/Schiano's tutelage.
Actually we can expect Schiano to be overseeing the D and Robb following Greg's game-day strategy.

As for recruiting defensive players, expect
Fran Brown and Jim Panagos to do the heavy lifting with Greg as the closer
with Smith being more into getting the most out of the defensive players by working with their position coaches to get them ready to play B1G football at a B1G level.
Bob Fraser the same, not the greatest recruiter, but good at helping bring out talent in the players he coaches.
 

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
19,270
13,695
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Smith Defense:
MD, IA, OSU, N, IU, IL (1-5 during that stretch) Opp Ave - 44.3 ppg
Post Firing/Rossi Defense:
PU, NW, Wisky, GA Tech (3-1) Opp Ave - 12.25 ppg

One thing, too, was how often the Minnesota offense turned the ball over in those games, putting the defense back on the field.
vs. that first stretch, they gave up MD (3), IA (4), OSU (3), N (1), IU (4), IL (2) (2.8 tov/game)
vs. that second stretch, they gave up PU (1), NW (3), Wisky (0), GA Tech (0) (1.0 tov/game... and they lost the one game with more than 1 tov)

They also switched QBs from Annexstad to Morgan between the Nebraska and Indiana games, and the defense lost star safety Antoine Winfield in game 4 vs. MD.

Still, no excuse for the defense's performance in that Illinois game. Just got gashed by huge plays - allowed 4 TDs on plays of 67 yards or more.
 

MADHAT1

Heisman
Apr 1, 2003
31,466
16,291
113
His resume is a mixed bag. I'm not too torn up about losing Anthony--at the very beginning of this new era there was a thread about whether Fran or Anthony would be a better choice as DC, and I (along with a majority of others) thought Fran would be the better pick because Anthony's recruiting prowess was somewhat redundant with his brother's. It was a nice dalliance, briefly thinking we might be able to have both. But in the end I still think we got the most important guy.

Hopefully Smith regains the form from his good years. I'd agree that recruiting wise he is one of the only underwhelming additions we've made. But we got Gleeson, we got Fran, we got several well-connected position coaches... I think we're still in great shape.
With all the disappointment about Anthony staying at Michigan and not taking the RU DC position.
Let's not forget being DC is more than recruiting and Anthony left BC as a co-DC
to take the Wolverine's LB coaching position.
I know some say it was because being a co-DC at BC.
But I wonder if he left one step before being knocked down to a position coach like the other co-DC was after he left.

Schiano might have wanted him because of his recruiting more than DC ability and might not have gone all out to get him and Anthony might have known he would be DC in name only his first year under Schiano ( with Fraser unofficially helping)
 

MADHAT1

Heisman
Apr 1, 2003
31,466
16,291
113
My suspicion is he was returning to RU this season regardless but his role was in question. I don't think he was plan A or plan B for the DC spot so my guess is his salary will be on the lower side, closer to what Buh was making than what Gleeson is getting paid.
I was thinking Robb might be hired as the Special Teams Coordinator. But also felt Greg might have him on the list of DC possible hires
 
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RU#1fan

Heisman
Mar 7, 2003
23,587
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If Smith can recruit Texas A&M and Minnesota recruits for us I’ll be happy. We have plenty of other recruiters on staff and don’t need him to be a top recruiter.

Smith understands and will be on board with Greg’s defensive philosophy. That makes it a good hire in my book.

But some of our fans will want to nitpick his resume because he’s not a sexy choice. That’s what they do.

I guess settling for less is good with you.