Hot Button: Is UGA’s Martinez a good defensive coordinator?
He's no Kevin Ramsey, but really, who is? (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
The answer to the above question depends on definition. If by “good” we mean, “Way better than Kevin Ramsey,” the answer is yes. If by “good” we mean “one of the finest defensive coordinators in the nation,” the answer is no.
Willie Martinez suffers most by immediate comparison to his predecessor. In 52 games under Brian VanGorder, Georgia yielded 30-plus points only in the 2003 SEC championship game against an LSU team that would win the BCS title. In 52 games under Martinez, Georgia has yielded 30-plus points 11 times.
The average score of a Georgia loss in four seasons under VanGorder was 21-12. Not once in any of the 10 losses with BVG as DC did the Bulldogs score 20 points themselves, meaning those defeats were more related to offensive failings. Now look:
The average score of a Georgia loss in four seasons under Martinez has been 32-23. Five times in those 12 losses the Bulldogs have scored 30-plus points, which means the offense has been holding up its end.
The offense has waxed and waned under Mark Richt. (Last season the Bulldogs ranked 22nd nationally in total offense, their best showing since finishing 21st in 2001.) The defense has slipped. In four seasons under VanGorder, Georgia ranked among the nation’s top 10 in total defense twice and scoring defense three times. In four seasons under Martinez, the Bulldogs have ranked among the nation’s top 10 in those categories once apiece.
Over time, the yardage figures are almost congruent. Opponents averaged 305 yards per game against BVG’s D; they’ve averaged 302 against WM’s. What has changed is more problematic:
Georgia now has to score big to win, and that’s a tough way to travel. Forty-two points weren’t enough to beat Georgia Tech last season, and 41 wouldn’t have been enough to beat Alabama or 49 sufficient to unhorse Florida. And before we dismiss 2008 as a function of injuries and penalties and suchlike, let’s note the Bullogs lost 31-30 to Auburn and 38-35 to West Virginia in 2005 and 51-33 to Tennessee in 2006.
In two of the biggest victories of the post-VanGorder era, Georgia beat Florida 42-30 in 2007 and LSU 52-38 last season. The Bulldogs used to win because their defense served as a safety net. They now work without that net.
Loading ...Martinez’s defenders — not to be confused with the men who play his defense — say his units make key stops (against Kentucky and Auburn last season, for example) and that he plays the defense Richt wants played. But it’s tough to imagine any head coach prefers a defense that collapses periodically, and it’s difficult to argue that, given Georgia’s gaudy rankings every single Signing Day, this coordinator is working without talent.
The aforementioned Ramsey lasted one season (1999) as Jim Donnan’s defensive coordinator. His undoing was a 38-21 loss to an Auburn team that entered Sanford Stadium 4-5 but led 31-0 at the half. (Quarterback Ben Leard passed for 416 yards that bizarre night.) Bulldog fans take pride in both their stadium and their history of stalwart defense, and they filed out early on Nov. 13, 1999 believing that hadn’t ever seen and wouldn’t again see such a thing.
On Sept. 27, 2008, Alabama scored on five consecutive possessions against the nation’s No. 3 team. The halftime score in Athens was 31-0.
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353 comments Add your comment
observor
August 27th, 2009
1:07 pm
Martinez is a border line brain dead water head. I would rather have Forrest Gump running the defense then that hopeless and incompetent moron Martinez.
Okefenokee Dawg
August 27th, 2009
1:07 pm
Improvement in special teams would help the defense greatly.
ButtsMehreSniffer
August 27th, 2009
1:09 pm
Just to be clear, CWM does not get any of the heat for the boneheaded punt decision against Boston College, right? That was totally CMR’s stupid decision, right?
BoiseDawg
August 27th, 2009
1:10 pm
Rufus1 Why don’t you try and accomplish 2 in a row before you start blabbing about 4 in a row.
Also to Georgia fans that think Martinez is a terrible DC… doesn’t Richt and Bobo have top 10 talent on offense to work with every year, yet 21 is our best finish? I feel like I am beating a dead horse here… believe me I want a much better defense than what we had last year, but lets not blame Martinez for all of Georgia’s failures. Our defense looked pretty darn good in October and November of 2007, lets hope we can get it back to that level in 2009.
dan
August 27th, 2009
1:12 pm
“And before we dismiss 2008 as a function of injuries and penalties and suchlike, let’s note the Bullogs lost 31-30 to Auburn and 38-35 to West Virginia in 2005 and 51-33 to Tennessee in 2006.”
Mark, the losses to West Virginia and Tennessee were related to turnovers and blocked punts. That’s not to say the defense played well, but when you get punts blocked in endzones, and fumbles within the 20 yard line, they’ll score on you quick leading to inflated scores that don’t tell the whole story.
“In two of the biggest victories of the post-VanGorder era, Georgia beat Florida 42-30 in 2007 and LSU 52-38 last season. ”
In both of these games, the defense was able to generate turnovers and get to the QB. The offense actually only hung up 38 points on LSU, but got 2 INT’s for TD’s. And in the Florida game, if you take away that INT for a TD from Stafford, the score is actually 42-23.
Moral of the Story: Turnovers can make a HUGE difference in games, and UGA doesn’t generate enough of them.
barneyb
August 27th, 2009
1:12 pm
Pretty good column. Willie should have been gone long ago, along with Fabris. They are not of the major college calibre. And shame on Richt for retaining them. Personal loyalties have no place in this game. CMR- you are a good and decent man, and a pretty good coach. But greatness will continue to elude you and the Dawgs with those 2 on your staff. Prediction- UGA will go 8-4 this season, sadly. And I’m a UGA alumn. Doesn’t make me proud to give that type of prediction, but this year will be worse than last. Less talent, and same old garbage coaching staff.
Jake7
August 27th, 2009
1:19 pm
SAVANNAH DAWG,
Not taking away anything from our D against FLA that year we beat them …….but Tebow was hurt and didn’t run the ball.So we beat Hawaii,what conference are they a member?? We had 2 WEEKS to prepare for GT and we FORGOT to TACKLE….scored 42 points and LOST?? No pressure from our DE’s……get creative.. blitz or show blitz,make QB change play…I know it’s not as simple but you as a DC must MAKE it work with what you have.
db
August 27th, 2009
1:24 pm
Just to make one point. Yesterday in a GT article, UG fans were bashing and trashing. Yet today in a Georgia column, other than St. Simons, GT hasn’t stirred any tr*ds.
Freddie G
August 27th, 2009
1:25 pm
WM plays D too soft, but why is CMR not taking more of the heat he sees it just like we all do.
William
August 27th, 2009
1:25 pm
CMR is waiting for all the teams across the nation to have a bad year at the same time so he can say,” I told you CWM can get the job done!”.
FIRE MARTINEZ! Why do we wait a decade to do something. Isnt 2yrs long enought to make a decision using the results.
dan
August 27th, 2009
1:27 pm
Jake7
Tebow might not have been 100%, but the Gators were NOT going to win that game regardless. The score might have been closer and Tebow might have gotten sacked less, but it was just the DAWGS day that day.
Also, if Tebow was as hurt as bad as everyone said he was, then why didn’t Urban Meyer rest him? I’ll tell you why, he believed( arrogantly) that his Gators could grind out a victory and not be 100% to beat UGA. And Meyer found out the hard way that you don’t underestimate the competition.
Bottom Line: Florida didn’t lose that game because of a hurt shoulder or an endzone dance. They lost because they weren’t prepared, plain and simple.
William
August 27th, 2009
1:27 pm
However, Mark Bradley I am glad you did a blog on this. It is about time for the defense to get the attention it deserves–good or bad.
Thanks Mark.
G8R GRAD
August 27th, 2009
1:28 pm
Gator Fan:
Shhhhhhhhh!
Let’s keep Charlie Strong the best kept secret in college football.
LawDawg (wsoh)
August 27th, 2009
1:30 pm
Don’t even know how you can compare 1999 AU game to Alabama last year. Donnan knew that heads were about to roll, he saw the writing on the wall, and he fired Ramsey to try and save his own skin. Auburn was terrible, Alabama was rolling when we saw them in Athens.
The game has changed quite a bit since BVG was here; CWM sees a whole different approach to offense week to week than BVG ever saw. Anyone who knows what they are watching on Saturday’s (beyond points and yards) knows that CWM is fantastic. Heck, ask any of the guys who played for both (yes, I have) they will all tell you that CWM is just as good, if not better than BVG.
red hill
August 27th, 2009
1:35 pm
I wonder how many times Wee Willie’s ineptness will cause us to give up 30 points this year….IN ONE HALF OF FOOTBALL?? Absolutely unacceptable. Implosion after implosion. I’ll be glad to pay for his ticket out of town.
rufusisadufus
August 27th, 2009
1:37 pm
What will I do when Tech wins 4 in a row? Wow good question its never happened in my lifetime and I’m 50. Even if I make it to 100 I doubt I’ll get a chance to find out.
rufusisadufus
August 27th, 2009
1:39 pm
Gators are right, Charlie Strong is an excellent DC. Only drawback is the man will get a head coaching job soon, he’s too good to not get a chance somewhere.
superDawg
August 27th, 2009
1:43 pm
Willie let the DAWGS out.
JP
August 27th, 2009
1:43 pm
I am not sure if it has been discussed, but we scored pretty quickly last year which meant that our defense had less than the usual rest time between series. Then you compound that with the fact that by the end of the season, most of your defense wasn’t supposed to be getting significant playing time anyways with all the injuries. I am not making excuses for WM, because I’l have to admit evern as a WM defender, Mark makes some very good points, but the combination of inexperinced players and too much time spent on defense exasperated any sortcomings of WM.
Our defense will be better suited this year if our offense will hold the ball longer.
Jake7
August 27th, 2009
1:43 pm
Dan,
We are talking about CWM….are you defending his performance?? I LOVED it when we beat FLA but there were factors(Tebow hurt) that could have made a difference as you noted.
59bulldawg
August 27th, 2009
1:47 pm
LOL! Forrest Gump? LOL!
chazzo
August 27th, 2009
1:53 pm
Sorry Gators. It’s no secret. Charlie Strong is the best. He gave us fits at SC. Best hire UF could have made.
Willie Martinez
August 27th, 2009
1:57 pm
Mr. Bradley, now that you have given to the world the best argument yet as to why I deserve to be fired, do you mind if I crash at your place while looking for my next job?
Gator CHOMP Champ
August 27th, 2009
2:00 pm
Just become a FL fan. You won’t have to deal with poor decision making anymore…best of all, you’d never have to lose to FL again. =)
AltamahaDawg
August 27th, 2009
2:00 pm
What I find funny is that stats are so often the only thing that matter in some cases but it’s ok to totally ignore other factors at the same time.
BTW, please show me the quote where I ever said WM was great.
You can easily find plenty of post of me making fun of grown men who just can’t figure out how them throwing a hissy fit in a blog didn’t actually change reality, however.
The man is the DC, and it looks like we have some folks in here who have some serious decisions to make in about a week..
BugKiller
August 27th, 2009
2:04 pm
Mark,
I was and do refer to the constant excuses coming from Richt and Martinez that the players “aren’t executing” his brain-dead schemes.
Who coaches the players? In college football, it is a COACHES game. These players aren’t being taught well, not as well as they were under BVG.
So when they don’t “execute,” it falls on Martinez. Yet he and Richt ALWAYS blame their players, and many of us in Bulldog Nation are sick of it.
ESPECIALLY from a man making over $300,000 a year, the second-most in the SEC at his position, when he’s been nothing but terrible at doing his job.
Gator CHOMP Champ
August 27th, 2009
2:05 pm
…and how could I forget about the championships. It seems like they just keep on coming!
gdawginkalamazoo
August 27th, 2009
2:08 pm
As I have said before, put Willie back up in the box. Let Jancek get in the players faces and motivate them on the sideline. BVG showed emotion on the sideline. I think that can translate to the players if done correctly (Erk). Besides if WM is up in the box and gets into a jam he can always log on to Bradley’s blog and get all the expert in game adjustments from all us wise guys. Can you see him after the game thanking gdawg, cuz and altadawg for saving the game with all the right calls?
Bobby G
August 27th, 2009
2:08 pm
now is not the time for this !!!! we need to stand behind the team and the coaches and we need to look at the success of this season before we start calling for heads to roll not 9 days b4 the season starts. who started this a fla. fan???
UGA MEDIA GUIDE
August 27th, 2009
2:09 pm
((((( 42-42 ))))) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Dawgdad
August 27th, 2009
2:09 pm
Whatever happened to Gary Gibbs, he did a great job of cleaning up Kevin Ramsey’s big mess. CMR did not retain him, when he came on board, maybe that was a mistake, although BVG was outstanding. CWM just doesn’t have it on many fronts and needs to step down to save his friend Richt from having to do something very unpleasant.
downsouth
August 27th, 2009
2:09 pm
After the 2008 GT game, CMR needed to grab his NAD’s and fire WM and hire any one of the DC’s that throw their hat UGA’s way.
GOOOO DAWGS!!!!
gdawginkalamazoo
August 27th, 2009
2:09 pm
Hey, Mark aren’t you suppose to have a “reasons that WM is great” column linked to this?
Buck Strickland
August 27th, 2009
2:10 pm
I usually defend Willie but if we have another game where we’re out of it in the first quarter a la Bama and WVU, I think we’d need to make a change. UF and Tech last year – team effort at losing those. Tough to stop Tebow and Co. when you give them the ball at the 2. Tech had a pick 6 and even though MB thinks it’s a lame excuse (at least that’s what I got from his article) it was obvious that players were in position to make plays against tech, they just whiffed. I also think there is something to the injury bug last year making the team softer. Now I think that BVG wouldn’t have let that happen so another mark against Willie. Hope we GATA this year.
Citizen
August 27th, 2009
2:10 pm
CWM and the defense fell apart agiant Tenn in ‘06? They were not the greatest but turnovers dug that hole. What about UT ‘07 with I think I’ll stick with the run for a 3 and out Bobo.
Last year consistantly losing the field position battle in the kicking game and the 2 star DTs being out really hurt, along with an explosive or dead offense. Keep in mind the 3rd qtr against GT Moreno and Stafford were shut down not just the arm tackling defense. Kentucky was close last year because the offense gave the ball away inside our own 20 twice. I would like to see the average field position the BVG defenses were given.
CMR’s greatest flaw has not been coaches it has been recruiting on the OL and DL. UGA paid the price last year. Take it from Saban if you can rule the line of scrimmage you’ll be in the game.
cajdawg
August 27th, 2009
2:13 pm
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. He is not terrible but he isn’t good either, he is average or OK. The problem is average or OK doesn’t win SEC titles or national championships.
Herschel Talker
August 27th, 2009
2:15 pm
MB – this is not your finest hour. The fact that you have to pull out Kevin Ramsey shows how bad he is. The guy is horrible.
DawgFan
August 27th, 2009
2:17 pm
I have never saw a DC make a tackle which was the problem against the Nerds from Atl last year. I agree WM could attack more on D (like BVG did) but there were some many times last year that players were in position to make tackles and didn’t……
BugKiller
August 27th, 2009
2:20 pm
DawgFan… WHO IS TEACHING THE PLAYERS???
Come on, man!!! The lack of fundamentals in the Georgia defense since Martinez took over is NOT a coincidence!
Use your brain, man.
Buck Strickland
August 27th, 2009
2:22 pm
Also, I believe Ramsey was canned because he took a swing at coach Donnan.
AltamahaDawg
August 27th, 2009
2:22 pm
Citizen, I take it you didn’t think punting 7 straight times, one getting blocked, was a good first half strategy?
bug
August 27th, 2009
2:39 pm
Stay!
GT
August 27th, 2009
2:41 pm
You always get the feeling that Georgia has a maturity issue. They certainly have the horses to do better, but unlike under Dooley where the maturity was a factor in the winning, this coaching staff seems too content with looking good off the bus and press clippings. Even when Irk was banging heads you had this picture of a master mechanic on the side line having fun because he was smarter than the other coaches and had chemistry with his players who trusted him. They all seemed in this deal together, sleeves rolled up blood rolling off his forehead, and his team dirty, shirttails out, but their heads in the game, not watching the side lines for some last minute trick. Irk’s free safeties were always coaches on the field, good athletes but better thinkers, don’t know if this team has that kind of leadership out there.
RedPantsDawg
August 27th, 2009
2:46 pm
Citizen-
Can you name the number of times Willie’s defense held the opponent to a field goal or less after a turnover last year? I can. It happened once against Michigan State in the bowl game. Good defenses make stops or give up field goals when put in bad spots. Willie’s defense didn’t do that.
GW
August 27th, 2009
2:46 pm
When Georgia coughed up the ball in the shadow of their own goal posts Erk used to say, “We’ve got-em right where we want them.” Willie says, “OK, maybe they will miss the extra point.”
My allegiance lies with Auburn, not the SEC
August 27th, 2009
2:51 pm
GeoffDawg
August 27th, 2009
12:08 pm
Kudos on the Jeff “fredo” Bowden comment. Now my co-workers think I am insane as they saw me giggle hysterically at my computer screen.
Pez Hilton
August 27th, 2009
2:53 pm
Whoop his @ss sea bass! See you tomorrow night Saint Simey! We are so going to play us some Corn Dog this weekend! I can’t wait!
Dawg Days
August 27th, 2009
2:54 pm
What WM doesnt do a good job of doing is scheming. A great DC will create different schemes for different teams that put players in position to make plays that either stop an offense, or better yet create a turnover. If you have a great defensive game plan, it allows players to make plays easier. He puts too much pressure on the athelete’s to make plays based on physical ability. If UGA didnt have great defensive talent, WM would be even more exposed. I’m not saying UGA wasn’t poor in tackling fundamentals last year, but thats all people are talking about, It deeper than that, and WM’s defenses have been too predictable. He needs to mix it up, and UGA should be a much better “D” for it. Go Dawgs!
Jeff
August 27th, 2009
2:57 pm
and your point for the last sentence??? It’s obvious you look for all the bad and love to bash UGA. The good thing? Everyone knows your a lame sportswriter (ala the last article you wrote on the media guide) and laughs anyway. Anyone who would write an entire article to bash a team about typos in a media guide is clearly an Idiot and clearly any newspaper that would print it is weak. hmmmm….guess that sums up the AJC
gdawginkalamazoo
August 27th, 2009
2:57 pm
GT, excellent post and to the point.
Altadawg, from the games I have been able to see (some of the good ones, some of the bad ones) in the bad ones I don’t recall the offense stepping up. It may be my perception but in the past few years where the defense looked it worst, the offense didn’t help out very much. Quick 3 and outs, turnovers and no sustained drives to give the D the rest it typically needs. Of course a lot of times the D would make that awesome stop on third down and get flagged for a penalty to keep the opponents drives going. They have looked extremely good at times and extremely bad. These two to three let down games a season are not a good thing. These two to three games where we let the opponent stay in it are getting tiresome. I will support WM 100% because the team neeeds to see the fan base behind it 100%. After the season we can analyze the stats and records then go from there.