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
JDW
August 27th, 2009
3:00 pm
Until our defense improves we have no chance to really compete for the MNC. If that does not happen this year then CMR needs to bite the bullet and boot Wille.
Cuz
August 27th, 2009
3:01 pm
zoo, gotta admit, that was funny. Altamaha, pointing out the obvious is obviously not working.
zoo you asked about Baylie. She started school this week and so far has not missed a day. She is confined to her wheelchair but the kids at her school line up to push her or carry her books. The surgery was a sucess, next surgery in two years hopefully not sooner.
Jake7
August 27th, 2009
3:04 pm
Citizen,
All teams go thru ALL the problems you speak…….BUT it’s up to the COACHES to make ADJUSTMENTS… If we have the talent…….COACH IT UP!
45ACP
August 27th, 2009
3:05 pm
It was painfull to watch the defense struggle. I trust CMR and his coaches to know far more than I do about the defense, players and scheme. I’m confident they will get it right. Another bad year though and I just might purchase a ticket for a ride on that “bandwagon”.
Topp Dogg
August 27th, 2009
3:08 pm
CWM sux and so does GT!
Dave Dawg
August 27th, 2009
3:09 pm
Well said! Great job communicating this point.
KT
August 27th, 2009
3:09 pm
No. Not at all. He should be coachin high school ball.
Jake7
August 27th, 2009
3:11 pm
Citizen,
One more thing….I know we are talking about D but you brought up our O.I like coach Bobo but it has been “on the job training”.Me thinks that he will be very good SOON.
Cuz
August 27th, 2009
3:12 pm
We cannot fire Willie Martinez. Georgia’s unemployment is already at record levels.
gdawginkalamazoo
August 27th, 2009
3:13 pm
Cuz, glad to hear your daughter is doing as well as can be.
Cuz
August 27th, 2009
3:15 pm
45, if we don’t see some improvement, I might drive the bandwagon. I am giving the guy the month of September to see how he stacks up against the competition. We should know by the end of the month how CWM will fare.
Cuz
August 27th, 2009
3:16 pm
zoo, I waved when we flew over, did you see me?
dawgie style
August 27th, 2009
3:17 pm
In all fairness Martinez has not and i repeat not had near the talent Van Gorder did. Almsot eveyone was drafted from the defenses that Van Gorder coached and not so much from the martinez coahed defenses.
Van Gorder had better talent bottom line
45ACP
August 27th, 2009
3:19 pm
Yeah, I know. Unfortunately I became a part of that record high percentage last week…. Life goes on.
Cuz
August 27th, 2009
3:21 pm
If Willie and company go 0-4 in September, I am going to start a petition drive to change the name of our suburb from Martnez to VanGore. The middle syllable is silent.
JR
August 27th, 2009
3:24 pm
I agree with SavannahDawg. Coach Martinez isn’t the problem. The key to a having a brilliant (not just good) defense is having just a few guys step up big time. When VanGorder was around, we also had guys like Thomas Davis, David Pollack, Greg Blue. Those guys were freaks, and they made everyone around them much better. We need guys on the team to take on those roles on defense. Look at Eric Berry. He made the UT defense a force last year (to bad for them, the offense was garbage). We need guys like that to really step up. If guys like Rennie, Jeff Owens, Reshad Jones and Battle have big years, it will make everyone around them better. And then all will be forgiven of Coach Martinez.
Benjamin
August 27th, 2009
3:26 pm
UGA English Dept
August 27th, 2009
11:14 am
dtanner – use “too” in place of “to” when describing excess. Back to Gainesville College!
I would’ve laughed, but there are grammar errors in this line, as well.
UGA’s English Department should have higher standards.
Jake7
August 27th, 2009
3:30 pm
JR,
You are in DREAM land! Are you WATCHING the games?? Are you WILLIE’s son??
shankit
August 27th, 2009
3:32 pm
Stunt, Stunt, Stunt
Blitz, Blitz, Blitz
Disrupt the rhythm of the opponents backfield
and the blocking assignments.
Disrupt the confidence of the quarterback by
putting him on his arse every play, especially
on the first series. So what, if you get an early
penalty.
You can’t give a quarterback 4 or more seconds
or he will pick the defensive backs apart.
You can’t cover a good receiver over 3 or 4 seconds
the best pass defense is stay in the opponents backfield.
Cuz
August 27th, 2009
3:36 pm
45, welcome to the club. I wish I did not have to say that.
dawgie style watchout, you will be labled a “true” fan like Altamaha and me.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
August 27th, 2009
3:38 pm
Who are you going to get that is better than Martinez? That’s the real question that needs to be answered. Recruiting on defensive side of the ball has been lacking the last 3 years. Who is responsible for that? Then fire him and bring in somebody better. Simple.
cursive
August 27th, 2009
3:40 pm
Needs to go. UGA could have a PREMIER coach as DC, not an average one.
puppydawg
August 27th, 2009
3:44 pm
Willie should be Assistant Water Girl.
William
August 27th, 2009
3:46 pm
Some of you are giving WM another year to screw up! I am not that forgiving. Like Patton said,” Americans love a winner and wont tolerate a loser!”. Wille is a LOSER!
Citizen
August 27th, 2009
3:46 pm
Jake, That just it I don’t hink depth of talent has been there on OL or DL but UGA has 4 Elite 11 QBs.
Also play calling Stafford or Bobo has killed many drives. Several times UGA went for a long pass on 2nd and medium usually between our own 30 and 45 that missed and then ran a draw the next play.
I think we will find out many answers this year. I would like to see them both stay but with what maybe the best OL and DLs since ‘02 it is time to produce.
We all talk about play calling but special teams also has to hold up their end. The early CMR years always had great kicking in all areas, something that was not there last year. You can not give the ball to the other team between the 25 and 40 yardline regularly.
For all the remarks I have made about the team I do think the current coaching staff can put together a good year this year.
shankit
August 27th, 2009
3:58 pm
Who won the most bowl games the last two years?
Who has the best overall record the last two years?
Stafford or Tebow?
Richt or Meyer?
Okay, I only went back two years.
All you Gaters, I know, want to go back 19 years.
Never overall.
ksleezy
August 27th, 2009
4:02 pm
My blood is red and black. If coach believes, and the team believes, you damn skippy I believe too!! Go Dawgs!! See you in Stillwater baby!!
gdawginkalamazoo
August 27th, 2009
4:04 pm
JR, I have a feeling a lot of that talent was coached up. Fire installed and intensity fully displayed in practice and on game days from the ultimate leader of that side of the ball, the DC. Why do we keep recruiting 4/5 star kids supposedly and get blown out 2-3 times a year? Why are ther times during the game that it seems the team just takes a breather when they need to stop a drive?
AltamahaDawg
August 27th, 2009
4:06 pm
GW, losing 5 and 6 games a year is not having them “right where you wants them.” Erk had some terrible defenses, plenty. And then he had some great ones. Good thing the internet wasn’t around back then.
Hey, I am no more true fan than anyone, but I am a fan who knows why he even follows and enjoys college football, and hoping that our coaches fail, a week before the new season, is no way to go through life if you ask me.
Gator CHOMP Champ
August 27th, 2009
4:07 pm
Funny one shankit. Let’s talk championships…like the ones FL wins and GA never plays for. There’s just too much anger over one assistant here. Why bother building a winner-the perfect model is less than a day’s car ride away and we’re a well oiled machine. Championship central is in Gainesville, FL!!!
chazzo
August 27th, 2009
4:10 pm
I have seen more games blown with a soft prevent D by more coaches. Dooley’s dawgs vs. Alabama in 1985 comes to mind. One of those awful Florida games when Green was qb where they just had one more possession than we did. Why anybody even has that in their playbook anymore is beyond me.
I also saw a couple of times that Van Goiter’s overanxious all or nothing D got burned for a crucial score.
Look at the 2008 schedule folks. How do you get a team up for the gators in Jax after playing in Baton Rougue? There is just not enough emotion available. Against Bama, it wasn’t the scheme; it was the penalties. We spotted Bama four first downs on penalties. As I recall, a couple of those negated big stops and killed morale. I know. I know. The penalties go back to coaching too.
I don’t pin last year’s losses on Willie. I think he will have a banner year in 2009. All you haters can eat crow and kiss my arse. The fact that Mark Bradley is expressing this opinion ought to tell you that it is wrong.
Bart
August 27th, 2009
4:10 pm
This will be the telling season for Martinez. If he srews up again, he needs to go, and if Richt won’t do it, then Evans should.
chazzo
August 27th, 2009
4:11 pm
PS With the exception of the Tech game. And, some of that goes to player execution as well in that they forgot how to tackle.
Ben W.
August 27th, 2009
4:11 pm
Our defensive team gets out-tackled in just about every game. When I see 10-12 tackles missed in the first half, we end up getting beat! Coach WM had better have this much improved or it is going to be a longgg year!
JAMIE
August 27th, 2009
4:12 pm
I KNOW OF 3 HIGH SCHOOL DC’S WHO COULD PICK 11 PRISONERS OUT OF THE FULTON COUNTY JAIL AND OUT COACH MARTINEZ.
Hendu
August 27th, 2009
4:15 pm
During the first 100 years of football UGA lost 2 games when we scored 28 and lost none when scoring 29.
During the Goff/Donnan 12 year period which included 5 different coordinators UGA lost 7 games when scoring 28 points.
UGA lost 10 total games during VanGorder’s 4 years during which the offense averaged 11.1/game and did not score more than 17 in any of those 10 losses.
UGA has lost 12 total games in Martinez’s 4 years with the offense scoring 10,30,35,33,22,14,20,12,14,30,10, and 42, respectively. That’s an average of 22.6 points/game that Martinez’s D’s have had to work with. There are alot of programs that kill to have that kind of offensive cushion. If his talent has been subpar that is a direct reflection on him and his personal recruiting.
In the private sector only companies like AIG, Lehman Bros., GM, etc. retain and even reward poor top level managers like Martinez and they are now in the Toilet Bowl.
There is no argument, simple facts dictate that he must go even if Richt wants to go with him.
JR, you don’t know your arse from you elbow.
Gator CHOMP Champ
August 27th, 2009
4:16 pm
Poor, poor puppy fans. Just pull for FL and you can actually enjoy winning the Cocktail Party, National Championships and not blame coaches or players for things like tackling (haha)….and you won’t have to deal with losing to lower tier teams like GT and Kentucky-some of the posts about losing to those losers are hilarious!
Roll Tide Roll
August 27th, 2009
4:16 pm
I love Willie Martinez.
Gator CHOMP Champ
August 27th, 2009
4:18 pm
Extend Willie Martinez’s contract.
Sanford Drive
August 27th, 2009
4:18 pm
Mark, no. Next question.
AltamahaDawg
August 27th, 2009
4:19 pm
Cuz, I am with you. It will all work itself out. If our defense has a bad year, and Coach Richt decides its time for a change, I wouldn’t give a second thought about Willie Martinez. I think WAY too many people have this idea that the name of the DC is the only thing that comes into play. I don’t give a damn who we have in there. Personally, I haven’t seen one yet, anywhere, that was more than one year removed from goat/hero.
If the defense improves, well, for some of us, that is the objective. Others not so much.
The interesting thing to see reaction from this year is going to be this: UGA in all likelyhood will lose a game this year. And in that loss, our defense will surrender some points.
Gator CHOMP Champ
August 27th, 2009
4:20 pm
How cool would it be to win the Cocktail Party and win National Championships? Just become a FL fan and you won’t have to whine about coaches and players knowing how to tackle….and you can make fun of those in your division who don’t know how. =)
Jeff
August 27th, 2009
4:24 pm
Well Mark, for one thing Van Gorder had Willie and Willie doesn’t have Van Gorder. Since you’re so patched in up in Athens, I’m sure someone will tell you how big a role Martinez played even when VG was the coordinator. How well would VG have done sans Willie?
Secondly, Georgia’s defense in the Richt era has been powered by the defensive end and safety play. And in terms of relative prowess and talent in those 2 key areas, Van Gorder had a significant advantage. Heck, he had David Pollack, Sean Jones, and Thomas Davis on the same durn team. Hard not to play well with those 3 AAs.
Thirdly, look how the Georgia offense has played in MOST of the games where we likewise had defensive downturns. Yup, in almost every game, the offense played either atrocious halves or entire games, putting the D in even worse sports. We rarely saw the offense implode when Van Gorder was DC. You mentioned Georgia being down 31–0 vs Bama last year as support. Well, while that stinks for sure, the gooseegg sticks out prominently to me as well. The same can be said about the start of the Sugar Bowl, when turnovers and offensive ineptitude help spot West Virginia a big lead. I could likewise show similarities in the other games.
In the end, football isn’t played in a bubble. And in most if not all of our meltdown games, it was of the TEAM variety. And the blame can’t be placed just on the defense.
Would Van Gorder have fared much better in those scenarios? While we will never know, I do know that his job would have been that much harder.
FL Dawg
August 27th, 2009
4:24 pm
First, it would have been very bad for Richt to have fired WM after the injuries last year. My reasoning for this is if he had, what would Garner and Searels done when they had the opportunity to go elsewhere…they would have left. Richt made the best decision he could at the time to keep continuity on the staff. Richt then elevated Jancek to co-defensive coordinator. Hopefully, this will help.
Now to this year. With Jancek being elevated and imo, Richt being more involved with the defense, we will see an improvement…how much remains to be seen. I believe that tackling will be better for sure. If Richt sees players out of position on a consistent basis (both games and practice) then I believe he will make a change. Richt is giving CWM every possible chance for success and this is a very good quality for a leader. Richt has given CWM all the tools he can to be successful (including talent). It is now up to CWM. I bet Richt thinks that he did not do all he could in the past to help the defense, but you can count on it that he is this year and it may be to the offenses detriment. Bobo is a relatively young OC and still needs some help himself. In the long run, Bobo will make a very good OC imo, I just hope he proves me right this year. This is CWM chance and it starts with Okie St. I wish him the best of luck and GO DAWGS!!!!
Gator CHOMP Champ
August 27th, 2009
4:29 pm
Go Frawgs! Lol. You guys can worry about tripping up 2nd tier schools like TN and GT. We’ll do the bigboy work of winning NCs over and over. 1st thing that needs to be done though is to extend Martinez’s contract. He’s a classy guy and you guys are lucky to have him. Cheers!
Judge Dawg
August 27th, 2009
4:34 pm
I recently watched a replay of the win over Florida. Tebow was sacked 6 time and the pressure was from up the middle. I really think we missed this last year and tended to blame the defensive ends. This year we have the best (and mabe even better with three guys) since Seymour and Stroud. We have a number of good players and we will know for sure when we play whether the coach is at fault.
NerdNokker
August 27th, 2009
4:36 pm
38 – 3 {Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!}
FLDAWG
August 27th, 2009
4:38 pm
CMR’s loyalty to his staff has kept good coaches there like Gardner and the other guys, who could have jumped ship for more money, but choose to stay because of CMR. I am sure that CWM knows if he does not produce this year then things will get very hot for him and it will be out of CMR’s control. Best of luck to the guy and let’s hope he proves us all wrong. GO DAWGS!!!
NerdNokker
August 27th, 2009
4:42 pm
Gator CHOMP Champ, show me an undefeated Croc team. UGA has done it. When have the lizards done it? Huh??? When, CHUMP???????……..Answer me!!!! WHEN???????
DawginTexas
August 27th, 2009
4:42 pm
Martinez better get it done this year, or he can hit the road. I’m tired of the D giving up all these points in big games! 49 to florida, 45 to Ga Tech is a joke!