Why has Arnett become so timid in his play calling?

Seinfeld

All-American
Nov 30, 2006
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Yep, allegedly

And yet, here’s where we stack up against the rest of the SEC in pass defense

IMG_1438.jpeg
 

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
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He's not really running his defense anymore. The 335 works, but not so much in conjunction with the Lenny offense.
 

Drebin

Heisman
Aug 22, 2012
22,708
27,998
113
We played just like this when Arnett was here before. He just had better talent in the front 7. He's bringing pressure, they just aren't getting there.

This is the same Arnett. And I made this point when we hired him. There's a lot of revisionist history out there about his defense.
 

MSUDC11-2.0

Heisman
Sep 29, 2022
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We played just like this when Arnett was here before. He just had better talent in the front 7. He's bringing pressure, they just aren't getting there.

This is the same Arnett. And I made this point when we hired him. There's a lot of revisionist history out there about his defense.
Yep. People are misremembering what Arnett was the first go-round.

The difference isn’t play calling, it’s that we have way less talent in the front seven than we had 4-5 years ago.
 
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Jun 21, 2026
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We definitely don’t have the talent to not be aggressive. We are not talented and injured in the front seven. We have two pretty good cover corners. Bring people.
We are not getting beat deep, but getting killed on the short and medium routes being wide open… when’s the last time we brought a safety off the edge on a blitz?
 
Sep 22, 2026
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Not excusing it away, but I think a large part of it is that he’s having to keep some gas in the tank due to Lebby’s offense wanting to get on the field and score in 2 minutes or less.

Ultimately depth fixes that, but he can’t run his defense balls to the wall every snap for almost 80 snaps a game without having a reliable 2nd and 3rd string. When Lebby was hired, I remember a lot of the discussion being that Lebby needed to find someone who didn’t mind giving up 30+/game and focused a lot on creating extra possessions.

Long story short, I think Arnett has had to adjust his defense from playing 60-70 snaps a game with 25-30 guys to playing 70-80 snaps a game with 15-20 guys. Leach’s offense gave the defense some additional rest but Lebby’s is foot to gas at all times
 
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Drebin

Heisman
Aug 22, 2012
22,708
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We are not getting beat deep, but getting killed on the short and medium routes being wide open… when’s the last time we brought a safety off the edge on a blitz?
We bring corner and safety blitzes quite a bit. We did it less yesterday probably because Arnett was concerned about Leavitt's mobility. But we've blitzed those guys a lot earlier in the year.
 
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OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
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Not excusing it away, but I think a large part of it is that he’s having to keep some gas in the tank due to Lebby’s offense wanting to get on the field and score in 2 minutes or less.

Ultimately depth fixes that, but he can’t run his defense balls to the wall every snap for almost 80 snaps a game without having a reliable 2nd and 3rd string. When Lebby was hired, I remember a lot of the discussion being that Lebby needed to find someone who didn’t mind giving up 30+/game and focused a lot on creating extra possessions.

Long story short, I think Arnett has had to adjust his defense from playing 60-70 snaps a game with 25-30 guys to playing 70-80 snaps a game with 15-20 guys. Leach’s offense gave the defense some additional rest but Lebby’s is foot to gas at all times
Been saying this since we hired the guy

Don't expect our fans to listen
 

ckDOG

All-American
Dec 11, 2007
10,445
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He's not a recruiter or developer. He's a schemer. And he doesn't have the talent to call his scheme.
 

8dog

All-American
Feb 23, 2008
15,188
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Not excusing it away, but I think a large part of it is that he’s having to keep some gas in the tank due to Lebby’s offense wanting to get on the field and score in 2 minutes or less.

Ultimately depth fixes that, but he can’t run his defense balls to the wall every snap for almost 80 snaps a game without having a reliable 2nd and 3rd string. When Lebby was hired, I remember a lot of the discussion being that Lebby needed to find someone who didn’t mind giving up 30+/game and focused a lot on creating extra possessions.

Long story short, I think Arnett has had to adjust his defense from playing 60-70 snaps a game with 25-30 guys to playing 70-80 snaps a game with 15-20 guys. Leach’s offense gave the defense some additional rest but Lebby’s is foot to gas at all times
10+ play scoring drives are worse for the defensive stamina than anything. Go watch second and 10 after we turn it over on downs after a 10 plays drive. I don’t think Kelly could give anymore cushion in the zone than he did. And we brought 4. I think the speed of our offense is a scapegoat. But it doesn’t matter. We aren’t good enough to win without trying g to create a negative play with scheme
 
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Sep 22, 2026
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10+ play scoring drives are worse for the defensive stamina than anything. Go watch second and 10 after we turn it over on downs after a 10 plays drive. I don’t think Kelly could give anymore cushion in the zone than he did. And we brought 4. I think the speed of our offense is a scapegoat.
100%, but when you follow that up with 6 plays, 54 seconds and anything but a TD, the complimentary piece goes out the window
 

8dog

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100%, but when you follow that up with 6 plays, 54 seconds and anything but a TD, the complimentary piece goes out the window
Sure but considering they scored at will yesterday you may wanna change something up. 7 points on a tired defense is the same as 7 on a fresh defense. We have to give somewhere bc the talent on the front 7 is just bad
 

POTUS

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Sep 29, 2022
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When we are scoring like we are capable, conceding the medium stuff and making teams dink and dunk is a solid scheme. Make them make as many plays as possible each drive. But when we can’t score, it’s not nearly as effective.
 
Nov 22, 2023
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Injured starters Tillman, J Smith, T Williams, I Smith and Moye. That explains the drop off, not Arnette forgot how to scheme. We should have more serviceable back ups in year 3 though. Still, most SEC schools would have a hard time replacing 5 starters on D.
 

Darryl Steight

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I agree with the "not enough talent" posts, but I will add that the typical 'bend but don't break' Arnett scheme was made even worse Saturday, and maybe even some of the Bama game, because of the offense. He's obviously calling it even softer, trying to slow down the other team's offense to lower the score. Like, keep everything underneath, make them go on long drives, etc. That's why LSU only scored 31 points. He's trying to slow the game down to keep it close.

I'm not saying I like it. I wish we could bring more pressure, or any at all, and Arnett probably does too. I'm just saying that if he had put 8 in the box to bring the heat, and LSU scores quickly by throwing over the top or to a wide open crossing route that then runs free, the score could have been way worse. It's not Arnett's fault we couldn't punch it in (or even kick a few FG's) when we had the chance to make the score look more respectable.
 

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
14,356
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Injured starters Tillman, J Smith, T Williams, I Smith and Moye. That explains the drop off, not Arnette forgot how to scheme. We should have more serviceable back ups in year 3 though. Still, most SEC schools would have a hard time replacing 5 starters on D.
I keep wondering why no one questions the strength and conditioning. Constant injuries, players aren't developing from year to year, and the Quiet on the Creek video. I mean come on.
 
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Aug 26, 2015
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Players today don't have 2-a-days practices, they are not required to wear knee pads on their knees anymore -- they all look like they're just wearing shorts...Hell, I remember the 1997 game against Kentucky the Refs wouldn't let Tim Couch receive the 1st snap until he went to the sidelines and put his knee pad on his knee. Practices are also very Contact Light nowadays...all of this contributes to soft play and oft injured players.

Old days football is dead. In 2013 Nikoe Whitley played the last half of the season with a torn ACL, just wore a knee brace and delt with the pain, in an interview Mullen admitted after the Ole Miss game (when Nikoe stripped Bo Wallace) that his ACL was torn earlier in the season.
I remember Omarr Conner (2005 or 2006) having his blood drawn, spun in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets, then have those platelets injected into his groin so that his torn groin muscle would heal and he could get back on the field ASAP.
Football was completely different animal back then.
 
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OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
14,356
13,185
113
Players today don't have 2-a-days practices, they are not required to wear knee pads on their knees anymore -- they all look like they're just wearing shorts...Hell, I remember the 1997 game against Kentucky the Refs wouldn't let Tim Couch receive the 1st snap until he went to the sidelines and put his knee pad on his knee. Practices are also very Contact Light nowadays...all of this contributes to soft play and oft injured players.

Old days football is dead. In 2013 Nikoe Whitley played the last half of the season with a torn ACL, just wore a knee brace and delt with the pain, in an interview Mullen admitted after the Ole Miss game (when Nikoe stripped Bo Wallace) that his ACL was torn earlier in the season.
I remember Omarr Conner (2005 or 2006) having his blood drawn, spun in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets, then have those platelets injected into his groin so that his torn groin muscle would heal and he could get back on the field ASAP.
Football was completely different animal back then.
I don't buy this. Obviously you have to have a baseline level of contact to learn and develop in football, but just pounding their dlcks in the dirt only causes more injuries, not less.

My thoughts are that we need a lot more focus to technique/fundamentals and strength training, instead of the Xs and Os, that are waaaaay overcomplicated.
 
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ZombieKissinger

All-American
May 29, 2013
5,644
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I don’t remember ultimately who ended up being good in his first year, but I remember going into the first season he was here thinking we were going to have the worst defensive talent ever, but he did ok with it

injuries this year have sucked for us, though. Certainly want better talent as well, but we’d be better with those guys not getting hurt
 
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