What is the best way to change defenses? Topic

paul0613
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I need to maintain a high prestige to compete in my conference and recruiting location. However, it seems like the zone defense just isn't getting it done. I want to transition to man defense. What is the best way to go about this?
2/4/2014 8:32 AM
guyo26
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I've changed sets a few times, and the general consensus is it takes 2 seasons.  If you are starting upperclassmen that already know the zone well, continue playing zone this season while you practice M2M.  Next year possibly start playing M2M.

You'll get complaining email from your assistant about not playing what you practice, but it doesn't matter.  The tricky part will be maintaining your prestige.  Either you're still playing zone and not improving it for a year, or if you take the plunge and switch now you'll have low ratings in man.
2/4/2014 8:54 AM
artie40
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Posted by guyo26 on 2/4/2014 8:54:00 AM (view original):
I've changed sets a few times, and the general consensus is it takes 2 seasons.  If you are starting upperclassmen that already know the zone well, continue playing zone this season while you practice M2M.  Next year possibly start playing M2M.

You'll get complaining email from your assistant about not playing what you practice, but it doesn't matter.  The tricky part will be maintaining your prestige.  Either you're still playing zone and not improving it for a year, or if you take the plunge and switch now you'll have low ratings in man.

+

It is good, too, to have a big recruiting class (if you're lucky enough to have this upcoming, bully for you!) when you're switching so you're not wasting the years of zone defense points you gave to the many upperclassmen who are still there. If you're replacing 4, 5, 6 people, you've wasted that time for less people. All in all, I think moving on from zone is a good idea, and the quicker you do so the better. It is unusual to be a top notch team w/ a zone d.

2/4/2014 9:39 AM
rogelio
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I saw a team that was switching back and forth between man & zone in end game and game to game.  I'm sure that was a transition decision.  If I was doing that, I would go 25 minutes m2m practice, 10 zone and 15 in the offensive set until all the players had a C- in zone, then drop the zone practice and redistribute into Offense or individual practice.  Start the season playing zone and then start switching end of game to m2m.  By the conference schedule (and certainly the CT), you will be ready to switch defense altogether are part of you gameplan and end of game settings.  Unless it's a total fail, it could make gameplanning against you impossible.

You might have fun with that for 2 seasons, but by the end of the 2nd you'll always be choosing m2m.
2/4/2014 12:23 PM
guyo26
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There was a thread awhile back about running combo defenses and the consensus was it wasn't worth it in today's game.  I'm doing a limited experiment of primary zone (20 mins practice) and secondary press (5 mins).  My guys I started with are now 15 games into their Junior year:

Example 1:
2.8 HS GPA, starting WE of 24 (if it matters), HS FCP
After 74 starts:
B+ Zone, C+ FCP

Example 2:
3,5 HS GPA, starting WE of 62, HS FCP/Zone
After 69 games, 45 starts:
A- Zone, B- FCP

Example 3:
3.3 HS GPA, starting WE of 46, HS FCP/Zone
After 74 starts:
A- Zone, B- FCP

So yeah, he can change his Defense as listed above, BUT I do think it's possible to play combo in today's game without giving up too much potential growth.  Of course A- is better than B-, but as an option?  Sure.  If you limited your recruits to all over 3.5 GPA, possibly even playing your sets in HS by Junior year you can have some flexibility.

Like I said in the other thread though, this is low D1, I make no assumptions about this working at high D1
2/4/2014 12:43 PM
arssanguinus
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If you have a big recruiting class and you are trying to not fall too hard, might be good to look for some transfers or JUCO that play the new defense already, to soften the transition edge.
2/4/2014 12:49 PM
rogelio
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Posted by guyo26 on 2/4/2014 12:43:00 PM (view original):
There was a thread awhile back about running combo defenses and the consensus was it wasn't worth it in today's game.  I'm doing a limited experiment of primary zone (20 mins practice) and secondary press (5 mins).  My guys I started with are now 15 games into their Junior year:

Example 1:
2.8 HS GPA, starting WE of 24 (if it matters), HS FCP
After 74 starts:
B+ Zone, C+ FCP

Example 2:
3,5 HS GPA, starting WE of 62, HS FCP/Zone
After 69 games, 45 starts:
A- Zone, B- FCP

Example 3:
3.3 HS GPA, starting WE of 46, HS FCP/Zone
After 74 starts:
A- Zone, B- FCP

So yeah, he can change his Defense as listed above, BUT I do think it's possible to play combo in today's game without giving up too much potential growth.  Of course A- is better than B-, but as an option?  Sure.  If you limited your recruits to all over 3.5 GPA, possibly even playing your sets in HS by Junior year you can have some flexibility.

Like I said in the other thread though, this is low D1, I make no assumptions about this working at high D1
I certainly think that a press/zone is a viable combo to run, but the surprise is going zone / m2m.  That isn't a combo defense, but, if you gameplan for every game, then you could catch some coaches flat-footed with a 2-3 switching to m2m at the end of one game and a m2m switching to 3-2 at the end of the next.   It could turn out to be a total face-plant situation, but it'd be fun for a while.

I've never understood someone playing press/m2m in this game.   I just don't see any advantage of that over just a pure FCP; not the way this game is simulated.
2/4/2014 1:13 PM
guyo26
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True, some combos probably make more sense than others, and I sort of got off topic for the original question.  

I think the tricky part of zone/m2m would be the inherent bias for recruiting a "zone type" of team vs a "m2m type" team.  The assumption is you have at least one weaker defender out there, which would be a problem in m2m.  Now if there's always switching and variance going on like you say (maybe with a few different types of lineups depending on what you're looking to do for that game) then sure, could catch people by surprise.

But I think versus the super elite coaches it might not matter as much, their teams are fine tuned to work against anything.  Maybe I'm just assuming too much since I'm nowhere near that type of coach, but I know when I play against them it doesn't seem to matter how much I try to gameplan, their team is just flat out better.
2/4/2014 2:05 PM
bhansalid00
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I'm facing this situation right now - took over a press team and plan to switch to M2M as soon as possible.The good news for me is I just brought in 6 freshmen (including a redshirt and an ANQ), so I can dedicate all my practice mins to M2M right away and by next season, they should be in good shape. But I am considering alternating between playing M2M and M2M / press combo in my games this season, for two reasons. One, my 3 seniors can play press well and might help me win a couple of games this season (my team absolutely sucks, so every game won is a luxury). And two, it might make gameplanning vs me just a slight bit tougher for my opponents if they don't know which D I'm going with.

Again, neither of these are huge factors, especially when you're dealing with a freshman-heavy team devoid of veteran talent. But that's what I'm leaning towards at this point. Feedback welcome.
2/28/2014 1:01 PM
What is the best way to change defenses? Topic
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