Former Panther DC Trgovac Interview Sheds Some Light

by Jaxon on Feb 10, 2009 10:08 AM EST Comment 8 comments

You might argue with me on this but I think former Panther Defensive Coordinator Mike Trgovac's recent interview on Packers.com (and discussed by Steve Reed) sheds a little light on his decision to leave the Panthers, maybe. Okay, not really.

"My goal is to someday be a coordinator again," Trgovac said. "I don't want to want to do that right now. One of the things that my wife said to me, if you work for a defensive head coach it is a little bit harder than when you work for an offensive head coach. She said, 'You haven't seemed happy the last year.'

"When she said that to me, it just made me realize that my kids are growing up and maybe I was taking my work home with me. That's why I wanted to just take a step back and coach a position again. That's one of the things you miss as a coordinator, just the day-to-day interaction that you have with one specific position group. I wanted to get back into that again."

It's the old "I want to spend more time with my kids" excuse. Seriously, how unhappy can you be with a 12-4 season? Sure the defense struggled down the stretch but you're going to tell me there is that much less pressure as a DL coach versus a DC? Okay, I'm sure there is more pressure but I think Trgovac is still being kind to John Fox in his reasoning. I would think trying to switch a defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4 would bring some significant pressure to him too. Yet, he doesn't make it sound very hard:

You look at which guy you want on the left side, which guy you want on the right side, who you want in the middle," Trgovac said. "You play maybe a bigger guy on the left side than you do on the right side. There are guys that feel much more comfortable just rushing from the left side.

"I've had defensive ends that don't care which side they line up on. You've kind of got to talk to the players, look at the tape, and see if there is a problem with that."

It's obvious Trgovac is not going to throw Fox under the bus on this but I think its becoming more clear his meddling in the defense was the reason for Trgovac leaving.

On another note, do you think he was referring to Peppers as one of the DE's who don't care which side he plays on? Hardly I bet but if Peppers did care I wonder if the Panthers really know what his preference is? His motives seem such a mystery.

One final quote from Trgovac regarding one of his underlying philosophies:

"(Former NFL head coach) Marty Schottenheimer, one of the greatest quotes he had was if you have two evenly matched players, which you do a lot in this league...the player with the better fundamentals is going to win. That's one of the things, when I left college I said I'm never going to lose as a pro coach is the teaching aspect of the fundamentals."

Was the Panther defense fundamentally sound down the stretch last season? If you don't think so please cite examples to support your case.

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His wife says it all

How he quoted his wife, in my opinion, says all you need to know and 100% confirms that Fox was running the defense. He didn’t like working under Fox and being told what to do, who would.

This also confirms Meeks impact will probably be small and will be more of the same on defense next year. I hope not but probably.

by LittleKing on Feb 10, 2009 11:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

i disagree

To me, Trgo mentioning what his wife said shows a lack of commitment. So what did Fox do last year that made him more miserable than previous years? And he decided to be a position coach so he would be less responsible and work less. I understand you want to be a family man, but your dedication to success shows on the field. Fitz said he ran the first couple routes of the playoff game and realized the Panthers were playing him the exact same way they did the first time we played the Cards. Is that because Trgo was sad? And his talk of fundamentals is absurd to me. Our guys fundamentally gave up about 30 points a game down the stretch playing lame duck pass coverages and running behind Derrick Ward with great fundamental technique. It all sounds like a cop out to me. When Randy Moss failed to produce and his production dropped in Oakland, everyone dogged him, even though he wasn’t happy. I’m sorry Trgo’s emotional state wasn’t conducive to actually stopping opposing defenses.

by usana_gaines on Feb 10, 2009 11:49 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

okay so maybe not 100% confirms

You make a very valid point.

by LittleKing on Feb 10, 2009 1:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Fundamentals?

Mental – How about all the missed assignments in the secondary? If the two receivers are stacked – the LB takes the shorter route, and the CB takes the longer route or insode/outside, whatever – there needs to be a plan. If it’s 3rd and 5, don’t give a 10-yard cushion. What do you do if two people come into your zone? Which safety is shadowing Fitzgerald?

Physical – These were not as much in evidence, to me, but there were some complaints along the way about poor tackling.

by panthersnbraves on Feb 10, 2009 1:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Mental mistakes...

agree. Hopefully this is where Meeks can make a difference, particularly in the secondary. The Panthers had only what 1-2 pass interference calls all season? Sounds great but then look at the INT’s: the secondary had 8 total. Too often playing not to lose or give up the big play. You get picked apart when you do that in the NFL, particularly in the playoffs. Playoff teams are there because they capitalize on weaknesses and don’t make the stupid mistakes. I expect big things from our secondary next year.

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Feb 10, 2009 2:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Great point about the Pass Interference calls

and I think I rambled about something similar a few weeks ago. I don’t think a few pass interference calls are a bad thing, it just means our secondary/LB’s were in a position to make a play on the ball and they got their too early or had poor coverage. Either way, it tells me our players were near the ball and the receiver. I think that too often our players couldn’t even pass interfere because they were not near the ball when it was caught.

Again, it is hard to interfere if you are not near the ball/player.

To me, Trgo is old news. I think the defense was bad and it was his fault at the end of the year. In regard to his love of fundamentals, there was poor tackling against the Giants this year and I am not sure how good fundamentals helped Antonio Bryant catch 200 yards worth of passes against us. Opponents completed 60% of their passes against the secondary, had TOP of 31:22, and allowed 4.3 yards per rushing attempt.

Jaxon is absolutely right. The Panthers played a bend-don’t-break defense for pretty much the second half of the year, and probably at the beginning of the year as well but nobody noticed. This reminded me of the old John Marshall defense we ran here under George Seifert. At his introductory meeting with the team in 2002 he called out the Panthers defense for its poor tackling and talked about being more aggressive and causing turnovers. How ironic the season ended with the Panthers looking more like a John Marshall defense from 2001 than a John Fox defense.

by bengoodfella on Feb 10, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think many of the problems with this defense can be solved by more pressure on the QB, and whether that means a stronger front 4 or timely blitzing, I don’t really care. The Panthers need more pressure up front and I hope they dedicate themselves to achieving this.

by bengoodfella on Feb 10, 2009 3:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good comments

You guys make some good points. As for pressuring the QB, it seems that our pass rushers were on their own. That could be Peppers complaint. Isn’t the DC supposed to come up with something? And I don’t mean putting 6 DBs on the field to cover 3 Giants, all of whom suck, just to watch Derrick Ward run for 215 yards. I also remember when Jacobs scored that TD and Nate Salley beat Jacobs to the goal line, and then stood there and waited to get hit in the chest.

It’s real simple, Meeks needs to bring more effort and less sadness..Barney, the purple dinosaur, is not in Carolina to tend to sensitivities, and the only easy day was yesterday.

by usana_gaines on Feb 10, 2009 3:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs