[Goose]

And I think for it to do so they will need to have defensive depth.

This is absolutely the case, and to a large extent Stanford has already done the experiment, and repeated it several times. Obviously every team and every coach are a bit different, but Walsh did not run a "slow" tempo offense. Certainly Jack Elway didn't either. Stanford has historically been unable to recruit adequate depth on defense. We would have a few really outstanding defenders and a lot of quite marginal ones. We knew we had to outscore the other team by a fair amount, because at then end of the game our outstanding defenders would be gassed and couldn't cover for the marginal ones. It is probably true that a "good" linebacker can play 60 plays a game, but if he has to play 70 while covering for some guys who might be OK for 40, it doesn't work. We know this from experience.

If the new staff can do a significantly better job recruiting defensive players, obviously we are are going to have a better defense. The determining factor will be how much better. It is also a matter of "depth" in the sense a few great players can't really compensate for players who aren't so good over an entire game. The balance is also very important. It is not that it can't be done, but there isn't much precedent for it.

[Goose]

And I think for it to do so they will need to have defensive depth.

This is absolutely the case, and to a large extent Stanford has already done the experiment, and repeated it several times. Obviously every team and every coach are a bit different, but Walsh did not run a "slow" tempo offense. Certainly Jack Elway didn't either. Stanford has historically been unable to recruit adequate depth on defense. We would have a few really outstanding defenders and a lot of quite marginal ones. We knew we had to outscore the other team by a fair amount, because at then end of the game our outstanding defenders would be gassed and couldn't cover for the marginal ones. It is probably true that a "good" linebacker can play 60 plays a game, but if he has to play 70 while covering for some guys who might be OK for 40, it doesn't work. We know this from experience.

If the new staff can do a significantly better job recruiting defensive players, obviously we are are going to have a better defense. The determining factor will be how much better. It is also a matter of "depth" in the sense a few great players can't really compensate for players who aren't so good over an entire game. The balance is also very important. It is not that it can't be done, but there isn't much precedent for it.