1- These are very athletic kids who are used to being the best on the field and making every play.
While that worked great in HS, now that they are on the field with other players of the same or similar level (Yes, even USU, UNR and UCF have good players that were tops in their HS) they can't get away with just being the best. You saw time and again players moving out of position or wiffing on their assignment to "make the play." They want to be the hero... make the TOL, get the fumble, etc... That is what they are used to doing... but they are not necessarily used to doing the basics first. The coaches are trying to help them understand that... but when you are used to being the BMOC, it can be difficult to adjust to the new team mentality. I think this is the biggest problem.

2-- Lack of trust of the other players.
Every player on the D needs to trust that everyone else is going to be in the right place and doing the right thing. If they are missing assignments in practice and on gameday, you are going to cheat over to try to help them, make up for their deficit, etc... This can leave you out of position and vulnerable.


This is why I don't think it is really a coaching issue that can be corrected simply by firing or demoting guys, or having Bronco make the play calls. The play calls are right. If the players simply do their assignments, the calls work.
There probably needs to be some adjustment to coaching as the players are more talented and so probably a bit less humble and teachable than we are used to... so coaching might need to adjust for that... at the same time, players need to learn to play as a team. That has to come from them... not a coach. Listening to Bronco on the Go, it sounds like the Defense is starting to "get it." They are picking leaders and starting to watch film outside the allotted times the coaches have them watching film.
We have seen major improvements each week, from USU to UCF to UNR... I expect to see even more for BSU, as players learn that they need to be assignment and execution sound and to trust each other.