I understand what you're saying. For me, I believed (back then) that this coaching staff had enough pieces in place to over come some of the issues you listed above. Maybe that is on me but I was buying into the hype that most people were selling, local media and ESPN's B1G bloggers (I know, not smart). My biggest issues weren't with the LB corp, it was the defensive line getting ran up and down the field with limited substitution. I know there wasn't that much good depth beyond the starters but still they were constantly showing them just dragging around because they were gassed. I know there was some rumors that AC was hurt most of that season too.
Now, I look back and realize that Norm Parker's defenses were solid because for the most part they were fairly solid starting at the defensive line. The defensive line played well, then the LB's played well (less O-line getting to them) and then so did the DB's (usually) because the QB's didn't have all the time in the world to throw. The defense's that were great, were a solid unit, not just one amazing player. But when AC wasn't at the top of his game (tired or hurt) you could tell. But during the AC era, it was the running QB's that hurt those defenses the most.
