The Coaching Staff
Posted: February 9th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 55 Comments »We now know the complete coaching staff that Chip Kelly put together. There is a tepid reaction from some fans, but I really like the group. DC Bill Davis is the one guy we’re all nervous about, but aside from him I’m very high on the staff.
I think some fans are disappointed due to the fact they don’t know the names and these coaches aren’t coming from recent Super Bowl winners or elite NFL programs. The Eagles just got done with an all-star staff and it resulted in 8-8 and 4-12 seasons. Big names mean nothing. You must find the right fit, schematically, but also in terms of personality.
Kelly hired a staff that is very mixed in terms of backgrounds, experience, and age. None of these coaches comes in here as a prima donna. Jim Washburn was the best DL coach in the NFL. Bobby April was the best STs coach. Howard Mudd was the best OL coach. Those guys had huge reputations. It affected how they interacted with players and others on the staff. I don’t think the current group will have such issues.
Chip Kelly is an offensive guru, but he’s not an NFL guy. He wisely hired Pat Shurmur, Bill Lazor, Bob Bicknell, Duce Staley, and Ted Williams to help him adjust to pro football. Those guys have a ton of NFL experience. They can help Kelly take his ideas and make them work at the NFL level.
Hiring OL coach Jeff Stoutland came as a real surprise. He did a phenomenal job at Alabama, developing the nation’s best OL this year. The most interesting tie-in with Stoutland is that he was the OC at Cornell in the early 90’s when their QB was a kid named Bill Lazor. Getting a coach like Stoutland is a real coup. He was given Grade-A talent at Alabama and delivered a great O-line. Some may question how he’ll do with Chip Kelly’s system. Chris Brown, who runs SmartFootball.com, said on Twitter a while back that “Chip Kelly’s top run plays — inside zone, outside zone & power (guard pull) — are same Trent Richardson ran at Alabama.” I would say that Stoutland and Kelly will be an excellent match in terms of style and system.
We’ve discussed Bill Davis quite a bit for the last several days. We’ll give that a rest for now and focus on the others.
One thing I like about the staff is that Jerry Azzinaro (DL), Rick Minter (ILBs), Bill McGovern (OLBs), and John Lovett (DBs) all have experience as defensive coordinators. Those guys are experts at their positions, but also understand how to think in terms of the big picture. Minter was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati for a while. His DC was Rex Ryan and they ran the 46 Defense. It always comes back to Buddy and the 46 for me.
Dave Fipp will run the STs. Here’s what I like about him. Fipp was the Asst STs coach in Miami the last 2 years. The Dallas Morning News had them rated 2nd (2011) and 4th (2012) in STs rankings. Fipp has been part of a unit that thrived under the current rules. Bobby April struggled with KO coverage and returns under the new rules.
Josh Hingst is the new Strength & Conditioning coach. I hated to lose Barry Rubin, but Chip wanted his guy and Rubin went to KC with Andy Reid. I don’t have an opinion on Hingst.
Shaun Huls is the Sports Science Coordinator. That’s a new role here. It sounds like Huls will work with the players on new methods to improve their agility and explosiveness. I think trying this kind of training is wise. I know some players have done it to get ready for the Combine. You develop workouts and exercises that help a player in ways other than just building muscle or losing weight. I don’t know that this will make much of a difference, but it sure can’t hurt.
Pat Shurmur (offensive coordinator)
Bill Davis (defensive coordinator)
Dave Fipp (special teams coordinator)
Bill Lazor (quarterbacks)
Bob Bicknell (wide receivers)
Duce Staley (running backs)
Ted Williams (tight ends)
Justin Peelle (assistant tight ends)
Jeff Stoutland (offensive line)
Greg Austin (assistant offensive line)
Press Taylor (offensive quality control)
Jerry Azzinaro (defensive line/assistant head coach)
Erik Chinander (assistant defensive line)
Bill McGovern (outside linebackers)
Rick Minter (inside linebackers)
John Lovett (defensive backs)
Mike Dawson (defensive quality control)
Todd Lyght (assistant defensive backs)
Josh Hingst (strength and conditioning)
Shaun Huls (sports science coordinator)
Matt Harper (assistant special teams)
Do I have any major concerns with the staff? Not really. Kelly’s transition to the NFL and Davis ability to be a good DC are the two biggest mysteries, but they aren’t really tied in to the other coaches.
I do think people need to remember that when a staff is new it is going to seem odd. We know Jim Johnson, Steve Spagnuolo, Brad Childress, Ron Rivera, and all those guys now, but back in 1999 they were also a mystery. Andy Reid did a great job of selling the coaching staff. I knew little about JJ back then, but as Reid talked about his zone blitzing…he sold me. And Jim turned out to be a great coach for us.
Ray Rhodes had the boy wonder OC Jon Gruden. Can you imagine trying to get away with a 32-yr old OC in Philly today? There would be huge pressure on the team with a move like that. Turned out great. Mike Trgovac, Bill Callahan, and Ted Williams were unknowns that turned out to be great hires by Rhodes. Juan Castillo and John Harbaugh were added later and were also great hires.
One aspect of Kelly’s coaching staff that I really like is that these guys will come in hungry and wanting to show what they can do. I think that benefited both Rhodes and Reid with the hires they made initially. You want coaches that are smart, but humble. Guys that work hard and can teach. Coaches must work well together. That obviously wasn’t happening the last couple of years, especially on defense.
Plenty of people have asked about the wisdom of putting together the defensive staff without having the DC in place. When a head coach is new, he puts together the coaching staff. Those are his guys. As coaches leave, he’ll consult with the coordinators on replacements. The initial staff isn’t always a group of guys that know each other. Ron Rivera and Leslie Frazier were going to be on Andy’s staff whether the DC was Marvin Lewis or Jim Johnson. This really isn’t a big deal at all.
* * * * *
Jimmy & I just recorded a new podcast, where we talked about Bill Davis and the new coaches. And The Price is Right.
Jimmy Bama put together a post on Pat Shurmur and the passing game.
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Shaun Huls to me is the wildcard. The traditional ways of conditioning football players doesn’t seem to help a lot of guys develop, he has the kind of experience to teach players “football skills,” martial arts translates to the hand fighting and leverage that linemen and LBs engage in constantly. So I’m all for innovate training that goes past weight lifting and wind sprints and focuses on building the physical capabilities they’ll actually use in games.
Some of the best players in the NFL including Brian Dawkins actually use MMA in the offseason (I know Dawkins trained with Jay Glazer)
MMA is a great example.
Think about what an already strong guy like Cox can do with that kinda of training? or Graham for that matter? *drools*
It’s why a high school here in Central Iowa always has one of the top OL/DL and still runs primarily a triple option attack because they push all of them into wrestling which vastly improves their hand-fighting skills and footwork.
Actually the scientific look towards training athletes have been around for a long time. The Soviet Union used to find the children of athlete parents, who may or may not have had i suggested to them that marrying was a good idea, and muscle biopsy the young kids(talking age 6-10 here), to find out if they had a good amount of White or red blood cells. I cant remember which one is which, but a high amount of a certain blood cell determines whether your muscles are durable or capable of achieving high strain, i.e.. whether you were meant for a endurance olympic discipline or an explosive one.
It actually strikes me quite weird that NFL teams haven’t looked at their players from a scientific/biological point of view yet, when you imagine the whole circus being set up every year in preparations for the draft.
I totally agree that its a terrific idea to help our team.
“White” muscle fiber is more “quick-twitch” muscle which is what you see in Usain Bolt and contains less blood and oxygen thus making it fatigue more easily. The “red” fibers look more red because more blood flows through them, giving them more oxygen, and allowing that muscle to last for a very long time like cross-country skiiers.
It seems you know quite a lot of this kinda. What love a break down on what you think each position needs on the field.
“allowing that muscle to last for a very long time like cross-country skiiers”
And cycling which is why all the tour de france riders blood dope
The insane part is that in the late 80′ and the 90′ some of the riders had a up to 60% red blood cells (normal is in the 30-40 range).
When I read hand fighting, I pictured two NFL players slap-fighting lol. I think King and Osi fit appropriately in that scene. Good point, less focus on large muscles and more on fast-twitch ones
A blurb from USA Today lifted by McManus:
http://www.phillymag.com/eagles/2013/02/10/reaction-to-chip-kellys-staff/
Lindsay Jones of USA Today looks for the meaning behind the move:
Since the Eagles lured Kelly away from Oregon last month,
the NFL world has been wondering how Kelly would implement his
innovative college system, with his high-paced practices and up-tempo
offense, in the NFL.
Hiring Huls appears to be part of that plan. While other teams have
dabbled with alternative training programs — the Denver Broncos, for
example, gutted their training room after hiring a new strength coach
last year — the Eagles are thought to be the first to add a Sports
Science Coordinator in an official capacity.
Kelly has previous experience with Navy SEAL training. In 2011, he
put his Oregon team through a program called “Judgment Day” led by a
former SEALs trainer, and in 2010 told The New York Times how much he admired military-style training.
In training camp, will every player be equipped with their own puke bucket?
Tommy,
When watching college DEs and trying to translate their abilities to the pro level at OLBs, what do you look for? I’ve watched a ton of cutups of the top guys, but they almost never drop back to cover. Dion Jordan was the only one who did it regularly.
You are projecting in that case. How do I think the prospect will do in coverage? Biggest thing is to see how the guy moves in space. Is he fluid? Is he comfortable? Some players need traffic. Others are good in space.
If we choose to take an OT with the #4 pick, how much of a difference do you see in Joeckel, Fisher and Johnson? Do they grade out almost identically?
Johnson is a notch below the others. I need to figure out just how close Joeckel and Fisher are. I’m comfortable with Joeckel at #4. Not sure about Fisher.
Do you think OT is the wisest pick at No. 4, assuming they stay put and given the dearth of quality QBs this year? Or is NT / pass-rusher in the mix? Without the full 3-4 switch — I’m understanding its a 4-3 under base / hybrid D — are those spots as much a need?
Should I not assume they stay put? I’m figuring as much as Kelly likes to run, as good as the RBs are, and as odd as our QB situation is, it would be wise to have one thing we do really really well as we get the D and the passing game up to speed.
When the Texans made the move from a 4-3 to a 3-4 that looks like the one we’re about to get, their first two picks were JJ Watt and Brooks Reed. Of course, their offense was 9th in points and 3rd in yards the previous season (compared to the Eagles 29th and 15th this year) so that probably factored in, but I don’t think we can dismiss those positions as unimportant.
Since they are pretty much in a full rebuild they have to start accumulating talent wherever they can get it. Tackle included.
How does the game planning usually work? Do you think Shurmur will develop the passing part, and Stoutland develop the running plays with Chip over seeing it?
WE are rebuilding the defense.AT 4 you have to draft a difference maker not just a good player. IN a 3-4 defense what’s more important a dominant NT or a stud rush OLB? I know NT is not a sexy pick like rush OLB ( or LT for that matter). But getting a guy who eats up blocks and collapses the pocket thus protecting our LBs and getting our blitzers in one on one situations or better yet unblocked situations seems like a pretty geat pick at 4.Look at New England. Time and time and again Vince Wilfork makes a timely play for the Pats. At 4 I want that guy.The guy OC have to game plan for. I’m no scout but it sounds like Star may be that guy. can’t wait for Tommy’s scouting report on him. If star and luke are available when we pick at 4 it’s gonna be VERY interesting.
Actually the NT position is not a difference maker position for 3-4 defenses anymore and most of them only play like 40% of the snaps.
A 1-gap NT is very different than the guys you’re thinking of. That’s when you need Vince Wilfork or Ted Washington or Casey Hampton.
Based on what I think we’ll run, the NT won’t be eating up double teams every snap. He’ll slanting and attacking as well. This guy could be mid-level FA or non-1st Rder.
How about Josh Boyd? You must have seen a bit of him last year when you were looking at Cox (tee hee).
Re: Marion Campbell, D-Coordinator under Dick Vermeil / austinfan
Marion Campbell — using the 3-4 defense — captained the Eagles’ defense to the Super Bowl after the 1980 season . . . with far less talent than the Cowboys (whom they beat in the NFC title game) or the Raiders to whom they lost in the SB.
On passing downs in 1980, Campbell went from the 3-4 to the 4-2-5. Out came a LB (John Bunting or Bill Bergey) in favor of a nickel DB named Richard Blackmore . . . a 1979 rookie free agent from Miss State, built just like Boykin.
And in came should-be-HOFer at LDE Claude Humphrey (who played for Campbell with the Falcons.
So why do I mention Campbell?
A couple reasons.
First, during his 11 years as the Falcons franchise’s first DC, first under head coach Dutch Van Brocklin for 8.5 years and then 2.5 years as the HC/DC, Campbell exclusively ran a 4-3 defense. He never ran a 3-4 in ATL.
In the last 3 years as DC, ATL finished 15, 18, and 22 in yards allowed out of 28 teams.
Second, after ATL fired Campbell following the ’76 season, Vermeil — who’d run a 4-3 defense his first year as Eagles’ HC — immediately hired Campbell to install and run the 3-4.
Campbell’s teams had some good, though not great, years earlier. But on paper, he looked like a mediocre hire . . . especially since he’d never coached a 3-4 scheme.
But Vermeil understood that, despite the numbers, Campbell knew defense. Those Falcons teams lacked talent in a big way, save for Humphrey, HOF MLB (and injury prone) Tommy Nobis, and LCB Kenny Reaves. The rest was spit and glue.
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Historical Note.
The Eagles went to the 3-4 just two-and-a-half years after it first appeared in the NFL.
Four games into the ’74 season, the Oilers D-coordinator O.A. “Bum” Phillips — father of Wade — installed the “Oklahoma odd-man front defense,” an attacking 3-4 with the SOLB on the LOS.
[Side note: Phillips worked for Oilers head coach Sid Gilman, among the 2 or 3 most important offensive minds in NFL history. Gilman was all about *attacking* defenses . . . just as Phillips’ new defense in ’74 was designed to do to offenses. SOUND FAMILIAR?]
Bum Phillips installed the 3-4, or Oklahoma defense, on the fly — converting the Oilers from a 4-3 to 3-4 right after the team sent 1972 1st-overall pick John Matuszak to the KC Chiefs for future HOF D/NT Curly Culp and a 1975 1st Rd pick.
Culp was short but stout. Built low to the ground, Culp was not just a college footall star at AZ state. Culp was also the NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion.
Culp understood leverage. So Phillips installed Culp at NT as the centerpiece for his attacking, 1-gap Oklahoma odd-man front defense.
Equally important to the story . . . the Oilers used that 1975 1st-Rd pick from the Chiefs to acquire a crucial piece to what became, maybe, the NFL’s 2nd-best defense in the second half of the ’70s behind the Steelers.
By the ’75 draft, Phillips had become the Oilers head coach. And Houston used the Chief’s No. 1 pick — 6th overall — to select OLB Robert Brazile from Jackson State. Brazile became a perennial All Pro (and set the table for Giants ROLB Lawrence Taylor).
Brazile came in at at 6’4″ 245 lbs, which was nearly the size of many DEs at that time. And Phillips took full advantage of his size and agility. Phillips put Brazile at WOLB. (He and SOLB Ted Washington would switch sides, depending on where the TE lined up). Phillips blitzed Brazile. A lot.
By 1975, Phillips was lining up Culp up off the center’s shoulder — not always, but quite a bit. When Culp was in the strong-side A gap, the weakside DE would slide over OT’s outside shoulder. That was Brazile . . . and he’d have a free run at the QB, with only the RB between him and a sack.
Pretty amazing that Bum Phillips’ tweaking in 1974 of a college defense implemented in the late 1940s by the great Bud Wilkinson is still around.
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So back to Marion Campbell. After his first year in the NFL, Vermeil made the move from the 4-3 to the 3-4 (as teams around the NFL were doing). Campbell, unlike Bum Phillips though, ran a 2-gap 3-4 keyed by NT Charlie Johnson.
Vermeil was a pretty gutsy guy. He brought in a longtime D-coordinator in Marion Campbell who’d never run the 3-4 defense and was coming off three pretty mediocre seasons.
But with the Eagles, Campbell turned out to be — like Jim Johnson — a brilliant tactician, helping to get the Eagles to the 1980 SB with some pretty thin talent.
Oh . . . and in that depressing SB game, the Birds ran smack-dab into one John Matuszak. That same 6’8″ 280 lb DE whom the Oilers unloaded in ’74 to secure the two cornerstones of their 1-gap attacking 3-4 defense.
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So almost 40 years after Bum Phillips installed his version of an odd-front defense that’d already been around for 25 years, Davis’ll be an updated version of that same defense.
Like Chip Kelly said about his offense, there’s nothing he does that someone like Knute Rockne or Red Blaik or Bud Wilkinson hasn’t done already.
But if the Eagles, like the Oilers did in ’74 and ’75, can add a dominant inside presence and a dominant “Predator,” this defense could take off.
And Bill Davis is a great choice for D-coordinator.
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Austinfan . . . I take your comments to the bank.
I think your last comment from T-Law’s previous post that lack of college production is at least a yellow flag, and maybe a red flag, particularly for a kid surrounded by NFL talent, is dead on. Mingo’s potentially an example (although lack of technique — as T-Law’s written to explain DeMarcus Ware’s numbers at Troy University — may sometimes explain some of that).
Nasty, talented, tough kids. That’s all I’m looking for.
this could be a blog post of its own. Although I’m glad it’s here for the one-stop shopping. You should see if Tommy would be willing to promote you to the featured guest spot.
Maybe we can run AC Viking posts off the to the side in the spot abandoned by Bounty Bowl. 🙂
Amazing info.
Wow, fantastic. I gotta ask. All this incredibly relevant history, how much is from memory and how much is researched? I don’t know if I should be picturing an incredibly sharp octogenarian or a budding Smithsonian researcher.
I believe Mr. Viking is an incredibly sharp quinquagenarian who does his research. I agree, Great post!
Great post but anytime I see I line like this it immediately makes me love the guy: ” Culp was also the NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion”
I’m in awe. Great stuff. Part of what makes this blog special.
One reason people misunderstand the combine is that college film is limited in what it can tell you, and as you go down to lower levels of competition, it can tell you less and less. I’d wish they’d find a way to get juniors into all star games for that reason, seeing kids practice against similar level athletes provides a better read on their talent..
The combine is guys running around in shorts, but the value is again, those red flags. We’ve seen over the years that a great combine doesn’t translate to the field, but a bad combine usually does – how many safeties who run 4.7, no matter how well they played in college, ever start in the NFL?
Just as important, it tells you what kind of athlete you’re looking at – and as you so brilliantly demonstrated, installing a new scheme is as much about how well a player fits athletically as how well a player plays. You can coach technique, but you can’t coach height, size, agility, etc. (well, to some limited extent, depending on the genetic potential of the player).
I’ve been looking at Arizona under Davis and Seattle for clues of the types of players the Eagles need. Here’s my educated guess:
“5” – someone similar to Thornton, some pass rush skills, primarily a run stopper, good frame but athletic, 6’3-6’5, 290-310 lbs.
NT – because he is a one gap at times, lines up over an OG at times, and will have to handle double teams, a cross between a 4-3 NT and a one gap 3-4 NT. Not a fat guy, but shorter, able to play with better leverage than the DEs. Mebane is a good example, Patterson is too small at his normal weight, too slow when he bulks up to 310 lbs. 6’1-6’3, 300-320 lbs, but not a slug, want that great first step with power.
“3” – Cox. He’s the prototype. You don’t waste a great athlete like him at the “5” handling strong side double teams, you isolate him one on one with LGs and let him manhandle them.
Predator – Ideally you want Von Miller. Realistically you should be able to make it work with any good pass rusher with just enough athlete not to look ridiculous. It seems to be a cross between a conventional RDE and a wide nine RDE. Cole is a mediocre fit, he’s more of a leverage guy as a pass rusher (i.e. he almost uses the LT block to propel him around the edge), Graham lacks the great speed and agility, but has exceptional power (you’re not going to arm block him past the QB). Cole will start, Graham will take over at some point. Between them, you should have one darn good pass rusher.
SLB – Arizona used Okeafor, then Haggans, Seattle uses Wright. Seems to be a philosophy issue, a conventional SLB trades some pass rush skills for better run defense and coverage on TEs. I think this is a hard spot to fill, and how you use him depends on the talent. An average guy gets pulled in the nickel if he’s a SLB. A pass rusher may stay in on the DL but puts more stress on the safeties in coverage. Ideally, you want someone 6’3 or so, 250 lbs, 4.6 speed, great agility, etc., but those go in the 1st rd and are hard to project (Aaron Curry). Eagles might slim Curry down and try him there, not sure he’s a good enough athlete but Davis blitzed on 70% of pass plays from this spot.
MLB – If you’re basically in a 5-2 most of the time with the SLB on the LOS, you need a MLB with range, but since he’s not protected, also with the strength to handle blocks, so you can’t get by with a slow scrub here, Ryans is a decent fit.
WLB – A key player, since he’s protected he will be able to run to the ball, so you want a fast, play making athlete. Think the Eagles have one of those.
PS: Since Chip is going to run an up tempo offense, the defensive players will see 5-10 more snaps per game than most teams. Stamina will be a key issue, for linemen, the value of the 40 is as a measure of stamina (you have to be in shape to run a fast 40 at 300 lbs). So while I normally dismiss 40 times for linemen, something to watch this year for potential starters.
Looking forward to see what Kendricks can do at the will. Hopefully they are finally putting him a position to succeed. Looking for a nice sophomore jump!
AF . . . Really top shelf work.
AC, austin, you guys are Hall of Fame posters. Great work.
Does anyone here check out Walterfootball.com? The writer pretty much said the eagles orginzation is a mess and they have no idea what they’re doing
For the most part, I only look at the scouting reports at Walter Football. Don’t pay much attention to his team analyses since he seems to be biased against certain teams, including the Eagles.
Agree, I like walerfootball for there mock drafts and player rankings but thats it.
I don’t agree it is a mess. There are problems, which really are not insurmountable, and they are being addressed. FWIW, I do agree with Bletcher Report, which has the Eagles going 6-10 next year. They also have Reid’s Chief’s going 4-10, which also sounds about right.
He despises the Eagles. He did prior to our taking Vick in and after that.. much worse. He won’t even use Vick’s name. I do like his FA and draft prospect rankings though.
What is the expected o-line blocking scheme look like and how does it relate to who we currently have available? How does it differ from what Mudd’s scheme was and is it possible that the new O-line coach can polish a turd? Like one wrapped in a fire truck for instance?
Does anyone else think that Rick Minter is being groomed for the DC position. He’s been a head coach (albeit at a college level) and he’s done a great job on that level.
I kind of feel like Davies is here to have a steady hand on the rudder while he rebuilds his reputation.
Pertaining to the draft, I can’t ever imagine this happening but let’s say that when the Eagles are up at four, they have a lot of players with the same grade and no one willing to trade with them. Couldn’t they just let time run out and let the next team go and continue doing this until they could either trade back or pick someone with a higher rating than anyone else available. The other advantage to this is the decreasing value of contracts as you go down the draft. Last year’s fourth overall pick got a 20 million dollar contract while the sixth overall pick was 16 million. Now I don’t think the money for first rounders really makes a big difference to teams anymore with the rookie wage scale, but it doesn’t hurt to save a bit of money if no one stands out to you. I understand that this would require very specific circumstances but it just seems like such an interesting way to approach the draft.
The PR of being so bad at evaluating talent that they say, “go ahead, we will just take which ever guy is left over and cheapest.” would be difficult to overcome.
Exactly the headache of having to listen to it from the fans and media would far outweigh whatever extremely small benefits would exist.
Stoutland connections
Between ’88 and ’91 Stoutland and Azzinaro coached four times against each other, Stoutland as OC for Southern Connecticut, Azzinaro as DC for American International. Azzinaro won the duel 3-1, including two shutouts.
Later in ’99 they coached together at Syracuse, Stoutland as O-Line Coach, Azzinaro as D-Line Coach.
Also Lazor has been an assistant Coach at Cornell when Stouland was O-Line Coach, from ’94 to ’96.
And not enough, he also knows Lovett from Miami, Stoutland was O-Line Coach ’09 and ’10 while Lovett was Defensive Coordinator.
Good stuff. I’m going to do a full post with all the links. I’ll use this.
You mention that all of the D coaches were DCs, I’d like to add that Dave Fipp was too. His defences had to practices against Chris Ault’s pistol on a daily basis.
Good nugget.
This question is for AC Viking)Philly Yoda) as I think of him. Or anyone else that cares to respond. Since it seems clear to me anyway that Davis wasn’t on ANY of our wish lists for D.C. did you have anyone in particular you hoped for? I know it’s pointless, we’re stuck with him, I’m just trying to exercise coping skills lol I mentioned before that I was SO excited that Chip would somehow wow us with his choice and I literally felt numb when I heard the choice. GOD I hope I’M WRONG! I mentioned to my fellow bird fans that Ifelt like the little boy running downstairs Christmas morning expecting my Red Rider BB gun and all there was were the pink bunny pajamas from my crazy aunt!
I’m very glad Kelly’s going away from a pure 4-3 to a (hybrid?) 3-4. His defense in college, led by Nick Aliotti, was creative and aggressive — and of course could afford to be most times. And if it takes two years to rebuild this defense, we’ll be fortunate it’s only that long (given the back 4).
To answer your question, I thought someone from the Raven’s staff might have been a good choice. That organization turns out good coaches, its seems, year after year. So I figured maybe Ted Monachino was the guy. But I think T-Law’s investigation found that he was more a 4-3 guy. No one else on that staff looked appealing, though.
As with this year’s top of the NFL draft — which seems thin at the top, i.e., no easy-to-ID Top-5 guys (and reminds me of the 2010 NBA draft when the Sixers finally get a premium pick at No. 2 overall and end up with Evan Turner (EVAN TURNER!!!)) — the same looks to have been the case with D-coordinators running a 3-4 or hybrid scheme.
The last two times the Eagles changed their base defensive scheme were ’77 and ’86. In ’77, the Eagles went to a 3-4, became a much more physical team, and four years later were in the SB. In ’86, Buddy came to Philadelphia and turned the Eagles into the most feared defense in the NFL — and if he’d just cared a little bit about his offense, he could have won some playoff games.
So to circle back, I thought Monachino looked good from afar. But he wasn’t what Kelly wanted.
At the same time, I have no problem with Davis. He runs an attacking scheme. If Roseman gets him some big, physical, nasty players, Davis’ll be okay.
Anyway I happened to be in a room with 4 other fans when the news broke and before all the “who the hell is he? ” comments started and then a flow of obscenities began to cascade that would make an entire battleship blush, you could have heard a mouse tinkle on cotton as we stood there in disbelief /disappointment. All of us are hoping with all our might that we are TOTALLY WRONG believe me. But none of us can get this awful feeling out of our stomachs that this was a BAD hire. WE LOVE D!!!!
[…] Tommy Lawlor gives a thoughtful take on the new staff, while zoning in on the O-line coach: […]
I have to admit – I’m about burnt out talking about the coordinators and assistant coaches. I’m ready for some draft talk!
Re: Speaking of Coaches — OA “Bum” Phillips
Here’s a quote from Phillips after he took over the Oilers’ head-coaching job in 1975 from the great Sid Gilman, who was Bill Walsh before Bill Walsh — and, like Andy Reid, had a playbook the size of War & Peace:
“We had too many plays and ran them all bad. . . . Now we’ll run just a few plays and try to run them well.”
I think Chip Kelly may think the same think about the 2012 Eagles.