New Orleans Saints Making Major Defensive Changes

[JustAwesome]

We all saw how bad the New Orleans Saints defense was this season. They're trying to change that. Steve Spagnuolo has been fired as the coordinator. Sean Peyton announced that they're switching to a 3-4 defense, which is weird because he didn't name a new guy in charge of that yet.

What do you think of the situation?

[Jake0890]

Spagnuolo had to be fired. Don't really like the switch to 3-4 though.

[LAKESHOW]

3-4 is cool. Thats pretty much followin trend. A year out of football has been good for peyton. He sees this kapernick/cam newton kinda stuff happenin. So of course, he adjusts with extra linebackers and speed out there to accomodate.

[JustAwesome]

I wonder if that's why he's making the switch. Obviously, he had a year of scouting, so he probably saw a lot more than everyone else did.

[Higga]

Both Ds(4-3, and 3-4)work. The Saints need a talent overhaul on D either way, so why not change up systems?

I don't know if the 3-4 is necessarily better against the RG3/Wilson/Kaepernick type QBs. The Skins played five games against 3-4 Ds this year and lit them all up(except Pittsburgh because of something like 15 dropped passes).

[JustAwesome]

The 4-3 and 3-4 are the only two base defenses in the NFL. If you're not playing one, you're going to be playing the other. Both of them can be effective against the zone read once the defensive coordinators figure out how to attack it over the summer.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

The New Orleans Saints plan to hire former Dallas Cowboys assistant coach Rob Ryan as their new defensive coordinator, according to league sources.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/89194 ... ng-sources

BTW, props to the one poster (I forgot who) that predicted he would be hired after I made fun of him for his "I will be hired in 5 minutes" comment .

[LAKESHOW]

The only problem with Ryan? Hes got the front 7 goin great. But the back guys are clueless in their coverages. When things shift and change and blitz up front. The coverages in the back have to adjust and cover certain spots and certain areas. These dudes are lost last year in Dallas. Hopefully he can fix that this year.

Still gonna be difficult though, cause you know who left town. The President himself, Mr. Bush.

[JustAwesome]

I mentioned Ryan as a possibility with the Saints, but that was only because he was one of the best available 3-4 coordinators out there.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

Ian Rapoport@RapSheet
#Georgia DC Todd Grantham will get on a plane and fly to New Orleans tomorrow morning to interview with #Saints, I'm told.

The New Orleans Saints contacted the San Francisco 49ers in an attempt to interview secondary coach Ed Donatell for their vacant defensive coordinator position, according to a source with knowledge of the Saints' plans. However, Donatell is under contract with the 49ers, and the team made the decision not to permit the interview.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000 ... d-donatell

Seems like Ryan has competition & the job is not wrapped up for him yet.

[JustAwesome]

Donatell is a 4-3 guy, so that's an odd choice.

[NeedsMoreCheese]

Donatell is a 4-3 guy, so that's an odd choice.

In the link Biggie posted,

"I'm far better than I ever was," Donatell told me during Super Bowl media day. Asked what kind of coach he would be as a coordinator, "I always think players and plays, so I'd have to examine the roster. I'm a 3-4 coach, but that doesn't mean you can't have 4-3 principles. I'd say I'm a melting pot of (49ers defensive coordinator) Vic Fangio and (Falcons defensive coordinator) Mike Nolan."

Not that it matters since the Niners aren't granting permission anyways.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

New Orleans Saints hire Rob Ryan as their new defensive coordinator, source says

The New Orleans Saints have hired former Cowboys coordinator Rob Ryan as their new defensive coordinator to replace the fired Steve Spagnuolo, according to a league source. The team should officially announce the hiring on Saturday.

Saints Coach Sean Payton interviewed Ryan for the job on Friday in New Orleans. Payton also interviewed Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham for the position Thursday. Payton wanted to interview 49ers secondary coach Ed Donatell, but San Francisco blocked Donatell from doing so.

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/20 ... out_sports

I guess it's now official.

[Icness]

I like this for Cam Jordan, a natural 5-technique that Ryan will love. Martez Wilson as OLB in the 3-4 sounds good. Akiem Hicks can play NT. The inside backers Hawthorne and Lofton should transition nicely. Not sure that Will Smith can play OLB. Sed Ellis is a UFA but would make a nice LDE if he re-signs.

But like lakeshow said, if their CBs are Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson with Roman Harper at safety and Johnny Patrick as nickel, they're in a world of trouble on the back end. Ryan demands tight man coverage with no help outside the hashes. Greer doesn't suck but that's not his game. Robinson basically does suck and that's not his game either.

[JustAwesome]

Guess I was wrong about Donatell. I assumed he was a 4-3 guy because that's the scheme that he ran when he was the defensive coordinator in Atlanta and Green Bay. He coached a 3-4 in Denver and San Francisco, but he's doing that as a positions coach.