Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattyk
I really have no strong feelings in either direction on this hire. Yeah he's had some mediocre rankings recently but I think you have to consider the teams and the talent he was coaching at the time. Nobody in the know seems to dispute that he's a solid defensive mind, so I'm willing to be open to what he may bring to the table. At the least, he should be more aggressive and inventive with his schemes than Blache was.
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Of the 31 other defensive coordinators in the league last year, i would say at least 25 of them were "more aggressive" than Blache. Most of the positive comments ive seen here about Haslett (and there are fairly few of them) center around the fact that he's not Greg Blache.
Of all the potential names being touted as potential DCs for Shanahan, Haslett was the worst. To find out that we contacted Crennel but never had serious discussions with him is perplexing. Saying he is a great defensive mind but blaming the teams/talent he was coaching for his poor defenses doesn't even make sense. Gregg Williams took a horrible defense over in New Orleans and made it elite. In the NFL, the level of raw talent is comparable on every single NFL team. COACHING is what makes the difference between mediocre/poor and excellent in this league. Haslett may have a great defenisve mind, but if he were a great coach, the results (his defenses performance over a decade) would testify to that. They don't.
in his last 10 years in Denver, Shanahan won 1 - ONE - playoff game. Why? Well, partly, because Denver's defenses sucked. One of Shanahan's downfalls in Denver was that he didn't select good defensive coordinators, forcing him to get new ones nearly every year. What this hire shows me is that, despite all the blind faith wishes of fans to the contrary, Shanahan hasn't changed one bit. He's selected yet another poor defensive coordinator. (More) mediocrity, here we come.
People who take a wait and see approach are setting themselves up for bitter disappointment. I'm sure Denver fans said the same thing each time Shanahan selected a new D.C. How'd that work out for them?