Does Bad Defense = Hire a Defensive-Focused Coach?
Dennison and Elway just prior to Dennison's interview
As the interviews march on at Dove Valley (almost as many coaches have declined to interview as have interviewed…), the rallying cry you’ll find around Denver is that we must have a defensive-minded coach. A former defensive coordinator, someone that brings a fresh defensive perspective. And for a team whose defense has shown little reason for hope in the last several years, on its face it seems like a good idea.
But I submit that the worst thing the Bronco brass can do is to get enamored with the idea of a ‘defensive’ coach, lest they end up with another McDaniels-style disaster.
Does that mean that we shouldn’t look at defensive coordinators for the job? Absolutely not – but lets not mix the job descriptions to the point that we forget what a head coach in the NFL really does. He’s a game planner, a manager. Some coaches do more – as in actually call the plays on offense. For a while, Wade Phillips called the defensive schemes as head coach of the Cowboys. Some coaches become GMs and personnel directors. But ultimately, the head coach is the coach of the coaches. An good head coach with a background in offense hires the best Defensive Coordinator around. A good head coach with a defensive background, hires the best offensive coordinator he can find. A bad coach, regardless of his background, is a bad coach. And no matter a coach’s skill level, if he doesn’t surround himself with a quality staff, the team goes nowhere. (Forget about the talent level of the players for a moment) The problem arises when a coordinator gets so good at his job, that he is naturally assumed to be a head coaching candidate. It’s the Peter Principle in action – an employee rising to the level of his incompetence.
I offer the following cases:
Brian Billick: Brian Billick was an offensive minded coach. He coached tight ends under Dennis Green at Stanford, and was the offensive coordinator for the Vikings, during years when the Minnesota offense was putting up points at record pace. Yet his Super Bowl team – the Ravens – won the title with one of the best defenses in NFL history. Why? Because they had a wealth of talent on the defense, and a great DC in Marvin Lewis, and Billick was able to build game plans based on what he had. Offensive-minded coach, historically good defense.
Wade Phillips: Wade is just one member to a long list of excellent coordinators that never made the grade as head coaches. Phillips is widely regarded as a top DC, and didn’t take but a few days after season’s end to find a job after being relieved of his duties in Dallas. We could keep going, and even start populating this list with guys who may still be NFL head coaches in the future, but failed miserably up until now – including guys like Josh McDaniels.
It really comes down to this – hire the best available coach, regardless of his specialty. The best coaches hire the best assistants they can find. It’s why Bill Walsh was successful, and so many great coaches have come from his system – he always hired the best.
It’s for this reason, I’m still an advocate of going the Rick Dennison direction. He has a complete understanding of the game of football. He played on the defense. He’s coached special teams and now he’s an OC. He knows the GAME of football, from all sides. He’ll bring back zone blocking. He’ll find the best damn DC he can find, and let the man do his job. Same on the offensive side. He’ll work with the front office. He doesn’t want to run every aspect of the entire organization in a micro-managing way, and consequently he won’t go firing assistants every year until he finds a bunch of yes-men who will simply comply with his demands. He’s the anti-McDaniels. Isn’t that what we’re really after in Denver? The furthest thing from Josh as possible?
