Wade Phillips is the new DC

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by barrett

There is no organized power structure in New England other than Bill Bellachik has the power. They have no clearly defined roles. This year they didn't even bother to name offensive or defensive coordinators. They have rarely had a GM and usually just have a personnell man that works with Bellachik in an undefined relationship and balance of power. And they have had more turnover in the front office and coaching ranks than any NFL team.

They win based on the three constants in all of those things...Bill Bellachik, Tom Brady, and their Offensive Line. Everything/Everybody else is a movable/expendable part. Well defined roles has little to do with it.

Maybe we are about to argue semantics, but the fact that you are so confident of how they operate/why they are successful drives home my point.

Bill is in charge of all. Tom Brady is clearly the single leader of the team...etc...

More than schematics (and I've heard this from a number of respected football people), Bill's gift is his ability to communicate specific, defined roles to each player for a given game plan. One week, player X will be given a certain set of duties and will clearly understand and perform them on the field, and the following week, he will have a different set of responsibilities but still have comprehension of those and a willingness to fulfill them.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

Bill is in charge of all. Tom Brady is clearly the single leader of the team...etc...

Bill's gift is his ability to communicate specific, defined roles to each player for a given game plan.

Bill has unique talents to be able to get the most out of his players. His attention to detail is remarkable. He also has the ability to utilize a player's strengths. Defining roles and communicating expectations to players is one of the reasons they respect him so much.

Who could/would cut Randy Moss and expect the team to get better? Who takes Deion Branch and makes him look like a Pro-Bowler? Places WR Troy Brown at CB and passes TD passes to LB Mike Vrabel? Takes a cast-off short white guy and uses him as a weapon (Woodhead, Edleman, Welker). Plays defense with a bunch of rookies and simply has his offense score more points than they allow.

Many have attempted to grab some of the magic by taking coaches associated with him. Crennel, Weiss, McDaniels, Mangini, et. al only to find out that they may have been around greatness, but it didn't rub off.

Now, I wonder what happened between Cleveland and New England. Brady is great, but he won with Cassell too. If we could find the next coach like him, then stability would follow. However, Hall-of-Fame coaches don't just grow on trees.

[WMH]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Now, I wonder what happened between Cleveland and New England. Brady is great, but he won with Cassell too. If we could find the next coach like him, then stability would follow. However, Hall-of-Fame coaches don't just grow on trees.

That is a GREAT question, and aside from Brady, I have never been able to put my finger on it......The guy just has some karma, deal with the devil, or something..... Sometimes, I think he makes moves just show people how damn smart/good he is. REALLY pisses me off.......

Back to Wade, he has some successful experience, been around the block a time or twelve, so I guess he is a good option, but it sure seems like he is the only option. Aside from a "reported" (IE - Texans brass to McClain - Psst - tell everyone I called Marvin) check in with Lewis, it seems like this is/will be a done deal for an search even gets going.

[Roy P]

I think that is what pisses me off about the whole situation with this Wade Phillips scenario. Bum gets invited to practice on Wed to endorse Kubes and then we seem to have a new DC before an interview ever takes place. The PR move makes it seem so trite. Getting Wade after a few guys have had a shot at an interview would just make me feel better. Remember when they intervied Scott Linehan and Cam Cameron for the HC job before deciding upon Kubiak? Sort of reminds me of the situation when we brought in Dan Reeves to consult on how much better off we would be if we kept David Carr around and Casserly.

I'd be much happier if I were able to believe that the fix isn't already in.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by WMH

That is a GREAT question, and aside from Brady, I have never been able to put my finger on it......The guy just has some karma, deal with the devil, or something..... Sometimes, I think he makes moves just show people how damn smart/good he is. REALLY pisses me off.......

Back to Wade, he has some successful experience, been around the block a time or twelve, so I guess he is a good option, but it sure seems like he is the only option. Aside from a "reported" (IE - Texans brass to McClain - Psst - tell everyone I called Marvin) check in with Lewis, it seems like this is/will be a done deal for an search even gets going.

It looks like it's officially Wade. I agree that he's not a bad hire, but the process left me very unimpressed. It didn't exactly appear to be a painstaking search in which every possible option was investigated.

I've been wondering about the Marvin Lewis thing -- did his contract expire immediately at the end of Bengals' season? Because if it expires later, like at the end of the NFL League Year (February 28), the Texans committed tampering unless they had the Bengals' permission to talk to him.

On Belichick, I think he was better in Cleveland than he gets credit for -- he took over a team that was 3-13 and went 6-10, 7-9, 7-9, 11-5, then collapsed to 5-11 (losing 7 of their last 8) amid the circus that became of their 1995 season when Art Modell announced the move to Baltimore. Making unpopular moves like getting rid of hometown icon Bernie Kosar and being generally horrible with the media didn't help his reputation. I also think in the five years between head coaching jobs he must've taken an honest look at his time with the Browns and learned from his mistakes.

[nunusguy]

Coach Gary Kubiak said he's excited to switch to a 3-4 defense under new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.

Kubiak hired Phillips on Wednesday to replace Frank Bush, who was one of four defensive coaches fired on Monday.

"Wade feels confident about running a 3-4, and I'm excited about that," Kubiak said. "Wade said he feels good about the talent we have and how he'll use the players. He said (defensive end) Mario (Williams) has to be one of our most successful players and that it's up to him to put Mario in position to do that.

"Wade talked about some things he did with Bruce Smith in Buffalo compared to what he'll do with Mario, and I like what I hear."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/7367380.html
**
They are definitely going 3-4 under Phillips. Fantastic !

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

"Wade talked about some things he did with Bruce Smith in Buffalo compared to what he'll do with Mario, and I like what I hear."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/7367380.html
**
They are definitely going 3-4 under Phillips. Fantastic !

This is from the chron.com

Phillips' defenses
Just once in Wade Phillips’ long NFL tenure has he failed to improve a defense after taking over as either the head coach or defensive coordinator. Ironically, the only time it didn’t happen was when he joined defensive mastermind Buddy Ryan’s staff in Philadelphia. Also, that was also the only time Phillips coached a 4-3 alignment instead of his trademark 3-4.

Team Year Record Def. rank Def. set
PA YA
Cowboys 2006 9-7* 20 13 3-4
Cowboys** 2007 13-3* 13 9 3-4

Chargers 2003 4-12 31 27 4-3
Chargers 2004 12-4* 11 18 3-4

Falcons 2001 7-9 24 30 4-3
Falcons 2002 9-6-1* 8 19 3-4

Bills 1994 7-9 22 17 3-4
Bills 1995 10-6* 12 13 3-4

Broncos 1988 8-8 20 22 3-4
Broncos 1989 11-5* 1 3 3-4

Eagles 1985 7-9 10 10 4-3
Eagles 1986 5-10-1 12 17 4-3

Saints 1980 1-15 28 28 4-3
Saints 1981 4-12 24 11 3-4
* - made playoffs
** - Phillips was head coach

I like the fact that he thinks he can help Mario become a bigger force, and I agree, if Mario will buy into Wade's defense.

[cland]

Originally Posted by Warren

...On Belichick, I think he was better in Cleveland than he gets credit for -- he took over a team that was 3-13 and went 6-10, 7-9, 7-9, 11-5, then collapsed to 5-11 (losing 7 of their last 8) amid the circus that became of their 1995 season when Art Modell announced the move to Baltimore. Making unpopular moves like getting rid of hometown icon Bernie Kosar and being generally horrible with the media didn't help his reputation. I also think in the five years between head coaching jobs he must've taken an honest look at his time with the Browns and learned from his mistakes.

Not to be a Kubiak apologist... but if I could recraft the quote:

he took over a team that was 2-14 and went 6-10, 8-8, 8-8, 9-7, then collapsed to 6-10...

...prior to becoming the widely considered best coach in the NFL. Not saying this will happen with Mr. K, but the truth is that nobody knows.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by cland

Not to be a Kubiak apologist... but if I could recraft the quote: ...prior to becoming the widely considered best coach in the NFL. Not saying this will happen with Mr. K, but the truth is that nobody knows.

There's a couple key differences, though:

1. In Year 3, the Browns made the playoffs and won a playoff game. The Texans didn't make the playoffs.
2. In Year 4, the Browns were hit with the fallout from the in-season announcement of the franchise's move to Baltimore. The Texans didn't have to deal with any distraction even close to that scale.

[Nconroe]

Originally Posted by Warren

There's a couple key differences, though:

1. In Year 3, the Browns made the playoffs and won a playoff game. The Texans didn't make the playoffs.
2. In Year 4, the Browns were hit with the fallout from the in-season announcement of the franchise's move to Baltimore. The Texans didn't have to deal with any distraction even close to that scale.

ok, just to be correct, above is off by a year, use year 4,5 not 3,4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Belichick

year 1 6-10 (same)
year 2 7-9 vs 8-8
and 3 7-9 vs 8-8
year 4 11-5 vs 9-7 and to playoffs
year 5 5-11 vs 6-10
whatever, just being correct maybe
so if scoring overall 36-44 vs 37-43,
so Kubes one game better on 5 years on his first coaching assignment, likely would be more happy since had the 11-5 and one playoff appearance

[barrett]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

Maybe we are about to argue semantics, but the fact that you are so confident of how they operate/why they are successful drives home my point.

Bill is in charge of all. Tom Brady is clearly the single leader of the team...etc...

More than schematics (and I've heard this from a number of respected football people), Bill's gift is his ability to communicate specific, defined roles to each player for a given game plan. One week, player X will be given a certain set of duties and will clearly understand and perform them on the field, and the following week, he will have a different set of responsibilities but still have comprehension of those and a willingness to fulfill them.

Having a genius be a genius is not a great organizational power structure unless you have a genius. Saying the biggest difference between us and the patriots is well defined roles is false. Bill Bellachik is the difference. We could put Kubiak firmly in charge with the identical role to Bellachik and give everyone else hazy and ever shifting roles like the patriots do. We could do all of this exactly like them and fail. The reason is that what they do only works because he is Bill Bellachik. If you try to act like him without being him you destroy franchises (see Mcdaniels, Josh).

Now if you are saying that New England is good because Bill Bellachik is in charge and we are bad because Gary Kubiak is in charge, you could have saved about 2000 words in doing so. If you really think they are good and we are bad because of the defining of roles, then you are way overcomplicating things.