Name the new defensive coordinator

Smart money is on Dom.

Bob.

Capers

 

Not McCarthy's MO to can coaches.  He's stuck with Slocum and Campen over rocky seasons.  My guess is they'll view all of the injuries as the reason for the poor performance late in the season.  The D was pretty good after 7 games (5-2).

If not Dom, then one of his assistants. No major scheme overhaul, no move to a 4-3 (that usually wastes a year while personnel are changed).

if capers is fired, Ted will encourage MM to hire Wade Phillips. Ted interviewed him for head coach when he fired Sherman so apparently  holds him in high regards. I would prefer someone from the Belichech Tree but other than Mangini I am not sure who that would be. Of course I was not on board with the McCarthy hire either but Ted was right and I was wrong. Again....

I'm starting to think QBs like Brandon Weeden, Christian Ponder, and the ilk had a lot to do with the D being pretty good early on.

The rush defense was pretty good after 7 games.

Pass defense was not. They were ranked in the 20's on passing yards allowed.

Pretty good, not great. 

 

I don't think they're nearly as bad as they've been playing.  Offense/TOP not helping at all.

Somebody suggested Rocky Seto earlier:

 

http://www.thenewstribune.com/...title-important.html

I know next to nothing about young assistant defensive coaches who may be ready for a DC gig...but this is the kind of guy I'd be looking for.

 

If they stay in house, I always thought Darren Perry would be the next man up.

AJ Hawk

Bingo. I think that's a recurring theme with Caper's tenure. A good QB or good coordinator burns him.

 

I have no idea who they'd go with, but I hope it's not someone on the current staff and I hope it's someone who is an up and comer vs. an aging guy.

 

Here's the name I'll throw out there: Derek Mason of Stanford. Has pro experience, worked under Fangio of the 49ers when Harbaugh was at Stanford, and has done a great job at the college level.

to chime in with some others comments, I think the opposing Offense was the D's advantage, I still use SF as the watermark, and they ran roughshod over the D. 

 

I would love to see Rex Ryan, Wade Philips would be 2nd.

Phillips was the genius last year who had his undefeated Texans' defense play the Packers with loose man coverage and a single high safety, leading to Rodgers' six TD passes.  It never looked easier.  No thank you.

 

Unless he brings J.J. Watt with him.

Somehow, I just don't see McCarthy hiring a guy like Rex Ryan.  Maybe just too much of a personality clash there. Who knows, maybe he would, but I think he'd be nervous around a guy with a big ego underneath him. I actually like Rex Ryan but I see the McCarthy/Ryan combo as unlikely.

I have a hard time imagining them coexisting as well

You need a coach who will kick these players asses AND not be afraid to sit them. No matter who they are or how much of a favorite they are to MM (*cough Hawk cough*).

 

And there's also the issue of ego. MM is a proud guy and if this team plays bad enough to warrant a change at DC, I just got a gut feeling it won't be coming from him. TT will be the one to tell MM we have to make a change. MM's loyalty is more of an issue then it is an asset at this point of his coaching career IMO.

 

How much of a threat would a Rex Ryan, Smith or Phillips be to him?

 

 

 

Jinx. Was posting the same thing essentially. And there is also the issue of Ryan having a rep as a players coach ala Ray Rhodes. I don't think that's what this defense needs. They don't need a buddy. They need DC who's going to hold players accountable and run a very disciplined unit.

Dave Aranda - nothing will change - guaranteed.  He fit right in. 

All sorts of plays were there to be had in the Brown game and the Packers were very fortunate they were facing Weeden instead of a reasonably competent NFL QB. 

 

It's a bottom line business and the bottom line is the defense stinks. MM obviously isn't going anywhere but there needs to be some accountability, whether it's players, coaches or (preferably) a combination of the two.

Best Coach Available. Don't fire a DC and not have a legit replacement on deck. If there is a DC available who is clearly better than Capers then I think it would be fine. Don't dig up some retread (Wade Philips) or some overrated big name (i.e. Eric Mangini). Find a younger coach who is hungry to make a name for himself. Here's a couple guys I think may not be better than Capers but would be strong choices if he was fired:

 

Steve Wilks (Carolina) - Wilks has fielded strong Secondaries wherever he has gone. He gets the most out of his players it seems. He comes from a 4-3 though, he seems to go wherever Ron Rivera goes, and he's from Carolina so it may be difficult to pry him from the Panthers. He knows the NFC North also having coached the Bears secondary for a couple years. 

 

Rocky Seto (Seattle) - Seto has college DC experience at USC and has also fielded strong NFL Secondaries with Buffalo and now Seattle. I think his strength looks to be player development...he has done great things developing the players in Seattle with Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Brandon Browner, and Richard Sherman. 

 

Jon Hoke (Chicago) - Another strong Secondary coach with a good resume of player development. He's gotten the most out of guys like Peanut Tillman, Tim Jennings, Chris Harris, etc. All of the guys I have mentioned, including Hoke, are 4-3 guys and might be willing to bring in a more of a hybrid scheme, similar to what Tomlin brought to Pittsburgh with his Tampa 2 background. 

 

Jim Tomsula (San Fran)  - San Fran's DLine speaks for itself. That's a strong unit headlined by an elite player. Not only did he help Justin Smith make the switch to 3-4 End (from 4-3 End), he helped develop Ray McDonald into one of the top 3-4 Ends in the league. He seems to get the most out of his DL. And working with Vic Fangio he has experience in almost the same 3-4 that the Packers run so it wouldn't be too much of an adjustment. 

No Lovie, please.  His defense is outdated, and he wants a head-coaching gig again.

 

An interesting option may be Mike Trgovac, the current DL coach.  He was DC for John Fox in Carolina, and I seem to remember his defenses were pretty good (when Peppers was there).  He's a 4-3 guy, but not sure if he could work with a 3-4.

 

I'm not sure there are a lot of "hot" DC coaching candidates out there in the NFL.  If you look at the new coaches and their hires, many are retreads, like Todd Bowles (for Arizona). Andy Reid's hire of Bob Sutton dug into coaching assistants. Keith Butler of Pittsburgh was a hot name a year or two ago. Not sure if that's still a possibility, but he knows a thing or two about the effective type of LBs for a 3-4. 

 

Other than that, you might have to go to the college ranks.

I agree with 50k Club about Lovie.  The Tampa 2 defense has become old fashioned, which is the same reason why I wouldn't want Leslie Frazier once he gets fired.  Of the coordinators likely to be available, Wade Phillips is probably the best of the bunch.  Another coach with past success is Romeo Crennel.  

 

Or maybe Ray Rhodes would like to come back and redeem his reputation.

Which current head coaches who are likely to be fired have been good defensive coaches in the past?

Talent would help.

Schiano is probably gone.  Seems like a jagoff, but some guys just aren't meant to be Head Coaches.

 

I don't see too many HCs getting the axe this year.  Maybe Frazier and Kubiak.  That's probably it.

No thanks to Phillips.

 

 

Some Head Coaches that might be fired and their Defensive Coordinators:

 

Houston - Gary Kubiak - Wade Phillips

Miami - Joe Philbin - Kevin Coyle

Minnesota - Leslie Frazier - Alan Williams

NY Jets - Rex Ryan - Dennis Thurman

Tampa Bay - Greg Schiano - Bill Sheridan

 

Phillips is a retread, no thanks. Miami is 9th best in Points Per Game right now and were 7th best in PPG last year so Coyle is a guy I could definitely live with, but I'm not sure Philbin gets canned. No thanks to the boys in Minnesota, they are 32 in PG. The Jets are just as bad as GB so I fail to see how Rex Ryan or Dennis Thurman would be upgrades. Bill Sheridan has the Bucs playing better D than the Packers, but they're still middle of the road in the NFL.

 

Not a lot of good options available from that route either. 

Grave Digger - What do you think of Shiano as a DC?

Rex Ryan is my choice.

Why? Because you heard of him?

I think Schiano has 3 years of NFL experience, defensive assistant with Chicago from '96 to '98, outside of his two years as a HC in Tampa. I don't think he would be a strong choice. It's hard to speculate how he would function as a play caller, he's been a successful DC before in college at Miami, but that was 13 years ago. Hard to tell. Also keep in mind that even if you hired him as DC, he was still a reasonably successful college head coach so there's a very real chance he will look to jump back to college (ala Nick Saban). 

That's the thing about looking at former HC's like Rex Ryan, they're going to be looking for HC opportunities again. Any success they would have in GB could be parlayed into another HC job quickly. Hypothetically we could hire Rex Ryan and be looking for another DC next offseason. Having 3 DCs in 3 years makes it hard to have stability or consistency. 

I don't see big city bright lights Rex Ryan wanting anything to do with lil ol' GB and I wouldn't want him either.  Don't see him fitting in with the current environment.

Schiano?  based on what?

 

I'd prefer an up and comer but have no idea who that is. 

No, because I see him play the Patriots twice a year. He usually has a pretty good defensive scheme against the Patriots. He is also talked about quite a bit around here and his defense is highly regarded by ex-players that are on talk radio here.

 

Who would be your choice and why?

Just some new blood. Don't need some loud mouth rehash coaching the team.

The loud mouth can be defensive coach and MM can put a lid on him.

I think Schiano is a jag off, as well, but I think he has turned the Bucs around a bit, he might not get fired, after the debaucle of their season. 

 

I would love to see Romeo Crennel as the DC.  

If you're going to do it, go with a young mind. Rocky Seto is the Seahawks' passing game coordinator, after assisting with DBs before that. He specialized in Safeties. The team could use this kind of expertise from the NFL's best defense.

MM is loyal and can be stubborn and I'd put it at 50-50 presently. It's pretty obvious to me and most fans that a change is needed but I'm not sure the head coach views it that way.

 

I'm not convinced Capers is canned either, but he will definitely be on the hot seat. I think McCarthy will point to earlier in the season, before they lost CM3, Perry, Rodgers, etc., when the D was performing better as a reason to keep him on another year. I think they definitely will reevaluate some things though. I think they will look for more veteran leadership in free agency and be a little more aggressive in the draft. I wouldn't be surprised to see them steal a guy like Ryan Clark away from Pittsburgh.