If not John Fox - who? If not Delhomme - who?

Gruden and Tim Tebow.

 

No arguments there. There have been, in my mind, 4 consistently top notch defenses in this league over the last 5-10 years, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England and Philadelphia. 3 out of those 4 run a 3-4. That's really the only reason I would be interested in switching to that.

 

That's kind of a long range, 5-10, I'd include Tampa in that mix if you go back that far.

 

The 3-4 can be an awesome defense when done correctly. So can the 4-3 though. If we were starting from scratch I would favor the 3-4 but since we are not I would rather stay with the 4-3. We have most of the pieces to make it work well. If our offense were playing well, especially our QB, then the defense would look much better.

I am not ready to dump Fox. Give him a steady QB and see what happens first.

 

I can be there by Friday

 

I don't think "being like Fox" is a bad thing. I'm sure Fox, given this team next year fresh instead of at year eight, would probably make a lot more changes.

So the other option is what? Aggressive defensive coach? Like who? Mmm. Warmed over Schottenheimer. Maybe we can get really lucky and we can get his family in here. And everybody's beaten Cowher to death...wow. Be great to have Dick Lebeau with that, oh well. Be great to have a franchise QB with that, oh well. Be great if he came with the Steelers front office...oh. Okay. The figurehead it is, then.

Or - offensive guy. Hey, let's pick through the ten different Super Bowl winning WCO coaches there are out there. Yawn. Experienced winners who, given a strong QB, got fired anyway and many of which had little to do with their defensive staffs even when they were good.

I like Dungy. I do. I know JR loves him. Are we getting the Tampa Dungy, or the Indy Dungy? The best thing about Dungy was he wasn't Mora. When he was with Tampa, his offenses couldn't get out of their own ways (though they could run the ball, I guess). In Indy he had an established offense and a staff - which was the best part of his team. People don't Seifert him, but deservedly or not he kinda fits that.

Really, the best option is to find a young O guy, pair him with a Phillips or Jauron. Defensive guys are fine too, but I think the guys with HC experience and defensive coaching success are going to be the deeper pool. Young O guys are often smart enough to spend time coaching, but letting his experienced assistants do the technical stuff, the small stuff. Young O guys are usually smart enough to not call their own plays.


As for QB, I think a young guy can be had. Maybe in the 2nd, maybe 3rd. I don't think you have to have that guy right now, though. I don't know - I'm not enthralled with the thought of Jason Campbell getting a big contract here either. I think we put to rest this whole "OMG LEFTWICH/CULPEPPER" lolcatting.

 

I'd take a flyer on tebow - he might still be around with our 1st pick
in the 2nd round

 

Who would be in your top 3-5 of young guys like Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh or Denver's wonder kid

 

I'd be amazed if he went anywhere north of 4 million a season which isn't deadly (capwise) by any means.

 

he's an established starter, he's got the excuse that it was Washington's fuckup that made him not be better. He can even say he was a bad fit for that offense.

And it's not a great crop of QBs.