Spags better than who?
 

the guy comes from a losing team, with a losing record, with a crap record in the worst division in football.....how is this guy a step up over Gregg Williams.

Please....educate me

and im not being a smart ars, I really am wanting to know why you guys think he is an upgrade..because I just dont see it.

He's replacing the failed head coach from Buffalo!

DUH! LOL

Alaska

Good question, one of those we shall see. Apparently, the Gregg Williams regime ran its course in New Orleans. To me, getting Spags is just like a fresh number 1 draft pick, a new sense of opportunism. Like Williams, Spags has a great background for coaching defense. The hope is Spags can get the defense to improve, especially get more out of the d-line and linebackers. Williams had that go to guy in Darren Sharper, who made his high risk/high reward defense work. Sharper has not been a factor for Williams' second and third season. Spags needs to find that type of guy, no matter the position, who can change the outcome of a game. If he does, he will be labeled a genius.

It really boils down to the players and not the coaches. The Saints have a lot of talent on defense, most of it has not been uncovered yet. Let's hope Spags can get it out of them. If he does, the Saints are in great shape!

It's a step up because when they labelled GW a defensive guru, that's only because it took the teams 1 year to figure out what he was going to do, after they figured it out he looked exactly like Gary Gibbs, slow and let he opponents get what they want all day kinda defense.
Spags is a smart guy and occasionally he will send more than 4 blitzes, but at the same time he knows when it's Time to drop in coverage. He also has a great track record of working with the D line;

Chris long looked lost in his first season with the rams, when spags shows up he "coincidentally" gets double digit sacks. I watched the rams defense highlights and spags relied on the front 4 to do a lot, we may need a bit of an overhaul personell wise (please get Mario Williams and cut will smith) but spags will make this defense better

One thing that worries me is the Rams had one of the Worst run D. I am hoping it was the personnel and not the scheme.

We aren't hiring him to be the head coach?

We aren't going to have a lot of money to sign players with this year, and we haven't been able to generate a pass rush with the players we have on the D-Line for 6 years now. I'd like someone to explain to me, how, all of a sudden, coach Spagnola is going to take these same players and make them become all pro linemen and get pressure with just the front 4. Our scouting dept. is gonna have to do the best job they've ever done, and they've done an amazing job the last 6 years, of finding up and coming players in FA that we can develope as well as what Spags can find in the draft. If they can come up with 2 DT's and 2 OLB's and at least 1 DE, we could have a pretty decent defense next year, but the reality is, that's a LOT of players to come up with in only 1 year.

Having said that, let's say we DO win the Super Bowl next year. How long do you think Spags stays? I'd say we had better be looking for his replacement today as well. Additionally, what do you think the effect on the players would be if we're changing DC's every year to every 3 years?

From all I've read about Spags I think he'll succeed because...
1. Respected and admired league wide for his DC skills
2. Has proven to take underachivers/unknows and step up their game (ref Justin Tuck).
3. His agressive approach isn't as reckless as Gregg's was.
4. His specialty is getting pressure with the front 4 and blitz timing.

Before taking over in St. Louis, Spagnuolo had top 10 defenses with the Giants in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. His 2007 defense led the NFL with 53 sacks and the 2008 unit was sixth in the league with 42.

In the Giants’ 2008 Super Bowl triumph over New England, their defense sacked Tom Brady five times and the Patriots, who had led the NFL with an average of 36.8 points per game, to only 14 points.

Before joining the Giants, Spagnuolo was a defensive assistant in Philadelphia from 1999-2006. He coached Pro Bowl players including Brian Dawkins and Lito Sheppard, and helped Philadelphia field a 10th-ranked defense in the 2004 season, when the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl before falling to New England.

HC is far more different than being a DC. Some people aren't made to be HC's. I truely believe that. Some people are good at one thing not 100.
Oh and the D that is going to the SB this year was one that Spags built.

Yeah, basically what I said but chock full o' facts and stats and stuff.

I think the optimistic answer to your first question, lies in this...I think it's sort of a three year cycle type deal... Gibbs came with Payton in 2006....result: NFC Championship appearance in the first year. Williams came in 2009...result: Super Bowl win in his first year, then two years of defensive regression, sort of eerily similar to what happened with Gibbs. There's no question that with the exception of Sharper and maybe one or two guys I'm forgetting about right now, Williams came in and had great success with the same basic people, that Gibbs was faltering with in 2008. They looked like a totally different defense out there! But both Gibbs and Williams ended up going OUT with kind of the same storyline or rap, that Drew and the O were AMAZING but the D was giving up big plays and losing games at end.

That's why I'm optimistic and hopeful it will be an instant improvement with Spags -- it's happened that way twice already for the Saints under Sean Payton. Yeah they need a few upgrades, but I'm optimistic the difference will be night and day. Partially because for the first half of the year, teams will have no film to study and NO IDEA what to expect defensively when they line up and face us. Just like 2006 and 2009!

I don't worry about how long Spags will stay here, the guy hasn't even called a single defensive snap yet for the Saints. Worry about that later, after success.

Third, I've said this before in other threads, the effect on the players will be GOOD rather than bad -- that they will want to bust their rumps to impress the new DC, to avoid being cut, or traded to some losing team in Siberia. They will be inspired that the new DC can fix the problems from last year, and put them in positions to win games. I think that is precisely what happened to some degree in 2006 and 2009. That's why I'm optimistic.

"In the Giants’ 2008 Super Bowl triumph over New England, their defense sacked Tom Brady five times and the Patriots, who had led the NFL with an average of 36.8 points per game, to only 14 points."

As DC with the Giants, they did this to the league MVP in the biggest game of the year. And I totally agree GW had run his course.

I don't care how long he stays... this is buisness. Win or go home.

I don't fault Sean or Loomis for letting him walk. I don't care how it looks but Saints wasn't offering him a contract is more or less like getting fired. You're not coming back.

If Sean or Loomis doesn't move on from GW then they would end up on the chopping block as for as I am concern. Look if there is a reason you are having problems or not getting to the next level then fix it and they did... GW is gone. Smart move for their careers. We have 2-3 years before this ride is over and we better win now.

Couldnt have said it better its win big now time, drew is in his prime theres no way in hell we go into new york and win another sb. Its best we get this one here. Btw its not exactly gonna be the same talent. I dont see will smith staying on unless he takes a paycut.greg romeus will probably win that battle. Martez wilson will more than likely start replacing scott shanle full time. We do have draft picks to build with and bringing drew, colston, and nicks back may clear up some room for us to make a few moves during free agency.

GW's first year here we went all defense in the draft so that he could implement his plans with his selections. I anticipate a draft again to reflect the DCs game planning. Here we go again.:wink:

Some guys are great at doing 1 thing (singletary to linebacker coach) and not overseeing a whole team. He has a proven record at DC and failed as a head coach. This doesn't mean he will never excel at being a head coach but for right now he can just take a step back and win a few SUPER BOWLS as defensive coordinator of your NEW ORLEANS SAINTS!!!!!!!!! WHO DATT!!!!!!!!!!!11

Even as a head coach, he joined a Rams team that was just plain awful. They had a pretty solid 2010 season and many people thought they'd do even better this year.

Then, they were decimated by injuries and it became painfully obvious that, even before they lost a bunch of players for the year, their QB had no one to throw the ball to.

If you want proof of how good his D was when they actually had some healthy players that weren't exhausted from being on the field for about 40 minutes/game, watch the game they played against us...

To do the job he did in St. Louis with the cast of characters he had, I think, does more to prove he's a good coach than to disprove it...

Don't forget the 'motivation' factor, some coaches inspire, some don't ... you seen it with Harbaugh in SFran and Ryan in New York . Spags is a 'Harbaugh', though maybe not so 'out there', and will do the same for the Saints defense, IMO.

I guess think Wade Phillips... He didnt burn up the world as a head coach, but he kicks azz as a DC.

There's no telling if he will be able to get these players to be any better. The hope is that he won't set them up to fail like Williams did. Even if our personnel is as bad as you seem think (and maybe they are) Williams was definitely not doing anything to help disguise the lack of talent. If Jenkins sucks as bad as many people think why are you going to ask him to cover the fastest TE in the league one on one? A good DC doesn't make those kinds of mistakes. Repeatedly. In the same game.

At least we're trying to improve and Spagnuolo seemed to be on everyone's A list. Did you have someone you thought would be better?

Isn't that the equivalent of saying- why Wade Phillips... he hasn't been successful as a head coach? Or what about Ray Rhodes or Norv Turner as an offensive coordinator. I mean some guys just aren't cut out to be head coaches, but they make good coordinators.

Didn't Belichick have a not so hot first attempt at head coaching?