The Rick Venturi File
 

The Rick Venturi File:

Rick Venturi’s record isn't impressive. . Rick Venturi's goal, however, is rather grand. He wants the New Orleans Saints run defense to improve upon the whopping 4.7-yard average they allowed last season. As a matter of fact, the Saints defense has ranked near the bottom of the league in rushing yards allowed since 2001.Which just happens to be the same year Rick Venturi took over defensive coordinator duties from Ron Zook.

The Saints have seemingly made over the defense every year in hopes of improvement. They’ve brought in big run-stuffing tackles, different linebackers, different strategies, but the one thing that has remained constant is Rick Venturi. Well, that and the fact that the Saints defense has allowed over 4-yards per carry under Venturi.

At some point you have to wonder if the problem might not be the players but with Venturi’s scheme itself. And you have to wonder how qualified Venturi is to serve as a defensive coordinator in the NFL.

Well … Let’s look at Venturi’s qualifications.

Adding up all of Rick Venturi’s games as a head coach, both on the college and pro level, Venturi is 2-47-1 in his 50 games. While the case can be made that Venturi just happened to coach some terrible teams, it’s still not much evidence to suggest Venturi is qualified to coach in the NFL.

But, let’s dig a little deeper….

Prior to joining the Saints, Venturi spent two years working under head coach Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns, first as secondary coach in 1994 and as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach in 1995. Result – Belichick is fired!! Granted, the Browns weren’t a very good team, but still there’s nothing to suggest Venturi can be a successful coach in the NFL.

But, there’s got to be some success that Venturi has had to get him where he is today. Obviously, I’m overlooking something. Some part of Venturi’s career had to elevate him to the position he holds today.

I’ll just come out and say it. There is no evidence in Venturi’s past that suggests he is qualified for anything other than a position coach. And even that’s debatable. Somehow this guy has managed to survive in a business where coaches are fired for little to no reason. This guy is like a cat. But even a cat only has 9-lives. I’d say Venturi is on at least his 8th life.

I’ve often thought that Venturi’s defenses were badly coached. I’ve always thought the schemes were flawed. Granted Venturi hasn’t had the best talent at every position, but I think there’s been enough talent to play much better than we have the past 3-years.

Maybe I’m being a little hard on Venturi. But Venturi’s defenses have been hard for me to watch. I hope the addition of John Pease will get some of the problems straightened out.

Does anyone else think the problem with our defense might be Rick Venturi??

The Rick Venturi File
 

Welcome to the party Billy. You always this slow? ;)

Seriously though, I remember having this discussion more than a year ago at least. Only twice in his career has venturi ever been associated with a winning team (if memory serves), and one of those was the 2000 Saints - with which he had little influence or effect.

Venturi is not a good coach and certainly not deserving of being a top coordinator in the NFL, IMO. The fact that Haslett has not looked elsewhere for a superior candidate is a strike against him as far as I\'m concerned.

The Rick Venturi File
 

That depends on what time the hookers are suppose to show up... :P

The Rick Venturi File
 

i agree with your stats on him but..over the past three years..you can\'t really point the finger souly at him..YET...i was ready to put just him under the microscope at the beginning of last year but then almost every player got hurt and you had second stringers in there so i couldnt..towards the end of the year when mostly everyone came back..you have to say you saw SOME improvment ending the season so..i\'m back full circle to where i was last year this time..lets see what happens with this years defense...he will have nowhere to hide or no one to blame if this D fails cause theres plenty of depth..lets see what the man can do..just my 2 cents

The Rick Venturi File
 

He\'s been on the Saints staff since Mora was here. How does an NFL coach on bad teams make it through multiple regimes (I believe he\'s survived under three GM\'s and three head coaches)?

I wonder what the name of the stripper is, and how old she (he?) was. You know Venturi caught Tom Benson with the wrong piece of candy and has the polaroids in a safe deposit box.

Seriously. If he\'s not blackmailing, he must be able to coach. It\'s that simple. There\'s too many guys with capable resumes looking to get jobs in the NFL for him to tie up a payroll spot this long and not be able to coach. There\'s always more to it than what we see.

You\'re all going to love him in February when it\'s his turn to hoist the Lombardi trophy.



[Edited on 7/7/2004 by kenpersons]

The Rick Venturi File
 

In Billy\'s defense , he just learned what a stop route was a few months ago so he is coming along just fine . Soon he might even work up to being a critic .... A big swig of 08eraid and he will be ready to get in there on the toughest posts .... :P

The Rick Venturi File
 

Here\'s something else to consider.

Earlier I mentioned Venturi worked under Belichick in \'94 and \'95.

In 1994 Venturi was the secondary coach and the Browns defense was ranked #1.

In 1995 Venturi was promoted to D-Coordinator and the Browns defense plummeted from 1st to 20th.

Now, I\'ll be the first one to admit, there could be all kinds of reasons the defense slipped. But that Venturi has got to be the unluckiest dude in the world. ;)

The Rick Venturi File
 

I think the reason we haven\'t seen the departure of Venturi is due to his relationship with Mr. Benson. I hear Benson had promised to \"take care of him\" for standing in when Mora departed us, ect.

The Rick Venturi File
 

Well, if Venturi is getting a free pass, then it\'s up to Haslett to take accountability and make the defense work, yes?

The Rick Venturi File
 

I\'m sure there is some loyalty to Rick Venturi in some kind of way, but I seriously doubt Venturi is getting a free ride. There\'s entirely too much on the line for Jim Haslett.

Haslett has been a very sucessful defensive coordinator and I think if he felt Venturi couldn\'t get the job done, he would take the reins.

That said, I still think Venturi could have done a much better job. This year we seem to have more speed for the defense Venturi wants to run. We\'ll see...

The Rick Venturi File
 

So what you are saying Billy is , Haslett had a top 5 defense in Pittsburgh ???

The Rick Venturi File
 

Right off hand, I don\'t know exactly where any of Haslett\'s defenses finished. But, I don\'t think there\'s much doubt that Haslett was widely considered one of the best defensive coordinators in the league at the time.

I know this is going somewhere, 08, so .. lay it on me... ;)

The Rick Venturi File
 

Be more then happy to tell you ...... ;)

Hasbeen\'s defensive coordinator ranking begins in 97 , when Cowher hands him the keys to the Ferrarri and says just don\'t wreck it .....

The 96 Steelers boast a defense that is 4th in the league , 2nd against the run and 3rd in total yards allowed .... Total top 5 defense ....

Here is what Hasbeen does with it :

97 they rank 11th and 5th in total yards allowed
98 they rank 7th and 10th in total yards allowed
99 they rank 12th and 10th in total yards allowed .

Once again :

96 they rank 4th and 3rd in total yards allowed ......

I personally do not even have a clue as to why anyone would be impressed with what Hasbeen did in Pittsburgh .

The Rick Venturi File
 

Wasn\'t he also D coordinator for the Saints for a season? Where did that unit rank?

The Rick Venturi File
 

Mora\'s final year is 96

The defense ranks 20th and 29th in total yards allowed

95 Habeen is a linebackers coach in N.O.

18th rank 23rd in total yards allowed .....

[Edited on 7/7/2004 by saintz08]

The Rick Venturi File
 

A 22-year veteran of the NFL as a player and coach, Haslett was hired by New Orleans on Feb. 3, 2000. With the reputation as a player\'s coach who accepted little nonsense, Haslett\'s coaching star had been on the rise in league circles for years. He spent 1997-99 as the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, where his aggressive schemes helped create some of the NFL\'s most dominating units. He tutored a defense that led Pittsburgh to the AFC Championship Game in 1997.

This is Haslett\'s second tour of duty in New Orleans. He spent two years with the Saints, first as the linebackers coach in 1995 followed by a one-year stint as the defensive coordinator under Mora in 1996. In his first season as coordinator, New Orleans improved from 22nd to 13th in the NFL in defense. Every linebacker\'s performance in 1995 improved over the year before under Haslett\'s guidance

The Rick Venturi File
 

Wow, people are waking up. I thought Venturi would be fired 2 seasons ago, after a pathetic showing, and DEFINITELY after last season, but noooooooooooooooooo.

The Rick Venturi File
 

Steelers were in the Super Bowl in 95
Steelers lost the Divisional play off in 96 to the team that goes to the Super Bowl .

By the time Hasbeen gets to Pittsburgh the Steelers are a well oiled machine on defense and have already been dominate in the play offs . Of course in true Hasbeen fashion , 98 and 99 Hasbeen spends the play offs watching the parade go by ...... ;)

The Rick Venturi File
 

Business as usual, i guess. You know how Louisiana works...you gotta know somebody. This is true almost everywhere, but never seen it (in this country) more than in Nawlins and DC politics.

I honestly felt at the end of 2002 that he should have been shown the door. Last year was just an ugly season (injury-wise). I thought that was the only think missing, someone who knew how to scheme against other teams.

I am not a football guru, but even I could see that we weren\'t the kind of team that would go in at half time and adjust schemes well enough to compensate for what the other team was doing.

I saw players running around like chickens with their head cut off, looking at each other \"Was that your guy?\" , tackling each other as the RB runs past them....oy!

I am someone who likes to put a lot of the weight on the players\' backs. They get paid big $$ to perform and I expect them to kick-a$$. But in this situation, I think the coaching has as much to do with the problem as anything else.

I hope Venturi proves me wrong. Nothing personal, I hope he can do it, but this is business. If our D plays like it has been the past 2-3 years, we should get a petition going.

Honestly, I was surprised to see Haz backing him up (at least publicly) and not givng up on him. I actually respect Loyalty (something we in this country have made a dirty word when it comes to business), BUT only when you truly think he is the answer. After all, Haz\'s loyalty should be to the Saints, first and foremost.

So now Haz\'s balls are in the same bag with Venturi\'s...

The Rick Venturi File
 

The past few years have brought losts of changes make the D better.
Each year has brought sub par performance.
Big D line - Not the answer.
Faster D - Not the asnwer.
This year it is a rookie MLB and 2 first round lineman that are going to make the difference.
Don\'t bet on it.
Let\'s try a change in coaches and see how that works out.

The Rick Venturi File
 

Gotta love the smoke and mirror job .

Hasbeen - defensive coordinator - New Orleans Saints - 96

1995 New Orleans Saints
Record: 7 - 9 - 0
Head Coach: Jim Mora

Points scored: 319 (#20 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 348 (#18 of 30 in the NFL)


1996 New Orleans Saints
Record: 3 - 13 - 0
Head Coaches: Jim Mora (2-6-0), Rick Venturi (1-7-0)

Points scored: 229 (#29 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 339 (#20 of 30 in the NFL)

Total yards allowed ( #13 of 30 in the NFL )

[Edited on 7/7/2004 by saintz08]

The Rick Venturi File
 

LMAO! Now you\'re getting it Billy! ;) Maybe that\'s why Haslett has been so \"unlucky\" all this time - it\'s really Venturi\'s fault. I wonder what Saintfan thinks about that theory.