jeanpierre

By Brian Allee-Walsh
June 10, 2013

Two seasons.

That’s how long it took defensive guru Bill Parcells to assemble enough talent to switch to a 3-4 after becoming head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2003. His teams continued to play a 4-3 until he officially pulled the plug after the ’04 season.

By comparison, Saints coach Sean Payton is changing defensive schemes on the run in New Orleans, acquiring veteran free agents, drafting rookies and moving around players from last year’s roster to meet needs. In some cases, he is trying to fit square pegs into round holes. In others, the fit is less taxing.

Payton fired defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo in January and hired Rob Ryan in February to oversee the schematic transition. That was the easy part. Finding the right pieces to the puzzle is anything but.

Two seasons.

No one in Who Dat Nation should expect a quick fix.

“Being from north Louisiana, 4 and 3 is seven and 3 and 4 is seven, you just got to know what you’re dealing with,’’ Saints defensive line coach Bill Johnson said during a break between recent minicamp workouts. “I’ve been in both. Football is football. It’s all about gap control.’’

And having the right players to fill those gaps is critical to a successful transition.

As one source explained it: “Lining up 1-gap defensive linemen in a new scheme that will ask the front three to two-gap isn’t a matter of running a few practices in OTAs and showing the players cut-up instructional tapes from other teams.’’

Hardly.

Read more: Finding right players in new Saints defense no easy task | Saints | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

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