I'm surprised the article stopped short of speculating that Mike Smith could replace Ryan as New Orleans DC.. HEY!! That sounds cool!!!

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!! MIKE SMITH COULD REPLACE ROB RYAN IN NEW ORLEANS!!!

Wow, you guys sure turn on people fast. Personally, I'm glad Rob is staying. I hope he stays a long time too. This guy lost a third of his starting D and all of a sudden everybody's throwing him under the bus. Come On Man!! This guy builds some of the best defenses in football and has really only had two bad seasons due to massive injuries. Lets face it, these athletes aren't a bunch of ROCKET SCIENTISTS. They're a bunch of kids that just struck it rich. Most of these kids squandered the education offered to them and basically used their gifts to succeed. Now they come into the NFL which is where they separate the men from the boys. Where they find out who is smart enough to pick up these complicated defensive schemes and flourish in them and it takes most of them by surprise. You can really see the ones that really want it. The ones smart enough to be able to learn the system they were drafted into and the ones who study and want to be great, to be the best that played the game. The rest are just there to get paid. I really hope we can find at least 4 players this year that really want it.

Well, I agree with you on the maturity level of your average young, NFL player, but that's another discussion. I wanted to take a look at the "best defenses in football" claim. It's early, it's snowing & I don't feel like shoveling my walks/drive at zero-dark-thirty on a Friday, .

These were the Rob Ryan stats I came up with, nothing spectacular (kinda' like Rob's defense, ), just some observations. He's basically only had a top ten defense once. Most times his defenses have been in the bottom half of the league. Wasn't blessed with a lot of talent in Cleveland, but had a couple marquee guys in Dallas. Injuries have plagued him, but how long can you make that excuse when at any given time half the league is gimping. He was successful as a Linebackers Coach (NE)/Defensive Backs Coach (ARI)? I'm all for another chance, but it wouldn't bother me to see another DC coming in for an interview either, .

I could not find any stats on his 1996 stint as defensive coordinator for Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons, .

2009 Browns

- 5-11, 4th AFC North
- defense ranked 21th, allowed 375pts (23.4/g)
- Eric Wright, Shaun Rogers, Corey Williams, CJ Mosley
- KR/PR Josh Cribbs was his only ProBowl/AllPro

-Saints win SB w/GW

2010 Browns

- 5-11, 3rd in AFC North
- defense ranked 13th, allowed 332pts (20.8/g)
- Scott Fujita, Eric Wright, Shaun Rogers, TJ Ward (r)
- no PB/AP selections

2011 Cowboys

- 8-8, 3rd NFC East
- defense ranked 16th, allowed 347pts (21.7/g)
- Jay Ratliff, Sean Lee, DeMarcus Ware
- Ratliff/Ware both Pro Bowl, Ware All-Pro

2012 Cowboys

- 8-8, 3rd NFC East
- defense ranked 24th, allowed 400pts (25.0/g)
- Anthony Spencer, Demarcus Ware, Morris Clairborne (r), Sean Lee
- Spencer/Ware Pro Bowl
- injuries?

2013 Saints

- 11-5. 2nd NFC South/wildcard
- defense ranked 4th, allowed 304pts (19.0/g)

2014 Saints

- 7-9, 2d NFC South
- defense ranked 28th, allowed 424pts (26.5/g)

Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons- 28th out of 26 teams, but lost 1/2 of his total defense.