K Major

Slow football day but this is a good read on an excellent Saints assistant coach .

https://www.saintsnewsnetwork.com/20...-line-success/

dizzle88

Couldn't agree more, the guy has done a fantastic job.

Thank god we got rid of Bill Johnson, that guy was freaking useless. We had to send 8 players to generate any sort of pass rush.

FinSaint

I so miss Bill Johnson... not.

K Major

I can remember the days when Deuce M used to talk about "setting the edge" on the D line until he was blue in the face during the Johnson years. He really struggled here.

I can't find the article right now but The Advocate wrote a story a year or so ago about how Johnson almost never rushed the passer in practice . Guys had to literally learn on their own against one another. WTH?! If you circle back to last year, the Rams had a hard time generating any pass rush even with ELITE players like SUH and eventual 1st ballot HOF Aaron Donald. Not a surprise the Rams moved on from Bill ... just not a very good positional coach.

Saints are very fortunate to have Ryan Nielsen. His track records speaks volumes.

Rugby Saint II

saintsfan1976

Run D has improved both seasons. Forcing teams into longer 3rd downs and more passing situations will bode well for this secondary in 2019!

jeanpierre

Ghosts of Saints Assistance Past: Vitt, Johnson, McMahaon, Flajole, McGriff, Ryan...

I get loyalty, but where was Payton's loyalty to the team, fans, and Drew Brees when he failed to replace some of these ineffective assistants for five years-plus?

Opportunities Lost - No matter, Nielsen has shown to be a terrific position coach, don't know what kind of DC he'd make, but as good as he is as a DL Coach, he could make the jump to Head Coach...

Much is riding on Nielsen developing Davenport into a franchise, perennial ProBowl player - if that doesn't happen, doubt it's on Nielsen after his work with Cam Jordan's game, as well as Onyemata...

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...

saintsfan1976

Sean Payton has matured a ton since the early days of his career. Seems odd to say that about a grown man but it's evident. It's tough to let guys who you know and trust go - I've had to fire people like that to me... 90% of the time it's the right call.

halloween 65

Some people use to believe it was the talent on D that lacked during the Johnson- Vitt years. I'm more than happy to seen those 2 go.

TheOak

Your first sentence sheds light on your question. During repetitive transition periods its sometimes difficult to discern whether its the manager or assistant manager that's the problem. Assuming those DC's were given autonomy they may have decided to keep him as a continuous piece.

Just look at the Jets, they change HC and GM so often its difficult to get a good feel for the real issues.