Kiffin, Ryan and Phillips update

[MichaelWinicki]

In terms of scheme his fundamental approach in the secondary is conservative zone. From preseason until now we've seen teams carve up the middle of that defense. His age is a huge factor.

Consider,
1. Almost all coaches in the NFL need to work 80-100 hours per week during the season. I simply do not believe 1 in 50,000 men in their mid 70's can effectively do that.
2. NFL coaching is 100% about adjustments, compensations, redirects...and the human brain is simply not as dexterous at his age. Studies show repeatedly that it's much more difficult for older brains to gather, collate and process new information.
3. I don't believe a 74-year old has the energy, vigor and...honestly the testosterone...to relate and command respect with 20-something athletes.... despite what nice political quotes you might get from a player.
4. His recent tenure is far from pretty. He was a complete failure at USC, despite a lot of talent on that squad.
5. He's gotten carved up just as bad in Dallas as he was in USC.

I gotta say the I agree with #5 partially... The defense is getting carved up.

I don't put a great deal of reliance on his results (or lack there of) at the college level. Too much apples and oranges as compared to the NFL.

As far as #1, 2 & 3 go... I think automatically giving someone the thumbs down due to age without any sort of proof that this 74 yo falls into any or all 3 areas is a mite bit rash.

 

[morasp]

Our offense looks revitalized with this new play calling strategy and that will only help the defense. Not to mention they are getting healthier and the younger and older players are getting more comfortable in the system. A line up of Church Wilcox Claiborne Carr Scandrick Lee Carter Wilbur Ware Hatcher Selvie and Hayden doesn't sound too bad.

 

[T-RO]

I gotta say the I agree with #5 partially... The defense is getting carved up.

I don't put a great deal of reliance on his results (or lack there of) at the college level. Too much apples and oranges as compared to the NFL.

As far as #1, 2 & 3 go... I think automatically giving someone the thumbs down due to age without any sort of proof that this 74 yo falls into any or all 3 areas is a mite bit rash.

And I think it's rash to assume that Kiffin is a miracle worker who can somehow cheat his age. How many old chess champions are there? How many guys in their 70's making meaningful patents? How many physicists doing meaningful work at that age? How many effective generals in their mid-70's? It's not happening.

We are talking physiology. And inevitability.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

And I think it's rash to assume that Kiffin is a miracle worker who can somehow cheat his age. How many old chess champions are there? How many guys in their 70's making meaningful patents? How many physicists doing meaningful work at that age? How many effective generals in their mid-70's? It's not happening.

We are talking physiology. And inevitability.

Wow, talk about age discrimination! Not nice!

I don’t think his scheme is that complex and i don’t think they do many adjustments anyways. As the Raiders coach said, the Cowboys defense didn’t do anything different in the second half. Not only that, but Kiffen has lots of help from other coaches. I would blame the scheme or injuries before i would blame his age.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Wow, talk about age discrimination! Not nice!

I don’t think his scheme is that complex and i don’t think they do many adjustments anyways. As the Raiders coach said, the Cowboys defense didn’t do anything different in the second half. Not only that, but Kiffen has lots of help from other coaches. I would blame the scheme or injuries before i would blame his age.

You said what I was thinking.

To label everyone in their 70's as being basically incompetent... Wow.

 

[Idgit]

And I think it's rash to assume that Kiffin is a miracle worker who can somehow cheat his age. How many old chess champions are there? How many guys in their 70's making meaningful patents? How many physicists doing meaningful work at that age? How many effective generals in their mid-70's? It's not happening.

We are talking physiology. And inevitability.

This will get some flak, but the reality is, a person's ability to remember details does deteriorate over time. There's also a limit to the brain's ability to pickup new information, which is probably especially limiting in terms of new technology. I'm sure Kiffin's first experience with an iPad, for example, was eye-opening (to be fair, I specifically recall Rob Ryan joking about his own inability to use the iPad when we moved the play books over a couple years back). You hope he offsets that with his incredible knowledge of the game gained through long experience, but the likelihood is, that advantage deteriorates over time (i.e., he's probably not continuing to benefit relative to the rest of the DCs in the league from new experience) while the disadvantages of age are accumulating.

I'm not a fan of the Kiffin hire, in particular. I like the move back to the 4-3, and do like the adjustment with press CBs and really, really appreciate the hustle and the emphasis on takeaways. I recognize that pressure from the DL is the key to this defense, and we were absolutely gutted in that regard.

I do think emphasizing yards given up in measuring defenses is silly--always have. Points allowed is what matters, and, really, even that should be adjusted to reflect the points a defense scores and, somehow, to reflect the average offensive points/series netted from the takeaways. It's hard to do that realistically, though.

When it's all said and done, adjusting for defensive scoring and for takeaways, and with everybody healthy who's going to get healthy, I expect the best we're going to be able to expect from this defense is a middling performance in terms of net points/game allowed. And we'd still be near the bottom in terms of yardage given up. With a healthy DL, we might move into the top 10 in terms of points allowed. That's serviceable, as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't be thrilled, but the team could win games that way. I'd like to see us improve further in terms of our ability to get interceptions, too, but that's asking a lot from this current group.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

This will get some flak, but the reality is, a person's ability to remember details does deteriorate over time. There's also a limit to the brain's ability to pickup new information, which is probably especially limiting in terms of new technology. I'm sure Kiffin's first experience with an iPad, for example, was eye-opening (to be fair, I specifically recall Rob Ryan joking about his own inability to use the iPad when we moved the play books over a couple years back). You hope he offsets that with his incredible knowledge of the game gained through long experience, but the likelihood is, that advantage deteriorates over time (i.e., he's probably not continuing to benefit relative to the rest of the DCs in the league from new experience) while the disadvantages of age are accumulating.

I'm not a fan of the Kiffin hire, in particular. I like the move back to the 4-3, and do like the adjustment with press CBs and really, really appreciate the hustle and the emphasis on takeaways. I recognize that pressure from the DL is the key to this defense, and we were absolutely gutted in that regard.

I do think emphasizing yards given up in measuring defenses is silly--always have. Points allowed is what matters, and, really, even that should be adjusted to reflect the points a defense scores and, somehow, to reflect the average offensive points/series netted from the takeaways. It's hard to do that realistically, though.

When it's all said and done, adjusting for defensive scoring and for takeaways, and with everybody healthy who's going to get healthy, I expect the best we're going to be able to expect from this defense is a middling performance in terms of net points/game allowed. And we'd still be near the bottom in terms of yardage given up. With a healthy DL, we might move into the top 10 in terms of points allowed. That's serviceable, as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't be thrilled, but the team could win games that way. I'd like to see us improve further in terms of our ability to get interceptions, too, but that's asking a lot from this current group.

Oh no question that diminished capacity accompanies age. Look at (Insert the name of your "favorite" CZ oldster here ) but I look at Marinelli and Kiffin as co-jointly running this defense.

Yeah you may catch some flak for what you posted and I may catch flak for this too... I just don't buy the axiom that coaches need study 7 days a week/12 hours a day... I'm a huge believer in the 80/20 rule and I've found through my advanced age that it applies to just about every business out there and coaching in the NFL is probably no different. The stuff that is really going to make a difference is going to be found and absorbed relatively quickly... The rest? Probably doesn't contribute an awful lot.

 

[joseephuss]

The Texans gave up over 450 yards and 27 second half points.

 

[nalam]

The Texans gave up over 450 yards and 27 second half points.

used to be typical cowboys who did it ( are doing it , chargers and saints game )