Doomsday101
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"How about the job Gary Gibbs did for us the other night?" Saints head coach Sean Payton exclaimed regarding his defensive coordinator and the defense's play in Monday night's win.
"Strong! Very, very strong! Our guys were always in position and just think, two of his linebackers weren't even on the roster nine days before the start of the season. He really did a tremendous job. It was huge in our win."
Gibbs' defense was nothing short of stellar in shutting down Atlanta's Michael Vick, Warrick Dunn and their option rushing attack. They were always in place to make a play, rarely got fooled and overall looked like they had played together for the last five years.
The question begs: Who the heck is Gary Gibbs?
During the off-season much was made of the Commanders' hiring of offensive "guru" Al Saunders. How about the Lions' hiring of Mike Martz? All of us media folks immediately believed such high profile additions would lead their respective teams to the top. How about Nick Saban hiring Dom Capers and Mike Mularkey?
But it's guys like Gibbs who have been difference-makers on this coordinator level thus far. The Saints' defensive coordinator is just one of a handful of coordinators this season who have thus far out-coached their much, much higher profile brethren.
This has been a season of unknowns making a name for themselves. Coaches like Gibbs, Jacksonville's Mike Smith, Jets' offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, they're all the rage but who the heck are they?
FOXSports.com introduces the nation to the lower profile coordinator names who've made the biggest impact on 2006 thus far. While guys like Norv Turner, Wade Phillips, Jim Fassel and Jim Haslett are putting the shine back in their names we're focusing on guys who the national folks may or may not be very familiar with.
Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer: The snickers were heard when new coach Eric Mangini brought in the talented yet young Schottehheimer would have made one think that the Jets were doomed. There were too many "Are you serious?" statements thrown around to remember. Yes Mangini was serious, yes folks you were all wrong. Not only has Schottenheimer run his offense well, Chad Pennington has played his best ball in years. It's not as if Schottenheimer has the 1990s Cowboys personnel over there but he's gotten them playing like a playoff-caliber offense with far from playoff-caliber personnel.
Bills' offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild: This may have been the biggest shock of any coaching move this off-season. The highly sought after Fairchild had his pick of O.C. jobs but blew them all off for Buffalo of all places. At the time it seemed like the worst move he could have made. But now it has allowed him to display just how good a coach he can be. The former Rams offensive coordinator has done a marvelous job with QB J.P. Losman, a QB his own team was leery of heading into the season. His former boss Martz has struggled in Motown while Fairchild is happily spreading his wings.
Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin: This guy has half the league talking about how fiery the once-dormant Viking defense has become. Head coach Brad Childress has stepped back and allowed the former Buc to run the show.
Two weeks ago against the Panthers he mixed up his normal blitzes to show the Panthers something that goes against their normal grain. His former Bucs players after seeing what he did said it was brilliant. Tomlin's attention to detail, even the tiniest of adjustments, is what the Bucs players used to boast about in Tomlin. If he keeps this up Tomlin's name will be hot in head coaching ranks within the next two to three years.
Saints defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs: When Saints head coach Sean Payton left Texas for what few believed was a winnable place, Payton eschewed high profile names to lead his defense for his LB coach buddy in the Big D.
Were eyebrows raised?
Maybe but who really noticed in the Big Easy. This team was supposed to have another top-5 draft pick next year, weren't they?
As pleasant a surprise as Payton has been Gibbs may be even more pleasant. Not only has his defense played efficiently, they've swarmed to the ball carrier with bad intentions. Just look at Monday night's game when 330-pound Hollis Thomas ran down Michael Vick … from behind … in the fourth quarter! Plus, they've been hard to dupe in their three games thus far. Jim Haslett is a very strong defensive coach but this defense is running circles around the unit they had down there the last few years.
Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner: All we hear about in Chi-Town is Lovie Smith and Brian Urlacher. While the defense certainly deserves major kudos it's the offense that has been the team's biggest delight. Turner has helped Rex Grossman find his groove and his play-calling has been big time thus far. There was a battle for Turner's services a couple of years ago — now we know why.
Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Smith: Often times when coordinators coach under a head coach whose expertise is on the same side of the ball he gets considerably overshadowed. Smith falls under this rule. He's soft-spoken and often stays behind the scenes so he doesn't get much recognition. Sorry dude, we blew your cover. How can we not when the Jags' defense continuously befuddles Peyton Manning and plays with the ferocity of a big, badass cat (took a lot for us to come up with that little analogy).
Seattle defensive coordinator John Marshall: Seattle has the fourth-rated defense in their conference but because of their offense and location, nobody notices. Marshall has done a strong job replacing Ray Rhodes full time after Rhodes had health problems last year. With the Seahawks offense the defense needs to really be a bit above middle of the pack but instead they've taken a few steps up from that.
Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan: Last year Buddy's son got torched. This year nobody wants to play his unit. They're giving up an average of, get this, 6.7 points per game. One TD a game? The aggressive Ryan has mixed things up well to put Ray Lewis back in position to shine while opening up the red carpet for others to star as well.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6011914
"Strong! Very, very strong! Our guys were always in position and just think, two of his linebackers weren't even on the roster nine days before the start of the season. He really did a tremendous job. It was huge in our win."
Gibbs' defense was nothing short of stellar in shutting down Atlanta's Michael Vick, Warrick Dunn and their option rushing attack. They were always in place to make a play, rarely got fooled and overall looked like they had played together for the last five years.
The question begs: Who the heck is Gary Gibbs?
During the off-season much was made of the Commanders' hiring of offensive "guru" Al Saunders. How about the Lions' hiring of Mike Martz? All of us media folks immediately believed such high profile additions would lead their respective teams to the top. How about Nick Saban hiring Dom Capers and Mike Mularkey?
But it's guys like Gibbs who have been difference-makers on this coordinator level thus far. The Saints' defensive coordinator is just one of a handful of coordinators this season who have thus far out-coached their much, much higher profile brethren.
This has been a season of unknowns making a name for themselves. Coaches like Gibbs, Jacksonville's Mike Smith, Jets' offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, they're all the rage but who the heck are they?
FOXSports.com introduces the nation to the lower profile coordinator names who've made the biggest impact on 2006 thus far. While guys like Norv Turner, Wade Phillips, Jim Fassel and Jim Haslett are putting the shine back in their names we're focusing on guys who the national folks may or may not be very familiar with.
Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer: The snickers were heard when new coach Eric Mangini brought in the talented yet young Schottehheimer would have made one think that the Jets were doomed. There were too many "Are you serious?" statements thrown around to remember. Yes Mangini was serious, yes folks you were all wrong. Not only has Schottenheimer run his offense well, Chad Pennington has played his best ball in years. It's not as if Schottenheimer has the 1990s Cowboys personnel over there but he's gotten them playing like a playoff-caliber offense with far from playoff-caliber personnel.
Bills' offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild: This may have been the biggest shock of any coaching move this off-season. The highly sought after Fairchild had his pick of O.C. jobs but blew them all off for Buffalo of all places. At the time it seemed like the worst move he could have made. But now it has allowed him to display just how good a coach he can be. The former Rams offensive coordinator has done a marvelous job with QB J.P. Losman, a QB his own team was leery of heading into the season. His former boss Martz has struggled in Motown while Fairchild is happily spreading his wings.
Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin: This guy has half the league talking about how fiery the once-dormant Viking defense has become. Head coach Brad Childress has stepped back and allowed the former Buc to run the show.
Two weeks ago against the Panthers he mixed up his normal blitzes to show the Panthers something that goes against their normal grain. His former Bucs players after seeing what he did said it was brilliant. Tomlin's attention to detail, even the tiniest of adjustments, is what the Bucs players used to boast about in Tomlin. If he keeps this up Tomlin's name will be hot in head coaching ranks within the next two to three years.
Saints defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs: When Saints head coach Sean Payton left Texas for what few believed was a winnable place, Payton eschewed high profile names to lead his defense for his LB coach buddy in the Big D.
Were eyebrows raised?
Maybe but who really noticed in the Big Easy. This team was supposed to have another top-5 draft pick next year, weren't they?
As pleasant a surprise as Payton has been Gibbs may be even more pleasant. Not only has his defense played efficiently, they've swarmed to the ball carrier with bad intentions. Just look at Monday night's game when 330-pound Hollis Thomas ran down Michael Vick … from behind … in the fourth quarter! Plus, they've been hard to dupe in their three games thus far. Jim Haslett is a very strong defensive coach but this defense is running circles around the unit they had down there the last few years.
Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner: All we hear about in Chi-Town is Lovie Smith and Brian Urlacher. While the defense certainly deserves major kudos it's the offense that has been the team's biggest delight. Turner has helped Rex Grossman find his groove and his play-calling has been big time thus far. There was a battle for Turner's services a couple of years ago — now we know why.
Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Smith: Often times when coordinators coach under a head coach whose expertise is on the same side of the ball he gets considerably overshadowed. Smith falls under this rule. He's soft-spoken and often stays behind the scenes so he doesn't get much recognition. Sorry dude, we blew your cover. How can we not when the Jags' defense continuously befuddles Peyton Manning and plays with the ferocity of a big, badass cat (took a lot for us to come up with that little analogy).
Seattle defensive coordinator John Marshall: Seattle has the fourth-rated defense in their conference but because of their offense and location, nobody notices. Marshall has done a strong job replacing Ray Rhodes full time after Rhodes had health problems last year. With the Seahawks offense the defense needs to really be a bit above middle of the pack but instead they've taken a few steps up from that.
Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan: Last year Buddy's son got torched. This year nobody wants to play his unit. They're giving up an average of, get this, 6.7 points per game. One TD a game? The aggressive Ryan has mixed things up well to put Ray Lewis back in position to shine while opening up the red carpet for others to star as well.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6011914
