Memo to Sparano: Look at what a change defensive coordinator did for your defense

And the main reason for that was not personnel.

Playing devil's advocate, we had 7 completely new defensive starters vs opening day last year (Odrick, Misi, Wake, Dansby, JAllen, Davis, Clemons. Counting Crowder as a starter).

We currently have 5 new starters vs the majority of last year (Solia, Misi, Wake, Dansby, and Clemons).

So maybe personnel did have a lot to do with it. :shifty:

"Stitches wrote:

Playing devil's advocate, we had 7 completely new defensive starters vs opening day last year (Odrick, Misi, Wake, Dansby, JAllen, Davis, Clemons. Counting Crowder as a starter).

We currently have 5 new starters vs the majority of last year (Solia, Misi, Wake, Dansby, and Clemons).

So maybe personnel did have a lot to do with it. :shifty:

I can appreciate a little devil's advocate work.

That said, you have to keep in mind that Soliai, Wake and Clemons played last year (Soliai and Wake played quite a bit).

So what you're really looking at is 2 completely new guys in Misi and Dansby. That's simply not enough to account for the "day and night" change in production especially when you consider that the defense has a lot of same deficiencies, but they simply appear to be masked by Nolan's approach to defensive scheming.

"hugoguzman wrote:

I can appreciate a little devil's advocate work.

That said, you have to keep in mind that Soliai, Wake and Clemons played last year (Soliai and Wake played quite a bit).

So what you're really looking at is 2 completely new guys in Misi and Dansby. That's simply not enough to account for the "day and night" change in production especially when you consider that the defense has a lot of same deficiencies, but they simply appear to be masked by Nolan's approach to defensive scheming.

Come on, all you had to do was come back with us having 5 new starters on offense vs the majority of last year (Marshall, Hartline, Incognito, Berger, Jerry/McQuistan). :tongue2:

"hugoguzman wrote:

(Soliai and Wake played quite a bit).

One of the BIGGEST COMPLAINTS ABOUT LAST SEASON WAS
THE LACK OF PLAYING TIME WAKE RECEIVED.To say Wake
played quite a bit is wrong and very misleading by you.

Wake was lucky to get 10-12 play per game
The first few games he hardly saw the field
and the only game he received any playing time
was against Buffalo when he went off...the next game
his playing time was cut drastically

"hugoguzman wrote:

I can appreciate a little devil's advocate work.

That said, you have to keep in mind that Soliai, Wake and Clemons played last year (Soliai and Wake played quite a bit).

So what you're really looking at is 2 completely new guys in Misi and Dansby. That's simply not enough to account for the "day and night" change in production especially when you consider that the defense has a lot of same deficiencies, but they simply appear to be masked by Nolan's approach to defensive scheming.

although I agree that Nolan is a better defensive coordinator, I have to agree with Stitches that saying we dont have a complete overhaul in personnell on the defense is wrong. Players like Wake, Soliai and Vontae may have played last year but even they are completely different players and that has nothing to do with Nolan. I like Nolan's attacking style more than Pasqualonis but to say that the personnell hasnt improved dramatically is just wrong.

Generally speaking personnell is about 90% of success on the field. Coordinators and coaching is only about 10%. Coaching comes into play when teams are evenly matched IMO. AS our personnell gets better we get better

I agree that Nolan is awesome! I also agree that Henning is rediculous! Honestly, this season it seems like he is just drawing out of a hat on when to call plays... I hate seeing things change over a lot as far as terminology and whatnot but the Dolphins need a shake-up to get the offense going!

"adamprez2003 wrote:

Generally speaking personnell is about 90% of success on the field. Coordinators and coaching is only about 10%. Coaching comes into play when teams are evenly matched IMO. AS our personnell gets better we get better

Nah, I completely and totally disagree.
Perfect example is right here in Dallas.
On paper, they are more telented than 90% of the teams in the league...which has them at 1-7.
I say the same thing about Minnesota. They have TONS of talent, yet still suck.
The Vikings DEFINATELY had more talent than the Saints last year, so did the Colts. Adversely, the Colts are mostly playing 3rd stringers yet doing pretty good.
The coaching staff has at least as much to do with it as the talent level they have.

"adamprez2003 wrote:

although I agree that Nolan is a better defensive coordinator, I have to agree with Stitches that saying we dont have a complete overhaul in personnell on the defense is wrong. Players like Wake, Soliai and Vontae may have played last year but even they are completely different players and that has nothing to do with Nolan. I like Nolan's attacking style more than Pasqualonis but to say that the personnell hasnt improved dramatically is just wrong.

Generally speaking personnell is about 90% of success on the field. Coordinators and coaching is only about 10%. Coaching comes into play when teams are evenly matched IMO. AS our personnell gets better we get better

Yeah, I simply can't agree with much of this.

While it's true that some of those guys are playing more than they did last year, you can't simply dismiss the production that the guys they shared time with would have brought to the table under this new system.

And to say that scheme is only responsible for 10% of the production you see on the field is difficult to justify.

When more than 50% of the defensive personnel stays intact yet the defense does virtual 180, you have to give more credit to the coaching.

"miamiron wrote:

One of the BIGGEST COMPLAINTS ABOUT LAST SEASON WAS
THE LACK OF PLAYING TIME WAKE RECEIVED.To say Wake
played quite a bit is wrong and very misleading by you.

Wake was lucky to get 10-12 play per game
The first few games he hardly saw the field
and the only game he received any playing time
was against Buffalo when he went off...the next game
his playing time was cut drastically

Very misleading?

So 10-12 plays...that equals 20-25% of defensive snaps. That would seem to fit the phrase "played quite a bit" and even if it doesn't to some, it's a bit of a stretch to say that my phrasing was "very misleading." (saying he started or played the majority of snaps would have been).

"hugoguzman wrote:

Granted, Miami's defense still has some deficiencies both in terms of execution (dropped INTs, missed tackles) and overall talent.

But despite these issues, Miami's defense has gone from one of the worst in the NFL in 2009 to top 15 in 2010. And the main reason for that was not personnel. It was a change at defensive coordinator.

I think it's unrealistic to see a change at the offensive coordinator spot in the middle of the season, but let's hope that Sparano recognizes what an upgrade at coordinator can do for his offense (just as it did for his defense).

I agree that Nolan is an upgrade over Pasqulaoni but if you think Nolan would've had us in the top 15 with the players we had last year, that's where I get off the bus. Our defense is better because we have better players AND a better scheme, its not an either or type deal IMO.

My memo to Sparano would be this: Sometimes you've got to ignore the pitch count and ride the hot hand.

Who says this is Tony's call?

Maybe it's Irelands???

"adamprez2003 wrote:

Generally speaking personnell is about 90% of success on the field. Coordinators and coaching is only about 10%. Coaching comes into play when teams are evenly matched IMO. AS our personnell gets better we get better

Personally I don't agree with that at all brother.
Not one bit.

Coaches, coordinators and their ability to scheme towards whatever their strengths are while protecting their weak points on their squads can have massive affects on the success of a team and the personell involved.

Look no further than how the Patriot machine roles along even while casting off top talent year after year. They went deep into the playoffs playing a WR at DB one year for Gods sake. That's all scheme, preparation and adjustments.

You seriously underestimate the affect a well prepared game plan and the ability to change strategies during a game successfully can do to make a team into a winner.

"adamprez2003 wrote:

although I agree that Nolan is a better defensive coordinator, I have to agree with Stitches that saying we dont have a complete overhaul in personnell on the defense is wrong. Players like Wake, Soliai and Vontae may have played last year but even they are completely different players and that has nothing to do with Nolan. I like Nolan's attacking style more than Pasqualonis but to say that the personnell hasnt improved dramatically is just wrong.


Generally speaking personnell is about 90% of success on the field. Coordinators and coaching is only about 10%. Coaching comes into play when teams are evenly matched IMO. AS our personnell gets better we get better

I disagree with this statement 100%.
Let's use Belicheck for example. The guy wins with scrubs, toss-offs from other teams and average players. His defensive mind and overall football philosophy is second to none.

Coaching/scheming is 90% of football. Making sure that your players are in the right spot at the right time is what the game is about. Let's face it, if you're in the NFL you have the talent to make ALL the plays.

"Coral Reefer wrote:

Personally I don't agree with that at all brother.
Not one bit.

Coaches, coordinators and their ability to scheme towards whatever their strengths are while protecting their weak points on their squads can have massive affects on the success of a team and the personell involved.

Look no further than how the Patriot machine roles along even while casting off top talent year after year. They went deep into the playoffs playing a WR at DB one year for Gods sake. That's all scheme, preparation and adjustments.

You seriously underestimate the affect a well prepared game plan and the ability to change strategies during a game successfully can do to make a team into a winner.

Damn, you beat me to it. :lol: :up:

"Stitches wrote:

Playing devil's advocate, we had 7 completely new defensive starters vs opening day last year (Odrick, Misi, Wake, Dansby, JAllen, Davis, Clemons. Counting Crowder as a starter).

We currently have 5 new starters vs the majority of last year (Solia, Misi, Wake, Dansby, and Clemons).

So maybe personnel did have a lot to do with it. :shifty:

Funny how personnel turnover is usually the reason for both success, and failure. :up:

If I had to guess, I would say that the way a team plays is roughly half players half scheme/coaching. I'm sure it sways one way or another from play to play (for example, you can't blame coaching for Smith's dropped INT on Sunday) but there's no way that you can discount the impact that coaching/scheming has at the NFL level.

Also, as far as who makes these kinds of decisions, I'd guess that it's on both Sparano and Ireland, but I think that Sparano is the final decision maker (pretty sure he pulled the trigger on the Bonamego firing).

"Stitches wrote:

Playing devil's advocate, we had 7 completely new defensive starters vs opening day last year (Odrick, Misi, Wake, Dansby, JAllen, Davis, Clemons. Counting Crowder as a starter).

We currently have 5 new starters vs the majority of last year (Solia, Misi, Wake, Dansby, and Clemons).

So maybe personnel did have a lot to do with it. :shifty:

DID NOT!!! :pity:

OK, maybe not having Wilson back there... :shifty:

"miamiron wrote:

One of the BIGGEST COMPLAINTS ABOUT LAST SEASON WAS
THE LACK OF PLAYING TIME WAKE RECEIVED.To say Wake
played quite a bit is wrong and very misleading by you.

Wake was lucky to get 10-12 play per game
The first few games he hardly saw the field
and the only game he received any playing time
was against Buffalo when he went off...the next game
his playing time was cut drastically

What it really comes down to me... it is that it "appears" to me that Tony plays out of a mold and he is not sure what to do when things spill out of that mold. For example, Wake wasn't in their plans last year. He played his ass off and earned more PT. But that wasnt in Tony's script so he didn't give him the snaps.

I also believe there was a loss of control by Tony. There was at least one time in which he sent Wake in and Porter sent Wake back off the field. I am sorry but if one of my players does that to me he would be so far in the dog house he wouldn't know what hit him.

Who knows? Maybe coach Sparano's luck will continue and Tom Moore falls from the sky and they go all playmakers in the draft.

Will everyone here still be excited about a new OC if his first act is to make Pennington the starter?

Curious.

Because it's entirely possible.

"Bpk wrote:

Will everyone here still be excited about a new OC if his first act is to make Pennington the starter?

Curious.

Because it's entirely possible.

Obviously depends completely and tottaly on the level of success..

Good to see you brother:hi5:

"azfinfanmang wrote:

Nah, I completely and totally disagree.
Perfect example is right here in Dallas.
On paper, they are more telented than 90% of the teams in the league...which has them at 1-7.
I say the same thing about Minnesota. They have TONS of talent, yet still suck.
The Vikings DEFINATELY had more talent than the Saints last year, so did the Colts. Adversely, the Colts are mostly playing 3rd stringers yet doing pretty good.
The coaching staff has at least as much to do with it as the talent level they have.

what has them at 1-7 was a horrible offensive line to start the season and a horrible QB playing now. The defense is was vastly overrated also and a team that kept shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties

"hugoguzman wrote:

Yeah, I simply can't agree with much of this.

While it's true that some of those guys are playing more than they did last year, you can't simply dismiss the production that the guys they shared time with would have brought to the table under this new system.

And to say that scheme is only responsible for 10% of the production you see on the field is difficult to justify.

When more than 50% of the defensive personnel stays intact yet the defense does virtual 180, you have to give more credit to the coaching.

so when the miami offense or st louis offense or atlanta or baltimore offenses improve as their young QBs get better and better that will bee due to the coaches and not to their personal growth?