Sports
Chewy nuggets of NFL wisdom: Defensive coordinator tango
Sports Reporter
I know all of you are waiting with baited breath to hear my oh-so-informed opinions about Super Bowl XLIII, but you will just have to wait until next week. I feel it will be more urgent to tell you then about the latest Super Bowl win for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now that all but two teams have completed their seasons, the inevitable coaching carousel has been pushed into frenzied motion. The buzzword so far this year for coaches seems to be “defensive coordinator.”
Tampa Bay fired coach Jon Gruden and promoted defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. The New York Jets fired one supposed defensive mastermind in Eric Mangini and bumped Baltimore Ravens guru Rex Ryan to helm their team. Mangini was hired to lead the Cleveland Browns. New York Giants defensive whiz Steve Spagnuolo is now the head honcho in St. Louis and Tennesee defensive play-caller Jim Schwartz has been placed in charge for Detroit. The list continues, but you see what I’m getting at.
With all of these big defensive names flying around, it’s safe to say the league will look a bit different next season. Either the great defenses will fall back down to earth without their leaders or the weak teams being taken over will emerge as defensive monsters. It could go either way.
Wouldn’t it be funny to see St. Louis and Detroit play a highly defensive game in the 2009 post season? Don’t hold your breath. Just think about it and laugh.
