Saleh has to shake things up ..fast Where did find Ulbrich ? Under a rock? lol Go find someone else ..I don't think I can take watching more games with lopsided losses LaFleur is a little better but overall his Coaches suck and so does he for not getting ready for Minshew Let see his HC skills vs Sean Payton this weekend..ugh
Like Saleh said and I paraphrase: the players don't need to be yelled at to become motivated to play better. They are grown men and professionals and hate losing.
I agree that the talent level isn't horrible. The talent level is likely below average but not bottom of the barrel level.
And I agree with this. At the beginning of the year, the defensive aspirations were high. New coach with defensive pedigree, Moseley returning, Williams coming off a good year, DB's had a surprisingly good look, Hall establishing himself as a top DB, among the positives. I've always thought this about football: for a good offense, you need talent, but a good defense can be taught. For this reason I'm extremely disappointed in Saleh. He should have had this D playing at a higher level.
I agree with everything up until the bold. As HC, yes, Saleh has to own some blame, but it's Ulbrich who's mainly at fault here. I think it's another case of the "Peter Principle" (You rise until you hit your level of incompetence) at play. Ulbrich insists he's "sick" over the failures of the defense and is doing everything he can to fix things, but that's the problem: he isn't smart enough or good enough to fix them. He can try his heart and soul out, but he's not going to succeed. But unless there's someone who IS qualified to be a DC out there, I don't think Ulbrich gets fired before the end of the season. Too bad because this shit show ain't gonna get better with him running it. Too bad Rex has such a massive ego or they could bring him in to run the "D". But he'd waste no time in trying to undercut Saleh trying to get the HC job back for himself. But surely there's got to be someone better qualified and capable than Ulbrich available!
I might have misinterpreted it but I believe Saleh wanted to bring DeMeco Ryans from the 49ers staff but they elevated him to defensive coordinator really quickly so we couldn’t poach him. I’m lost as to why Ulbrich ended up being the choice. He hasn’t coached with Saleh in a decade. They’re just friends? Whack.
I admit I didn't - and don't - pay much attention to what coaches are available until there's a list of candidates that are being considered. So I don't have any idea who might be qualified and available, but surely someone who's better than Ulbrich is. I empathize with him, trying his ass off and seeing things only get worse. I understand why he's "sick" about it. But he's clearly in over his head. And while I want something to be done to improve things, IDK if having Saleh step in to run the "D" is a good idea. He needs to focus on continuing to learn how to be a good HC. If he can maybe provide more input to Ulbrich, okay, but he might already be doing that (I would hope that he is!). Maybe they could bring in someone as a "guru" to help Ulbrich, sort of like they brought in Beck to help LaFleur with Wilson. The options are limited.
Saleh needs to take his CEO hat off, roll his sleeves up and get in the weeds of the defense. This happens every week in the NFL where a head coach takes over play calling on either side or gets involved or whatever. Dan Campbell reminds me of the type of guy who wants to call a run play every time. But he took over the playcalling from Anthony Lynn and they’ve now won a game. That’s what happens when you only hire your friends - you feel bad overruling them.
I get the feeling that Saleh knows he doesn't have the personnel to run this scheme but he doesn't want to make a tempory adjustment. I think he wants the core guys to learn this defense and he's unwilling to change just to win a game....or come close. I also believe that the Johnsons have pretty told him that wins and losses do not matter this year....go and instill your offense/defense and your coaching philosophy. That's my gut feeling.
If that’s the case then Saleh will not last very long. This is the same thing everyone bitched about for two years with Gase - my scheme or the highway! No adjustments. The scheme is the scheme and it can only work if we get my guys that can run my scheme. The NFL is about taking the talent you have and making sure they’re in position to do what they’re good at and not what they’re bad at. Not cycling through players until you find someone who is good at what you want them to be good at.
It is a good idea. Belichek is all over the defense in NE. It is not like Saleh does not know defense he need to get more involved and call the defensive plays. Our defense is not just bad but embarrassing.
The problem is that the defense is lacking a ton of talent, either due to injury or the gutting of the roster. I guess they could try another scheme that may help a bit, only to scrap it when they finally get healthy and acquire more talent. But when you are taking over a 2-14 team I'm not sure that is paramount in their minds. Again, this is strictly conjecture on my part.
Talent or not, you can play a simple cover 4 zone on 3rd and 19, 3rd and 16, etc. and not give it up. We consistently have. Last week, versus the Titans, etc. The team consistently gives up screen passes to all three skill positions where there’s literally no one in the picture until the running back is 4 yards downfield with a convoy. We are consistently caught with 5 defensive backs on the field in obvious running situations. That makes absolutely zero sense. Very few teams have pulled off running a 4-2-5 as a base because you better have 4-5 dynamic run stoppers or else it’s not going to work. I know he’s a bit overrated by Jets fans and he’s OK at best but we took Quincy Williams off the field to only get 25-30% of snaps while our defense was getting demolished, starting with the second Patriots game. Why? It’s stuff like this that we can see from our couch without analyzing hours of game film. Ulbrich needs to recognize it and if he can’t (he obviously isn’t whether he’s capable of recognizing it or not), someone needs to step in and fix it.
The problem with this response is that we have seen over the years successful defensive coaches who have become HC's bring that level of defensive success with them. Parcells and Belichick to name two obvious ones, and even Rex who you mentioned, continued to have successful defenses here. Rex's problem, of course, was managing a good offense. In Belichick's case, he has cycled through many DCs over the years, yet his teams have always had adequate to strong defenses. I can't imagine a Belichick defense putting on a show like we saw Sunday no matter who the DC is.
Exactly, Bellicheat is all over the defense and the offense, you think it was Josh Mcdaniels idea to pass it only three times? That was Bill who told him exactly what to do and why they were going to do it.
Thats because my impression is that Saleh is not being himself and coaching football. He’s trying to be some sort of figure head or CEO. Coach football man. Show them how you want them to take on blocks to set the edge. Now maybe he is getting down and dirty in the weeds with the team. But he just gives off the impression that offensive coaches coach the offense, defensive coaches coach the defense. And he manages the game and personalities.
While I'm still concerned that Saleh gets to involved and loses the perspective he needs as HC, I do agree with JV, Westie, and RM that Saleh does need to assert himself on "D" at this point. It's clear that Ulbrich is floundering without any clue, and there's no defensive genius waiting to step in. Saleh has been given the "keys" to the car, and he needs to fire the chauffer and get behind the wheel.
