Albert Breer ties Chris Shula to the Steelers

You can do it the other way around also.

 

How many of today's are being driven by their D??
Broncos, Chargers, Houston, and Philly, hell even Bears.

 

Why do You think if someone disagrees with you they are out to get you???
I tell you what, I bet I can find more OC driven HCs fail than DC driven in the last 5 years.
On top of that. How many so called OC driven HCs this year are winning because of their Defense??

 

You just contadicted yourself.

Sean Payton, Ben Johnson, Jim Harbaugh, and Nick Sirianni are all offensive head coaches.

Just because you hire an OC to be your head coach, that doesnt mean your team cant play good defense.

 

No I didn't, I just said they were. I'm trying to point out that they would be winning the same way with a D coach. I could see the point if they were blowing teams out, but they are winning by D.

 

Winning with D, and former OCs as their Head Coaches.

 

@S.T.D

My thing is, I want a good HC. It dosent nessasarily have to be an offensive guy.

If a team hires a great defensive mind to be their HC, as long as he makes a solid OC hire, I think that combination works.

It also works the other way around.

 

So cut out the middle man.
Hell look at Denvers HC...everyone lauds him as this great OC HC, yet he had Drew Brees a HOF Qb all that time, and one freaking SB, and the only SB he won is when their D was at its best. If Your going to win with D, cut out the middle man , and get a DC mindset HC.

 

Of those five, three of those Head Coaches are Offensive Minded. DeMeco Ryans is Defensive Minded and Jim Harbaugh does not classify as either. Jim is a culture setter and said philosophy can be applied to both sides; making him his own category in this case.


Regardless, since 2021, there have been 9 total Offensive Minded Head Coaches to reach their respective Conference Championship. Sean McDermont is the only one that is a Defensive Minded Head Coach that has made it while John Harbaugh is very much in the same tier as his brother; his own. So, out of 11, 9 are Offensive Minded.


In short?! This is the new NFL. Thank the 2011 NFL CBA for that. I am not saying that Defense is dead. I am saying that, to get to and go far into the Playoffs, you are going to need to be able to become more creative and innovative on Offense to maximize your chances.

 

Harbaugh is a former QB who calls his own offensive plays. I'd say that qualifies him for the offensive HC category. All these guys are culture setters.

 

Not quite. While Jim is a former QB Coach, his Offensive Gameplans wouldn't be considered exceptional or even creative in comparison to someone like Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay. That said, that isn't his forte completely anyways.


Jim is basically a CEO who instills toughness, physicality and grit. Both his Offensive and Defensive Hires are reflections of these very same key traits. Long story short?! Jim Harbaugh coached teams are built to beat the snot out of other teams.

 

Our Defensive Minded Coach also has a habit of bottoming out in December no less.

 

Not trying to get political or anything but if you guys think that Artie is going to hire a white HC, you're out of your minds.

He didn't hire Tomlin, his dad did. Chances are this will be his last major decision before retirement and he'll want to leave HIS mark on the team by hiring the next legendary minority coach. It not difficult to understand, we've discussed this before. I'd bet everything I own.

 

If we are drafting a QB then LaFleur would be preferred. Need to develop that young QB properly

 

That's what I'm thinking. It would be a waste to draft a 1st round QB with our current regime. A young offensive mind paired with the right QB would be ideal.

 

When I look at the scene, including CFB. it kinda appears a defensive wave of innovation is happening. Heck, in a game between two of the best offensive minds, only 13 combined points have been scored up until 2m left on the 3Q. Defenses are certainly being developed to stop the McVay/Shanahan style of offense with the usage of hybrid defensive schemes, including these Tomlin defenses. I also wonder at what point does the McVay/Shanahan style no longer becomes innovative but is considered standard, much like what happened to the WC offense through the 90s and 00s. I do like what McDaniels is running in New England, what Liam Coen is running in Jacksonville and Ben Johnson in Chicago. I think those systems are alternatives to what the standard is becoming league wide. I'm doubtful there's HC candidates from that bunch, but perhaps a QBC or pass game coordinator is ready to become a OC from one of those systems.

It's definitely an interesting time. I do think that stat you provided regarding how many offensive minded coaches made it to conference championship games compared to defensive minded coaches is a compelling argument. Trends come and trends go. I think this ratio will probably hold true for the next 3-5 years. But it may or may not hold true for the next ten as spread/hybrid defenses are being concocted to defend against the modern offensive trend. Which is what points towards Shula still. He's one of these young innovative minds from the defensive side of the ball running a 21st Century defense.

 

As you said, trends often come and go. Only major reason from my standpoint is due to the 2011 NFL CBA. To your point, a lot of these ILBs, IDLs and even CBs are coming out taller and bigger than they have been within the past three years compared to over a decade ago; doubly so in ILBs. Part of the reason though that ILBs nowadays are essentially safety converts; Sonny Styles being the crown jewel. Mind you, this also isn't accounting for the usual freakshows at EDGE either. That said, I also have a counterpoint; Offenses are getting bigger as well.. namely in the trenches.


IOL has definitely gotten bigger. Mind you I said bigger. Average size now seems to be 310ish per this report. Part of the reason is due to how many OTs are now converted to IOLs.


In conclusion. The NFL is a never ending arms race and it has been some time since Defenses last dominated the NFL; 2015 being the final time we all saw a truly dominant Defense in the Denver Broncos. I do believe that the NFL is definitely seeing a defensive renaissance of sorts given how pass happy the current paradigm is; forcing teams to go to the trenches. If the Defensive nature of then NFL is set to return again as you say, it will have to come from the IDLs. Again, to your point?!


That *revolution* might be on the way; doubly so if the likes of Peter Woods, Walter Nolen, Brian Breese and Caleb Banks are any indication.

 

I agree with everything you've said, but I'll add to it by saying innovation on the back-end with 3 safety looks and slot corners can create some exotic blitz packages out of 245/425/335 defensive packages.I think Tomlin/Austin had a finger on the pulse, but swung and missed.

 

It was rumored that the Steelers was interested in Marcus Freeman. It’s tough making the transition from college to pro, but he seems like a real deal

 

I really like Freeman's potential; however, I think he needs a couple more seasons as a CFB coach first. Let's see where he's at after his first recruiting class cycles through first, which means the timing just isn't right.

 

Funny you say that. I mentioned this during the draft season in 2022 given how many scheme specific safeties came out of that draft. Top of the bill?! Kyle Hamilton (though I use him in this example loosely here), JaQuan Brisker, Quentin Lake (a Safety I wanted the team to draft), Jalen Pitre, Elijah Hicks and Kerby Joseph; to name a few.


Ever since then?! A lot of 5 defensive back formations have been used by NFL teams. If anything, as you said, Pittsburgh led that charge in terms of using sub packages in 2024 by over 70%. Given how Pittsburgh constructed their Safety Room this season, Pittsburgh was going to roll with Three Safety looks a lot more in 2025; Deshon Elliot and Juan Thornhill being the one two punch. Problem is Thornhill didn't pan out while Elliot got hurt. Now thankfully Ramsey has done well and Dugger has been more of a hit than a miss but the team still needs another.


If you want a very good example of which teams run three safety looks?! Seattle would be an excellent starting point. Baltimore is another though Mike MacDonald can be heavily credited for that. The Chargers are another team while Chicago has been a team recently on the rise in using it.

 

When Schefter hints at some he should be taken seriously. Adam is well connected and has a high batting average on being right.

Tomlin is well liked in the media circles!

We need an offensive minded head coach.