This may not be a popular position here on this board, but I am very wary of Nolan. I got a good look at how he performed as a HC in San Francisco and he just seemed to be over his head. I don't think he had enough time in Denver to really see how good he could make that Defense, and they had other problems in Denver anyway. Nolan just does not inspire a lot of confidence. His best qualification seems to be that his dad was a great D Coordinator back in the day.

 

I understand that this is your opinion, however to be able to really look and see what he did in Denver last year and with the personal he had, was stellar. Yes maybe he was in over his head as a head coach, but as a true DC I am very confident in the Swagger he will bring to this defense.

 

HC and DC are HUGE worlds apart. I really don't think you can put any bearing at all on how someone performed as an HC, to a coordinator role.

I mean look at Cam Cameron.

I'd never want him back as an HC, but I'd be fine with him as an offensive coordinator. He does pretty well in Baltimore.

 

But Nolan is not the HC here. He only needs to focus on the defense. There are many great coordinators that make crappy head coaches. Maybe Nolan falls into that category. That remains to be seen. Nolan has had success though as a defensive coordinator in many places. It'll be interesting to see what he can do here.

 

Well, yes and no, Mike Nolan's defense was poor in SF, that is a fact, however Nolan's track record is actually quite good:

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/7129546/11075391

So, 22/4th/6th/16th/24th/30th/ 32nd/26th/25th/5th/11th/17th/14th/14th (Broncos):

On average his defenses finish around 16th in the NFL, with a high of 32 and a low of 4th.

Imho his time in SF his defenses were the least effective of his time in the NFL due to it being his first tenure as a Head Coach draining time from Defensive Coordinator duties.

 

OK, that's cool guys. It isn't as though I want to see him fail. I guess I'm just wait-'n-see with Nolan.

 

That's just it though bro...he ain't the HC. He'd the DC. And, that's his forte. He has excelled in that position with several NFL teams (Broncos, Skins, Giants, Ravens all come to mind). He will be awesome IMO, and I am excited to not only have him as our DC, but so many new (younger players) for him to work with. I feel pretty confident we will be in the top half of the league in terms of overall defense this season. Maybe even top 10 if everything comes together. :yes:

 

Same here, I like Mike Nolan, but then again Dolphins fans recall Dom Capers time in Miami..in 2007...he was the last "Guru" type we had at Defensive Coordinator and it did not work out as well as anyone would could have hoped .

 

I'm less concerned, because he won't be without guidance if he begins to stumble here.

 

Seems to working out well for GB Padre.

 

That's just it, you find the right situation and it can work. I hope he's the right guy. He has a lot of talent to work with.

 

After not working in Miami GMan, that is how things can roll in the NFL, a failure for one team, resounding success with another one.

Though Caper's defense was slapped, had their lunch money taken, and stuffed into a locker by the Cardinals in the playoffs last yr.

 

I'm feeling the same optimism like when we brought in Dom Capers to revolutionize our 3-4 defense. Same tune, as a head coach he was over his head, as a DC, he is excellent - specifically designing pressure and blitzes. Sound familiar?

And Padre, with all due respect, that track record isn't that great. Decent, but I don't think it warrants the blind faith that we are all giving. Trust me I want nothing more than a top 5-8 defense again. I miss those days. Beauty is, this time we'd have an offense to compliment it. :)

EDIT. Padre, just read your post on Capers as well - missed it initially.

 

True. But, the Cardinals did that to a lot of teams. :wink2:

My point was it's not always (or just) about the coordinator and/or the coaches. Personnel and scheme play a pivotal role too.

Just sayin'... :up:

 

Yep, though to be fair, Capers was given Joey Porter and had to make do with Saban's players who were 4-3 guys and it just didn't work.

Agreed, Nolan is wildly inconsistent, last yr he did turnaround the Broncos defense, in his 3 seasons in SF his defenses were garbage even though they had plenty of talent on the unit, but with the Ravens..right outside the Top Ten on average..with the Redskins..garbage (though that was another 4-3 to 3-4 conversion process) but with the Giants..solid work.

He does look sharp in a Agent Smith suit though.

 

You raise good points about his personnel during his down years. This year he has so many different kinds of weapons on the front 7 with rotational players, players who can play multiple positions, etc. So, I hope he has enough players for him to exercise his creativity. Now if we only knew who our SOLB is, the suspense is killing me.

 

idle banter
just let the guy coach
grade him after the season
not before

 

Well, I can see some problems from here though Tone E, Nolan's defense is complex but we just drafted rookies to play key roles in it, that is a massive risk as to whether or not they can make the jump to the complexity of a NFL defense AND make the switch from College DE to NFL OLB.

But the veterans are not really "veterans" they are more like career backups up until now.

I think it will work out "if' we play more base 4-3 whilst the Rooks learn the NFL game via rotating into games..

 

This is exactly why they picked the players they did. I forget the quote but Ireland (or Sporano maybe?) said they drafted Team Captains because of their ability to learn quickly. They knew Nolan's defense is complicated and target the guys most likely to succeed in it. For all the crap that has flown around about this draft, daily there are indicators as to why it could potentially be one of the best in Dolphins history.

 

High Risk/High Reward, they rolled the dice this year moreso than in the last two drafts as the 09 class had 2 starters for sure, this one could have..1 starter, or 4 starters, by September or during the season.

I know some folks really like Edds, but Misi played 3 positions at UT..DE/DT/some OLB, if catches on quickly this draft will be a success early.

 

I'm thinking they are confident that our downfield coverage will be steady with the return of W.Allen and with Davis and Smith with a valuable 1 year under their belt. Because of this, I think they can experiment a bit with the front 7 for the first few games (and preseason of course) until they find the most effective packages. This preseason will be one of our most important in a long time because of the fact that we have rookies coming in at key positions - hopefully- and a depth chart full of back ups outside of Dansby.

 

Agreed Padre. :hi5:

...and now I'm loathing the off season again :cry:

 

Cam Cameron was and is an excellent offensive coordinator but as a head coach he was over his head.. There is so much BS that a head coach deals with that others don't.

Nolan like Cam was not a Head Coach Material. but given one side of the ball and time to do his job with good staff and he will be a great defensive coordinator for us.

I think we will have a defense like the old Jim Bates dates a top 10 defense for sure.

 

I dont think that Bates was that good of a DC. I think it had more to do with the fact that ZT, JT, TB, SM, and PS were all in their prime.

 

You can;t look at this draft in terms of 'overall' starters at positions.

Most of these players are tabbed to contribute situationally. Edds will potentially be the nickel linebacker 'starter' (according to Ireland) since he has great coverage skills.

Does that make him a starter or not a starter?

 

Meh.

Regardless of who our DC has been for the past couple of decades, the defensive mantra has been "Bend don't break."

That philosophy has gotten us exactly 0 Super Bowl wins. It hasn't even gotten us close.

I want us to adopt a "Don't bend, don't break, don't stop till the opposing player's spirit is broken" mentality. I'm tired of this candy-*** "corporate" defense.

 

i thought this thread was supposed to be about how the veterans liked our rookie draft class and instead was highjacked by some debbie downer who thinks mike nolan can't coach WTF.

 

Really?

I mostly wanted to post Nolan' track record as a DC and:



And that, you can almost hear him say "Hear that Mr. Anderson, that is the sound of inevitablity"

 

Hey, if he can teach them to dodge tacklers like the Agents dodged bullets, I think we're set.

 

last year I read that channing crowder called Pasq's a genious...nolan's only very very smart..u think we should be worried Pod.:shifty:

 

ray lewis

 

our defense didnt do too bad in 08. i remember having a nice streak of not allowing any points in the 4th quarter.

3 of our KEY starters on that defense went to work in nolans 09 broncos defense. our 09 defense sucked and denvers was good.

thinking about that along with some of the other stuff posted here makes me a little less excited about mike nolan.

just like everything else thats happened recently... we will all just have to wait and see. really no sense in all the extreme opinions one way or the other on all of our off season moves.

 

Nah, the Dline is clearly our strength on Defense now Dej, last yr it was thought Porter and Taylor would be, in 09 the Dline was really good, add in Odrick and it is only stronger.

And Cam Wake having more than 150 snaps or so, Nolan hopefully will have that 2003 feeling with Wake and Odrick playing like Suggs and Pryce did.

Wake as Suggs makes a good comparison as no one has ever accused Terrel Suggs of being a good OLB...but a hand in the dirt..dude can ball.

 

He isn't a HC in Miami. He's a DC, and at that he has proven to be very good. His defenses have even ranked among the best ever. He'll be fine.

 

your comparing Wake to my favorite 34 outside linebacker in the league, wake can rush the passer with anybody, however, he attacks a spot on the field, does'nt discect at this point, suggs reads plays and finishes, and brings the heat.

 

We'll see my man, Wake had..159 snaps, Taylor had 900, Porter 800 something, Cam will have 3x or 4x or even 2x more plays this year, then we will see what he can do.

Wake brings the heat, both on the speed and bullrush, he manhandled Jeff Otah and Nick Kaczur.