Dallas fires Rob Ryan

[Taylor 36]

It's questionable that Ryan is better than Spags though.

He's been given plenty of opportunities, with pretty good personnel. He's always underperformed. Spags at least won a Super Bowl. Ryan is living off his father and brother's names.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree about Spags. The Saints took a huge fall in one season going from Williams to him. I know he won a SB, but I think almost anyone with a little bit of experience could have done a great job with that NY defense, and having that core group while he was in NY more than bolstered his over-hyped image IMHO. Other than that, his record is not good at all. Ryan did not do that great in Dallas, but with the Jerrah attitude that has been fostered there, I highly doubt anyone would/could have. And, honestly, it is hard to gage any coach at any position on their ability while in Cleveland. That team has been such a mess for so long.

I'm definitely not saying that Ryan will have the Saints D in the top ten, but they won't be in the bottom five next year, which would be a major improvement for them, and with that offense, having a mediocre defense could make a huge difference in W/L. Again, I know that doesn't say much about Ryan, because it would be hard for that unit not to get better, but I think it has a lot to say about Spags.

[ouvan59]

Hitman, you're better than this. It is pretty clear what I'm saying: Ryan is a better coordinator than Spags. He is the perfect jerk to come in and motivate a defense that is already pissed off at the world. On top of that, the team is getting their head coach back next year, who now has to have a pissed off agenda (think Belichick after Spy-gate) with a Drew Brees, whom is still Brees the player, but also pissed at the world and feels that he and the team have something to prove after this season (think Brady after Spy-gate). Hence my original post where I said that the Saints could be scary next season.

You can backtrack all you want. The only way the Saints are "scary" next year is if their defense is good. If the Saints defense is as good as the Cowboys the last couple of years they will not be scary. And the Cowboys have a lot better personnel than the Saints. Good coaches make suspect personnel better immediately. Rob Ryan has never coached a good defense as a coordinator. He is and will continue to ride his Dad and his brother's coat tails.

[Taylor 36]

You can backtrack all you want. The only way the Saints are "scary" next year is if their defense is good. If the Saints defense is as good as the Cowboys the last couple of years they will not be scary. And the Cowboys have a lot better personnel than the Saints. Good coaches make suspect personnel better immediately. Rob Ryan has never coached a good defense as a coordinator. He is and will continue to ride his Dad and his brother's coat tails.

There is no backtracking, because I didn't change a thing I've said in this thread. It will be fun to revisit this thread in December; I'll be able to point out to you what backtracking actually is.

[DCSaints_fan]

If Ryan can even field an average defense its a huge win for us. Our defense last year was record-breakingly bad, and we still managed to be 7-9. With a middle of the road defense and Brees/Payton we win 10 games minimum.