Steve Spagnuolo hired as "senior defensive assistant"

[berad]

Reminds me of when we hired Al Saunders as an 'Offensive consultant'

[EdReedFTW]

Just for off the phone with John. He said he could use a new guy to clean McKinnie & Cody's back after a sweaty game & practice. Interested?

 

In this economy? I'd take it and say "Yes sir, thank you for the opportunity SIR."

 I'd take close to anything at this point. 

[jaege]

He's friends with Pees.

That doesn't merit anything for Pees either, and he is hardly a great DC. I didn't say that being John's friend is a negative, it just is not a positive.

[Ravenseconbeast]

I just wanna say, we might have the best owner in sports.

From the top to bottom we are one of the best ran teams in football, if not, thee best. Amazing front office, spectacular coaching staff, beautiful roster.

Little moves like this can make a big impact. I don't feel he gets enough credit.

Thank you Mr. Biscotti! Even though he'll probably never see this lol. ....also, buy the Orioles. :D

 

+1 on the orioles part 

 

ha!

[GrimCoconut]

That doesn't merit anything for Pees either, and he is hardly a great DC. I didn't say that being John's friend is a negative, it just is not a positive.

Pees isn't a bad DC. That's my point. We haven't suffered because of Pees. It's not like he had a full palette to work off of here. He had a bad draw. You have to admit that. 

[ghost1986]

Omg will the season hurry up and get here already. Can't believe that after this semester, I decided to take summer courses. At least by the end of that, pre-season will be starting. Just wanna see more and more of our rookies and what they bring to the table. And this isn't a bad signing. And I was a critic of Pees, but he did have a lot stacked against him with numerous injuries. Our d-line hasn't been this stacked for a while. I'm looking forward to seeing what Spags and Pees can do with it along with the youth we just brought in. Very exciting.

[Yatagarasu]

Whatever works...

 

I guess it's not a bad thing when you have a lot of good coaches working together.

[Inqui]

Pees isn't a bad DC. That's my point. We haven't suffered because of Pees. It's not like he had a full palette to work off of here. He had a bad draw. You have to admit that. 

I can't remember if I read it here or somewhere else, but someone had the point that there were quite a few players last season talking about how they were annoyed at themselves because they weren't making tackles and failing at assignments. That kind of talk suggests an execution issue, rather than a co-ordinator one.

[Rav'n Maniac]

Just for off the phone with John. He said he could use a new guy to clean McKinnie & Cody's back after a sweaty game & practice. Interested?

As long as they don't mind me using my power washer, I'm down. lol

[Yatagarasu]

Steve Spagnuolo

Juan Castillo

who's next?

 

Lovie Smith?

 

I know Steve Spagnuolo was cut in New Orleans because the defense decide to move to 3-4.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Spagnuolo

 

I like his defensive philosophy which revolves around the aggressive zone-blitz scheme of the late Jim Johnson. I assume our team is going to be very aggressive with multiple looks and blitzes since our defense is now younger and faster.

[jaege]

Pees isn't a bad DC. That's my point. We haven't suffered because of Pees. It's not like he had a full palette to work off of here. He had a bad draw. You have to admit that.

I didn't say he was bad, I just said he is not great. He does a fine job. Pagano was great, and Pees is not Pagano.

[GrimCoconut]

I didn't say he was bad, I just said he is not great. He does a fine job. Pagano was great, and Pees is not Pagano.

Pagano? A great DC? His team ranked 26th overall defense, 21st against the pass, 29th against the run. They ranked 23rd in sacks, putting up 32 sacks on the year. They also ranked 32nd in forced fumbles. They also ranked 20th in interceptions, tied with the Bills & Jags bringing in 12. 

29th overall against the run, 15th against the pass, with the 25th overall ranked defense. Granted, that's also a team that clearly quit on itself as well. They could have done better as a defense. That same defense ranked 21st in forced fumbles with 5, but were one of the worst in sacks ranking 27th with 29 sacks on the year--tied with the Bills, Packers, & Colts. They were also the worst in interceptions with 8--tied with the Vikings. 

 

So the point I am making is that while Pagano is a very good DC, He did not improve the team that much at all. I love Pagano, and you can surely attribute a lot of his teams' failure on his hospitalization. He was still feeding the team info. They made it a point to say he was still a big part of the team. 

 

Pagano had a lot more to work with than Pees did. It's unfair to praise Pagano yet call Pees only "good" when Pagano had a mostly healthy Ravens defense. 

[TonyTone1192]

This guy is well versed in the 4-3 and made a championship caliber defense in NY. This is just more proof in my eyes that we'll see a hybrid front and more base 4-3 this season. Our defensive line is SO DEEP that it would be stupid to keep all that talent on the sideline.

I agree.. our Defense in it's entirety was awful last year but our run defense especially was pathetic!! That wasn't ravens defense we witnessed last season, so I can agree that we'll instal some base 4-3 formations to keep our run pluggers on the field to prevent a travesty like last year from occurring again.

[jaege]

Pagano? A great DC? His team ranked 26th overall defense, 21st against the pass, 29th against the run. They ranked 23rd in sacks, putting up 32 sacks on the year. They also ranked 32nd in forced fumbles. They also ranked 20th in interceptions, tied with the Bills & Jags bringing in 12. 
29th overall against the run, 15th against the pass, with the 25th overall ranked defense. Granted, that's also a team that clearly quit on itself as well. They could have done better as a defense. That same defense ranked 21st in forced fumbles with 5, but were one of the worst in sacks ranking 27th with 29 sacks on the year--tied with the Bills, Packers, & Colts. They were also the worst in interceptions with 8--tied with the Vikings. 
 
So the point I am making is that while Pagano is a very good DC, He did not improve the team that much at all. I love Pagano, and you can surely attribute a lot of his teams' failure on his hospitalization. He was still feeding the team info. They made it a point to say he was still a big part of the team. 
 
Pagano had a lot more to work with than Pees did. It's unfair to praise Pagano yet call Pees only "good" when Pagano had a mostly healthy Ravens defense.

Pagano was not the DC when all of that happened in Indy. I meant that he was a good DC, he isn't as good as a head coach, perhaps. That remains to be seen ( I also give him leeway due to his illness.) When he was a DC here the defense was very good. Pees defense was very poor, of course we have to take into account all the losses and injuries. I will be willing to alter my opinion after I see what he does with the defense this season

[GrimCoconut]

Pagano was not the DC when all of that happened in Indy. I meant that he was a good DC, he isn't as good as a head coach, perhaps. That remains to be seen ( I also give him leeway due to his illness.) When he was a DC here the defense was very good. Pees defense was very poor, of course we have to take into account all the losses and injuries. I will be willing to alter my opinion after I see what he does with the defense this season

Yes. Let's pause and see how this new and revitalized defense fares this year. If Pees still has a poorly ranked defense then I will be with you calling for his head. I have to give him a chance because he had little to work with compared to Chuckie.

[TonyTone1192]

Yes. Let's pause and see how this new and revitalized defense fares this year. If Pees still has a poorly ranked defense then I will be with you calling for his head. I have to give him a chance because he had little to work with compared to Chuckie.

We should give him at least 2 more seasons before we compare him to our previous DC's. Yes we have great defensive pieces to replace what we've lost, but chemistry doesn't happen over night. We will have 5 new starters on the densive side of the ball this season. The first time in team history we won't have the leadership of Lewis or Reed.

I'm not saying that I expect our D to be as bad as last year but it will certainly take our guys time to mesh and learn one another's game.

[PolishRifle]

Yes. Let's pause and see how this new and revitalized defense fares this year. If Pees still has a poorly ranked defense then I will be with you calling for his head. I have to give him a chance because he had little to work with compared to Chuckie.

I would actually say, that he has done really well all things considered. He started out losing his biggest playmaker in Suggs, then the Dallas game came and his best CB was gone. Lets not forget, that Lewis and Reed were starting to show their age on top of all that. Not to mention, that the losses of Redding and JJ were really huge.

He retooled our D into a very effective red-zone defense, which in the end did play a huge part in the Ravens winning the SB. So Pees does deserve some credit, imho.

[billick]

I believe this makes Head Coach # 3 on our staff.  2 x head coaches, and Harbs. Doesn't Spags bring a ring to the table ?

He may have been brought in to help us shut down Brady.

 

Sacks, sacks, sacks.

[Bravens292]

Pees is a good DC IMO. the injuries we suffered can't be overlooked and he definitely figured out during the bye that he needed to play to his teams strengths. Our defense definitely improved since then. That said, he's got everything he needs this time to have success. Top 7-8 at worst is my expectation for this defense.

[Sizzlebshu]

He's friends with Pees.

He was also friends with Cam (John)

 

No but seriously I do not like this hire for several reasons. 

 

1. He's Johns friends and we know how hard it is to get rid of John's friends given the team's success due to being supremely talented.

 

2. Spag masterminded one of the worst defenses in the history of the league last year on the Saints. While that is not all on him given what he had to work with, you can't say its all on the defense either as it had never been that badly abused before. Maybe its just wrong place, wrong time, but that was unacceptable to me. 

 

3. We are a 3-4 base hybrid which Spag has no real experience with. Not saying he can't contribute, but unless we plan on switching schemes, which we should not do, I find any contribution he makes to be very limited. 

[Sizzlebshu]

Pagano? A great DC? His team ranked 26th overall defense, 21st against the pass, 29th against the run. They ranked 23rd in sacks, putting up 32 sacks on the year. They also ranked 32nd in forced fumbles. They also ranked 20th in interceptions, tied with the Bills & Jags bringing in 12. 

29th overall against the run, 15th against the pass, with the 25th overall ranked defense. Granted, that's also a team that clearly quit on itself as well. They could have done better as a defense. That same defense ranked 21st in forced fumbles with 5, but were one of the worst in sacks ranking 27th with 29 sacks on the year--tied with the Bills, Packers, & Colts. They were also the worst in interceptions with 8--tied with the Vikings. 

 

So the point I am making is that while Pagano is a very good DC, He did not improve the team that much at all. I love Pagano, and you can surely attribute a lot of his teams' failure on his hospitalization. He was still feeding the team info. They made it a point to say he was still a big part of the team. 

 

Pagano had a lot more to work with than Pees did. It's unfair to praise Pagano yet call Pees only "good" when Pagano had a mostly healthy Ravens defense. 

Okay first of all there is so much wrong with this statement. 

 

1. You mentioned the hospital thing, but tbh we both know that he really couldnt and didnt contribute too much. Im sure he made an effort, but opportunity wasn't present for him to make a real impact

 

2. He had more to work with? What a joke. Pagano took a 43 talent base and put them in  34 scheme. This basically killed off Dwight Freeney. Mathis did fine, but Freeney, Redding etc... were injured all year. Pees did have Ngata, Ed Reed, Webb and Lewis (for the first 5), Mcphee on and off, Art Jones emergence, Kruger, and Sizzle albeit watered down for half the season and we were still awful on D. Literally the colts had Bethea, and Mathis, and maybe you can argue Davis. To say that Pagano had more to work with was a joke. The Colts have not been and probably will never be a defense first team. 

 

Pees is a classic Belichick disciple on defense. Bend don't break. He even admitted so saying he didnt care about any stats other than red zone defense, 3rd down conversions, and points allowed. While these are the most important categories, a good defense that can be effective also creates turnovers, and limits yardage to increase 3rd down %. Pees playcalling on D is very conservative compared to Pagano's aggressive style. Pees's strategy is basically this " We will give them w, x , and y but not z." I honestly hate his style of playcalling because its this type of playcalling that always get us in trouble on both offense and defense. On defense, its tantamount to saying that w, x, y or yards per pass. completion % and yards per rush etc... doesn't influence 3rd down conversion rate when obviously it makes a huge difference both in an individual situation and over the whole game as it gets the offense more possessions  rests the defense, and put pressure on the opposing offense to gamble. 

[Bltravens]

Spagnuolo was brought in to help the nickel formations and some alignments with the front 4, that's all.  His ideas won't be felt n the base defense whatsoever.  He was brought in to help with pass rushing concepts, stunts, twists, alignments with the front 4. Something Pees was awful at, and it was magnified because we just had Pagano who was one of the best I've seen with my own eyes from a Ravens DC who manipulated alignments and played the game at the LOS.

I'd be totally shocked and disappointed if Spagnuolo had any influence on this defense other than that.

[GrimCoconut]

Okay first of all there is so much wrong with this statement.

1. You mentioned the hospital thing, but tbh we both know that he really couldnt and didnt contribute too much. Im sure he made an effort, but opportunity wasn't present for him to make a real impact

2. He had more to work with? What a joke. Pagano took a 43 talent base and put them in 34 scheme. This basically killed off Dwight Freeney. Mathis did fine, but Freeney, Redding etc... were injured all year. Pees did have Ngata, Ed Reed, Webb and Lewis (for the first 5), Mcphee on and off, Art Jones emergence, Kruger, and Sizzle albeit watered down for half the season and we were still awful on D. Literally the colts had Bethea, and Mathis, and maybe you can argue Davis. To say that Pagano had more to work with was a joke. The Colts have not been and probably will never be a defense first team.

Pees is a classic Belichick disciple on defense. Bend don't break. He even admitted so saying he didnt care about any stats other than red zone defense, 3rd down conversions, and points allowed. While these are the most important categories, a good defense that can be effective also creates turnovers, and limits yardage to increase 3rd down %. Pees playcalling on D is very conservative compared to Pagano's aggressive style. Pees's strategy is basically this " We will give them w, x , and y but not z." I honestly hate his style of playcalling because its this type of playcalling that always get us in trouble on both offense and defense. On defense, its tantamount to saying that w, x, y or yards per pass. completion % and yards per rush etc... doesn't influence 3rd down conversion rate when obviously it makes a huge difference both in an individual situation and over the whole game as it gets the offense more possessions rests the defense, and put pressure on the opposing offense to gamble.

I think you read what you wanted to read not what I wrote. I wasn't comparing Pagano's Colts to Pees' Ravens. I meant Pagano had more talent as our DC than Pees.

Personally, it sounds like you just don't like Pees-'period. You sound biased. I'm not his biggest fan but he operated without some of his best players.

[ThePurpleWall]

if its the same steve from last year with the saints, I don't want him.

[Rav'n Maniac]

Okay first of all there is so much wrong with this statement. 

 

1. You mentioned the hospital thing, but tbh we both know that he really couldnt and didnt contribute too much. Im sure he made an effort, but opportunity wasn't present for him to make a real impact

 

2. He had more to work with? What a joke. Pagano took a 43 talent base and put them in  34 scheme. This basically killed off Dwight Freeney. Mathis did fine, but Freeney, Redding etc... were injured all year. Pees did have Ngata, Ed Reed, Webb and Lewis (for the first 5), Mcphee on and off, Art Jones emergence, Kruger, and Sizzle albeit watered down for half the season and we were still awful on D. Literally the colts had Bethea, and Mathis, and maybe you can argue Davis. To say that Pagano had more to work with was a joke. The Colts have not been and probably will never be a defense first team. 

 

Pees is a classic Belichick disciple on defense. Bend don't break. He even admitted so saying he didnt care about any stats other than red zone defense, 3rd down conversions, and points allowed. While these are the most important categories, a good defense that can be effective also creates turnovers, and limits yardage to increase 3rd down %. Pees playcalling on D is very conservative compared to Pagano's aggressive style. Pees's strategy is basically this " We will give them w, x , and y but not z." I honestly hate his style of playcalling because its this type of playcalling that always get us in trouble on both offense and defense. On defense, its tantamount to saying that w, x, y or yards per pass. completion % and yards per rush etc... doesn't influence 3rd down conversion rate when obviously it makes a huge difference both in an individual situation and over the whole game as it gets the offense more possessions  rests the defense, and put pressure on the opposing offense to gamble. 

Dude, I'll take a bend but don't break defense anytime with consideration to how our D was descimated by injury last year. Pees did the best he could with what he had available to him. If Mattison had still been here our D would have been ranked 33 out of 32 teams. Those were the dark days in Baltimore football history. lol. Let's see what Pees and Spags can do with a healthy squad before we rank there playcalling.

[Bltravens]

Dude, I'll take a bend but don't break defense anytime with consideration to how our D was descimated by injury last year. Pees did the best he could with what he had available to him. If Mattison had still been here our D would have been ranked 33 out of 32 teams. Those were the dark days in Baltimore football history. lol. Let's see what Pees and Spags can do with a healthy squad before we rank there playcalling.

 

Mattison, the guy who never had a defense ranked outside the top 10 in either yards or ppg?  Mattison actually gave up less total points in 2009 than Pagano did in 2011.  And Mattison had fat Suggs in 2010 with Foxworth, Walker and Carr in the secondary; and only gave up 4 more points than Pagano in 2011.

Im not going to say Mattison was as good a DC as Pagano because he wasn't, but the urban myth that Mattison was god awful is simply untrue.

[rmw10]

Mattison, the guy who never had a defense ranked outside the top 10 in either yards or ppg?  Mattison actually gave up less total points in 2009 than Pagano did in 2011.  And Mattison had fat Suggs in 2010 with Foxworth, Walker and Carr in the secondary; and only gave up 4 more points than Pagano in 2011.

Im not going to say Mattison was as good a DC as Pagano because he wasn't, but the urban myth that Mattison was god awful is simply untrue.

 

Mattison was just soft.  He rarely dialed up a blitz, and when he did, the other team knew it was coming.  When the team was up by 2 scores, he just let up the pressure and allowed yard after yard.  His stats may not show how bad he was, but he truly just didn't fit the Ravens' style of defense.  He was more awful for this system than he was awful as a DC.

[Rav'n Maniac]

Mattison, the guy who never had a defense ranked outside the top 10 in either yards or ppg?  Mattison actually gave up less total points in 2009 than Pagano did in 2011.  And Mattison had fat Suggs in 2010 with Foxworth, Walker and Carr in the secondary; and only gave up 4 more points than Pagano in 2011.

Im not going to say Mattison was as good a DC as Pagano because he wasn't, but the urban myth that Mattison was god awful is simply untrue.

Wasn't aware of the stats. Just remember the god awful complaining that went on here during his tenure and the extreme jubilance that resulted in his departure. And if I remember correctly, there were a few amount of players that were happy with the move as well. But I appreciate you pointing the stats out to me.

[ravensdan]

Steve Spagnuolo
Juan Castillo
who's next?

Lovie Smith?

I know Steve Spagnuolo was cut in New Orleans because the defense decide to move to 3-4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Spagnuolo

I like his defensive philosophy which revolves around the aggressive zone-blitz scheme of the late Jim Johnson. I assume our team is going to be very aggressive with multiple looks and blitzes since our defense is now younger and faster.

I think we should throw however much money it takes to bring urban Meyer here as our offensive coordinator. This guy is a real genius

[Sizzlebshu]

I think you read what you wanted to read not what I wrote. I wasn't comparing Pagano's Colts to Pees' Ravens. I meant Pagano had more talent as our DC than Pees.

Personally, it sounds like you just don't like Pees-'period. You sound biased. I'm not his biggest fan but he operated without some of his best players.

I misread then. 

 

I don't like Pees because I don't like the philosophy he employs. It is a bad philosophy that imo spits on the hallmark of this franchises defense which is to make our opponents earn every single inch and to not give anything away. But even still I don't like the philosophy he employs because it makes 0 sense. 

 

Pees only cares about 3 things on defense

 

Points Allowed

Red Zone Def

3rd Down Conversions

 

I don't think I have to explain why yards per play and caring about that directly correlates to the probability of a successful 3rd down. I don't think I have to explain why generating turnovers or negative yardage plays should factor in among many other factors that this Ravens D under the leadership of Lewis and other coordinators has exhibited over the last 10 years. 

 

I have no problem on emphasizing these three things. I have a problems with Pees using this to install and emphasize a bend dont break mentality and its apparent in his coaching style, which you also see in Belichick's style of D. Bend don't break is not what made us a top 2/3 defense consistently over the last decade. Make them earn every inch has.