The Washington Redskins might be in need of a change at defensive coordinator. Here are some options they could look at to replace Greg Manusky.
This week has not been a good one for the Washington Redskins. The team made the difficult decision to part with D.J. Swearinger after he insulted the coaching staff following the team’s Week 16 loss to the Titans. Swearinger had previously been warned not to sound off, so the fact that he did was an issue, and that’s why his release was justified. That said, the rest of the team’s defense isn’t off the hook, and that includes defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.
At times this season, the Redskins defense has looked like a potentially elite unit. Other times…well, they’ve looked downright awful or incompetent. While Manusky has done a fine job at times, it may be time to get a new leader in the room to help lead the team’s defense, as a motivator from outside the organization coupled with a change in leadership among the defensive captains could be just what the franchise needs to fix their defense.
While nothing has been decided regarding Manusky and Jay Gruden’s fate, it’s possible that another defensive coordinator could be calling the plays for the team in 2019. If the team does elect to part with Manusky, the coordinator market will be full of potential upgrades that the team could target to revitalize their stop unit.
The last thing that most Redskins fans want to see is another candidate that is internally promoted to serve as the defensive coordinator. After all, it didn’t work for Manusky, so why would it work for Jim Tomsula?
That point is honestly valid, as the team may need to bring in an outside motivator to create some culture change on defense, but there are still a couple of reasons to give Tomsula some consideration for the position.
The first is that Tomsula has been one of the best defensive line coaches in the game over the course of the past decade. During his time in Washington, he has helped develop Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, and Matt Ioannidis into excellent players and has made the team’s front one of the strongest units on the roster. This was after it was a weakness for many seasons.
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Second, Tomsula does come with head coaching experience, so that is a plus. His single season in charge of the 49ers wasn’t pretty, but he still got to see what worked and what didn’t in his time in that role. Plus, he worked with a dysfunctional 49ers front office at the time, so he would stand a better chance of holding his own in Washington’s front office mess as a result of that experience.
Players often respond to a coaching change, even if it is an internal one. We saw it with Manusky at first and while it eventually wore off, it’s possible that Tomsula could take charge and improve the up-and-coming unit. Plus, by promoting him, the team wouldn’t risk losing him, as he is an important piece that has been critical to the success of the defensive line.
While Tomsula does deserve consideration, it seems more likely that the team would look for an outside replacement, and there should be plenty of guys available that will intrigue the Redskins.
Vance Joseph is running on borrowed time as the Broncos head coach. After losing to the lowly Raiders on Monday Night Football, it seems likely that Joseph will be canned by Black Monday at the latest.
Joseph’s Broncos team has essentially given up on the season. The players clearly weren’t trying hard at the end of the game against the Raiders, and it seems that the Denver front office has lost faith in Joseph. That said, while he has proven to be a poor head coach, Joseph is still a solid defensive mind and could be a great coordinator.
Before serving one year as the defensive coordinator for the Dolphins in 2016, Joseph was considered a great, young defensive mind as a part of the Bengals’ organization. That is part of what led to his rapid rise to the head coaching ranks. His 11-20 record doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, but the fact is that Joseph is going to be a coordinator in his next stop. And, if anything, that head coaching experience should help him to thrive in a lower-level role.
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Simply put, some coaches are better served as coordinators, and Joseph may be one of them. In his next stop, he should be given a chance to focus solely on defense and look to improve whatever squad he lands with. If Joseph were to come to the Redskins and retain Jim Tomsula to work the defensive front, Joseph could focus on helping the secondary to improve. And that could work out very well.
Of course, it’s worth noting that the Bengals may be interested in bringing Joseph on as a defensive coordinator should he be fired. The Bengals are a fiercely loyal organization that likes to keep hires in-house. Joseph was formerly the team’s defensive backs coach for two seasons, so he would be a logical candidate to replace the departed Teryl Austin on Marvin Lewis‘ staff. If Lewis stays and Hue Jackson is retained along with Joseph, the Bengals would have an intriguing cast of characters in their coaching ranks.
While Joseph has some appeal, it may be hard to outbid the Bengals if they want him. The Bengals simply know how to maintain some continuity and people who are familiar with the organization, so Joseph might be more comfortable there. Either way, Joseph should be sought after, so the competition level will be high.
Like Joseph, it seems that Steve Wilks has one foot out the door in Arizona. The rookie head coach simply hasn’t performed well at all with the organization, and the decline of the defense played a major part in that.
Wilks came to the team with a fairly solid unit on that side of the ball. However, he made the mistake of tailoring his scheme to the personnel and not doing the opposite. Personnel should always dictate the scheme and not the other way around. Otherwise, you end up with players operating in unfamiliar roles or roles that don’t suit their strengths. And that has been a problem at times in the desert.
That said, Wilks is still a good defensive mind. He just ended up in a bad situation with the Cardinals, as their personnel was better suited for a 3-4 base defense while Wilks runs a 4-3 that plays lots of zone concepts and isolates corners on one side of the field. They didn’t have the personnel to run that. However, that philosophy could work in Washington.
Many have been calling for the Redskins to switch to a base 4-3 defense. While that may have some merit, it’s worth noting that the team already plays a lot of 4-3 concepts and is in that scheme in most sub packages anyway. So, it’s not a major deal.
Wilks’ scheme could work well in Washington, as they have the type of front-line pressure needed to disrupt opposing QBs. And with a healthy Quinton Dunbar and Fabian Moreau at corner next year, they will be better suited to play zone and keep both sides of the field clean, unlike the Cardinals who had a massive weakness at the No. 2 corner position and really needed Patrick Peterson to shadow No. 1 receivers on other teams. That never happened, and that is part of why Wilks is on thin ice even after just one season.
Though this coaching stint has hurt Wilks’ reputation and outlook a bit, it’s still worth noting that he is one of the better, young defensive minds in the NFL. He helped lead the Panthers to a top-10 defense in his lone season as coordinator there, and he could do a lot to help the Redskins. If he’s available, he would be a very strong candidate to help change the culture on the defensive side of the ball.
Chuck Pagano is one of the more intriguing options on the market at defensive coordinator. He comes with a ton of head coaching experience, as he served as the Colts’ head coach for six years. That experience will be invaluable, and the fact that he had a winning record in that time (53-43) demonstrates that he is, in fact, a solid football mind.
Many blame Pagano for the collapse of the Colts, but there were a few other factors that caused that team to underperform at the end of his tenure. First of all, general manager Ryan Grigson had a ton of trouble drafting quality players and rarely was ever able to hit on draft picks. That meant the cupboard was bare for Pagano as he tried to develop NFL-level talent.
Second, the injury to Andrew Luck really capsized the team for a few years. His injuries left them completely devoid of talent on offense, and Pagano couldn’t help to make up for that. So, these larger organizational issues caused the failure more than Pagano’s ability itself.
Still, Pagano isn’t a shoo-in to come back to the NFL and be a head coach right away. He could use some time as a defensive coordinator. Pagano, who is a product of the Baltimore Ravens’ excellent defensive coaching tree, served as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator for one year and led them to top-three finishes in scoring and yardage allowed. With his mind and scheming abilities, he could help the Redskins to reach new heights — especially if he can get them to be accountable and disciplined.
Of all the options that will definitely be available, Pagano is arguably the best. At the very least, he is an intriguing veteran option with some head coaching experience who could do a lot to improve the ‘Skins’ stop unit. Of course, he did have some trouble developing talent in Indy, but that was more of a product of the front office’s failure to identify quality players than anything else. If Pagano came about, Washington would have a chance to see their defense improve.
Few coaches are able to get their players to play as hard as Todd Bowles does. And even fewer are able to get more out of lesser talent than Bowles has been able to over the course of his career.
Believe it or not, Bowles has now been the Jets’ coach for four seasons. While only one of them has been a winning one, his first at 10-6, Bowles has certainly overachieved in his role as head coach. Few expected the Jets to be competitive because of their dearth of offensive talent and some of the defensive losses they have suffered over the years. But, every week, Bowles’ team generally competes hard and has a chance to win on any given Sunday.
Bowles doesn’t come without his warts. His last three seasons with the Jets will see him finish with a combined record of 14-33 (pending the team’s Week 17 result). Still, that can’t be entirely blamed on Bowles, as the only top option he had at quarterback was rookie Sam Darnold this year. And even then, he was just a rookie operating without many weapons.
The Jets and Bowles seem headed for a divorce, and that makes sense. That said, Bowles won’t be out of work long. His ability to get effort out of players and turn marginal players into solid ones will certainly draw attention on the open market. He will be one of the hottest defensive coordinators out there, and the fact that he has coached two top-10 defenses during his career as a head coach and coordinator will definitely be a plus for him.
The Redskins need a true motivator to help them play better. Bowles could be that guy. For that reason, if the ‘Skins need a new defensive coordinator, Bowles should be the top guy that they try to bring into D.C. as the DC.