Quote Originally Posted by Patler View Post
MM has now had two entirely different defensive coaching staffs (except for Winston Moss), and having a good defense remains the aberration, not the norm.
The same can be said for ST's.
Has he had bad staffs twice for each, D and ST?
Is it on TT?

...or, is there something about MM's entire program layout, for off season, training camp and in season, that does not foster quality performances from ST and D units? MM is an acknowledged micro-manager in terms of practice layouts, with detail for what everyone is doing every minute of time. He has acknowledged having many volumes of notebooks laying out every minute of every day when the team is in the facilities. His system has consistently turned out exceptional offenses and bad defenses and special teams.

If I were to select one word to describe his offenses, it is "cerebral". Players have to read, communicate and react. Everyone has to read and react the same. His practices are geared to efficiency, with an emphasis on calm. He talks about teaching, says littlea bout and almost practices against emotion. This seems to work for offensive performance, especially for the passing game, and maybe somewhat less successfully for a running game. Is his "thinking man" approach to workouts and practices inconsistent with the development of the playing characteristics that make for good defenses and special teams?

To borrow a phrase, does MM's program approach develop teams that are too soft to play well on D and ST, while being high achievers on O?
Winner. I actually tried to write something similar yesterday but abandoned it at 8,500 words of woodbuckian denseness.

Though I don't think its the cerebral approach itself that is the limiting factor. Rather, like you need a nutrition science consultant to keep players up to the speed of the practices (same with strength and conditioning guys), you need D coaches who can create drills and team periods that will produce good defense under the regime as enacted by the HC. There is a lot of old school on the D side of the ball.