Nielsen takes Falcons DC job (1 Viewer)

[Saint Greg]

You’re missing my point, he should’ve never been a “co-DC” to begin with. He should’ve been the outright DC with defensive playcalling duties the minute Allen got handed the HC title.

Like the old saying “if you have 2 starting QB’s, you have none”? Well we had 2 DC’s and were about to have none once Richard gets plucked too.

If anyone should’ve been DC it should’ve been Richard. I don’t know why some are so convinced Nielsen can call great defense when he’s never done it before. Richard did it at a high level in Seattle. The co-DC was to keep Neilson happy so he stayed with our DL. Which was a weak link last season. Taking Neilson as DC is a big risk.

 

[los226]

Now this makes Richard sole DC. Doesn’t that mean that he can’t leave now unless it’s a promotion from DC?

 

[Taker597]

If anyone should’ve been DC it should’ve been Richard. I don’t know why some are so convinced Nielsen can call great defense when he’s never done it before. Richard did it at a high level in Seattle. The co-DC was to keep Neilson happy so he stayed with our DL. Which was a weak link last season. Taking Neilson as DC is a big risk.

With that logic... No new coaches should ever expect to ascend or be great. Better hire dinosaurs.


Incredibly short sighted

 

[rlemieux]

Now this makes Richard sole DC. Doesn’t that mean that he can’t leave now unless it’s a promotion from DC?

Not necessarily. He still doesn’t call the plays and a DC job with play calling would be a step up.

 

[Saint Greg]

With that logic... No new coaches should ever expect to ascend or be great. Better hire dinosaurs.


Incredibly short sighted

And with yours you could end up with Gary Gibbs. Payton hasn't done that since and I bet he won't do it again.

 

[Saint Greg]

Now this makes Richard sole DC. Doesn’t that mean that he can’t leave now unless it’s a promotion from DC?

My guess is he's still Co-DC until we offer and he accepts DC. Until then I'd say he's co-DC and we have an opening for the other co-DC.

 

[MV2]

True. I’m not too concerned about this loss. DA is the architect and play caller of our defense. Also, we had two defensive coordinators and in my opinion lost the lesser.

I'd keep Richard before I keep Nielsen. Honestly, our secondary play has been more impressive than our line play since Richard has gotten here. Nielsen has had years with Davenport and I swear his list of moves haven't changed one bit. Our line got gashed in the run game all year.

He wanted out before and it got blocked. I don't think you can block a coach from a career move he wants to make and think there won't be some resentment or affect on his coaching.

 

[Saint Greg]

Another thing I'll say. I don't know how much if any influence Nielson had when it comes to us drafting developmental DL prospects in the first round....but I wouldn't mind if those picks stopped happening.

 

[BreesusSaves]

The classic "he wasn't actually that good" coping any time someone leaves.

"He couldnt develop Davenport and Turner."

Give me a call when either of them are healthy enough to actually be developed. And let's ignore the fact he got Jordan to his first All Pro team, Hendrickson and Granderson's development, Rankins pre-Achilles tear, and the fact the last two years he's had to use a bunch of fourth round picks and UDFAs who are at best rotational depth as his starters.

When Payton was here, Nielsen was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in addition to his duties as DL coach. It was clear Payton valued him extremely highly and wasn't going to give him up without a fight.

Allen takes over and names Rizzi to Assistant Head Coach, leaving Nielsen as Co-DC and DL coach.

Also keep in mind, the falcons GM is Terry Fontenot, a guy who is deeply familiar with a good bit Saints staff. He was still in New Orleans when the Saints hired Nielsen and saw Nielsen's development as a coach first hand.

But like I said, the good news is the falcons roster is a mess and hopefully stays a mess. The last thing we need is a 49ers-esque defensive line to deal with twice a year in the NFC South.

 

[woohoosaint]

Let's keep doing what we're doing...

 

[SonOfNOLA]

Sounds about right for Davenport to go to the Falcons and turn his career around with the enemy without the “two 1sts” pressure on his shoulders

 

[Alan12]

If anyone should’ve been DC it should’ve been Richard. I don’t know why some are so convinced Nielsen can call great defense when he’s never done it before. Richard did it at a high level in Seattle. The co-DC was to keep Neilson happy so he stayed with our DL. Which was a weak link last season. Taking Neilson as DC is a big risk.

Absolutely agree the DL struggled last year, as did the rest of the defense; however to ignore the fact that Nielsen inherited a mediocre unit in 2017 and immediately turned them into an elite front in the league for the next 5 years more than proved he was worthy of earning the DC title last year.

And as much as I like him, Richard was handed the keys to a Seahawks defense that finished 1st in yards AND points for 2 consecutive years in 2013 and 2014 before he ever called a play for them in 2015. A defense that landed Dan Quinn a HC gig for a hot minute until Atlanta figured out despite being a great DC, he was an equally terrible HC before being fired and landing in Dallas at DC in 2021. And would you look at that, his defense has already finished 7th and 5th in points since then. So how much of that success in Seattle was due to Richard’s natural play calling prowess and how much of it was due to the talent and scheme already in place before he ever put on the headset?

 

[joetoan]

Well the saints are now late to the game to get any quality assistant on the defense side now..

 

[Plow]

This really stinks.

There can be only one. Next man up.

 

[PBsWhodat]

Settle down folks. We have no idea if this guy can even call plays for an entire season at this level. We may play them next year and find he isn't that good at it.

Even if he can’t, he’ll look amazing vs our offense.