Cal DC Peter Sirmon will be Saints LB coach (12 Viewers)

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Our DC is a Fangio disciple, and Fangio has become a heavy user of the 4-2-5 alignment. (With 2-4-5 personnel)

Our DB coach comes from a 4-2-5 defense.

Our LB coach comes from a 4-2-5 defense.

All signs point to… 4-2-5.

The personnel fits. Mostly w/ Alontae Taylor in somewhat of a big Nickel role. You have to resign Adebo and while McKinstry would be expected to be the other corner, I would not shy away from taking Will Johnson if he's there. McKinstry was passable last year but he did nothing that said he's your bonafied starter in 2025.

The question is, how do you run his tite concepts from a 4-2-5 alignment? I mean one of the LB's i guess creeps up and takes the 0 position in some alignments while others you may see that 3-3-5 look to.

As i continue to research his defense I've noticed he puts a lot of stress on the LB's by alignment. They've got a lot of ground to cover in some of his sets and I wonder can Demario still handle that at a high clip.

 

[SonOfNOLA]

I really think we should move on from Brian Young. Dude's been here since 2009 and has been our pass rush specialist since 2016. Rankins , Davenport, Turner , Foskey, Breesee.......not exactly big time pass rush guys under his watch.
But i mean the guy did have a 9 year career where he averaged 2.5 sacks a year..........so i guess i shouldn't be too surprised.

You’re leaving out Jordan, Granderson, Hendrickson, and Onyemata who were big time pass rushers under Brian Young. They all produced top 5-top 10 caliber seasons as pass rushers at their positions with Young. Granderson went from a rotational udfa to the Saints’ top Edge and amongst the league leaders in pressures.

Bresee has 12 sacks in 2 seasons and was 6th in sacks amongst NFL DTs in 2024. He’s below average against the run right now but definitely a highly productive pass rusher.

Rankins wasn’t a star but he isn’t on the same level as Davenport, Turner, and Foskey. Producing 5 notable pass rushers out of 8 as a specialist coach is really solid.

 

[webster]

Well I'm also noticing a lot of former players on this staff. It's leaning towards the way the Lions built their staff. Can't say it's not smart.

Random Note. Has anyone noticed we have 3 former QBs on the coaching staff? If ever there was an ideal envionrment for the development of Rattler they are creating it

I seriously doubt Rattler is in their plans, unless it’s to tank the season.

 

[Rouxble]

The personnel fits. Mostly w/ Alontae Taylor in somewhat of a big Nickel role. You have to resign Adebo and while McKinstry would be expected to be the other corner, I would not shy away from taking Will Johnson if he's there. McKinstry was passable last year but he did nothing that said he's your bonafied starter in 2025.

The question is, how do you run his tite concepts from a 4-2-5 alignment? I mean one of the LB's i guess creeps up and takes the 0 position in some alignments while others you may see that 3-3-5 look to.

As i continue to research his defense I've noticed he puts a lot of stress on the LB's by alignment. They've got a lot of ground to cover in some of his sets and I wonder can Demario still handle that at a high clip.

One thing I’ve seen from that defense is to line up in a 4-2-5, and then to have the OLB slide in to a 4 or 4i and Baun will walk up to the 9, converting an even front to an odd front.

It happened several times against us. That’s where having a guy like Cam at OLB would be helpful, I wouldn’t worry as much about him playing head up with an OT as I would one of the lighter edge rusher types.

 

[srcampbell]

Our DC is a Fangio disciple, and Fangio has become a heavy user of the 4-2-5 alignment. (With 2-4-5 personnel)

Our DB coach comes from a 4-2-5 defense.

Our LB coach comes from a 4-2-5 defense.

All signs point to… 4-2-5.

Haven’t we run a 4-2-5 for the last 10 years?

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

One thing I’ve seen from that defense is to line up in a 4-2-5, and then to have the OLB slide in to a 4 or 4i and Baun will walk up to the 9, converting an even front to an odd front.

It happened several times against us. That’s where having a guy like Cam at OLB would be helpful, I wouldn’t worry as much about him playing head up with an OT as I would one of the lighter edge rusher types.

You're right on the 4-2-5 and I just figured out why. No matter where Staley has gone he's asked his Edge guys to drop between 200-245 times. Mostly it's his Sam LB that does the most dropping. For Rams it was Leonard Floyd and Chargers in 2022 it was Kyle Van Noy. Both well over 100 coverage drops

We don't have a Sam...but we do have an Alontae Taylor and that slot DB in the big 4-2-5 is essentially a Sam LB.

Making that the base defense while we transition makes the most sense.

So while it will be a 4-2-5 in numbering it will still function like the 3-3-5. By that I mean it will still have a NT and two 4i's with Granderson on one edge and then Alontae being the blitzer/dropper on the other edge.

When we decide to run his dime looks you probably drop Werner and add Cam Jordan opposite Granderson. So it's Granderson, 4i, nt, 4i, Cam. Davis is your MLB and then your 5 DB's.

We need a NT and more depth at DB/S. You can take a chance on a mid round undersized rusher for Sam later in the draft but we're going to need that NT.

Taylor is going to be disruptive in this defense...but we'll also need him to stay healthy since he's such a core piece.

 

[St. Widge]

I wanted some college coaches to be considered for OC and DC and it didn't really happen. But this and the Terry Joseph hire are nice too. I think the NFL has gotten a little stale and seems to retread lots of coaches. A nice infusion of new ideas is needed and these guys might bring that. I might also be good for building a young team to have some younger coaches that have been coaching college players.

For as critical as I was about how behind I thought, and still to a degree think, the team was getting a staff together I'm really liking how it's shaping up. And for the first time in a long time I have almost NO IDEA what to expect from the team in 2025.

EDIT: Here is a random press conference from last year.

Undershill said that they did seriously consider the DC at Colorado for the DC position but in the end decided to go with Staley.

 

[Madmarsha]

I remember having this guy on one of my Madden franchise teams in college; I called him “The Reverend.” That’s about all I know about him.

Oh, I was destined to call him Peter Simon -- whoever that is -- but this kinda does give me a way to remember it, phonetically speaking.

 

[St. Widge]

Haven’t we run a 4-2-5 for the last 10 years?

Yes, but there are many ways to run it. In this case Fangio/Staley tend to run it using standup LBs at the DE position or one stand up DL/Edge on one side and 3 guys with their hand in the dirt but essentially in the position of 4-3 DEs and DTs. It's really a multiple front that can be a odd front or even front depending on how they lineup and what personnel are on the field.

The big difference is going to come in the 1 and 1/2 gap, instead of 1 gap, scheme on the DL and the matchup zone/pattern matching by the DBs with a 2 high shell that often has one safety crash the line just before the snap. DA used a lot of man and press man. He did do the other stuff at times, but he prefered to play in man to man on the back end.

 

[srcampbell]

Yes, but there are many ways to run it. In this case Fangio/Staley tend to run it using standup LBs at the DE position or one stand up DL/Edge on one side and 3 guys with their hand in the dirt but essentially in the position of 4-3 DEs and DTs. It's really a multiple front that can be a odd front or even front depending on how they lineup and what personnel are on the field.

The big difference is going to come in the 1 and 1/2 gap, instead of 1 gap, scheme on the DL and the matchup zone/pattern matching by the DBs with a 2 high shell that often has one safety crash the line just before the snap. DA used a lot of man and press man. He did do the other stuff at times, but he prefered to play in man to man on the back end.

Thanks for the explanation!

 

[Paul]

The yute movement, FTW!

 

[DSnfla]

You're right on the 4-2-5 and I just figured out why. No matter where Staley has gone he's asked his Edge guys to drop between 200-245 times. Mostly it's his Sam LB that does the most dropping. For Rams it was Leonard Floyd and Chargers in 2022 it was Kyle Van Noy. Both well over 100 coverage drops

We don't have a Sam...but we do have an Alontae Taylor and that slot DB in the big 4-2-5 is essentially a Sam LB.

Making that the base defense while we transition makes the most sense.

So while it will be a 4-2-5 in numbering it will still function like the 3-3-5. By that I mean it will still have a NT and two 4i's with Granderson on one edge and then Alontae being the blitzer/dropper on the other edge.

When we decide to run his dime looks you probably drop Werner and add Cam Jordan opposite Granderson. So it's Granderson, 4i, nt, 4i, Cam. Davis is your MLB and then your 5 DB's.

We need a NT and more depth at DB/S. You can take a chance on a mid round undersized rusher for Sam later in the draft but we're going to need that NT.

Taylor is going to be disruptive in this defense...but we'll also need him to stay healthy since he's such a core piece.

I think we look to FA for our starting NT , Like a Kinlaw or Onwuzurike

 

[tenordas]

He looks a lot like Mark Messier to me...except with more hair.

That's certainly not a bad thing.

 

[Elvis]

The yute movement, FTW!