The older I get the more convinced I am that pro football is pretty much a crapshoot every season. Might as well succeed or fail randomly with
people who don't seem like they're total jerks on board.
Ryan believes things flew off the rails in the offseason when the
defense was being hyped up in the media as one of the better units in
the NFL. That would have been fine, but many players began believing the
hype.
“We’re dealing with human beings,” Ryan said. “Obviously we drank the
Kool-Aid too much, I think. If they don’t think so, well, then I think
that’s wrong. I think that’s an honest opinion.”
Besides, as Larry Holder points out, there are
all sorts of downsides to Payton firing yet another defensive coordinator.
For starters, unloading Ryan would mean Payton would be hiring his
fifth defensive coordinator while entering his 10th season in New
Orleans. It would be Payton's fourth defensive coordinator in five
seasons.
It would look like Payton, one of the brightest offensive minds in
the game, has no idea how to manage the other side of the football or
find the right man to do so.
If the Saints have an exit strategy for Ryan in place, they probably
already have his replacement in the bag (former Saints secondary coach
and fired Raiders head coach Dennis Allen). If not, what defensive
coordinator worth his salt would want the job if he knew he'd better
find a place with a month-to-month lease.
Being the Saints' defensive coordinator isn't exactly the most stable gig in professional sports.
Anyway, the defense was shitty this year. In 2012 it was shitty
and the coach was a jerk. In 2009-2011 the coach was also a jerk and the defense was shitty and it didn't really matter that much. Rob Ryan isn't quite as much of a jerk. He has one shitty season and one pretty good one. Might as well let him hang around for a third.
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