Teicher|Sutton on Chiefs’ defense: ‘You don’t have to junk the system’

[Tribal Warfare]

Sutton on Chiefs’ defense: ‘You don’t have to junk the system’
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
New defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said the way the Chiefs go about their business next season probably won’t be much different than last year. They’re just hoping to do things better.

“One of the most important things in coaching is really to figure out who you are and not who you want to be,” said Sutton, who will retain the 3-4 defense used in recent seasons by former coordinator Romeo Crennel. “There’s a difference there. We’ve got to talk advantage of the talent in place and try to use that as the starting point of this whole thing. You don’t have to junk the system but you have to tilt it or slant it or move it in the direction of your strengths. That’s really what we’re doing right now.

“We’re not going to be tied to anything but the way I envision it speaking to Coach Reid when I came in here … it’s got to be tailored a little bit to the personnel here.”

Meanwhile, the Chiefs filled the last remaining hole in their coaching staff Tuesday by hiring Andy Heck as their offensive line coach. Heck, 46, spent the last nine seasons coaching the offensive line for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A former first-round draft pick from Notre Dame, Heck played 12 seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman for Seattle, Chicago and Washington.

Heck replaces Jack Bicknell Jr., who spent one season as the Chiefs offensive line coach. The Chiefs spoke with at least two other candidates, veteran offensive line coaches George Warhop and Tony Sparano.

The Chiefs also hired Kevin O’Dea as assistant special teams coach. O’Dea, who worked under Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub with the Bears last season, has also been a special teams coach for the Jets and Cardinals.

The Chiefs may make an additional coaching hire in former Vikings head coach Brad Childress, who would be a senior offensive assistant.

One of Sutton’s first jobs after being hired last week was to sort through the defensive talent. Linebackers Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali and safety Eric Berry are Pro Bowlers and linebacker Justin Houston and cornerback Brandon Flowers are first alternates, meaning they could be going to Hawaii as well.

“We’ve got some good football players here,” Sutton said. “It’s a good group, played hard, played physical. Those two attributes are ones that everybody in our league wants to have when you’re coaching on defense.

“We’ve got some pieces in place and really, no different than any of the other 31 teams, we probably have some areas where we probably need to improve on.”

Sutton inherits a defense with three Pro Bowlers in outside linebacker Tamba Hali and inside linebacker Derrick Johnson and safety Eric Berry.

“We’ve got some good football players here and guys who played well … played hard … were physical, those two attributes are ones everyone in our league wants to have on defense,” Sutton said. “If you’re physical, tough-minded, serve you well for a long time. Those parts are here. That’s encouraging and exciting.”

Sutton said he was familiar with the Chiefs’ defense under former coach Romeo Crennel from working with Jets head coach Rex Ryan.

“It’s a great system of defense, the true 3-4. When Rex came into the Jets, it had many similarities to this, but has a little more multiple and more schematically how we lined up,” Sutton said. “A lot of the principles stayed the same in how our up-front players attacked blockers. …

“A lot of the players have the characteristics we’re looking for.”

Two of those are pass rushers like Justin Houston, who finished with 10 sacks, and Hali, who finished with nine.

“They’re exciting guys coming off the edge,” Sutton said. “One of the things I learned from Rex is it’s great to have sacks, but the key thing is to hit the quarterback. You’re trying to affect the quarterback and not let him feel comfortable. The bottom line is we don’t want that guy standing back there and feeling comfortable.

“You need guys whether it’s coming through pressure or unconventional means to get there, you still need people to defeat a blocker and get to that quarterback. We’ve got two guys who have proven they are capable of doing that.”

The Star’s Randy Covitz contributed to this report

[FringeNC]

Chiefs D went from pretty decent in 2011, allowing 5.4 yards per play, to one of the very worst in the league in 2012, allowing 5.9 yards play. I wonder how much of that is simply the Club Romeo affect?

[ChiefMojo]

That and the offense had to many short drives at times. D was on the field a lot.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Chiefs D went from pretty decent in 2011, allowing 5.4 yards per play, to one of the very worst in the league in 2012, allowing 5.9 yards play. I wonder how much of that is simply the Club Romeo affect?

I think so. These guys didn't just forget how to play football...but when your coach is lackadaisical, you end up being that way yourself. Need some FIRE!

[royr17]

Q&A with Defensive Coordinator Bob Sutton

Posted 32 minutes ago
PR Staff Kansas City Chiefs Public Relations Official Press Release Email @ChiefsPR
Q: Hey Bob, how are you doing?


SUTTON: “Doing excellent. Just trying to get settled in and become familiar with all the players and get settled in as a staff as we get ready to move forward. I’m excited about the opportunity.”


Q: What have you seen as far as talent that’s already here on the defensive side of the ball?


SUTTON: “Yeah, really this week, I just got in here at the beginning of the week, really Tuesday, so I’ve been sitting here the last couple days trying to go through the players and of course you know Gary Gibbs and Emmitt Thomas have been here so we kind of worked our way through the DBs and linebackers a little bit – haven’t gotten through them all by any stretch – but just kind of becoming familiar with them. I think we’ve got some pieces in place and really, honestly no different than any of the other 31 teams, we probably have some areas that we probably have to try to improve on. But I think first, trying to learn our guys and then you sit down with the coaches and kind of go through the system we want to put together I think we’ll have a better understanding of our talent. And also, I think maybe one of the most important things in coaching is to figure out, really know who you are and not who you want to be. And there’s a difference there. We’ve got to take advantage of the talent in place and try to use that as really the starting point of this whole thing. I think any system, you don’t have to jump a system, but you have to slant it or tilt it or move it in the direction of your strengths. So that’s what we’re doing right now. I don’t know if I can give you a definitive answer on all the players, but obviously we have some very good football players over on the defensive side of the ball. I’m excited about that from a starting point and I just really have to learn them more and talk with the coaches and try to figure out how we can best use these players and their talents.”


Q: How different do you envision your defense being from what they’ve been running around here the last couple years?


SUTTON: “Well, honestly, I think that the transition is going to be kind of similar to one that I went through when I was with the Jets. We were in the exact same defense that they played here the last couple years under Romeo [Crennel], it’s a great system of defense – the true 3-4 – and then when Rex [Ryan] came into the Jets, which has many similarities to this but it has a little bit more multiple and was different schematically how we line up. But a lot of principles to me stayed the same. The approach of how our up-front players attack blockers and that type of thing, I think the system, and again we’re in the early stages of this – I’m not going to get tied to anything – but the way I envision it and in speaking to Coach [Andy] Reid when I came in here, we’re trying to incorporate many of the things we did in New York. Again, it’s got to be tailored a little bit to the personnel here. But I think the transition will be good because it’s 3-4 based but it has a little bit more multiple than what I had done in New York before or the same that Romeo had run here. It will be a great starting point, a great jumping off point because a lot of the players have the characteristics that we’re looking for and we might just move it in a little bit different direction.”


Q: You inherit three Pro Bowl players. That gives you a pretty good nucleus?


SUTTON: “Yeah, that’s what I said. We’ve got some good football players here and guys that have played well over a couple years. This was I think a good group, just from what I’ve seen. Played hard. Were physical. Those two attributes are ones that everybody in our league wants to have when you’re coaching on defense. If you’ll be physical and tough-minded and play with a great amount of energy and pride, that’s going to serve you well for a long time. Those parts are here I think, so that’s encouraging and exciting for myself and the guys here on the staff.”


Q: Can you talk about the staff as a whole, the familiarity that you have with some, and what kind of group is this?


SUTTON: “I think it’s really a good group of guys defensively. I’ve known Gary Gibbs for – I don’t know if I can put a number on it – but for a long time, since we were assistants at Oklahoma and Army and we’ve crossed paths. We ended up coming into the NFL, I think I might have come in one year before Gary, but we’ve stayed close. We have similar approaches to teaching and things we like to do schematically. That was a great benefit for me, having someone – I’ve never worked with Gary – but I have the utmost respect and like I said, we’ve spent a lot time sharing thoughts over the years and things we’ve studied together. So I felt very good about that. I didn’t know Emmitt [Thomas] personally, but I knew him through Gary and I knew he held him in such high regard. This was way before I got involved in the job, and just as we talked about guys, my time in the interview, I spent a lot of time with Emmitt and I think he’s an outstanding individual and obviously has been a great coach in our league for forever. Then Tommy Brasher, our defensive line guy, I didn’t know him but I know when I came in and I know him from his work because as coaches we always study each other and we’ve seen a lot of Philadelphia film over the years I’ve been in the NFL. They’ve always had great d-line play in his time there. And of course, Andy [Reid] held him in such high regard that I was excited. We’ve got a really experienced group of guys. Like I say, these guys have broke a lot of huddles in their day and that’s a great comfort to me because I’m going to be able to count on these guys to not only coach their positions but contribute to the big picture. And ultimately that’s what we want. This is the Kansas City Chiefs defense and we are all parts of this – we all just have different roles and titles – but in the end we’re all equally invested in this process.”


Q: The Jets sack numbers have been spread around. Is that by design or is that because you really didn’t have a set of pressure guys like Tamba Hali and Justin Houston?


SUTTON: “I think it is a reflection of a lot of things. Certainly the two fellas you just mentioned, Tamba and Justin, are really exciting guys coming off the edge. One of the things I think is very important and one of the things I learned from Rex is that the ultimate thing is that it’s great to have sacks, but the key thing is to hit the quarterback. You’re really trying to affect the quarterback and not let him feel comfortable, so we did the things you’re talking about. A lot of the time ours came through pressure or simulated pressure. The bottom line is we don’t want that guy standing back there and feeling really comfortable. Sometimes, like I said, it can be assumed pressure by him. Other times it’s real pressure. We want to keep working that, and I think here we’re fortunate to have two guys that Gary and these guys did a great job with. They’ve been productive, so the way that I would envision that is that would just add to some of the things we did in New York. You can mix it up even when you’re pressuring. We’re not talking about selling the farm on every play or anything, but when you pressure, you still get blocked and you need guys that can beat blocks individually. And that was kind of our way of approaching it in New York. It’d be great if we just had a free runner in a sense that they don’t block him and he gets a free shot, but that doesn’t happen that often. What you need is whether it’s coming through pressure or unconventional means to get there, you still need people to defeat a blocker and get to that quarterback. As you mentioned, we have two guys that have proven that they are capable of doing that.”


Q: You’ve worked for a couple of legends. Are there any lessons that you learned from Bo Schembechler that you still use?


SUTTON: “There is no question. I’ve often said the most fortunate thing that happened to me in coaching was serving on his staff as a graduate assistant because as a young coach, you take things in and everything. The influence that certainly Bo and many of his assistant coaches had on me was incredible. My first three or four jobs, I ended up working for people all off of that staff. The approach stayed the same, and the biggest thing that you take if you’re around Bo Schembechler is that the single most important thing is the team. It’s about the team, the team, the team. You can’t be part of that without understanding that. Everything else was secondary to that. That’s one of the things that I think I’ve taken out of there. I think the other thing is you have to be willing to really work diligently as a coach. You’re responsible to get your players to play. He’d say, ‘Hey, players are a reflection of their coaches.’ You have to coach them in a certain manner that you want done, and I think that’s huge. As a young person, as a young coach, I couldn’t imagine a better experience than that.”


Q: What’d you learn from Monte Kiffin?


SUTTON: “Monte Kiffin. Monte is in our terms, you’d say Monte Kiffin is the ultimate ball coach. He loves football. Monte Kiffin is going to want to know what foot do you want up? What hand will strike? And he can talk about that for hours. He loves football. I spoke to him a couple days ago, and I told somebody the other day, I think he’s turning 73 here in February, but when I picked up the phone I thought I was back at North Carolina State back in 1982 and nothing had changed. He had the same energy, the same excitement. This guy loves football. When you’re with Monte, you’re going to be talking ball. I love that. That was a great experience as well. His energy and enthusiasm for the game is really something special.”

[Ace Gunner]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Chiefs D went from pretty decent in 2011, allowing 5.4 yards per play, to one of the very worst in the league in 2012, allowing 5.9 yards play. I wonder how much of that is simply the Club Romeo affect?

so, the difference of .5 yards per play is supposed to sound the alarm?

come on. the diff was with regard to points allowed. '11 it was 338, last season it was 425. Now that is a difference maker. They were dead last in points scored too -- 211 points for the season is awful. Those two factors combined are the difference.

Also

Partially from 25 offensive turnovers during the first part of the season, partially from letting CB Brandon Carr go to Dallas, partially from Eric Berry barely being able to make cuts and generally playing poorly during the first several games.

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by Buzz_TinBalls

so, the difference of .5 yards per play is supposed to sound the alarm?

come on. the diff was with regard to points allowed. '11 it was 338, last season it was 425. Now that is a difference maker. They were dead last in points scored too -- 211 points for the season is awful. Those two factors combined are the difference.

Also

Partially from 25 offensive turnovers during the first part of the season, partially from letting CB Brandon Carr go to Dallas, partially from Eric Berry barely being able to make cuts and generally playing poorly during the first several games.

Whatever stat you want to use -- fine, the point being is that we were much worse in 2012 than in 2011. You bring up Brandon Carr -- how much of a factor was he in the collapse? One can look at the stats last year and easily conclude that we were one of the very worst defenses in the league. My question is whether we should view 2012 as anomaly caused by incompetent coaching and a complete lack of accountability or does it accurately reflect the relative talent level on this defense? Are we near the very bottom of the league talent-wise on defense?

[MahiMike]

I just hope he can make pre-game and half time adjustments. Romeo was still using his '90's defense no matter the situation. Offenses change things every week d/o who they're playing. Defenses have to do this as well.

[Reerun_KC]

Roleos system was already junk.. It was laughable at best...

Anything anyone with an ounce of football knowledge will make a huge difference...

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Roleos system was already junk.. It was laughable at best...

Anything anyone with an ounce of football knowledge will make a huge difference...

There were times when they played well....they started off horrible last year, but got better. Just from memory, but if we had a better offense, we could have won 4 or 5 more games last season. But im glad we didnt now. : )

[saphojunkie]

I love that the part about needing guys to still beat their individual blockers. That tells me he realizes a scheme won't get you there - you need the players.

Any coordinator who understands that the player also makes the coach is thumbs up in my book. We need better individual play, in addition to abandoning Romeo's arcane scheme.

[Ace Gunner]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Whatever stat you want to use -- fine, the point being is that we were much worse in 2012 than in 2011. You bring up Brandon Carr -- how much of a factor was he in the collapse? One can look at the stats last year and easily conclude that we were one of the very worst defenses in the league. My question is whether we should view 2012 as anomaly caused by incompetent coaching and a complete lack of accountability or does it accurately reflect the relative talent level on this defense? Are we near the very bottom of the league talent-wise on defense?

I believe Carr had much to do with how poorly the defense played during the blowouts and games where the score was being run up at will by the opposition. For example, Tampa's offense struggled this season, the QB struggled, yet he had a good day against this defense and VJ caught 3 TD's. To me, that game was the result of a missing Brandon Carr.

This team is not at the bottom of the NFL in defensive talent, though stats do put them at dead last. There were other factors;

DJ was absolute idiocy the first 4 games. There was one game where announcers were LOL'ing at how DJ ran himself out of plays all day. They showed one playback where DJ, playing deep center field, ran to his right and there was nobody there for him to cover. As he did this, the ball went to that deep middle spot he vacated and it was just embarrassing to witness. It took him several games of embarrassing proportions to finally settle down and play smart football. Of course, he did and he's such a beast of a man he played so well he was selected for the PB. But, those stats from his poor play early on did not get erased.

Switching to a 1 gap defensive system is going to put the pressure on DJ. He's a big dude, has a rep for not shedding blocks, but has worked on that. A lot of the ability to shed blocks is mental -- smart LB's that shed well are seen not letting the OL get square on them, they know what's coming and they avoid linemen from getting close, getting hands on them.

I believe they will need to find a new ILB partner for this defense, too. They'll likely sign a veteran player for this.

The Chiefs had a subpar season pressuring the pass game. 27 sacks is indicative there weren't enough QB hurries either. QB's like Freeman were comfortably picking this defense apart this season. Not nearly enough pressure. When Dorsey was replaced with Rapoti, the DL pressure became better. When Poe got going, the pressure improved. When Tyson J was used during 3rd downs, the pressure improved. But it was sporadic. They were very inconsistent. They did not get it done when it came down to those times you need to get it done.

Some of this had to do with the coaching, for sure. The scheme, sure. It's evident this team does not have a pass rusher within it's front 3, the DL. We don't have a "Richard Seymour" playing for us. Coaching could have adjusted the scheme a bit. They could have changed up the assignments up front to allow the RDE a lane in some circumstances.

Bottom line, they still need players that can succeed at this level on the defensive line and coaching becomes complimentary, or should. This DL group is young and dynamic -- a lot of different shapes and different skillsets within this group. They should be improved next season, I expect it. I think the new staff will use 1 gap quite a bit this coming season, but I also expect them to use 2 gap styles during certain situations and these players simply need to get better at that. They need to become more explosive. They need to win some battles, collapse the pocket a bit and make hay, really. No excuses for Poe, TJ & the rest of them. If TJ can't get it going this coming season, they are going to move on without him.

Also, I think this defense is better than they look because they just did not have any help from ST & the offense. It was pitiful. It's a team game as they say, and to me, this 2012 Chiefs team is primary in example of that statement.

[bowener]

I wish some nice gentleman would highlite all the pertinent information in the wall-of-text that is this interview. I already read it, but it would save everybody a lot of wasted fap time.

[Deberg_1990]

But Brandon Carr played in plenty of blowouts during his time with the Chiefs.

[seaofred]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

But Brandon Carr played in plenty of blowouts during his time with the Chiefs.

That is a very good point. Lets not forget, that Romeo was the D coord. during the biggest blowouts in team history. That is why I was against him being named HC. It was like Pioli was rewarding him for the bad performance of the D.

I know, easy to say that all now.

[Ace Gunner]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

But Brandon Carr played in plenty of blowouts during his time with the Chiefs.

so did DJ. and Tamba. and Flowers. and Berry. and you see how pointless this is