Jim Haslett - New Defensive Coordinator

Om said:

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As I wrote in my Haslett piece the other day and reiterated today, I'm fully aware stats only tell one small part of any story. What they tell in his case, unfortunately, is not very encouraging. Haslett's DC record is average at best, and seems at odds with talk of this "outstanding rep" he's supposed to have.
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I think the most telling evidence you have made available to this point is the statistical ranking of the Steelers' D before his arrival and after he was gone. If it was the #2 D when he arrived and the #6 after he left, That says a lot, I think, since it appears his Defenses got progressively worse, statistically.

We'll see. As it stands, you and others make a good case that this may not have been the best hire. I hope, as I am sure you and every other Skins' fan hopes, this is not the case.

Elephant said:

We'll see. As it stands, you and others make a good case that this may not have been the best hire. I hope, as I am sure you and every other Skins' fan hopes, this is not the case.

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Like most, I found the Haslett hire...well...puzzling. I'm doing some digging myself out of curiosity because the prospect of Haslett at DC frankly opens more questions than it answers-however a phrase you used, Elephant leads into why I'm not panicked by the hire either.

The phrase in question?-"this may not have been the best hire". As football fans everywhere do we want the absolute best for our Skins even though it's very unlikely that the "best" scenario ever actually plays out. My perspective usually settles into an attitude of "Well, how much improvement are we looking at over what we had before the changes were made." Considering a comparison between what we seem to have now versus the Snyderatto personnel system, the Sherm Lewis-Sherm Smith-Jim Zorn play calling experiment, I'm at least starting off with a feeling of "Yes things look better already". As far as the Haslett hire, I'm taking a wait-and-watch perspective right at the moment because I just don't have enough information to draw any conclusions. The Redskin "re-make" is still in progress and it's too early to tell. Not all the potential coaching vacancies have been filled, free agency-capped or uncapped-looms ahead as does the draft. What do Shanahan and Allen really have in mind-or are they still in the process of making up their own minds, gathering information; have they settled on a structure/scheme/style yet themselves? This lack of information that could lead to conclusions leads me into avoiding drawing any-but then again, I'm usually uncomfortable with speculating myself. Wait and see, I guess.

I'm still cautiously hopeful.

For what it's worth, a Steeler fan friend of mine called me up as soon as he heard we'd hired Haslett to congratulate me on getting such a good DC. I told him I didn't realize he was that good, and my friend assured me he's the type of aggressive, dictate-to-the-offense type of DC we've been yearning for here for years. Honestly that's news to me, but good to hear.

Henry said:

For what it's worth, a Steeler fan friend of mine called me up as soon as he heard we'd hired Haslett to congratulate me on getting such a good DC. I told him I didn't realize he was that good, and my friend assured me he's the type of aggressive, dictate-to-the-offense type of DC we've been yearning for here for years. Honestly that's news to me, but good to hear.

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Good... I am sick and tired of a weak defense that looks good statistically but lets the offense pretty much have its way. We need a defense that may not have the greatest stats, but can make game changing plays and win games. A defense that at the end of the game can be relied on to stop the other team.

With Blache, if the Skins were up and the other team had one last drive to win the game, I would bet the house on the other team every time. I cant think of a time that a Blache defense actually stopped somebody when it needed to. Good riddance.

MisterPinstripe said:

Good... I am sick and tired of a week defense that looks good statistically but lets the offense pretty much have its way. We need a defense that may not have the greatest stats, but can make game changing plays and win games. A defense that at the end of the game can be relied on to stop the other team.

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Hear, Hear! I agree 100%. Very interesting that people who were unhappy with Blache's defense, although statistically in the top 10 are also complaining about Haslett, because of his statistics.

Would somebody, please make up my mind.

Here is some info I threw together... I used fumble recoveries instead of forced fumbles because they didnt keep those as an official statistic for a few years.

Year before he was there: 4th in sacks, 12th in interceptions, 19th in fumble recoveries
Saints - 1996 7th in sacks, 25th in Interceptions, 22nd in fumble recoveries

Steelers - 1997 6th in sacks, 6th in Interceptions, 12th in fumble recoveries
Steelers - 1998 12th in sacks, 17th in Interceptions, 11th in fumble recoveries
Steelers - 1999 17th in sacks, 23rd in Interceptions, 11th in fumble recoveries

Year after he left: 17th in sacks, 13th in Interceptions, 4th in fumble recoveries

Before he got there: 9th in sacks, 24th in Interceptions, 8th in fumble recoveries
Rams - 2006 19th in sacks, 13th in Interceptions, 5th in fumble recoveries
Rams - 2007 21st in sacks, 10th in Interceptions, 23rd in fumble recoveries

Year after he left: 16th in sacks, 21st in Interceptions, 5th in fumble recoveries

Hopefully stats don't tell the whole story.

But they usually do.

You know the old saying..."There are lies, damn lies and statistics."