The Word on Spags - Houma Courier

Published: Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 11:07 p.m.

In 1998 Spagnuolo was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach with the Frankfurt Galaxy in NFL Europe.

Mathews resident and former NFL and NFL Europe assistant coach Joe Clark was coaching for the Amsterdam Admirals at that time and he has high praise for the former St. Louis Rams head coach.

“I had Jake Delhomme and Kurt Warner at that time in Amsterdam,” Clark said. “Steve did an excellent job coaching that defensive team. What jumped out about him and his team was how aggressive they were on defense. There were some real structural issues about blitzing and how many people you could blitz with in NFL Europe and he gave us a lot of problems with different looks and the ability to put pressure on the quarterback with those standard defensive sets. I was really impressed with what he did out in New York with the Giants, but to be honest he didn’t have the horses defensively to make that work in St. Louis.”

Clark said that the New York Giants upset win over the New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII was set in place by a great scheme by Spagnuolo.

“Spagnuolo did a great job putting a scheme in place to slow down that great passing attack of Tom Brady and Randy Moss back then. That Patriots were averaging almost 37 points per game scoring and they held them to 14 points. He moved Justin Tuck from defensive end to defensive tackle and when the Patriots center would make the call and slide the protection left or right normally the center would take on the defensive tackle,” Clark said. “Well, Spagnuolo got Tuck to indicate that he was dropping back in a zone blitz package and when the center looked to block someone from the corner, Tuck would roar up the field and either sack Brady or stop him from stepping up in the pocket to make that throw. The Patriots had no answer to Tuck and it freed up guys like Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora.”

Clark also worked with Spagnuolo’s mentor in the late Jimmy Johnson, who Clark coached with in the United States Football League.

“I was the backfield coach in Jacksonville with Lindy Infante in the USFL and Jimmy Johnson was our defensive coordinator,” Clark said. “Johnson had some great ideas on how to play defense and he would construct different ways to apply pressure. Johnson loved to blitz, but he rarely gave you that same look the same time. He was about moving people around and getting good matchups upfront. Johnson didn’t bring in coaches who weren’t hard workers and innovators and so I knew from what I saw in Europe and who was mentoring him that Spagnuolo would be a good defensive coach. Spagnuolo is not a coach that does a lot of hollering and screaming, but he is intense and he gets his point across.”

Many have touted that Spagnuolo is a blitz-happy coach and very aggressive sending extra people after the quarterback.

Like Gregg Williams, Spagnuolo would like to get plenty of pressure with his front line, and drop seven in coverage. He didn’t have those type strong pass rushers in St. Louis and to be honest he was judicious with his blitz when he had stellar defensive linemen in New York with the Giants.

In 2007, Spagnuolo’s defensive version of the New York Giants generated 53 quarterback sacks, but 42 of them came from defensive linemen.

In 2008, Spagnuolo’s defense in New York registered 42 sacks and and 34.5 of those sacks came from the defensive linemen. Spagnuolo’s defense was able to record 42 sacks despite not having Michael Strahan, who retired after the 2007 season and Osi Umenjiora, who missed the entire 2008 regular season with a knee injury.

The big issues Spagnuolo will have to deal is getting maximum production from former first-round picks in Will Smith, Sedrick Ellis and Cameron Jordan in New Orleans.

Those three defensive linemen accounted for just eight quarterback sacks in 2011.

To be honest, backup defensive end Junior Galette was the best pass rusher for the Saints in 2011. He didn’t get a tremendous amount of playing time, but when he was in the lineup he got 4.5 quarterback sacks.

The Saints got little pressure from the inside from Ellis, Shaun Rogers and Aubrayo Franklin and this team needs to get a better push from the middle.

While defensive tackle is a major concern, so is the health issue and salary that you will have to pay former All-Pro middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma. The Saints also need to get a pass-rush presence at the weakside linebacker spot.

Vilma was a tremendous player and leader since he was acquired from the New York Jets, but continuous problems with his knee and a high salary has me wondering on if he will be back in 2012.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar, who is now an unrestricted free agent, played just as well as Vilma this season and he will be someone the team can sign at a reasonable price.

In the NFL, despite everything a player has done for you to win games and championships, it is smarter to get rid of a player a year too early than a year too late.

Mike D’s first Round Mock Draft

1. Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Luck, quarterback, Stanford

2. Cleveland Browns, Robert Griffin III, quarterback, Baylor ***

(Look for the Browns to trade up in Round One with the St. Louis Rams to acquire Griffin.)

3. Minnesota Vikings, Matt Kalil, offensive tackle, USC

4. St. Louis Rams, Justin Blackmon, wide receiver, Oklahoma State ***

(Look for the Rams to trade down and acquire the Browns spot in Round One.)

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Trent Richardson, running back, Alabama

6. Washington Redskins, Morris Claiborne, cornerback, LSU

7. Jacksonville Jaguars, Courtney Upshaw, outside linebacker, Alabama

8. Carolina Panthers, Michael Brockers, defensive tackle, LSU

9. Miami Dolphins, Riley Reiff, offensive tackle, Iowa

10. Buffalo Bills, Quinton Coples, defensive end, North Carolina

11. Kansas City Chiefs, Dontari Poe, defensive tackle, Memphis

12. Seattle Seahawks, Nick Perry, defensive end, USC

13. Arizona Cardinals, Jonathan Martin, offensive tackle, Stanford

14. Dallas Cowboys, Devon Still, defensive tackle, Penn State

15. Philadelphia Eagles, Luke Kuechly, middle linebacker, Boston College

16. New York Jets, Mark Barron, safety, Alabama

17. Cincinnati Bengals (from Oakland), Dre Kirkpatrick, cornerback, Alabama

18. San Diego Chargers, Melvin Ingram, defensive end/outside linebacker, South Carolina

19. Chicago Bears, Michael Floyd, wide receiver, Notre Dame

20. Tennessee Titans, Kendall Wright, wide receiver, Baylor

21. Cincinnati Bengals, Lamar Miller, running back, Miami (Fla.)

22. Cleveland Browns (from Atlanta), Alshon Jeffery, wide receiver, South Carolina

23. Detroit Lions, Alfonzo Dennard, cornerback, Nebraska

24. Pittsburgh Steelers, David DeCastro, guard, Stanford

25. Denver Broncos, Fletcher Cox, defensive tackle, Mississippi State

26. Houston Texans, Mohamed Sanu, wide receiver, Rutgers

27. New England Patriots (from New Orleans), Whitney Mercilus, defensive end, Illinois

28. Green Bay Packers, Zach Brown, outside linebacker, North Carolina

29. Baltimore Ravens, Peter Konz, center, Wisconsin

30. San Francisco 49ers, Dwayne Allen, tight end, Clemson

31. New England Patriots, Brandon Thompson, defensive tackle, Clemson

32. New York Giants, Cordy Glenn, guard, Georgia