By: Menachem Ickovitz

As the old adage goes, “Defense wins Championships.” With that being said, many teams will be looking for new head coaches this off-season and there are some very worthy candidates who are currently defensive coordinators.

Listed below are three defensive coordinators you should know about if your team is looking for a new head coach. Additionally, there will be a bonus defensive coach mentioned below, however, he is not the defensive coordinator for his team, therefore he goes in the “bonus” section.

Jonathan Gannon, Philadelphia Eagles

Jonathan Gannon might be young, but he has plenty of NFL coaching experience. Gannon is highly respected having coached under numerous head coaches and was one of the many options teams were looking at last off-season. Additionally, he has also served as a scout for the St. Louis Rams from 2009 ”“ 2011, so he has an understanding of all aspects of team building.

An interesting possibility consists of a team looking for a new general manager and head coach. Gannon would be a great fit with Ed Dodds, who is currently the assistant GM with the Indianapolis Colts. Gannon was with the Colts from 2018 ”“ 2020.

Leslie Frazier, Buffalo Bills

Leslie Frazier has the advantage of having been a head coach before so he understands everything that is involved. He took over for Brad Childress during the 2010 season with the Minnesota Vikings. While his 21 ”“ 32 ”“ 1 head coaching record is not good, he did lead the Vikings to the playoffs in 2012.

Frazier is currently the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. The Bills’ defense is ranked first in points differential and yards differential. Additionally, they rank third in interceptions.

Frazier is the type of coach who will instill discipline and if given the opportunity to coach a team with a good quarterback, something he did not have in Minnesota, he can lead a team to the playoffs.

An interesting team to keep an eye out for is the Chicago Bears. Frazier played for the Bears from 1981 ”“ 1985. Additionally, teams often look for the opposite of what they just had as a head coach. The Bears currently have Matt Nagy, an offensive coach so they might look to replace him with a defensive coach and Frazier would be a good fit.

DeMeco Ryans, San Francisco 49ers

DeMeco Ryans is a rising star in the coaching ranks.He’s been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2017 and was named defensive coordinator in 2021 after former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was named head coach of the New York Jets.

As a player, Ryans played for the Houston Texans and the Philadelphia Eagles. In his 10 year career he compiled 939 tackles, 13.5 sacks and 41 passes defended. He was considered a smart player and good teammate, two qualities that have helped him in his young coaching career.

If he doesn’t get a job this off-season, be prepared to hear his name a lot next off-season.

Bonus Coach: Jerod Mayo, Inside Linebackers Coach, New England Patriots

The defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots is head coach Bill Belichick, however, Jerod Mayo is an intriguing head coaching candidate. Mayo has been the inside linebackers coach with New England since 2019.

Prior to coaching in New England he played for the Patriots from 2008 ”“ 2015. He had an excellent reputation for film study and working hard to be a better player. He may not get the chance to be a head coach this upcoming cycle, but he should be in consideration.

The post Three Defensive Coordinators that could be head coaches in 2022 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jacob Keppen

The Jim Schwartz era is over in Philadelphia. After five years and one Super Bowl victory with the former Lions Head Coach, Schwartz resigned from his position, stating he would take a year off from football before signing with the Titans as a senior defensive assistant this April. Taking over as defensive coordinator for the new Nick Sirianni led Eagles is his Indianapolis compatriot Jonathan Gannon. Here are three things to expect from the new Jonathan Gannon-led defense.

More Two High Looks

The look of the Eagles defense in the secondary will change drastically from the Jim Schwartz era. You knew what you were going to get from a Jim Schwartz defense week in and week out. The Eagles ran a ton of cover 1 man coverage, at one point late in the season lining up in the coverage 44% of the time.

Jonathan Gannon comes from a different schematic background than Jim Schwartz. Gannon spent four years in Minnesota as assistant defensive backs and defensive quality control coach, learning from Mike Zimmer. Zimmer primarily played a 4-3 front with a ton of cover 2 zone. Gannon would further familiarize himself with the cover 2 scheme, joining the Colts in 2018 as their cornerbacks coach. 

The Colts under defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus have been one of the most cover 2 heavy teams in the league, and while they started to implement more cover 3 concepts into their game plan last year, they still led the league in cover 2 snaps with 29.5%. Look for the Eagles to be a lot more cover 2 zone heavy under Gannon as opposed to the heavy man free defenses of Jim Schwartz. There is a possibility for more varied defenses based on new personnel in the future. 

Heavy Use of the Slot Corner

Last year the Colts had one of the best slot corners in all of football. Kenny Moore is consistently one of the most underrated players in all of football, and had his best year to date last season. On a team that was top ten in interceptions, Moore led the Colts with four interceptions. He also led Indy in pass deflections.

The most important stat the slot corner led the Colts in was defensive snaps. Moore was on the field for 952 snaps, good for 92% of snaps. Pretty much Kenny Moore was always on the field being utilized. Look for the Eagles to try and find their own Kenny Moore, whether it’s using Avonte Maddox in the slot where he belongs, or finding someone else such as 4th round pick Zech McPhearson to claim the role.

Growing Pains

Pretty much everything we think we know about Jonathan Gannon’s defense moving forward for the Eagles is all speculation. It’s all educated guesses based on prior knowledge and history with Gannon. A lot of what the new defensive coordinator is expected to do might really happen for the Birds next season, but there is only one thing we know for sure: there will be growing pains.

The Eagles went young with their new coaching staff, with all three new coaches under 40 years old. Both head coach Nick Sirianni and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is going to be calling plays primarily for the first time in their careers. This will be Jonathan Gannon’s first gig as a defensive coordinator, after being a cornerbacks coach for the past three years. There are going to be some up and down moments for the 38-year-old. He has to work out the kinks in a year of growing and development for the Eagles.

The post Three Things to know about Eagles New Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon appeared first on Pro Football Mania.