Mike Nolan Is The New Atlanta Falcons Defensive Coordinator

3-4 here we come!!!

The question is do we let go other defensive postion coaches.

How easily will these two get along as far as defensive philosophy?

Can’t wait for free agency and the draft now! I see great things in the future for this franchise. I’m aware that there will be growing pains but we can handle it

And for those who are worried, it is entirely possible to run a 3-4 or hybrid system without a huge nose tackle. Houston does it and has a tremendous amount of success.

I think we’ll see a true hybrid system and guys like Sidbury and Bierrman will be given a chance to rush from an upright LB type of position.

It will be nice to have a variety of blitz packages to throw out there.

It won’t be boring, that’s for sure.

This bodes well for our corners. You’ll likely see quite a few of our blitzes backed up by receiver disruption and man-coverage. That plays very well into the hands of guys like Dunta.

Great hire by the way.

remember our personel can fit the 3-4 Dallas and Houston runs that Wade installed where u don’t need huge NT Jay Ratliff is 305.

I am very pleased. I don’t know much about schemes, so I will leave the 3-4’s and 4-3’s to those who study that sort of thing. But Nolan’s got an impressive resume. This even makes me feel that much better about the Koetter hire. Smitty and TD have a plan.

Here’s to Hoping the Saints or Eagles don’t Scoop Spags Though. But hey I’m ready for this season. NT should be our Biggest concern Because I think Abe could play a Pretty Good OLB role Much like Ware in Dallas. The only thing other than NT we would need is a New Safety or Corner that could Help ease the Growing Pains that are Bound to Occur, But nonetheless I’m am ecstatic about this Hire he fits almost perfectly.

If only Bucs had a great QB Coach it would have been a clean sweep.

Would be interesting to see how they split between the OL and the DL.

Best news in ages.

Nolan still wears suits on the sidelines or was that only as a head coach? I love a coach in a suit, and glad we got this one instead of Del Rio. :)

mike nolan runs a 3-4 and a 4-3 so either way we are going to have a tougher defense…im stoked about it and love this move.

Paul Soliai free agent from Miami.

6-4 355 lbs 28 years old.

Former coached by one Mike Nolan.

Antonio Garay (SD)
Aubrayo Franklin (NO)
Sione Pouha (NYJ) – NT

Aubrayo Franklin could be a steal and wouldn’t cost much, I doubt Jets will let Sione Puha walk.

Not to mention the variance in each category makes it basically meaningless. On the 3-4 side, you’ve got traditional 2-gap systems that prefer big nose tackles, while other “3-4” defenses like Dallas played Jay Ratcliff (sub 300 pounds) at the nose and employed one-gap tendencies.

A good coach should have preferences, but have the ability to be versatile. Look at BB in NE, everyone made so much over the world ending change to a 4-3 defense, and BB pointed out these are all media constructions. So do we need to revamp our defensive line to have two ends around 6-5 or 6-6, roughly 300 pounds, and a nose in the 350 pound range? No, but if we can pick up some different pieces, all the better for defending certain situations. Especially short yardage.

I just looked at the snap count notes i maintain for DB’s and LB’s. The falcons were in 4-2-5 about 45% of the time. The rest 55% of 4-3 or 3-4 can be hybrid.

He has better stats at points in his career then his OC counterpart, but he is another guy that was about to hit the bricks. His lastest Miami D was virtually the same in points and yards given up as BVG’s Falcons, This will also be his 7th stint as a DC, the longest of which was four years (1st one) the shortest of which was 1 year (two of them), so he averages 2.3 years as a DC. Not too good.

How long do you think it will take to shift to the 3 4 which what he prefers?

Weatherspoon almost got same measureables as OLB Harrison(6’0", 242) from Steelers and spoon is 6’2", 244

…the only thing that concerns me is how lengthy it is. He’s been the defensive coordinator for six (now seven) teams, but no one stint lasted longer than four years.

I’m not trying to be negative—he was successful with most of those teams, after all—but it’s a little strange. Anybody have a better sense than I do of what all the moving around is about?

Height: 6-5. Weight: 350.
Projected 40 Time: 5.50.
Projected Round (2012): 2-3.

Poe totaled 33 tackles with eight tackles for a loss, one sack and one forced fumble. He did not play well against Mississippi State in the first game of the season and ended the year without a tackle for a loss in the last four games. Poe’s best game came against SMU when he registered a sack-fumble and three tackles.

Poe is a space eater who takes on multiple blocks. Even when his pad level is off, he is hard to move at the line of scrimmage. Poe should drop some weight to increase his agility so that he can make some plays that don’t go directly at him.

All information borrowed from Walter Football

the tendency I found was that the heavier up front the smaller OLB

The 3-4 tex and cowboys run had the heaviest OLB from 260 to williams at 278

a team like SD got all starting OLB (the 3 they rotated most at 250, 250 and 251, were shaun phillips (a beast) was at 250 and 6’3", but they got some NT at 340/330 and DE’s around 300

so I definitely think it’s possible if we just get a NT, and the DT we have can play DE’s Jerry, Peters, Babs got the size, not sure if Walker is quick enough

I am really, really excited to see this team with Nolan running the D. As long as our no-name OC can prove himself decently competent and keep teams from just pounding the rock on us, Nolan’s blitzing schemes should have a huge huge impact on how we play in big games

with a 3-4 package the nfcs teams wont have much tape on us so our should be steller this year, im sure well use 4-3 its gonna be a nice mix of both, i think nolan can do grea things with the talent on our defense im really excited for this

Would that be a good hire ?

Look up this dude named Alameda Ta’amu from the university of Washington

I love it.

NIce to get a solid DC. As wide open as the NFCS has been getting a good DC is necessity.

I do not think he will change much on our base defense still solely 4-3, however I do believe he will be bring a wider variety of packages and personnel in nickel and dime situations that our team desperately needs. He likes to bring pressure and put his players in winning positions and I’m not entirely sure but of the teams in his past named they were also all very sure tackling teams, i hope that catches on here in Atlanta.

resign kroy biermann and move him to olb, ask john abraham to play olb. if not sign an expierenced 3-4 olb. keep ray edwards at de hes big enough to hold his own, move peters to de, and finnally draft a 3 techinque nt to plug the middle

N.O. got Spags. I’ve always seen the 4-3 as a more effective pass defense, and the 3-4 as more effective against the run. I’m excited that Nolan and Smitty worked in Baltimore together and that he will ask him to implement Baltimore’s 4-3 hybrid with NT type tackles.

DE – Jonathan Babineaux 6’2"/296 lbs.
NT – Paul Soliai (UFA from Miami) 6’5"/355 lbs.
DE – Corey Peters 6’3"/295 lbs.
OLB – Robert Mathis (UFA from Indianapolis) 6’2"/245 lbs.
ILB – Curtis Lofton 6’0"/242 lbs.
ILB – Sean Weatherspoon 6’1"/239 lbs.
OLB – L. Sidbury/K. Biermann
CB – Tracy Porter (UFA from New Orleans) 5’11"/186 lbs.
FS – Michael Griffin (UFA from Tennessee) 6’0’’/202 lbs.
SS – William Moore 6’0’’/218 lbs.
CB – Dominique Franks 5’11’’/194 lbs.

Reserves
CB – Chris Owens (has good potential)
CB – Dunta Robinson (will probably get cut)
CB – Darrin Walls (for depth)
DE – John Abraham (probably doesn’t get resigned)
DE – Ray Edwards (??? Can u say trade block)
DT – Peria Jerry (good for depth; maybe trade bait since he’s getting paid so much money)
DT – Vance Walker
LB – Spencer Adkins
LB – Akeem Dent
S – Shan Schillinger

Now I don’t know if we’re have enough cap space to make this lineup come to fruition but its wishful thinking.
Robert Mathis is a pass rushing specialist
Tracy Porter is pretty decent cover corner and nice replacement for Brent Grimes
Michael Griffin is a ball hawking safety

What do u think??