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Indianapolis, In. - When talking
about the Saints new Defensive Coordinator, Rob Ryan, the consensus around the NFL is that the Saints got a good one.
I liked
it, I mean I like Rob Ryan as a coach," NFL Network analyst Ian Rapoport said. "I live in Dallas and I followed him pretty closely, he's very scheme oriented and he can be
complex and it might take a little bit for the guys to kind of pick up and
understand. He probably did a better job
teaching this year with the Cowboys than he did the previous year, slowing it
down a little bit but he relies on scheme and he relies on his own mind so if the Saints are in a position to be a little undermanned on
defense to a lot of guys that's a bad thing but Rob, he can make up for the
shortcomings.
Ryan's former boss
agrees, in fact, in talking about Ryan, Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett certainly didn't sound like the man that had
just fired him:
"I think Rob is an outstanding football coach and he's certainly a great
person and we made strides on defense if you think about where our defense was
in the 2010 season. We got better in
2011. We got better in 2012 and I think a lot of that has to do with Rob Ryan's
leadership. He's coached a long time in
this league and I think his record speaks for himself. You know I think one of the things that I was
most impressed with Rob is we had a lot of different injuries on defense but we
just had starting players that weren't playing for us and a lot of different
combinations played and he kind of kept everybody hanging in there."
Garrett said
he's not surprised Ryan was able to land another coordinator job. As for his new home and new head coach, Garrett says Ryan, New Orleans, and Sean Payton are a perfect match "I think it's a great fit for Sean Payton down there in New Orleans. Rob will do a great job for him and, knowing both of those guys
fairly well, I think the match is a really good one."
Ryan's
departure from Dallas and a rival in New Orleans sparked a change in philosophy
for both organizations. Ryan will bring
his 3-4 scheme with him to the Saints. Now that he's left the Cowboys they're leaving behind the 3-4 and are
returning to a 4-3.
For more reports from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, tune into FOX 8 for reports from Sean Fazende and Garland Gillen.
