Rusher
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 1,845
- 0
Getty Images
Plenty of coaches come from one side of the ball, and they delegate significant authority to the coordinator on the other side of the ball. That happened in New York, with offensive-minded Jets coach Adam Gase letting coordinator Gregg Williams handle the defense. Saints coach Sean Payton, an offensive head coach, can relate, since he once employed Williams.
During a Tuesday appearance on PFT PM, Payton was asked generally about the dynamics associated with, for example, a defensive coordinator making a key call in a key moment. Although he didn’t throw stones at Gase for failing to intervene in Williams’ decision to call a so-called “zero blitz” with eight rushers and three defensive backs in single coverage (it didn’t work, obviously), Payton’s explanation is worth exploring.
“There’s never that much power delegated to the coordinator if you don’t want there to be that much power delegated to the coordinator,” Payton said. “The communication’s taken place well before.”
Payton made reference to the conclusion of his own team’s latest win, a 21-16 victory over Atlanta. The game ended with the Falcons taking a snap from the New Orlenans 39, with nine seconds left.
“The game ended on a Hail Mary,” Payton said, “and [defensive coordinator] Dennis [Allen] is into Utah and it’s a personnel grouping, and I’m like, ‘Dennis, we’re defending the sidelines, right?’ Right away, we’re rushing three. There’s this communication, and then Dennis makes the call . . . because we’re in that gray area.”
Chris Simms has taken a look at the film of the last play. The Saints had seven defensive backs, one linebacker, and three linemen. They had three safeties deep and man coverage underneath.
“Are they gonna throw a Hail Mary here or are they gonna throw one to get 15 yards, get out of bounds so they get closer for a closer shot to the end zone?” Payton said. “There’s dialogue well before the play, because there’s a clicker on my headset that goes to defense and then it goes to offense. I’m not gonna interfere with the voices and the terminology, and I’m clicking over and we’re just making sure we’re on the same page here. They’ve got to throw for the sidelines, they don’t have any more timeouts, let’s keep the ball in play and we’re gonna win this game.”
So, yes, Williams did something stupid, for reasons that still make no sense. Payton’s explanation makes it clear that he would have been in position to intervene and to overrule, if he believed that the call should not have been made.