“Ryan's aggressive philosophy just what Dallas needs - NFL” plus 1 more

Ryan's aggressive philosophy just what Dallas needs - NFL

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In a periodic series this offseason, Pat Kirwan takes a look at some of the biggest moves involving coordinators, who these coaches are, their philosphies and schemes, and ultimately predict if the marriage with their new team and the personnel they inherit will work. The first in this series takes a look at Rob Ryan, who moved laterally from the Cleveland Browns to coordinate the defense of the Dallas Cowboys.

Talk about an overall NFL makeover. There have been 23 new offensive and defensive coordinators hired this offseason, to say nothing of the special teams coordinators hired also. I was surprised to count up all the coordinator changes, considering the ongoing labor situation and the potential limited practice time.

The 2011 season will feature 13 new defensive coordinators. There is little doubt these men will have a great impact on the outcome of next season. Just a few short weeks ago, some of the biggest storylines surrounding Super Bowl XLV were the defensive coordinators, Dom Capers of the Green Bay Packers and Dick LeBeau of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They brought all kinds of pressure from a base 3-4 defense and, as usual, teams will look to follow suit and find a coach with a similar philosophy.

The Cowboys, with the hiring of Rob Ryan, look to accomplish similar things. Like LeBeau and Capers, Ryan runs a 3-4 scheme and believes in bringing pressure to the quarterback. Time will tell if the Cowboys garnish similar results.

The decision to hire

Remus "Rob" Ryan is the son of Buddy Ryan and the twin brother of Jets coach Rex Ryan. Rob has a presence in a room; he can be boastful and engaging. He can appear like a standup comedian at times, and an extremely aggressive coach as well. The Cowboys were looking for an aggressive 3-4 coach with coordinator experience to compliment first-time head coach Jason Garrett. Garrett's expertise on offense makes for a perfect situation for a veteran defensive coordinator such as Ryan.

Dallas interviewed Vic Fangio and Greg Manusky for this job, and while both landed coordinator jobs elsewhere, Ryan -- and his contrasting personality to Garrett's -- looks like a solid pick to bring some energy and attitude to a defense that needs an emotional repair job. The previous defensive coordinators were good coaches, but quiet and a lot less flamboyant than Ryan.

Rob's background

Rob's father, Buddy, was the first great influence on his coaching career. As a ball boy for the Bears, he watched his father's "46" defense dominate the NFL. The "46" was an attacking defense that refused to give an inch on the ground. In today's game, there are some "46" principles, but offenses changed since it was first introduced and found ways to beat the "46" with a spread passing attack.

Rob has other great influences in his coaching career. The biggest is probably Rex, whose high-pressure defense was developed with the Baltimore Ravens and refined with the Jets. There are similarities to Rob's philosophy. Rob also spent significant time with Bill Belichick as his linebackers coach, which might be the stop in his career that gave him the foundation to teach technique, as well as packaging up pressure calls with different players. Ryan was around players like Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel, and he really learned how to get the most out of older veterans without wearing them out.

From the Patriots, it was on to the Raiders as a defensive coordinator and the influences of Al Davis. Davis loves man-to-man coverage schemes, and Ryan learned to blend in Davis' philosophy with his own. That is not always an easy task, but one that enhanced his skill sets.

After Oakland, it was a return to the Belichick coaching tree with a two-year stint as Cleveland's coordinator under coach Eric Mangini. That was a more restrictive situation for Ryan's personality, with Mangini requiring his coaches to be low profile and rarely available to the press.

Defensive philosophy

Ryan is a base 3-4 coach, and the Cowboys were built by former coach Bill Parcells to be a 3-4 defense. The first thing that will change in Dallas are the pressure calls in every down-and-distance situation.

Here's a look at what happened when Ryan came in as defensive coordinator in Oakland and Cleveland with the year before his arrival and his first season with the percentage increase in pressure calls:

Team	Year	First down pct.	Second down pct.	Third down pct.
Oakland	2003 (without Rob Ryan)	29%	35%	29%
Oakland	2004 (with Rob Ryan)	48%	44%	40%
Cleveland	2008 (without Rob Ryan)	42%	42%	41%
Cleveland	2009 (with Rob Ryan)	56%	54%	39%

Notice that not only does he come in and pressure more than the year before in most situations by more than 10 percent, but pressure calls from team to team increase. Keep in mind, Ryan heated it up in 2010 to another level: 45 percent on first downs, 56 percent on second downs and 75 percent on third downs.

Here are my projections for Dallas in 2011:

Team	Year	First down pct.	Second down pct.	Third down pct.
Dallas	2010 (no Rob Ryan)	26%	44%	36%
Dallas	2011 (with Rob Ryan)	50%	52%	55%

Ryan will get along just great with Garrett, who believes in using pads at practice, tackling and contact most days, a toughness, and very little excuse-making. I have been to a camp where a defense led by Ryan was training, and I have seen how he likes to have his guys compete against the offense every day. Garrett will be just as competitive. Practice in Dallas will be much more aggressive with these two guys on the field.

Will it work?

Ryan knows he has more talent on this defense than he had in Cleveland and probably Oakland, too, starting with DeMarcus Ware, who told me at the Super Bowl that he and his teammates are fired up to play for their new coordinator. There is some concern around the league that Ryan is going to angle to be the center of attention, much like his dad did in Chicago when he was working for Mike Ditka. A few coaches who have worked with Ryan say they believe that will not be the case in Dallas. Ryan will be a positive addition, not a liability.

He likes to say points given up and turnovers are the categories that interest him the most. It might take more than one year for the Cowboys to repair their points allowed, and it will be tough to match in turnovers. Last year, the once-mighty Dallas defense gave up the most points per game in franchise history (27.3).

When Ryan went to Oakland and Cleveland, his defenses actually gave up more points in his first seasons there than they did the year before without him (23.7 points allowed per game by Oakland in 2003, 27.3 under Ryan in 2004; 21.9 points allowed per game by Cleveland in 2008, 23.4 under Ryan in 2009), but in both places things got better in the second and third years.

Installing a system, getting all the right types of players and learning to play fast takes time. As for turnovers, he would do well to just match the 30 the 2010 team generated. Ryan's first season in Cleveland, the Browns dropped from 31 the year before to 19, but bounced right back to 28 last year.

I think things will work out well for the Dallas defense under Ryan. He has a good nose tackle in Jay Ratliff, an elite pass rusher in Ware, a solid outside linebacker opposite Ware in Anthony Spencer, and a potential star corner in Mike Jenkins. I was surprised the Cowboys didn't go after O.J. Atogwe with their issues at safety, but they have three draft picks in the top 71 selections, and a free agency period (once a new CBA is in place) to make adjustments.

If Ryan can get two of those three picks for defense and/or add a piece in free agency -- especially at defensive end or safety -- he will turn this unit around in a year or two.

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Cox adjusts to GymHawks’ team philosophy - Daily Iowan

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Cox adjusts to GymHawks' team philosophy

BY MOLLY IRENE OLMSTEAD | MARCH 09, 2011 7:20 AM

Before freshman Tesla Cox mounts the beam or uneven bars, or steps onto the floor exercise mat, she seeks out Iowa women's gymnastics head coach Larissa Libby. In a brief moment of eye contact, Cox simply nods her head. It's her way of saying, "It's all right, I've got this."

Cox's confidence is "settling" for the GymHawks, Libby said, but a controlled aura of self-assuredness has been a while in the making.

The season started with Libby limiting Cox's participation at the Black and Gold intrasquad meet because she wasn't living up to the team's expectations in practice.

Then, leading up to the first meet on Jan. 7 in East Lansing, Mich., Cox was suffering from an ankle injury. Paired with a lack of motivation to keep herself physically conditioned and mentally ready to compete, that injury kept Cox out of the regular lineup for the season's first few meets.

"Tesla loves to compete, but she doesn't like to practice," Libby said. "On this team, you have to prove yourself in the gym before you can get out on the competition floor. And that was really difficult for her because she felt like she was capable, but she never proved to us that she was."

Training at a club gym in South Carolina since her elementary-school days, Cox was the only level-10 gymnast — which indicates one can perform the most difficult routines — on her team. Without performing well in practice, she was automatically guaranteed a spot to compete in meets.

"I came from thinking that I was the best thing, the greatest in the world, a superstar, and then I came here, and it was a reality check that I'm not the best," Cox said. "I realized that I'm going to have to work — and work really, really hard — for my spots because they're not just going to be handed to me."

After being confronted by her teammates, including senior Houry Gebeshian, and her coaches, Cox slowly adjusted to team expectations and became willing to work hard in order to earn her place. As a result, she was awarded spots in the lineup as the season progressed.

"I think it was a hard realization for her because there are 13 other athletes on this team who are competitors who are pushing and fighting to be in the lineups," assistant coach Caleb Philips said. "But because she absolutely loves competing, she finally realized she was willing to fight for her chance to do it."

By the GymHawks' home meet against Denver on Feb. 11, Cox was in the lineup for bars, beam, and floor exercise. But after her floor routine, she limped off the mat and said, "I think I heard my foot pop."

The mild ankle injury took Cox out of competition for two meets, but within two weeks, for the GymHawks' home meet against Iowa State Feb. 25, she was back in the lineups on bars and beam, scoring 9.725 and 9.75. She recently rejoined the lineup on floor in an exhibition spot on March 5 against Northern Illinois.

"She did a lot better coping with her injury the second time," Libby said. "Anything she could do without her foot, she did it. She definitely learned the first time that on this team you can't sit around if you want to compete."

Cox's change in attitude is the result of "a lot of work" from the coaching staff and her teammates and "a lot of growing up" by Cox, said Libby, and the gymnast is grateful for the way her team held her accountable.

"Larissa doesn't just try to focus on our attitudes just in the gym," Cox said. "She wants us to carry our good attitudes all the way through our jobs that we're eventually going to have. She's taught me that what I'm saying and doing is going to affect other people. She always tells me that they're trying to build my character, and I'm just starting to realize what that means."

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Philosophy

Wednesday, March 9, 2011