Defensive Coordinator for 2010

Zimmer is no nonsense hard ass who will get in guys faces. On top of that he's a top DC IMO. He's got Cinn defense playing very well all year long. Anyone see the Hard Knocks? How can you not like Zimmer?

I favor Zimmer...I would like Gray to stay on staff if that is possible. Slowik wasnt too great in Denver so I hope he is not running the D...Like it or not, the Defense is the strength of this team by far and we need to maintain that, so I dont know how I really feel about going to 3-4 at this point, that is pretty drastic change. Our personel on that side of the ball is pretty damn solid as well...If we just moved Laron to SS obtained a solid Free safety, move Rak to the Line permently and inserted a vet OLB, tweaked the scheme to slightly more aggressive, I dont see why we cant be considered in the top third in the league on D...

I favor Zimmer...I would like Gray to stay on staff if that is possible. Slowik wasnt too great in Denver so I hope he is not running the D...Like it or not, the Defense is the strength of this team by far and we need to maintain that, so I dont know how I really feel about going to 3-4 at this point, that is pretty drastic change. Our personel on that side of the ball is pretty damn solid as well...If we just moved Laron to SS obtained a solid Free safety, move Rak to the Line permently and inserted a vet OLB, tweaked the scheme to slightly more aggressive, I dont see why we cant be considered in the top third in the league on D...

I agree. Put players where they can do the most good, play more aggressive...we got ourselves a top defense fellas. A FS and a good strongside LB would help a lot.

Zimmer is by far my first choice. I would be more excited to hear he is coming in as DC than I was when Shanny was announced. I like Shanny as HC, I love Zimmer as DC. I was lurking around on some Cincy message boards yesterday, and they are pretty upset about the prospect of Zimmer leaving. They even started an online petition to the owners of Cincy to "pay Zimmer what he wants." I hope Danny's deep pockets are able to bring this guy to our already talented defense.

You might get your wish

Gray and Olivadotti are, I believe, interviewing for the Giants' DC position-among many other people

Interesting. I was honestly wondering if Jerry Gray would be blackballed by other teams. I can't imagine a coach wanting a back-stabber like Gray on his staff. Then again, a hands-on owner might like having a proven "company man."

I am also in favor of Zimmer. Everything i've read about him is very impressive. I read an article somewhere describing some of what they saw of him on Hard Knocks - the "fieryness" reminded me of GG.

Hey BHA, what do you think of John Mara firing Sheridan up in NY? Isn't it overstepping the owner's role?

Six weeks ago, you could not find anyone around the NFL who had a bad word to say about Jerry Gray. Everyone thought highly of him both professionally and personally.


Today, you can find more than a few people who think that he handled the end of the 2009 season and the coaching turmoil within the Redskins in a horrible fashion. There are a couple of African-American coaches/execs who will say - - off the record - - that he was complicit with Danny Boy in evading the Rooney Rule which is there to help African Americans get top NFL jobs. That is heavy-duty criticism, folks!


That perception is out there because of the way Jerry Gray handled the inquiries about his purported interview for the Skins' job even though there was no job vacancy at the time. Whoever advised him on how to respond to questions did him no favors. Jerry Gray's pristine image/reputation now has some smudges on it.


He is fully qualified to be a DC. There are openings out there for DCs. If he does not get one of the jobs, I would say that the events of the last six weeks played a major part in that outcome.

I'm surprised so many people are so high on Gray, considering the consistent mental breakdowns on the field by the secondary this year. All opposing QB's had to do was pump fake and they'd open up a hole downfield. And while the passing defense looked good statisically, that had more to do with other teams constantly playing with a lead than it had to do with a strong secondary. But my biggest concern with Gray is that he didn't coach the players well enough. Too many mental errors, and after a while that falls on Gray. The defensive scheme lies with the defensive coordinator (Blache), but the preparation for the player's individual performance is on the positions coach, and that doesn't reflect highly on Gray.

whoever the dc is, I hope they consider shifting Landry to SS and Orakpo back to his natural end position so he can wreak some havoc in the opponent's backfield. Hopefully Jarmon will push for the starting RE position as well.

I posted this on another thread:

Shanahan should look no further than Jerry Gray or Kirk Olivadotti. Zimmer is still with the Bengals as they are in the playoffs and can't agree to a contract till their season is over. I hope Shanahan decides to give Gray a shot at DC, that's the least the Redskins could do for putting him in 2 fake interviews to meet the Rooney rule.