• Nolan to Packers Rumors Picking Up

  Filed under Packers News
  Jan 7

  What was only a rumor a couple days ago, appears to be gaining steam. The Green Bay Press Gazette now confirms that Mike Nolan is the likely candidate to replace Bob Sanders as the Packers defensive coordinator. If Nolan ends up becoming the Packers defensive coordinator, there are some positives as well as some negatives.

  The positives of hiring Mike Nolan would be his experience. Nolan has had 11 seasons of experience as a defensive coordinator so he definitely is not new to the game. He has been moderately successful in the past and hopefully that could continue in Green Bay. I really can’t blame McCarthy if he decides to go the cautious route (since his job is on the line this season) with the defensive coordinator especialy since he has worked with Nolan in the past. Another positive is that since Mike Nolan wasn’t successful in San Francisco it most likely means that even if he does well with the Packers defense this season he will probably not get another head coaching job for at least a couple more seasons. A third positive is maybe he will bring the suit idea to Green Bay. I don’t know if it is just me but I kind of would like to see McCarthy with a suit on during a game. Finally while Nolan is generally seen as a 3-4 coach, he also has knowledge of the 4-3 so he could make the transition to a 3-4 not as harsh as it would be with other coaches.

  Obviously there are some negatives with Nolan though (he obviously wouldn’t be available if he was perfect). First off he was a pretty poor coach the past couple seasons. That might be because he is either not a head coach or it could be that he just isn’t that good of coach (hopefully the former if we decide to sign him). Second San Francisco fans don’t really seem to like him and the 49ers did play better on defense as soon as he was gone. At this point San Francisco fans know more about him than any Packer fans do. Finally while the switch to a 3-4 might be more gradual, I personally are not a huge fan of the 3-4. I think it is overrated and when several teams this offseason flock to it, offenses will figure out how to beat it and we will be back in the position we currently are in. Also many of our players don’t really fit the scheme and while at the time it is cheaper to run a 3-4 than a 4-3 (linebackers are generally cheaper than defensive lineman) I think that could change pretty quickly if a lot of teams switch to the 3-4 and there is more demand for the players needed for a 3-4.

  So at this point it seems likely that Mike Nolan will be the Packers new defensive coordinator. If that is indeed the case, I am going to take a wait and see approach. I could see Mike Nolan doing well as the coach but I could just see as easily that the defense crashes and burns. I guess we will just have to wait till the season begins.

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  Tagged as: Mike Nolan, Packers News
  

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