In 1973, the release of Dark Side of
the Moon was blowing the minds
of hippies and rebels and flower children everywhere. Richard Nixon
was still telling the press he wasn't a crook, The Exorcist was
scaring everyone back to church, and Bruce Lee was finally
karate-chopping bad guys for an American audience. In baseball, the
American League began playing with designated hitter rules for the
first time. In football, Dan Shula's Dolphins recorded the first and
only perfect season in NFL history. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt was just
an eight year old boy watching Len Dawson throw bombs to Otis Taylor.
What was Bob Sutton
doing? Coaching football. What's he doing now? Coaching football, for
the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sutton brings 40
uninterrupted years of coaching experience to KC's defensive
coordinator position. He started his coaching career in 1973, serving
as a grad assistant under legendary college coach, Bo Schembechler.
After nearly two decades at various positions and colleges, Bob found
himself coaching Army in 1991. There he stayed until the Jets hired
him in 2000. In New York, Sutton worked at four different positions
under four different coaches in 13 seasons.
Bob
brings all the stout defensive mentality from New York, without the
huge mouth or the drama. Sounds perfect for Kansas City. But, the
statistics reveal some sub-par performance in recent years. Overall,
the Jets ranked 18th
or lower in three of the last five years. Sadly, two of those crappy
seasons outrank Kansas City's defense of the same year, and,
not-so-sadly, the stats also show that when the Jet's D is good, it's
really good. In '09 and 2010, the Jet's defense ranked 1st
and 5th,
respectively. Each of those years, New York sent two defensive
players to the Pro Bowl. Tamba, Houston, Eric Berry and Derrick
Johnson all went to Hawaii this year, and they aren't the only Chiefs
on defense that will go in the future. With talent like this already
in place, Bob Sutton should prove to be a good choice. Coaches and
league experts praise Bob for his mentoring abilities and high
football IQ. I've stated before that this team has all the pieces
necessary for elite status. With any luck (no year-long injuries,)
Sutton is the kind of coach that can make them a top-5 defense.
No comments:
Post a Comment