quick story (update: not quick!) ...
so back in 2011, when andy reid was coach of the eagles, his defense was led by first-time coordinator juan castillo. the defense performed so poorly that most expected reid to fire castillo after just one season. but a month after the season ended, castillo still had his job, and reid confirmed at a press conference that he would remain on staff. but would he remain as coordinator?
rumors swirled that reid might demote castillo and hire a new defensive coordinator. reid's top choice?
steve spagnuolo.
but spags never came to the eagles and instead took a coordinator job elsewhere. in a press conference, reid admitted that he offered spags a job, but did not specify if he was offered the coordinator gig. the assumption has always been that he did not.
anyway, reid rolled with castillo as coordinator for a second year and the results were again terrible. the eagles defense allowed 27 points per game. only one defense in the NFC allowed more points.
that defense was the saints.
steve spagnuolo's saints.
the defense set records, just not the good ones. for example, they became the first team in NFL history to allow 7,000 yards in a season. that's an average of 437 yards per game.
only one defense since has come close to matching that level of terrible. it was the 2015 new york giants.
steve spagnuolo's giants.
after getting fired by the saints, spags got ripped anonymously by a former player.
One Saints player, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a "resounding" yes when asked if he thought Spagnuolo should be fired after just one season.
"Trust me all the guys were being politically correct this season when answering questions," the player said. "It's bad."
The player added: "To give up what we gave up can't be all talent. Look at where his units (have) been ranked before. I think one top 10?"
The Saints finished last in the NFL in total defense, last in run defense, 31st in pass defense.
"Players have no say in anything," the player said. "It was (a) complete opposite from before where it was a simple D that players had lot of control and say. We couldn't suggest (expletive)...Nothing ever changed. It was his way only.
"Don't even get me started on lack (of) ability to adjust during games. Bad, bad, bad."
spags got back on his feet in 2015, taking the giants DC job. anonymous players again ripped him, and spags responded by saying sarcastically that he "doesn't know anonymous." but soon enough, he had a chance to respond to on-the-record criticism.
like this from eli apple:
“This year it has become a little more difficult with the defense, and why this year you’ve seen more miscommunication problems out there."
and this from landon collins:
“We kind of have been all over the place, trying stuff instead of just being us."
the most common criticism of spagnuolo's defenses - beyond it being frequently terrible - was that his scheme was too complicated and that he didn't make proper in-game adjustments.
that's the exact same criticism anonymous players just levied against bob sutton.