Coaching/talent

[BrudLee]

I agree that coachability is a big issue. We loaded the defense with big-name "talent" for Mike Nolan, and ushered him out because he couldn't make winners out of Deion Sanders, Mark Carrier, and Bruce Smith. We now realize that those players were either over the hill, or so "set in their ways" that they wouldn't listen to Nolan or anyone else. Any success Lewis had here was despite Bruce Smith, not because of him.

Now look at the players making an impact this year. To a large extent, they are young guys who believe in their coach and his system. The free agents this year weren't rent-a-studs, they were guys with something to prove.

By the way, Curmudgeon, I agree with your assessment of Nolan. An interesting side note to Mike's resurgence in Baltimore. Nolan always coached the 4-3, until he arrived there. The talent they had the year he arrived made them switch to the 3-4. He isn't a "3-4 guru" (like Wade Phillips), so they hired position coaches to teach their coordinator the system. For this he gets put on the media's "hot list" for head coaching jobs.