Some thoughts on defensive master Bates

I’m really excited about the new defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, Jim Bates. I wish this had happened months ago, but I realize now that it was impossible. Bates was the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins before becoming their interim head coach in the wake of the firing of Dave Wannstead.



Now there’s a guy I never got, Wannstead. He was the D coordinator for Jimmy Johnson at Dallas where his teams played pretty good D. As head coach of the Bears, he was awful, but he lasted (I think) seven years with Chicago. I would have had him out of there after 3, but considering he was replaced by the forgettable Dick Jaron, perhaps the Bears brain trust is a bit short in the dividends department. Wannstead always struck me as one of those guys who had several horseshoes shoved up his ass, because it wasn't his teams perfomance that kept him going.



Once again, I digress… Jim Bates is the topic, and I like this guy already. Here are a few quotes from the master



“If we play better defense and really get these young guys playing together and playing hard and playing with technique, being good solid tacklers, shoot, there's no reason we can't win 12, 13, 14, just with the improvement of that area of the football team."



My point exactly! If they do nothing else (which they won’t, trust me) they’ve improved the defense.



“We have a defense that people literally love to play. You can call any one of these guys and I can promise you what they'll say. I know what they'll say. They love it. They flat love playing this scheme."



How many players would say that about Bob Slowik’s “scheme”? Players were outwardly questioning Slowik by seasons end. Darren Sharper had this to say about the new defense: “As long as we're not changing what we do (each week). We need to find something and stick with it."



“We're going to bring forth excellent play, big-time effort and make it fun for the Green Bay Packers fans. The fans are so close to the situation up there they're going to be proud to watch the Green Bay Packers play defense, I promise you that."



Effort. Fundamentals. Basics. Bates kept stressing that in his telephone press conference. By the time I was done listening to the audio, I was ready for next season to start. Now let me ask all our fans: If I’m that excited, don’t you think a certain #4 is tickled pink?