Jim Haslett

[Slinky O]

So I'm considering doing a Bills Dynasty thread because my uncle is a big Bills fan and that they are a team with history that sucks presently. I was looking through rumors of head coaches they may hire and Jim Haslett was one of the names out there. I did some google searching and can not find anything about how his teams were built and his philosophies when he was running the Saints since I wasn't a football fan when he was in charge. Can anyone give me a brief layout of how he kind of handled himself in the league? Was he a guy who planned to play smash mouth or more west coast style? Blitzer, coverage, 4-3, 3-4? Any help would be awesome, thanks!

[Feared]

Probably a Saints fan can give you better insight, but the little I know about Haslett was that his philosophy was more of a smash mouth type. His teams in NO were set up with the power run game, with Ricky Williams at first, and when Deuce McAllister was drafted he suggested he bulk up and become more of a power runner even though Deuce when he first came into the league was more of a 'slasher' type back despite his frame. He's mainly a Defensive guy though, I believe he was the Steeler's Defensive coordinator for a time before being a Head coach, In NO, and St.Louis as D-coordinator he ran a 4-3 Defense, but with the Steelers I believe he ran a 3-4.

Just my opinion I don't think he's a very good head coach, his downfall was being overly loyal to underperforming figures on the team. He stuck with QB Aaron Brooks for way too long, constantly giving him a pass for his inconsistent play. In 2002 he even continued to play an Injured Aaron Brooks over then back-up Jake Delhomme... and the Saints lost their last 3 games and missed the playoffs. He also was way too loyal to his Defensive coordinator Rick Venturi. Who's Defenses constantly ranked in the botton 10 of the NFL during most of Haslett's tenure. Haslett's personnel decisions were pretty bad. His main mistake was overlooking the solid performers with intangibles, and instead going with players with raw physical talent that were inconsistent and might not have panned out. He traded for Safety Tebucky Jones, and Drafted a DT First round bust in Jonathon Sullivan, just for a few examples. I also believe he was the Rams Defensive coordinator when they spent a 1st round pick on Tye Hill a Corner with great physical potential but just did not have the mental game. He's now off the team.

I just don't think he makes a very solid coach. Maybe he learns from his mistakes, but he's not the type of character I'd want coaching my team for the long haul.

[jmood88]

His philosophy was to draft, trade for, or sign, the fastest and dumbest players in the league and let them run around for 60 minutes. He ran a 4-3 and that was the extent of his coaching.