Cleveland Browns: Building a Championship Defense Doesn't Require Mangeniuses

With camp now open and the season quickly approaching, Browns fans will soon find out if Eric Mangini's moves will lead to improvement for the team. While many believe that he has the team on the right track, I am really having a hard time buying into what he is doing. That is especially true on defense.

Yes, he is an NFL coach and I am writing online articles. Still, he is implementing an idea that I do not believe in at all. That is the idea that he wants smart football players.

Don't get me wrong. Football intelligence is very important for a team. You really need it at quarterback. However, at the end of the day you need guys that will make it happen out there.

I have coached myself and have worked mainly on the defensive side. Now, I realize that coaching at the high school level and at the NFL level are not the same thing at all. But still, it is football, and at the end of the day the idea that you need geniuses out there makes no sense to me.

I have worked with some defenses that were really good and some that weren't so good. With the ones that were good, there were three things they all had: a relentless pass rusher, a linebacker with a nose for the football, and a shutdown corner. None of these require a great deal of football smarts. They require studs.

How complicated is it to tell a guy to line up on the end and get after the quarterback? Does it take a genius to go out there, cover that receiver, and go wherever he goes? I don't want my linebackers thinking. I want them relying on instincts and fierce speed to get to the ball.

In other words, I believe in the KISS theory on defense. That is "Keep it simple stupid." Anytime you make it too complicated, you only overcoach the situation. That can hurt the team. You need players that will understand the system and that can cause you to settle for less-talented athletes. Anytime that happens, it's bad.

The reality is that the smartest guys may not be the guys that can make plays for you.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not underestimating the value of football intelligence. It is very important to have players on the field that know the system inside and out. Those guys can be leaders and the ones the others follow. At the end of the day though, they may not be the guy who is making plays.

The reality is that the guys that were smart were guys we needed on the field. However, we often put them in places where we could hide their weaknesses.

The point is that yes you do need smart guys out there, but you also need studs that will make plays. I don't care how smart an end is. If he can't get after the quarterback, he is useless to me.

Yes, Mangini is an NFL coach and yes, my defensive theory isn't the only one out there. So I will give Mangini a chance to show that his philosophy can work.

However, in my experience at the level I coached, smart defenses don't equal good defenses. Again, high school and NFL are two totally different animals, but it is still football.