Joe Barry did not reach the top of many lists as a favorite for the position of defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers among fans. He was also not at the top of Matt LaFleur’s list, as the honor went to Jim Leonhard, who refused the job. But Barry will be the DC of Green Bay in 2021, so what can we expect from him? To find out, it is better to evaluate the experiences he had that got him to this point, how he sees football and why he appealed to LaFleur.
The experience clearly helped Barry to stand out from the crowd of candidates who, in general, never had that level of defense power. But almost everyone came with varied experiences in different schemes, a diversity that LaFleur valued in the coaching hires he made around his team as Nathaniel Hackett.
Barry trained the Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebackers when Derrick Brooks played the position as well as anyone in the NFL, including during his Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2002. His work with the linebackers earned him two previous passes performing NFL defenses, although none were very good.
He brought that Tampa-2 defense with him to Detroit with Rod Marinelli, where they stank from the yard point of view, but Lions finished 3rd in turnover in 2007 and 11th in adjusted sack rate in 2008. But Barry didn’t wanted to follow that Cover-2 heavy defense as the league learned to attack him.
After stops in Tampa and then his USC alma mater, Barry returned to the NFL in 2012, where the Chargers ran 3-4 under Chuck Pagano. Barry and Pagano survived the change of coach from Norv Turner to Mike McCoy, until Barry’s job again earned him a role in DC in Washington with Jay Gruden, running 3-4. The offensive coordinator of these teams? Sean McVay.
“I think he’s smart,” said Marinelli in 2015, when he was working in Dallas and Barry trained in Washington’s defense. It is important to note that Marinelli’s daughter married Barry.
“I think he relates very well with people, communicates very well and is a teacher. Once you have those bases, I think you have a chance to be really good. And he has a great passion for the game. “
Former Packers and Washington defender Will Blackmon repeated those words, describing Barry as “in love” on Twitter after the hiring was announced. He insisted that it was not condemnatory with weak praise, suggesting Barry “really cares” and greets all of his defensive players before training.
When LaFleur talked about the need for a change in leadership, it fits in as one of the main changes he saw as vital, saying, “At the end of the season, just our ability to swarm and give this great energy and effort, that’s what we are looking for. ”
Pettine, cerebral and in moderate ways, trained a defender who, especially in big games over two years, often left uninspired and uninspired. This does not mean that someone has to be out there, “son of a bitch” of the players, as Billy Turner said last fall, but a chance at attitude may be just what this team needs.
This does not necessarily mean aggression. Brandon Staley’s team last year, and Barry’s in Washington, were not “aggressive” the way we traditionally see them, with heavy male coverage or heavy blitz philosophy.
Defensive tackle Ricky-Jean François described Barry’s approach in simple terms
“He’s not going to try to be the most aggressive guy. Only aggressive when he needs it. But at the same time, his biggest aspect is that he wants the first four to be under pressure. That was the biggest thing he emphasized. If he has databases on the backend coverage, he wants to be able to send that front four and drop seven. This is the dream of every defensive coordinator. I want this dream to come true for him. “
If you didn’t know him better, you might think he was talking about the past two seasons with Pettine. Critics of his Washington defenses suggested that he was not aggressive enough, would not take any chances or play outside his scheme. Sound familiar?
Still, McVay thought about him enough to bring him to Los Angeles and label him the title of ‘assistant head coach’. There, he trained with the notoriously aggressive Wade Phillips, the man Barry defeated to be Washington DC for the first time. That was when he crossed paths with LaFleur, trained players like Corey Littleton to move from the UDFA caliber to the Pro Bowl and stayed on when McVay moved to Staley before the last round.
According to Tom Silverstein, the connection to Staley attracted LaFleur’s interest in Barry and Rams’ security technician, Ejiro Evero. McVay loves defending the two-tier cover cover so much that he hired Raheem Morris – a Tampa-2 disciple like Barry – but insisted on maintaining the philosophy. In fact, Barry trained under Morris at Tampa after the Detroit situation went sour (0-16 seasons with that).
François’ quote is in keeping with the appearance of the Rams last season, although Staley made the calls, not Barry. LA played lightboxes more than 80% of the time last year, mostly in the league with the Fangio Broncos right behind. Still, this was one of the top 5 defenses because of how they tackle the OL gaps and use the team’s speed. Imagine how Pettine must have been jealous of a team with no linebacker, playing a lot of subpackages and still stopping the race effectively.
The Rams stole loopholes with defensive and inclined defensive line players, disguised pre-snap coverage and disciplined and fast back-end players. They would show two deep safety devices, but would rotate at a single height just before the snap. With Jalen Ramsey, he would be allowed to play in men’s coverage against elite receivers, while the rest of the team played in the zone, which meant that even if Ramsey got moving, LA might not actually be in men’s coverage across the board.
They played Cover-3 more than any cover, but they played more Cover-4 in football. They would mix Cover-1 and Cover-6 (quarter, quarter, half) to be one of the most diverse defenses in football, despite playing coverage in more than 80% of the snaps. On the third descent, they brought pressure from five men to try to create one-on-one confrontations, instead of overhead blitzes or double-A-gap blitzes to plot free runners.
There is a lot of overlap between this approach and the people that Green Bay transports until 2021. His front can press with four when healthy, Jaire Alexander has the ability to do even more, playing the role of Ramsey, and the Packers security duo also brings more advantages and versatility than the Rams played last season. These pre-snap disguises would still allow a player like Darnell Savage to play the role of a thief, spinning into the middle of the field before the snap.
How much of your success resulted from Aaron Donald’s unique ability? Given the effectiveness with which the Packers exploited them with a Donald gimpy, it is fair to ask whether the answer is “a lot”. But despite Green Bay’s success – remember that this was the best football attack with the league’s MVP – LaFleur was clearly impressed by the approach, as was Aaron Rodgers.
Fans who wait for a linebacker coach who values traditional linebackers can have a tough wake-up call. The Rams never prioritized them in the draft, opting for hybrid players. They used the top 100 safety items Taylor Rapp and John Johnson III, which developed into significant pieces in these defenses, with Johnson evolving into a star. Depending on their appearance, these guys may well be linebackers.
Don’t be surprised if Packers use a top choice in a hybrid player to update that Raven Greene / Will Redmond spot. If Josh Jackson is not going to be the corner of the border they are looking for, perhaps converting to security makes more sense.
“It evolved into speed, speed, athleticism,” said Barry ahead of the 2020 season on a Rams team podcast called Revealed rams.
“You need to be able to run to play in every position on the football field in football 2020. I think that’s why it’s so fashionable to have these great safety devices, if you want. They kind of turned into LBs. ”
And the reason is simple: speed.
“You need to be able to have these characteristics to play as a linebacker in the National Football League, especially if you intend to be a complete linebacker. If you are going to play on the first, second, third descent and not leave the field, you have to be able to run, profit ”.
What does this mean for Krys Barnes and Kamal Martin? Given the way the Packers and Rams prioritized the linebacker in the draft, don’t expect much change. In fact, the appreciation of athletics fits perfectly with the way the board of Green Bay already sees the project.
And while we can’t say how much LaFleur’s relationship with Barry has influenced hiring, LaFleur certainly knows he’s bringing in a coach who matches his level of intensity in practice, with McVay and the Rams setting the standard.
“After crossing the limits to our field of practice, we believe in competition every day. It’s hard to go through training as a defense coach when you’re facing an attack by Sean McVay, ”Barry said in Rams Revealed.
“You are holding your ass only once, because that is Sean’s mindset. It’s an attack. “
Barry won’t have an extension on Rodgers and Co.’s practice every day either. But if he can start stopping them, not only will he achieve a feat that the Rams failed to achieve last year, he could also elevate the team back to the Super Bowl.