Hadn’t seen this video posted in the last few days but I wanted to make sure to get it posted here.
Sean Desai Introductory Press Conference
Hadn’t seen this video posted in the last few days but I wanted to make sure to get it posted here.
Sean Desai is the only defensive coordinator in the sport with this in his Wikipedia page:
…received his undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science, with a minor in biology, from Boston University in 2004. Desai earned a master’s degree in higher and postsecondary education from Columbia University in 2005. Desai earned his doctorate in educational administration in 2008 at Temple University, and was an adjunct professor for two years.
Now, that passage would not exactly qualify him to be the defensive coordinator of a professional football team. But Desai has been praised for his schematic acumen, has earned the love of the guys in the locker room, and comes with a resounding endorsement from Vic Fangio. From a piece quoting Vic in USA Today:
“Right off the bat, his work ethic was really good and he quickly learned our system that we were putting in and grew with it over the four years that I was there,” Fangio said, “and I when I say grew with it, he was there with the logical progression that we went through with the players we had from the start to the players we ended up with… He’s had a good mix of coaching an up-front position and a secondary position which gave him a good understanding and a good overall view of our system and our defense at that time. That should give him a good head start on all that and that is a big part of it. The front has to marry with the back end and vice versa.”
Brandon Robinson is someone I had never communicated with until very recently but his thread breaking down the Fangio/Brandon Staley defensive concepts – and projecting those concepts for Desai – is about as informative a collection of Tweets as you’ll ever find on that public toilet of a website. I’m stringing out those Tweets here, in column form, and posting video/imagery when necessary. (Thanks to Brandon for approving this and be sure to give him a follow.)
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10. Ed Donatell
Vic Fangio’s defense is well-known because he mixes up coverages so well and Donatell is the guy who has long run his secondary. The Bears had the opportunity to hire him in 2019 but seemingly passed.
After losing out on the Bears’ job, Donatell went to become Fangio’s coordinator, but he doesn’t have full autonomy. If that’s what he wants, Fangio might allow him to leave.
9. Aaron Glenn
The former Pro Bowl cornerback has become a highly thought-of coach, even taking an interview to be the New York Jets head coach before they hired Robert Saleh.
Glenn coached defensive backs with Cleveland, where he helped both Tashaun Gipson and Buster Skrine have career years in 2014. He moved on to New Orleans, where he has been credited as a major reason the Saints have had one of the best defense in the league the last four years.
8. Mark DeLeone
DeLeone coached with Nagy in Kansas City and was one of Nagy’s first actual defensive hires, with most of the staff being coaches who previously worked with Fangio.
DeLeone’s work as inside linebackers coach has been impressive. In addition to the high level at which he has Roquan Smith playing, he helped get Nick Kwiatkoski paid and got Kevin Pierre-Louis a solid one-year deal.
(He could bring longtime defensive coordinator Bob Sutton with him in an advisory role, as Sutton helped bring DeLone into the NFL with the Jets and then brought him to KC.)
Two things have leaked regarding the 2019 Chicago Bears schedule: (1) Packers are rumored to open the season on Thursday night at Soldier Field. (2) Bears will be in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day…again. What do these two reports mean, if anything?
From Pat Finley in the Sun-Times:
Bears coach Matt Nagy finished up his round of hires Friday, promoting two coaches to finish up the team’s defensive staff.
Sean Desai, a Bears defensive quality control coach for the past six seasons, will serve as the team’s safeties coach. Deshea Townsend, who was hired to coach the Bears’ defensive backs last month, had his title changed to secondary coach. Bill Shuey, who spent last season as a defensive quality control coach, has been named defensive pass analyst/assistant linebackers coach.
I have absolutely nothing to add to these two paragraphs.
