Broncos RAID Chargers staff for D-Line coach Nunnely!

[BroncoBuff]

This story was broken by orangeandblueblooded.

Broncos Hire Away Chargers D-Line Coach Nunnely

If the Broncos are going to learn how to play the 3-4 defense, they better get some coaches who can teach it.

Wayne Nunnely can not only coach the 3-4, he guided the vaunted defensive line of the rival San Diego Chargers for the past 12 years.

In what has to be considered an AFC West coaching coup, the Broncos signed Nunnely to a two-year contract Tuesday to become their new defensive line coach.

"It's a change that I felt I needed to do at this stage of my career," said Nunnely, 56. "I've had a great 12 years here with the Chargers through three or four different head coaches and a number of coordinators and I just felt like I needed a new challenge, a new environment."

After coaching such natural 3-4 linemen as noseguard Jamal Williams, tackle Luis Castillo and end Igor Olshansky with the Chargers in recent years, Nunnely's challenge with the Broncos will be to both find new D-line personal, and teach alternate techniques to existing players who are accustomed to playing in the 4-3 defense.

http://www.denverpost.com/sportshead...402?source=rss

[oubronco]

Good

[Natedog24]

After coaching such natural 3-4 linemen as noseguard Jamal Williams, tackle Luis Castillo and end Igor Olshansky with the Chargers in recent years,

Does he get to take those guys with him to his new job?

[SouthStndJunkie]

Great addition to the coaching staff.

I think Denver has assembled a pretty good defensive coaching staff so far.

[no-pseudo-fan]

Maybe McD knows what he is doing.

[cutthemdown]

Good you guys get the new coaches you wanted, even though IMO Broncos coaches were not the problem.

Hopefully Broncos will get them some better talent. If Broncos don't have 4-5 new starters on defense next yr they will stink again and they will lose.

[hades]

Shanahan seems like a distant memory now, I forsee good things!

Although I liked/like the guy, we needed a shakeup to right the ship!

[SonOfLe-loLang]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

Good you guys get the new coaches you wanted, even though IMO Broncos coaches were not the problem.

Hopefully Broncos will get them some better talent. If Broncos don't have 4-5 new starters on defense next yr they will stink again and they will lose.

Your avatar always makes me long for my old reebok pumps

[24champ]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

even though IMO Broncos coaches were not the problem.

Burney was a problem, and thankfully McD is kicking his ass out the door.

[wolf754life]

the rev says we are no running a 3-4, hmmm, wonder why they hired this guy!

lol @ rev.

sorry rev things they are a changin in bronco land, let it go fanboy!

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by SonOfLe-loLang

Your avatar always makes me long for my old reebok pumps

It makes me long for kicking ass and winning Superbowls.

[supermanhr9]

if you can't beat em, hire their ass

[Rocky Mountain Stampede]

Boltaneer, JJJ, BigBad, NWBoltFan, rustyfari, 400HZ and buckingkeading can all go **** themselves.

mod note: using spacing or other means of circumventing the language filter in order to display a vulgar or profane word in uncensored form is grounds for temporary loss of posting privileges.

[no-pseudo-fan]

step 1 of the master plan. Steal D-line Coach for Chargers. Check

[BMarsh615]

Originally Posted by Natedog24

Does he get to take those guys with him to his new job?

We might be able to pick up Igor

Igor Olshansky Doubts He'll Resign With The Chargers

Igor Olshansky came to San Diego full of promise. A raw product coming out of the University of Oregon, the Chargers were enamored with his freakish size and strength. From a physical standpoint, Olshansky was the prototype Defensive End to play in the team's freshly installed 3-4 defense. The Chargers selected the mammoth Ukrainian with the 35th overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft.

Olshansky became an immediate starter for the Chargers, playing in 75 games over the course of his five year contract with the team. But that contract has now expired, and however much Igor would love to stay with the San Diego Chargers, he sees the writing on the wall:

"I would love to be back with the Chargers. I love the fans, I love the city, I love the team. But my mind is telling me, probably not. Looking at the history of the Chargers, they usually take care of players early. Not many players go out to free agency and come back to the Chargers. The only person I can remember doing that was Kris Dielman."


Olshansky is an interesting player; for all the potential in his 6'6" 300lbs frame, he's never really developed into an impact defensive end. He's been a solid starter, sure. But has he lived up to his lofty draft status, just a few picks outside of the first round? If you ask me, I would argue that he has not lived up to his potential, but I don't think he has plateaued, either. The Chargers took Olshansky knowing that he would be a project; he hadn't even played organized football until late in his high school career. And even then, he was getting by on brute strength alone. In the pros, Igor has yet to make that leap into being an elite defensive linemen. But to the man's credit, he has improved every year, albeit at maybe an elephant's pace and not a cheetah's:

The last 10 ten games I was very, very effective. I was a dominant player. I was a dominant run stopper, and when I had my opportunities to rush the passer I laid the quarterback out completely. I felt I was playing the best football in my career over the last 10 games. But when you’re only playing 20 snaps a game, and you’re getting 2-3 tackles and hitting the quarterback once, that’s pretty effective.


It's clear that Igor feels he's played well down the stretch, but he's at a loss as to why his playing time was cut so dramatically. It's been pretty obvious that the Chargers have rotated Olshansky out on third downs and obvious passing situations, due primarily to his perceived lack of pass rush ability. Its no secret the Chargers defense have struggled mightily in the passing game this year, finding it difficult to get after the quarterback and to get off the field on third down. Guys like Jacque Cesaire and Ryon Bingham have gotten increased playing time this year at the expense of Olshansky. Are the Chargers preparing the successors to Olshansky, or are these other guys simply better pass rushers while not necessarily being better football players?

I had a feeling that I might not be in their plans for the future, and that they’d rather play their other players and only use me when they absolutely had to. Last year I took 65% of the snaps, that’s about 38-40 snaps a game. This year, I’ve taken probably 20-25 snaps a game. In the beginning of the season I played more. But ever since the coaching change, my planning time has been cut in half.


Whose call was it to play Olshansky less? Did that come from the new defensive coordinator? The defensive line coach? Or perhaps it came from upstairs?

I’m not blaming anyone. I don’t know what the reason is. But it was definitely something. In [the playoff game against the Steelers] I had 5 tackles, Jamal Williams had 5 tackles. That was the most important game of the season. No one else was really that productive. Why would you cut a productive player’s playing time?

It’s a tricky thing, dealing with coaches and knowing your role. I had to know my role on the team. I didn’t want to make any problems for anybody. I didn’t want to make problems for myself and be a distraction. So I quickly realized my role on the team; if we call your number, you get out there and play your ass off. If we don’t, you sit on the sideline until you are called up again. So that’s basically the role I played this year. When they called me I went out there and played my butt off. And when they didn’t, I sat quietly on the sidelines, jumping around, stretching, and making sure I stayed warm.

The same thing happened with Drayton Florence two years ago. He played a lot in the beginning of the year, and later on in the season you barely saw him.


If you ask me, Igor Olshansky has done everything he's supposed do to warrant a contract extension. Like he said, he's kept his mouth shut and he's gone out there and played hard. He's been very durable throughout his career in San Diego, something his teammate and fellow defensive lineman Luis Castillo has struggled with. Considering the Chargers serious lack of depth along the defensive line, I am finding it hard to believe they would pass up an opportunity to re-sign Olshansky. Perhaps they feel he'll be too costly for them? But lets not forget, this is the same San Diego Chargers front office that made Luis Castillo one of the highest paid defensive ends in the league. And just for kicks, lets compare the two player's numbers this season:

Igor Olshansky
29 tackles, 2 sacks, 0 FF, 0 INT

Luis Castillo
39 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 INT

Pretty comparable, especially when you take into account that Olshanksy was not on the field as much as Castillo was. Impact plays make you a lot of money in the league, and Castillo certainly has the greater knack for that than does Olshanksy. But there is a place for Igor on this team. It takes a certain type of player to play defense line in the 3-4, a scheme requiring their linemen to eat up blocks, hold the line of scrimmage, and generally remain anonymous while the linebackers make the plays. It's why the highest profile defensive linemen are playing in 4-3s. Playing on the Chargers defensive line is not a job full of glory, it's one of guts and grunts:

My problem was when [Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune] said that basically I didn’t matter. Everything I had done in the last five years didn’t matter. I was expendable. Basically saying no one cared about me. That hurt my feelings a little bit. I played injured; I played hurt like everybody else obviously. This is a rough game. But I gave my blood, sweat, and tears to this program for the last five years. I kept my mouth shut, kept my nose to the grindstone, and busted my butt to help my team. But when someone says that all of that doesn’t really matter, then that’s not cool.

[Rocky Mountain Stampede]

Originally Posted by BMarsh615

We might be able to pick up Igor

Go stick a metal knife into a plugged in toaster.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by BroncoBuff

This story was broken by orangeandblueblooded.



http://www.denverpost.com/sportshead...402?source=rss

Best news of the day (aside from the whole Inaugeration thingy which, I'm sure, has you all hot and bothered Mr. Buffman)!

[BroncoBuff]

I wanna see Marcus Thomas at 3-4 DE ... I think he can be as good there as Igor is. Imo, Ekuban will be excellent there, too ... he was moving inside oin passing downs in the 4-3 already, so his skills set for 3-4 DE sounds good to me.

BTW, Olshansky is not a free agent according to Scout.com ... and we saw with their brain-damaged handling of Michael Tuner and others that the Bolts don't like to trade guys a year before UFA status, even for a 2nd rounder.

[SoDak Bronco]

Wow that is a surprise, freaking awesome!!! What do Charger fan have to say about this guy? besides that he is a traitor and sucks?

[Houshyamama]

[Rulon Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by SoDak Bronco

Wow that is a surprise, freaking awesome!!! What do Charger fan have to say about this guy? besides that he is a traitor and sucks?

Hochuli is to blame.

[eddie mac]

Originally Posted by BroncoBuff

I wanna see Marcus Thomas at 3-4 DE ... I think he can be as good there as Igor is. Imo, Ekuban will be excellent there, too ... he was moving inside oin passing downs in the 4-3 already, so his skills set for 3-4 DE sounds good to me.

BTW, Olshansky is not a free agent according to Scout.com ... and we saw with their brain-damaged handling of Michael Tuner and others that the Bolts don't like to trade guys a year before UFA status, even for a 2nd rounder.

Olshansky can personally void his final year.

[Popps]

Here comes the 3-4.

[Popps]

Where's 400 HZ? He's the only non-douche-bag Charger fan around here.

What's the book on this guy? He's certainly developed some good results from the front seven. But, he's had personnel, too.

I love it... winds of change!

[footstepsfrom#27]

Originally Posted by BMarsh615

We might be able to pick up Igor

Not even if we had to start Moss at the NT spot.