I love watching the Bill Davis press conferences. Davis is a coach’s coach. He isn’t a defensive genius like Buddy Ryan, Bud Carson or Jim Johnson. They won’t be writing books about his defensive ideas and how they changed the game of football.

Davis knows who and what he is. He’s comfortable enough to focus on doing what’s best for the team. That means running the scheme the head coach wants and tailoring it to the players he has. Compare that to a guy like Rob Ryan. He is constantly trying to outsmart opponents by being as complex as possible. That’s great on paper, but his players fail to execute the schemes on a regular basis because there is just too much going on. Ryan worked for Bill Belichick, who does the same things. The difference is that Belichick is a freak and a great teacher. Ryan isn’t.

Davis could come up with complex wrinkles if he wanted, but generally keeps things straightforward. He seems to be very focused on fundamentals and execution than scheming. Davis gets somewhat creative, but again, builds his plans in a way to make them work. He ran a lot of Nickel in 2013. Last year, due to personnel issues, Davis played more Dime, with Nolan Carroll used in the role of a LB. This year Davis is running a lot more Nickel.

Watch today’s PC from PE.com.

Davis didn’t say anything groundbreaking, but he had some really good points. He talked about how the players have taken ownership of the defense. They make suggestions to Davis on how to deal with issues by adjusting a coverage or running a stunt or whatever is needed for that particular case. As he puts it, they know what is in the defensive toolbox and which tool to use for that issue.

It really is good when players feel that comfortable with a scheme. And “ownership” is an interesting word. Buddy’s players loved his 46 Defense. It was his scheme in 1986 when he took over the Eagles. It was their scheme by 1989. They knew it inside-out and took pride in running it.

You can bet Fletcher Cox and Vinny Curry were not happy when Davis came in with the 3-4 a couple of years ago. Cox is now one of the most dominant defenders in the league and Curry is a huge part of the sub-packages. Having a veteran leader like DeMeco Ryans in the middle of the defense had to help tremendously. He knows how to bridge the gap between the players and coaches. Last year Malcolm Jenkins came in from the Saints and provided that same kind of presence on the back end of the defense. He is a great leader, teacher and communicator.

The players bought in slowly but surely. Now the scheme is in Year 3 and the defense is among the best in the league. When you have the right mixture of talent and leadership, good things are going to happen.

Davis talked about mental toughness and how important that is. I just happened to be thinking about this the other day. I watched the Steelers play the Cardinals. Pittsburgh has some issues on defense. They’ve got a banged up OL. Big Ben is out and Mike Vick was not playing well. But that team had a certain resilience to them. They were tough, physically and mentally. When third string QB Landry Jones came in the game, the team took off and ended up beating the Cardinals comfortably.

The Steelers have had that toughness for years. Last year they went 11-5. In 2013 they started the season 0-4. Mike Tomlin didn’t panic. The team kept grinding and finished 8-8. That toughness goes all the way back to 1992 when Bill Cowher took over and built the Steelers into a very physical football team. Tomlin replaced him and has the same kind of personality and presence. Assistants and players came and went. The toughness stayed. As long as the right leaders are there to pass it on to the next generation, the toughness can keep on going.

You might have a bad game. You might have a losing streak. But if you have the right people, they will work through that stuff. Davis talked about this in relation to Monday night. He gave the example that the defense came off the field after the opening drive upset that they’d made mistakes and allowed the TD. Instead of panicking, the players worked out solutions and then went right back to work.

The Eagles shut the Giants down after that initial drive. The players had been caught off guard by some things the Giants did. The players adjusted and also got their feet under them. Opening drives can be deceiving, good and bad. A team can come out too high or too low. There can be one little mistake or one player making a play. Fans tend to go crazy based on what they see. The Giants looked like a machine after one drive. The Eagles looked inept.

After the initial drive, the Giants were held scoreless and only gained 172 yards. The Eagles scored 20 points on offense and gained 422 yards. That’s domination, but you wouldn’t have known it at 8:50 on Monday night. That looked like a blowout in the making…for the Giants.

Oops.

Chip Kelly catches some flak for his comments about culture and character, but I think there is real value in that. You saw a good example on Monday night.

One other point from Davis, this unit does have excellent chemistry. Ryans and Jenkins are great leaders. So is Connor Barwin. Cox has a big personality and is a leader in his own way. Walter Thurmond feels like a perfect fit for this team. Nolan Carroll is an overachiever. Brandon Graham is getting used in a variety of ways and that limits his chances to just line up wide and go get the QB. You don’t hear him complaining at all.

I think it really says something about what a good core of people this defense has that a rookie like Jordan Hicks can fit in as well as a role player like E.J. Biggers, along with Thurmond and Kiko Alonso. This is a very eclectic group, but they seem to get along well. More importantly, they play well together. The 2011 defense had talent, but lacked chemistry. This group has both.

I’m excited to see how the defense plays the rest of the year. There will be ups and downs, but I’m betting on more ups.

*****

About Davis and X’s and O’s…he can be somewhat creative. He had Graham at NT and Cox lining up like an ILB in a blitz package against the Giants. He does creative things. Davis just doesn’t overdo them and focuses on his players rather than his ideas.

Jimmy Bama wrote a post on something Davis talked about. The Eagles tricked Eli into the pick-six.

*****

Pat Shurmur’s PC is here.

I have to say that he’s grown on me. I used to skip many of his PCs. Shurmur has a good sense of humor and does what he can to answer questions, but won’t give away plays/secrets.

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