http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... story.html
Excerpts from the article by Ed Willes ...
“We don’t have trial and error anymore,” Buono said at a Tuesday presser which announced his coaching staff for the upcoming season.
“I hate to put that kind of pressure on the team but I think we’re at a point now where people want to see results.
“We’re in a situation where we don’t have three years or five years. We have to build a football team that’s going to be competitive and excite the fans. That’s on me and the coaches.”
Jennings, of course, re-invigorated the Lions’ moribund attack when he stepped into the lineup in Week 10 and his care and nurturing has now been turned over to Khari Jones, who’s had his own adventure over the last couple of years.
In 2014, the former CFL quarterback was brought in as the OC, demoted to receivers coach last season under George Cortez and restored to the co-ordinator position after Cortez made a mess of things last year.
“Not that big a deal,” Jones says.
We should all be so forgiving.
“We’re a little under the radar,” he continued. “We’re a bit of an afterthought. I like that. I’ve been in that positive most of my life. I’m comfortable there and I have something to prove. But so does this team and I want them to come with that attitude.”
Buono said he turned to Jones largely because of his familiarity with Jennings and the crown prince will be surrounded by other returnees.
“Do we have to reinvent the wheel?” Buono asked rhetorically. “No. But (Jones) knows Jonathon Jennings. He knows how we can best utilize Manny Arceneaux. He knows how we can build our offence.
“We looked at (bringing in someone new). But continuity had a big influence. I don’t believe in starting all over again.”
So Wally looked at bringing in someone new, then decided to promote Khari back up to OC, for continuity reasons. From a P.R. point of view, selling the team to fans, it might have been better to not say they looked at bringing in someone new.
So there we have it, our staff for 2016. All guys are key, but Buono, Washington and Jones set the philosophy.
We hear rumblings of going to a 3-4 defence. This fan sees the 3-4 as more of a contain type defence, not focused on attacking the QB nor the Line of Scrimmage.
Will Khari feature the empty backfield, spread offence?
Who will be our feature running back, with the departure of Andrew Harris?
As always, it will be interesting.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.
Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.