One of the most anticipated additions to Nathaniel Hackett’s staff is the hiring of Ejiro Evero as defensive coordinator.
That anticipation isn’t unfounded, as Evero has an extremely impressive résumé as a defensive position coach, and has worked under a myriad of some of the most respected minds in NFL history.
Dom Capers, Monte Kiffin, Wade Phillips and Vic Fangio are just a few of the legendary defensive minds Evero has worked with
“The great thing about it is it has exposed me to so much, in terms of so many different schemes [and] so many different identities,” Evero told the media, when asked about the impact his coaching mentors had on him. “It makes you realize there’s a lot of different ways to get it done. The biggest thing about all the guys and the reason I did have success is that they were great teachers, they had an identity, they stuck to that identity, and they got the players to buy into it. That’s the biggest thing that we want to get done and that’s what we’re going to get done here as well.”
That expertise should be a welcome addition to a defense that was somewhat disappointing last season relative to the amount of talent they had on the field. A large amount of that disappointment might have been the result of the lack of energy and excitement brought on by the old coaching staff.
That shouldn’t be an issue under Evero.
“We’ve all got to be our own self but when you talk about our philosophy on defense, we want to play with great energy,” Evero said on his vision for the team’s defensive identity. “When people put our tape on, I want them to see a defense that’s playing fast, that’s playing aggressive, that’s playing physical, and we’re flying around to the ball. I think just like [Offensive Coordinator Justin] Outten said, the biggest thing in football is the ball, and we’ve got to be attacking the ball. That’s going to be a big point of our emphasis. Then we want to be situational masters. There’s going to be all these situations [like] third down, red zone [or] two-minute and we want to own and dominate those situations. It’s not just the coaches that are situational masters but more so important are the players. We’re talking about playing with great energy and great physicality. We’re talking about beating [them] off the ball and, we’re talking about playing with situational awareness.”
It also appears like this defensive coaching staff will be much more collaborative than it was under the previous regime. Evero made a point of highlighting his assistants multiple times throughout the presser.
“[Running the defense] is a collaboration [and] it’s not just one guy getting it done,” Evero said. “This collaboration is going to also lead with the players as well. Players [and] coaches collaborating to make a final product that is championship-worthy. Going back to Nathaniel [Hackett], he means so much to me personally, [to] me and my family. The friendship that we have [is] a brotherly relationship. One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that people who truly love you tell you what you want to hear and then tell you what you need to hear. Nobody [is] better at that than Nathaniel [Hackett]. He’s just been a great sounding board over the years and if you remove our relationship aside — I just think the world of this guy as a coach and as a leader. This whole city and this whole organization should be excited about him.”
Week 1 can’t get here soon enough.
