The guy who hiked with gorillas shows he’s a pretty good Dolphins coordinator, too | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

The guy who hiked with gorillas shows he’s a pretty good Dolphins coordinator, too

uk_dolfan

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When Vance Joseph left his job as Dolphins defensive coordinator to become coach of the Denver Broncos in January, Adam Gase needed not even a minute to determine that linebackers coach Matt Burke would replace him. That decision actually was made a year ago, the week Gase hired both men.

“When I hired him with Vance, that was the plan,” Gase said Thursday. “That was the main reason I wanted to make sure we had [Burke]. I really felt Vance was only going to be here a year. We wanted to get the system in place, and we didn’t want to change it. We wanted someone who could do that system and step up and take it over


http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article179746321.html

Good article from Barry Jackson.




Its fair to say that when Burke got the job FH was er not thrilled. The new DC and his scheme have received a lot of criticism around here over the last few months

Personally I blamed last years defensive problems on a lack of talent rather than Joseph being an awful coach and was willing to give Burke a chance.... though I was far from excited about the appointment or anything related to the D

But I have to say, so far this year both Burke and his unit (aside from Maxwell) have really impressed me. Burke is even getting production from late draft picks!

Talent wise I continue to think that our D is still some way off a finished product, but for now? It is getting results.

He wasnt finheavens choice, but its becoming easy to see why he was respected around the league. Long may it continue!
 
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Like many pointed out the improvement with Burke is his ability to not rely on the wide 9 scheme that Joseph was married to. He has shown a knack for also putting players in the best position to succeed so far. We will see how he attacks some of the tougher teams left on the schedule but we can only hope he sustains the success
 
Better talents or not, he turns around the run d in one off season. Got to give him prop.
 
Interesting how this is working out so far this year IMO going into this season I expected the offense to be the strength of this team, the defense improving but with big questions at DT outside Suh, the linebackers the weakness of this team and Burke a huge question mark whom could derail this season. DT's are kicking butt, linebackers are taking names and Burke is looking like the real Gase of this team so far.
 
Looking good so far...young too. Of course if this defense keeps playing at this level he's going to have all kinds of attention rolling in - doubt he would move on after 1 year but alot of folks thought that about Joseph too.

Speaking of Dolphins coaches, I wonder when or if Campbell will resurface on the market - when he went to Dallas as Assistant Head coach, I got the impression he wanted to get in more experience at the upper levels of coaching and hopefully become a head coach one day.
 
It's hard to say, early on the dbs seemed to be playing so far off every play, but Burke doesn't play call from a flow chart. He will blitz randomly or call a lot more variety than vance, he seems to be adapting too. Burke has more talent than Vance had but last year's defense was terrible because of Vance's play calling and having less talent. The defense has improved so much because having more aggressive or variety in his play calling has kept offenses much more off balance + the talent additions. Lately though the dbs seem to be pressing a lot more which is why our defense is getting much more consistent, can't stop an offense if you don't try and better to get beat over the top every now and then while having a great defense than having an average one and give up 10 yards every play.

I think Burke is realizing this and is growing in front of us, hopefully he doesn't regress like so many others do once they feel like they've got some cushion. I hope people are starting to realize the nfl is more about attitude and play calling than experience, Campbell and Burke are a good example of that.

Coaching affects the NFL so much more than other sports.
 
For months we had people on FH telling us that Matt Burke was a terrible appointment, he has a terrible defensive system, is out of his depth, the Defense would be a disaster, we should have appointed a professional experienced DC, etc, etc... A few of us said let's wait and see how Matt Burke goes. We were dismissed as hopeless optimists and ignorant of the system. It disappoints me greatly that someone who must not be named, is no longer around to discuss this. Defense is looking really good and Matt Burke is doing well. Great to see.
 
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Time for new mantra?

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The beauty with the Defense is that we are steadily building our talent, especially across the D-line e.g. Hayes, Wake, Branch, Harris at DE and Ndamukong Suh, Godchaux, Phillips, Taylor at DT. Certain players have certain tasks - coming together well.
 
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Burke tightened up the wide 9 on early run downs. Which was exactly what most members wanted. Aside from that, he's had a huge influx of run stopping talent and blitzing lb's. Which to his credit, he's used effectively.

He's exceeded expectations so far, but it's a long season...
 
I was less than impressed with Joseph last year...you can point to the talent, but I don't feel near enough was done to adjust and react to how teams gashed us.

Much happier this season.
 
I once hiked with gorillas...Only they weren't gorillas and we weren't hiking.
 
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