Niners hire Jim O'Neil as DC

Theres going to be times where the defense needs to close out games, I am scared

Originally posted by Jcool:
First interview:

http://www.49ers.com/video/videos/1-on-1-49ers-DC-Jim-ONeil/a2564501-a298-437d-88e7-895bbe3074ba

Can't wait til someone asks him about the defense having to be out on the field more. Enough with the softball questions

I've been watching film of the 2014 Browns, when they were really good at passing defense, to see what they were doing, and I think it is similar to what they (Pettine/JoN) was doing with the Jets under Rex Ryan. They would man up Joe Hayden on the opposition's best WR then roll coverage away from that side of the field, getting a number's advantage to the other side. So they really relied on Hayden's man coverage skills in order to give help to the other areas of the field. I've only watched 2014 ATL and BUF, and Hayden shadowed Julio Jones and Sammy Watkins all around the field.

I wonder if Baalke will throw JoN a bone and get him a shutdown CB. This could allow JoN to dial up coverages similar to what was being done in NYJ (Revis) and CLE 2014 (Hayden). Hayden was injured most of 2015. I know I've mentioned this a few times before, but JoN is all about man coverage and asks a lot from his CBs. I misspoke earlier in this thread and said he pattern matches with the CBs, and not so much his LBs. This is wrong. He pattern matches with his LBs and not so much with this CBs.

JoN's blitz schemes are what I would consider exotic. He will at times stand everyone up at the LoS so that it's hard to determine who is rushing the passer and who is dropping back. Once we get into the real downtime of the offseason (after draft/FAcy) I'll cut up some plays of what I'm talking about.

Originally posted by Mdizzle27:

Originally posted by maximusdecimus:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
I just hope this guy coaches toughness and fundamentals. I hate seeing missed tackles and defenders that play scared. I love being a feared if not respected defense.

Yeah we need to bring the wood. Last year we were so soft.

When a team tried to run against our 2011 defense, it was like taking a knee. Just a wasted down.

Justin Smith is badly missed. He owned the line of scrimmage. We need Arik or someone to step it up.

Ill never forget cowboy shoving his guy into brees and grabbing brees by his jersey.
We were feared. We were monsters on defense.

That and the hit Whitner put on Thomas. Two of my favorite defensive plays from those teams.

Niner defense was brutal not too long ago. Hope O'neil brings back that mentality.Hated seeing WRs running wide open lat year

Originally posted by thl408:
I've been watching film of the 2014 Browns, when they were really good at passing defense, to see what they were doing, and I think it is similar to what they (Pettine/JoN) was doing with the Jets under Rex Ryan. They would man up Joe Hayden on the opposition's best WR then roll coverage away from that side of the field, getting a number's advantage to the other side. So they really relied on Hayden's man coverage skills in order to give help to the other areas of the field. I've only watched 2014 ATL and BUF, and Hayden shadowed Julio Jones and Sammy Watkins all around the field.

I wonder if Baalke will throw JoN a bone and get him a shutdown CB. This could allow JoN to dial up coverages similar to what was being done in NYJ (Revis) and CLE 2014 (Hayden). Hayden was injured most of 2015. I know I've mentioned this a few times before, but JoN is all about man coverage and asks a lot from his CBs. I misspoke earlier in this thread and said he pattern matches with the CBs, and not so much his LBs. This is wrong. He pattern matches with his LBs and not so much with this CBs.

JoN's blitz schemes are what I would consider exotic. He will at times stand everyone up at the LoS so that it's hard to determine who is rushing the passer and who is dropping back. Once we get into the real downtime of the offseason (after draft/FAcy) I'll cut up some plays of what I'm talking about.

thl, this is absolutely critical information to know. I can't thank you enough. If that sample size holds true to his overall philosophy, it means several things (IMHO and correct me if I'm wrong):

• We need at least one shut down corner to follow a teams best WR around everywhere to allow the other half to flood. Did you happen to notice if Hayden was playing man-press (physical?) or more off coverage? Combo? This may help to determine if that guy is on the roster (i.e. a Johnson vs. a Brock) and/or if we need to go out and get a Sean Smith or draft a Jalen Ramsey.
• Since he pattern matches a lot with the LB's, this means these two ILB's need to have good lateral range and a feel for the passing game. Are Bowman and Hodges a good fit? And if not, who is...draft Myles Jack instead? This also may be a perfect fit for the robber, Jaquiski Tartt.
• The exotic blitzing piece is important b/c that should be a nice transition from what we did under Mangini with this young defense.

thl, did you get a feel for how he uses his S's? More traditional with the SS more in the box and the FS more in coverage for range? Mix? Both mostly in a soft shell? This ties into the next question...are you seeing the S's coming up to the LOS for disguise and either blitzing or sprinting back to spot right at the snap?

Originally posted by thl408:
I've been watching film of the 2014 Browns, when they were really good at passing defense, to see what they were doing, and I think it is similar to what they (Pettine/JoN) was doing with the Jets under Rex Ryan. They would man up Joe Hayden on the opposition's best WR then roll coverage away from that side of the field, getting a number's advantage to the other side. So they really relied on Hayden's man coverage skills in order to give help to the other areas of the field. I've only watched 2014 ATL and BUF, and Hayden shadowed Julio Jones and Sammy Watkins all around the field.

I wonder if Baalke will throw JoN a bone and get him a shutdown CB. This could allow JoN to dial up coverages similar to what was being done in NYJ (Revis) and CLE 2014 (Hayden). Hayden was injured most of 2015. I know I've mentioned this a few times before, but JoN is all about man coverage and asks a lot from his CBs. I misspoke earlier in this thread and said he pattern matches with the CBs, and not so much his LBs. This is wrong. He pattern matches with his LBs and not so much with this CBs.

JoN's blitz schemes are what I would consider exotic. He will at times stand everyone up at the LoS so that it's hard to determine who is rushing the passer and who is dropping back. Once we get into the real downtime of the offseason (after draft/FAcy) I'll cut up some plays of what I'm talking about.

Interesting. I hope we are able to get some pass rushers in this draft. Lynch is good but Lemonair is on his way out and Eli is unknown. Are there any stud DB or OLB this FA? Those seem vital to O'Neil's scheme.

Originally posted by NCommand:
thl, this is absolutely critical information to know. I can't thank you enough. If that sample size holds true to his overall philosophy, it means several things (IMHO and correct me if I'm wrong):

• We need at least one shut down corner to follow a teams best WR around everywhere to allow the other half to flood. Did you happen to notice if Hayden was playing man-press (physical?) or more off coverage? Combo? This may help to determine if that guy is on the roster (i.e. a Johnson vs. a Brock) and/or if we need to go out and get a Sean Smith or draft a Jalen Ramsey.
• Since he pattern matches a lot with the LB's, this means these two ILB's need to have good lateral range and a feel for the passing game. Are Bowman and Hodges a good fit? And if not, who is...draft Myles Jack instead? This also may be a perfect fit for the robber, Jaquiski Tartt.
• The exotic blitzing piece is important b/c that should be a nice transition from what we did under Mangini with this young defense.

thl, did you get a feel for how he uses his S's? More traditional with the SS more in the box and the FS more in coverage for range? Mix? Both mostly in a soft shell? This ties into the next question...are you seeing the S's coming up to the LOS for disguise and either blitzing or sprinting back to spot right at the snap?

I don't think a DC can come onto a team expecting to have a shutdown CB. Not many teams have a prime Revis or Hayden. So I don't think JoN can expect this from the 2016 49ers. This does tie into Ramsey being a possibility, but it might be a moot point since he shouldn't make it to #7.

Bowman is very smart and was an integral part of the pattern match scheme the 49ers had in place. No worries about him. It's the other ILB that needs to step up. No idea if Hodges was asked to pattern match in MIN. I know he wasn't with the 49ers last season.

JoN definitely asked his safeties to disguise their cover shells. He does ask them to align shallow to show Cover1, then bail to get into Cover2 - and vice versa. He is big on pre-snap disguise. He asks a lot from his safeties as far as different assignments. Some DCs rarely ask their safeties to man cover (Mangini). JoN does occasionally ask this from his safeties. I'll show a play that illustrates some of what I mentioned.

Good work TH

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Interesting. I hope we are able to get some pass rushers in this draft. Lynch is good but Lemonair is on his way out and Eli is unknown. Are there any stud DB or OLB this FA? Those seem vital to O'Neil's scheme.

Sean Smith. He's going to get paid wherever he goes and is in the prime of his career.

This is from 2014. CLE in a base 3-4 look. Hayden has been shadowing Watkins all around the field lining up on whichever side Watkins lines up on.
Red are the 4 rushers.


Hayden is in 1v1 man coverage. The safety on Hayden's side of the field (blue) will rotate over to the strongside of the offensive formation. This means Hayden gets no safety help and is on an island. I'm pretty sure this is how Petine used Revis when he was in NYJ. I've read about how having Revis allowed the Jets to do some funky coverages that took advantage of Revis' lockdown skills.
The two ILB are pattern matching. As the drag route crosses orange LBs' face, orange passes off the drag route.


Red ILB matches the drag route. Purple CB is passing off the vertical route from the WR, over to the safety. The safety is asked to pick up the vertical route in man coverage.


Patterns matched.

I like O'Neil's intensity and love for the game...I tried to tell Zoners he was a good coach on a very bad team, but most didn't want to hear it. I sure like the sound of a relentless defense...he'll need some more pieces to get to that point, and that's what the Baalke/Kelly team have to get done. It's also why despite the many cries for Goff, I'd love for Baalke to get Buckner and set up what should become a dominant front 3 (assuming they can re-sign Ian Williams). The better the defense gets, the easier it should be for the offense...to get the ball in good field position and put it into the end zone.

This is how Fangio's ILBs pattern matched. Very similar how they treat the drag route.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by NCommand:
thl, this is absolutely critical information to know. I can't thank you enough. If that sample size holds true to his overall philosophy, it means several things (IMHO and correct me if I'm wrong):

• We need at least one shut down corner to follow a teams best WR around everywhere to allow the other half to flood. Did you happen to notice if Hayden was playing man-press (physical?) or more off coverage? Combo? This may help to determine if that guy is on the roster (i.e. a Johnson vs. a Brock) and/or if we need to go out and get a Sean Smith or draft a Jalen Ramsey.
• Since he pattern matches a lot with the LB's, this means these two ILB's need to have good lateral range and a feel for the passing game. Are Bowman and Hodges a good fit? And if not, who is...draft Myles Jack instead? This also may be a perfect fit for the robber, Jaquiski Tartt.
• The exotic blitzing piece is important b/c that should be a nice transition from what we did under Mangini with this young defense.

thl, did you get a feel for how he uses his S's? More traditional with the SS more in the box and the FS more in coverage for range? Mix? Both mostly in a soft shell? This ties into the next question...are you seeing the S's coming up to the LOS for disguise and either blitzing or sprinting back to spot right at the snap?

I don't think a DC can come onto a team expecting to have a shutdown CB. Not many teams have a prime Revis or Hayden. So I don't think JoN can expect this from the 2016 49ers. This does tie into Ramsey being a possibility, but it might be a moot point since he shouldn't make it to #7.

Bowman is very smart and was an integral part of the pattern match scheme the 49ers had in place. No worries about him. It's the other ILB that needs to step up. No idea if Hodges was asked to pattern match in MIN. I know he wasn't with the 49ers last season.

JoN definitely asked his safeties to disguise their cover shells. He does ask them to align shallow to show Cover1, then bail to get into Cover2 - and vice versa. He is big on pre-snap disguise. He asks a lot from his safeties as far as different assignments. Some DCs rarely ask their safeties to man cover (Mangini). JoN does occasionally ask this from his safeties. I'll show a play that illustrates some of what I mentioned.

Agreed about the shut down CB piece. Not having one may end up being intriguing given what he decides to do to compensate for that. I mean, is he really going to put Johnson in man all game all over the field on a team's best WR? Sure, that's great against Julio Jones or Megatron but what if it's ODB? Has to go with Brock or Acker? My bet is that since he likes man, he's going "big" and they sign a Sean Smith-like lengthy CB to pair with Johnson (tons of press and jamming plus some off) and allow the freedom to be more exotic inside.

Very helpful information. Now I have a much better vision for his scheme and philosophy with our personnel going forward.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by NCommand:
thl, this is absolutely critical information to know. I can't thank you enough. If that sample size holds true to his overall philosophy, it means several things (IMHO and correct me if I'm wrong):

• We need at least one shut down corner to follow a teams best WR around everywhere to allow the other half to flood. Did you happen to notice if Hayden was playing man-press (physical?) or more off coverage? Combo? This may help to determine if that guy is on the roster (i.e. a Johnson vs. a Brock) and/or if we need to go out and get a Sean Smith or draft a Jalen Ramsey.
• Since he pattern matches a lot with the LB's, this means these two ILB's need to have good lateral range and a feel for the passing game. Are Bowman and Hodges a good fit? And if not, who is...draft Myles Jack instead? This also may be a perfect fit for the robber, Jaquiski Tartt.
• The exotic blitzing piece is important b/c that should be a nice transition from what we did under Mangini with this young defense.

thl, did you get a feel for how he uses his S's? More traditional with the SS more in the box and the FS more in coverage for range? Mix? Both mostly in a soft shell? This ties into the next question...are you seeing the S's coming up to the LOS for disguise and either blitzing or sprinting back to spot right at the snap?

I don't think a DC can come onto a team expecting to have a shutdown CB. Not many teams have a prime Revis or Hayden. So I don't think JoN can expect this from the 2016 49ers. This does tie into Ramsey being a possibility, but it might be a moot point since he shouldn't make it to #7.

Bowman is very smart and was an integral part of the pattern match scheme the 49ers had in place. No worries about him. It's the other ILB that needs to step up. No idea if Hodges was asked to pattern match in MIN. I know he wasn't with the 49ers last season.

JoN definitely asked his safeties to disguise their cover shells. He does ask them to align shallow to show Cover1, then bail to get into Cover2 - and vice versa. He is big on pre-snap disguise. He asks a lot from his safeties as far as different assignments. Some DCs rarely ask their safeties to man cover (Mangini). JoN does occasionally ask this from his safeties. I'll show a play that illustrates some of what I mentioned.

Agreed about the shut down CB piece. Not having one may end up being intriguing given what he does start to do to compensate for that. I mean, is he really going to put Johnson in man all game? Sure, that's great against Julio Jones or Megatron but what if it's ODB? Has to go with Brock or Acker? My bet is that since he likes man, he's going "big" and they sign a Sean Smith-like lengthy CB to pair with Johnson (tons of press and jamming) and allow the freedom inside.

Very helpful information. Now I have a much better vision for his scheme and philosophy with our personnel going forward.

About CB alignment, he will align his CBs in both press and off coverage and mix it up.

Originally posted by thl408:
This is from 2014. CLE in a base 3-4 look. Hayden has been shadowing Watkins all around the field lining up on whichever side Watkins lines

Patterns matched.

Originally posted by thl408:
This is how Fangio's ILBs pattern matched. Very similar how they treat the drag route.

It's a beautiful thing! Excellent illustrations.