Whoever the defensive coordinator is, I want a defense that attacks the offense, not a reactionary defense. One that can scheme pressure. Get after the QB. And obviously have to improve the run defense.
It’s hard to attack an offense, scheme pressure and improve the run defense.
Every thing you do to take something away weakens you somewhere else
Great defenses aren’t great because they figured out a scheme that stops everything they are great because the have the players to be put in a position of weakness and succeed.
The Patriot D in the 2014-2018 era had Hightower, run stuffing DTs and edge players who could okay the run, so they could play base nickel and be one of the best run Ds in the league despite over playing the pass at the expense of the run, for example.
Defenses like Rex Ryan that “attack” also get burned deep a lot. A blitz is a huge advantage to the offense if they pick it up b
If the offense becomes one of the better offenses in the league a more conservative defense is fine. Aggression and creativity on 3rd down, no big plays on first and second.
If the offense stinks you have to be super aggressive on D because you have to get big plays and turnovers to flip the script and beat a better team.
I think the most important thing Vrabel brings defensively is the ability to find the right players and put them in the right roles so you have the capability to try to take something away.