One name: Al Golden. The defense was so dramatically different under him that if Freeman really preferred soft zone, Golden would have had to play it. But he didn't. This tells me Freeman gives his coordinators basically free reign, and is just signing off on their ideas.
Change my mind.
I'm sure for the most part that the coordinators make most of the play calls it is inconceivable that MF is not involved in the game planning. The head coach will make the game decisions like whether to punt or go for it on 4th downs, fakes, and things like clock management but once those decisions are made, it's up to the coordinators to call the actual plays with, for the most part, limited input from the head coach.
But I don't see how Golden can play so aggressively while Ash plays so passively if the head coach is directing the philosophy. In any event...
It appears to this outsider Freeman defers to what his coordinators want. I'm not saying he has no input, but with radically different philosophies between Golden and Ash, I don't see how Ash doesn't have a ton of influence on the game plan.
I think he gives them latitude to execute what he wants.
When we have good ones, like Golden you get a really good D.
When we have bad ones we look like we are in prevent D the whole game,
My hope is these guys took their bye week to fix it.
For the record, my hope is Chip Kelly for OC and Golden for DC, if the current occupants of these offices don’t use the “guaranteed opportunities” remaining to erase the doubts.