sam mills III says new defense is like a gumbo...

[rayzor]

CHARLOTTE - When defensive quality control coach Sam Mills III began to work on the Panthers' new defensive playbook, he was immediately struck by the smorgasbord of philosophies coming together - quite literally - on the same page.

"You have Coach (Ron) Rivera from San Diego, then Coach (Sean) McDermott and Philadelphia. We still have Ron Meeks and the Indy system, plus the Bears system with Eric Washington, and Warren Belin with college experience," Mills pointed out. "It's very exciting when you have so many minds coming together in the room.

"It's kind of like a gumbo."

And Mills, as one of two returning coaches on the staff along with Meeks, is the "gum" in the gumbo.

"Between myself and Coach Meeks, we have a lot of knowledge of what has gone on here," Mills said. "It's a good blend of new and old. I like the new guys because they have fresh eyes. Maybe we might be down on a guy, but with the new guys, it starts from scratch."

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Mills-begins-new-chapter/c4f6791f-3d52-4c80-b958-0778e1e042b8

rest of the article has to do with him being sam mills son and his journey here. it's a pretty good read, i suppose, but the smörgåsbord of new ideas and philosophies should make for an exciting defense. i can't wait to see it. i know rivera and mcdermott both kind of come from the old jim johnson school of defense, but they both have their own spin on things. it will be at least interesting to see how it shapes up.

[5158Poundin]

I am glad that Sam Mills III is still with us...it should be very interesting to see how this defense shapes up (and I am hoping they will take the field this fall)...could be a really exciting year defensively if things play out...

[4Corners]

what exactly is SM3 job?

[countryboi]

i think his title is defensive quality control....i think thats like a coach in training

[SorthNarolina]

what exactly is SM3 job?

I feel like he hangs around due to JR, but he's quality control coach. Teams say they never look ahead to the next week, but the reason they don't is the quality control coach does it. I think he does other stuff like run the scout team. He tries to track a players progress, makes sure they aren't treading water, always geting better.

[jtnc]

Usually quality control coaches move up to be coordinators, then head Coaches.

[bleys]

I know we still have to see how this coaching staff looks after a few years, but I think the FO did a bang up job hiring Rivera..

I also reserve the right to change this opinion without further notice.

[TruCatzFan]

Look for Carolina to finish with the league's #1 defense if we can stay healthy! Also look for us to sign talent out of Chicago and SD... He has history with players on both teams. Our defense will be SICK for years to come with this coaching staff. To think that the offense even has a chance to be as good as the D with the weapons we have quite frankly makes my dick hard!

[Montsta]

The QC is the one to make sure the guys aren't tripping special teams gunners as they run down the sideline right?

[Majestic87]

I forgot we even signed Dermott(sp) from Philly...We got a talented bunch of coachs...Meeks was doing a EXCELLENT job as the DC last year and I can only have HIGH HIGH HIGH hopes for this new defense with all these Defensive geniuses on the squad now...

[cdandi1]

Look for Carolina to finish with the league's #1 defense if we can stay healthy! Also look for us to sign talent out of Chicago and SD... He has history with players on both teams. Our defense will be SICK for years to come with this coaching staff. To think that the offense even has a chance to be as good as the D with the weapons we have quite frankly makes my dick hard!

easy killer, don't ruin your keyboard

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

And Mills, as one of two returning coaches on the staff along with Meeks, is the "gum" in the gumbo.

Who puts gum in gumbo?

[Snake]

i think his title is defensive quality control....i think thats like a coach in training

Yes and more like DC in training.

I feel like he hangs around due to JR, but he's quality control coach. Teams say they never look ahead to the next week, but the reason they don't is the quality control coach does it. I think he does other stuff like run the scout team. He tries to track a players progress, makes sure they aren't treading water, always geting better.

QCs can be a number of things but SM3 job is to scout other teams and break down there film one week ahead for the DC and players. This is not an easy job by any means.

Usually quality control coaches move up to be coordinators, then head Coaches.

Yes but it does not have to be that way. QC is a specific job like QB coach so he could stay put or go on to do many other things.

[rayzor]

Who puts gum in gumbo?

depends on if you want bo or something more.