For Blache, less is more

It’s not only the start of the Jim Zorn era this weekend at Redskin Park. Former line coach Greg Blache is also beginning his command of the Washington Redskins’ defense during this minicamp.

While the personnel and the coaches remains virtually unchanged, there’s more than the expected tweaking of the scheme with the switch from deposed assistant head coach Gregg Williams to Blache.

Where Williams loved to brag about the number of “packages” in which he could align his players like chess pieces, Blache, the more low-key former Chicago Bears coordinator, said he wants to fit his defense to their talent.

“We will have fewer packages because this is about the players,” Blache said. “This is not about building the perfect castle. It’s about giving the players something they can execute in the heat of battle and under stressful situations. The biggest thing is being able to execute, get to the football and knock the ball out.

“We’re trying to be a hard, physical defense that’s intimidating with our speed and hitting ability and you can’t do that when you’re thinking about 20,000 different things. You can do that when you’re comfortable knowing what you have to do. And that’s what we are going to try and focus on.”

Left end Phillip Daniels started on Blache’s Chicago defense that allowed the NFL’s fewest points and second-fewest rushing yards while leading the Bears to the NFC Central title in 2001.

“Greg’s a great guy for the position,” said Daniels, in his ninth season under Blache. “This is the same defense we ran in Chicago. Greg and Gregg worked together for four years so the defense hasn’t really changed. But Greg’s only aggressive when he has to be where Gregg would mix it all in. If we can stop teams with our base defenses, we’re not going to blitz. He has a lot of confidence in us.”

Indeed, Blache said he’s “as close as it gets” in coaching to being in utopia.” Still, he’s not relentlessly upbeat. Long shot end Tommy Davis paid for an on-field error yesterday with five up-downs on the sideline.

But Blache has hosted an annual dinner at his house for his linemen and another for all the coaches. Williams was more in-your-face and less chummy in his relationships. And unlike Williams, who coached the Buffalo Bills from 2001 to 2003 and wants to run a team again, Blache has never aimed to be more than a coordinator.

During Blache’s four drafts as line coach, the Redskins didn’t choose a linemen above the fifth round. In his first draft as coordinator, Washington’s only lineman was Kansas State end Rob Jackson in the seventh round. Right end Andre Carter is the only non-street free agent lineman the Redskins have added the last four offseasons.

Daniels is 35, and left tackle Cornelius Griffin is an aging 31. Middle linebacker London Fletcher will be 33 this month. Strongside backer Marcus Washington, 30, has been plagued by injuries the past two years.

Blache, who is proud of getting good performances from lesser-knowns like Kedric Golston, Demetric Evans and Anthony Montgomery, said the decision not to restock his aging front seven didn’t ruffle him.

“You don’t worry about what you want. You make do with what you have,” Blache said. “We have some very talented people, regardless of their age. They compete at a high level. They’re capable of winning in this league. They proved it last season.

“Yeah we’d like to get some younger players and we do have some … that we’re going to try to infuse into the program, but you can find football players other than in the first round. It’s just a matter of finding guys with the talent, the desire and putting in the time to coach them.

“That’s why they call us coaches,” the 58-year-old continued. “They don’t call us interior decorators. We have to find guys with a passion for the game and coach them to be able to do things that they’re successful at in our system. Our stuff will be tailor-made to our people. So if we have an injury, you’ll see a change to be able to suit the guy that gets that spot. We’ll be as good as our people are. And right now I like the people we have.”