hands dirty with them again like he did last year. Howell was technically the defensive coordinator, but Bronco was heavily involved and made the defensive calls. Bronco's two main strengths as a coach are his defensive aptitude (he his a gifted defensive mind), and he is able to motivate players to put out incredible effort. This last aspect only comes in to play when Bronco is working closely with a unit, such as when he takes charge of the defense. He's able to get a ton out of his players when he works closely with them. As a head coach with no coordinator responsibilities, his motivational advantage is largely lost. When he sits back and just tries to manage the program, leaving the hands-on stuff to Howell on defense, the fanatical effort and discipline (position mastery, assignment soundness, etc.) just isn't there because Howell just does not have the same motivational abilities that Bronco has.