Bear Hands

Well dangit! He just announced that tonight, what weird timing haha

If anything, Kafka has the weakest network out of all of these candidates. Reich, likely the largest.

A good portion of the Eagles staff would strongly consider following Shane per The Athletic. He seems like a super impressive guy by all accounts that has a strong network. And Ben as mentioned is plugged into a really significant branch of the Holmgren tree so it's not just the Campbell staff. The Bengals, Cowboys, Bucs, Dolphins, and Lions all have parts of their crews with ties to his biggest growth years on an NFL staff. He has a much wider net than the other candidates with strong roots.

Whatever happened to mad cow disease? It was here for a while and then went away. Your thoughts?

Love that the first two posts are Rashee Rice and Zay. Two of my favorite receivers in this draft. Rome Odunze is one I really like. One of the reasons Penix had such a monster year. He's a dude I've just got a really good feeling about. He gets open and burns. 6'3 200, only 20 years old.

Okie dokie...

I'm a Wilks fan but I just don't know, I'm not as sold as others. 100% no issue if he lands the job, it means he had a convincing vision compared to some of the better candidate crop we've had in recent years. I would back him and be a happy fan. I just saw too many conservative tendencies and a Rivera-era feel that I just want to get away from. I also can't unsee whatever that Rams game was, the Bengals, Ravens, Steelers. There were some pretty leaky performances no matter how sweet it was that we stayed playoff reach and how great he is in the locker room. He's a bit Tomlin-esque in tone, but more Rivera in philosophy, and I just have a hard time with the latter. We just really need to take a swing here. BUT, if he can find a dude to compliment him well that keeps us on the front end of things, I'm for it. I'm leaning towards B Johnson because it seems he has a bit of all sides. Has his players' ears and is at the forefront of NFL trends. I just want to be a part of teams that are ahead of the mark, not becoming a team reacting to what the best are doing. I'm not saying we won't do that with Wilks but it just feels like we won't be this heat seeking missile for the endzone with him. It's more this clear identity and grind the opponent into the dirt rather than a chess match, multi-weapon approach w/scheme blending.

Man, we're up to like 10-11 guys now. I quite like both Ryans & Mayo but still prefer some of these OCs.

To add to OP: Demeco Ryans Age: 38 Current Gig: 49ers DC College LB, Pro LB (9 years), Pro-Coach 6 years (2 years DC) https://www.49ers.com/team/coaches-roster/demeco-ryans I have heard on a few outlets that teams love Demeco and he's received very high praise around multiple circles. He may be one of the types that is an even better HC than simply a defense or offense guy. Key with him is who his offensive minds would be. Jerod Mayo https://www.patriots.com/team/coaches-roster/jerod-mayo Age: 36 Current Gig: Patriots LB Coach College LB, Career Captain, Pro LB (7 years), LB Coach (4 years) https://nationalpost.com/pmn/sports-pmn/jerod-mayo-one-of-flms-5-under-the-radar-hc-candidates

It's like every OC we've had minus Chud wanted to make their best Dan Henning impression.

Drafting a stud is all circumstantial. The teams drafting really high are mostly there for making poor draft decisions and missing on those QBs (and a bunch of other issues). Sometimes they'll just get lucky and a Cam or Luck come along. But otherwise, the teams that may have an eye for a QB can see a guy they like slip past those top slots and then boom. They pounce after the promising dude gets past the Bears, Texans, Colts, Raiders of the world. You'll have franchises that are consistent, maybe in a down year/rebooting picking ~10-20 can target that trade up for a guy they like. Exhibit A & B being KC and BUF. Wait and see is fine, but if there's a clear tier 1 and a tier 2 QB group on our board, and one of those guys is available after the Colts pick, I'd say, try and get something done. I'm a bit torn between what we'd give up moving to pick 3 (AZ) but think pick 5 could be a good spot. Just depends.

I feel like Cade could've been a R2-3 type selection if he stayed at UGA. He's honestly in a really good spot here. Backup with starter potential. Would totally support a depth OL add in R3-5 this year.

Mike Kafka Vid below (somewhat dry alert) but I wouldn't discount this dude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsRoc8GPySs&ab_channel=NewYorkGiants Something I'm trying to place is how these different personalities will work with our interview room. Hurney & Tepper sounded like they went with the feel with Rhule. I just see Hurney as such a sucker type. WIth Fitt it's different. They may need to step back and ask themselves who really laid out the best vision and not just who had the best interview from a personable standpoint. Will have their BS detectors on, and Scott seems much more in tune with the vision and philosophy chatter. Looking at Ben Johnson, think he will absolutely crush first impressions, he's easily got the most charisma, but that doesn't mean he's the best. If they take some time to deliberate and see who's best, Steichen or even Kafka could come out looking really impressive. All depends I suppose! My instinct has those 3 as our frontrunners. Steichen, Johnson, Kafka

I gotta say, this just feels SOOOOOO much more damn promising than the 2019 batch of Mike McCarthy, Matt Rhule, Josh McDaniels, & Rob Ryan

Posted elsewhere but worth a repost: Kendall Roy, I mean, Jonathan Gannon speaks a different language haha

Ooh that's nice. I'd like to think whoever we select identifies that we have a top-tier OL Coach with some really nice pieces in place. Hoping we re-sign Bozeman and keep Campen. Would keep things really consistent in the trenches for a new staff. Just hope the desired scheme aligns with the personnel for our new coach.

Awesome.

From the AFS: Fun thing that Steichen does in Philly that would definitely fold into his next squad--They do self-scouts of the opposing-side come offseason. So at season's end, the offensive staff scouts their defense (& vice versa) and identifies how they'd attack them and their weaknesses heading into the offseason. Helps identify what they need to fix as much as the defensive staff's preferred wants. They learn how their own offense would attack them and try to respond. Steichen is apparently also still pretty tight with Rivers and has some strong staffing connections that he could take with him. He comes from multiple schematic backgrounds so no set philosophy. Sirianni may have to really figure out how to repatch a huge chunk of his staff. Also sounds like he has a really method-based approach with modifying his playbook as needed to the players he has. More symbiotic than simply playbook, insert players or players, insert playbook.

Some Notes: Surprised that Kellen Moore is the youngest of the bunch. Didn't realize that until I pulled it all together. Ben Johnson has more experience than may be perceived and under staffs that had a lot of legends and future HCs on them. I had mentioned elsewhere but Ben Johnson has connections with a few staffs stemming from his Miami days, part of a Holmgren off-shoot coaching tree. Is likely tight with a lot of Zac Taylor's staff. And fun fact--didn't realize Mike Sherman is Zac Taylor's father-in-law.

Thx, figured to aggregate everything with fun photos and all. Didn't have time for extensive blurbs but I figure that type of info could be broken out separately.

Notable similarity is sans Caldwell, the entire candidate list was a college QB

Official (Interviewed or Requested): *Steve Wilks Current Interim HC. His name and season speak for themselves. Solid option. Ken Dorsey https://www.buffalobills.com/team/coaches-roster/ken-dorsey 41 years old Current Gig: Bills OC We know him well. College QB, Panthers QB Coach for Cam, has worked his way up in Buffalo. Experience: College QB, 7 years pro-player (QB) 9 Years pro-coach (1 year OC) Ben Johnson https://www.detroitlions.com/team/coaches-roster/ben-johnson 36 years old Current Gig: Lions OC Experience: College QB, 2 Years College-Coach, 11 years Pro-Coach (1 year OC) One of the hot names. Seems to be one of the fan front-runners along with Steichen. Biography linked. Mike Kafka https://www.giants.com/team/coaches-roster/mike-kafka 35 years old Current Gig: Giants OC Experience: College QB, 5 years Pro-player (QB), 1 year College-Coach, 6 years Pro-Coach (1 year OC) Shane Steichen https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/team/coaches-roster/shane-steichen 37 years old Current Gig: Eagles OC College QB, 1 year college-coach, 11 years pro-coach (2 years OC) Kellen Moore https://www.dallascowboys.com/team/coaches-roster/kellen-moore 34 years old Current Gig: Cowboys OC Boise State Wonder Boy QB, 5 years pro-player (QB), 5 years pro-coaching (4 years OC) Has been a hot name at times, but the hype has definitely gone down a tad. Frank Reich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Reich 61 years old Current Gig: Chilling Experience: College QB, 13 years pro player (QB), 15 years pro-coach (4 OC, 4 HC) Record: 40-33-1, Won a SB as an OC Notable: Panther's 1st Starting QB, Also referenced in the classic, best diss track ever "Hit Em' Up", by 2Pac circa 1996 Jim Caldwell 67 years old Current Gig: Enjoying Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Caldwell_(American_football) Experience: 45+ years (Has coached since my parents were married in 1977) 2X Super Bowl Champion, 62-50 HC record Demeco Ryans Age: 38 Current Gig: 49ers DC College LB, Pro LB (9 years), Pro-Coach 6 years (2 years DC) https://www.49ers.com/team/coaches-roster/demeco-ryans I have heard on a few outlets that teams love Demeco and he's received very high praise around multiple circles. He may be one of the types that is an even better HC than simply a defense or offense guy. Key with him is who his offensive minds would be. Jerod Mayo https://www.patriots.com/team/coaches-roster/jerod-mayo Age: 36 Current Gig: Patriots LB Coach College LB, Career Captain, Pro LB (7 years), LB Coach (4 years) https://nationalpost.com/pmn/sports-pmn/jerod-mayo-one-of-flms-5-under-the-radar-hc-candidates -- ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: The Athletic Football Show Coaching Feature https://theathletic.com/podcast/211-the-athletic-football-show/?episode=604 SI Coaching Spread: https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/12/26/nfl-head-coach-candidates-2023

After listening to the Athletic's pod on this year's coaching crop, I'm re-convinced Steichen is legit along with Ben. Both sound just about as ideal of candidates as you want. Would highly recommend people check that out. Easy to listen to in the background while working haha

Naturally, an ice cream fork eater (B Johnson) will gravitate to the mayonnaise in coffee drinker (Levis) Should we be nervous?? lol

I like Drew Sanders & Trenton Simpson Daiyan Henley interests me but he may need a year to get seasoned.