Coaching and GM Candidates (Broad List)

[Mr. Scot]

Funny: I've done these lists in midseason before and almost always gotten someone saying it was premature.

Nobody's said that this time.

[Mr. Scot]

One other just sort of "aaahh, what the hell" question to throw out...

Suppose Kevin Colbert takes over and one of his early moves is to trade a low round pick back to the Steelers for Rock Hill kid Mason Rudolph.

How would you view that?

[Davidson Deac II]

30 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Roman was working under Marty Mornhinweg before he got promoted to be his replacement. Not a name I'd be a fan of, but you could argue that he's had good moments as an OC.

I could take a look back at Roman's coaching history for a few other ideas. I've done that with Campbell.

Admittedly, I haven't studied it indepth as you probably have, but I kind of like the Minnesota guy.  Cousins is having his best year year ever, and Cousins reminds me a little bit of Allen, at least in the way he started out in the league, coming in as a low draft pick and being a turnover machine.  So if Cam can't come back healthy, and if Allen is the guy we end up with, maybe Stefanski might be the best bet.  

[Icege]

4 hours ago, rodeo said:

even Roman? turning Lamar Jackson into a damn star. imagine what he can do with Cam. i want that guy so bad. i want to lay in bed next to Greg Roman and just be comforted knowing that he's near me.

Yea, even Roman. Lamar has always been able to play at a high level, clowns like Whitlock though just push narratives like "he can't throw."

If it was just from that list of coaches, yea, Roman. Not even based off of Lamar, but from what he did in 2015 with Tyrod Taylor and the Bills offense. When he was with SF though, they were never a top 10 offense despite having strong running games due to having abyssmal passing offenses. That's the biggest reason for my concern, as SF consistently had elite defenses during his time there. The offense emphasized ball security and letting the defense set the offense up for success. I've seen enough of that under Rivera. I want a team that can win in all three phases of the game.

[Squirrel]

Any possibility we can woo Beane from Buffalo?

 

Edit: I see it has been asked. Leaving it here for my vote. 

[Panthercougar68]

Dan Campbell train CHOO CHOO.

After reading this sporting news article I'm on board

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/dan-campbell-nfl-head-coach-saints-dolphins-cowboys-colts/2808dcb6pxoo131f095zz7qgp

[Prowler2k18]

33 minutes ago, Panthercougar68 said:

Dan Campbell train CHOO CHOO.

After reading this sporting news article I'm on board

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/dan-campbell-nfl-head-coach-saints-dolphins-cowboys-colts/2808dcb6pxoo131f095zz7qgp

Great read. I’m sold!

[MVPccaffrey]

Looking at that list of losers and retreads makes me even more confident coach Rivera will be at the helm next year.  Peeheeew.

[Mr. Scot]

That piece from Alex Marvez is one of the first articles I read about Campbell.

Here are some excerpts...
 

Quote

Something else stood out about Parcells that Campbell has tried to emulate: the ability to connect with players from a myriad of different backgrounds.

"One player had to be pushed differently than this one,” Campbell said. “He always talked about Lawrence Taylor needing a different message than Phil Simms, Jim Burt and Harry Carson did.

"I was always fascinated by that. And then once you go to play for the guy, you understand exactly what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. It’s so simple, it’s brilliant.”

Jimmy Johnson used to be that way too.

 

Quote

One lesson learned was the value of outside-the-box thinking when it comes to game-planning, especially when facing a superior opponent. Campbell vividly remembers how Parcells laid the groundwork for a 31-28 upset over Kansas City during the 2005 season.

"They were No. 1 in the league in points per game, and we were not that type of team, although we had a good defense," Campbell said. "Parcells said, ‘Look, we’re gonna be aggressive. We’re gonna throw the ball down the field. On fourth down, we’re gonna go for it.’

"It was totally opposite than the nature of how he had taught us to play. But we won the game because we outscored them."

That kind of flexibility in game planning is something you'd never hear from our current staff.
 

Quote

Campbell said that type of connection wouldn't be possible without Parcells having the ability to “see through B.S.” like no other coach he ever had before.

"Some guys can talk their way out of stuff, or say, ‘I am a leader. I really push it to the max. I’m really a team guy,’ when they’re not," Campbell said. "It’s all coming out of their mouth, but there are all these little hints behind the scenes where that’s not going on.

"Bill could sniff that stuff out a mile away. That’s important because that’s how you weed out the cancers."

Ron himself has acknowledged he wasn't always very good at "reading" players. When he sat down to talk to some of them back in 2015, he learned some things he had no idea were true.

 

Quote

But it wasn’t until Philbin was fired four games into the 2015 season that Campbell would enter the mainstream coaching spotlight.

The Dolphins weren’t just an on-field mess after an uninspiring 1-3 start. There was friction behind the scenes between assistant coaches and key players. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had angered members of the scout team with belittling comments following a practice. It had become obvious Philbin lacked the gravitas needed as a head coach to fix the issues.

Even though he would become the NFL’s youngest head coach at the time, the 39-year-old Campbell had that kind of presence. Miami’s football czar Mike Tannenbaum recognized it.

Tannenbaum cited Campbell’s “leadership, toughness and energy” when promoting him to try and clean up the mess Philbin had created.

Keep in mind that when he was named interim head coach, he wasn't the OC. He was the TE coach. Yet even as an assistant the brass saw him as the guy for the job.

 

Quote

"I did know that it was dysfunctional when I took it over,” Campbell said. “There were issues going on, particularly on (defense), and a lot of different things that were in play that I had no idea about.

"I felt like I spent the first couple of weeks just trying to sort through that and get the right chemistry."

Campbell began doing that immediately by firing defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle and making other staff tweaks (offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was axed later in the season). He changed the arrangement of player lockers to better promote camaraderie. He emphasized the importance of competition through such motivational tactics as a tug-of-war, a full-contact Oklahoma drill and practices that pitted front-line offensive and defensive players against each other rather than the scout team.

Campbell’s tactics paid quick dividends. Miami won its next two games, against Tennessee and Houston, by a combined 82-36 margin. The success inspired a series of classic internet memes that included the well-muscled Campbell riding an actual dolphin and comparisons to the PC Principal on South Park.

A "tough love" approach; again, not something you'd expect from our existing staff.

 

Quote

Said Campbell: “One of the hardest things for ex-players who are coaches is for them to really drive their players. They’ve been in their shoes. They know how hard it is and how bad some of this stuff sucks and the grind of it. And they somewhat feel sorry or empathy for those players they’re coaching.

"That’s the worst thing that you can do. It really is. I think that gets a lot of coaches who are not hard enough on them.”

Campbell said he was guilty of making that mistake at times with the Dolphins — and it won’t be one he makes again.

"I didn’t hold them accountable all the time like I should have,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It’s kind of like when you’re in that position, you’re trying to keep some life in this team and you’ve got to be careful, because if you go full bore the other way you’re not gonna get anything out of them. They’d already lost a coach and you’re already in dire straits. So you’ve gotta try to keep upbeat and positive.

"But if I had it my way and I was going in fresh, I’d have been a little bit harder. Just call things out for what they were more than I did."

The pitfalls of being a "player's coach"...

 

Quote

"I’m a lot more prepared now because when you take over, you don’t realize all the little things that come along with it,” Campbell said of the head-coaching job. “You sit down, you’re getting ready to watch tape and it’s like, ‘Hey, you gotta do this interview. You gotta go meet with player programs. We need to go talk about this guy’s contract. The Jets are wanting to get rid of this guy and I think we may be able to claim him (on waivers) — do we want him? Who do we want to put in first class (for a road game) this week?’

"You’re like, ‘Golly man, I haven’t gotten to football yet.’ You have to make the most of your time and be as efficient as you can. You really have to be a master multi-tasker to really be good at that job."

This is the kind of adjustment a coordinator would still have to make, but Campbell has already seen it.

 

Quote

“There’s a presence about him and realness to him when he coaches,” Payton told Sporting News during a telephone interview. “It’s the same way when he deals with anyone in the building from a fellow staff member or someone down the hall in marketing.

“I don’t want to say he’s old school in that way, but he’s very much of a worker. He’s someone I consider a real talented coach and heck of a good person.”

As assistant head coach, Campbell is entrusted with a slew of different tasks like addressing the team to start the day if Payton is occupied with other responsibilities. Campbell, like other Saints assistants, also is expected to offer input into game plans. Payton likes a collaborative process.

The effectiveness of such an approach is reflected by New Orleans fielding a top-four unit in yards and scoring in the two seasons since Campbell’s arrival.

Payton believes part of their offensive success stems from Campbell. I'll take that.

 

Quote

“Offensively, he’s got some very good thoughts,” said Payton, who was a Giants assistant when the club made Campbell a 1999 third-round draft pick. “Often times, former players who become coaches will value some of the same strengths that that they had.

“Dan was a tremendous blocker and functional in the passing game. Yet in his evaluation of college players or pro free agents, he still puts a high value on (tight ends) who can run and get open. He has a really open mind to what we’re looking for and ways to do things.”

An emphasis on blocking? Hell yes, I'll take that!

 

Quote

Payton acknowledges Campbell might not be with the Saints much longer, as the latter is set to enter the 2019 offseason as one of the NFL’s top head coaching candidates. Someone else who would offer a strong endorsement is Ballard, who described the decision to hire Reich instead of Campbell as a “tough choice.”

“Most tight ends who play in this league are very smart,” Ballard told me on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “They’ve got to know both the passing and running game. When we interviewed Dan, you see that in him.

"He’s been mentored and trained playing under Bill Parcells and coaching under Sean Payton. He’s got a great vision of what he wants (his team) to be. I think he’s going to be an outstanding head coach. It’s not a matter of if, but when."

I'd definitely suggest reading the whole thing, but maybe these passages can at least help you get why I love the idea of this guy as our next head coach.

[NYPantherFan]

2 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

One other just sort of "aaahh, what the hell" question to throw out...

Suppose Kevin Colbert takes over and one of his early moves is to trade a low round pick back to the Steelers for Rock Hill kid Mason Rudolph.

How would you view that?

No thanks. Allen and Rudolph are the same level of talent in my opinion. 

[kungfoodude]

3 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

One other just sort of "aaahh, what the hell" question to throw out...

Suppose Kevin Colbert takes over and one of his early moves is to trade a low round pick back to the Steelers for Rock Hill kid Mason Rudolph.

How would you view that?

A poor man's version of trading for Josh Rosen(a move I don't like either). Nothing about Mason Rudolph makes me think he is more than a backup.

[Moo Daeng]

4 hours ago, MVPccaffrey said:

Looking at that list of losers and retreads makes me even more confident coach Rivera will be at the helm next year.  Peeheeew.

You may need to actually look at the list since it has no retreads 

[SOJA]

This reminds me of the good ole days of the Huddle when Rivera was being hired and Scot's high quality coaching search threads. Well done as always 

[Harbingers]

@Mr. Scot

That whole list is beyond ugly and worse than we have right now. 

((And as you should know this isn’t a knock on you. Especially for your compilation effort. It’s just the simple truth of those people.))