Job descriptions

[Cyberjag]

I've been around the huddle for a long time, and over the course of that time I've read that Fox is responsible for everything from calling the plays in the huddle to deciding how the field should be painted at gametime. Trgovac is or isn't responsible for the defense. Davidson calls plays for Fox's offense, or Fox calls plays for Davidson's offense, or Fox does it all but Davidson's there to look stern. Delhomme calls all his own plays or has them called for him. Hurney makes personnel decisions or does what Richardson/Fox tell him to do.

Can we get things straight here? What do you think these guys do all day long? Clearly way too much credit is given to Fox, he can't be everywhere doing everything. How much film does he study, or does he study film excerpts that his coordinators pick out? Who does what here? And can we be serious when discussing this? What do you think the weekly job responsibilities for the following people are?

Marty Hurney -

John Fox -

Jeff Davidson -

Mike Trgovac -

[PowerlessDan]

Damn fine question, but I don't have a clue. I'll just stick around and maybe I'll learn something.

[Darth Biscuit]

There's no way to know for sure, but 99% of what's posted about that is rumor or speculation... at best it's fourth or fifth hand hearsay.

[Towelboy]

hurney- i see his role as a number cruncher that makes the contracts work. i have no idea what he does on a daily basis, but he earns his paycheck on draft day and the days that follow.

davidson- i think he does call the plays and works with his offensive coaches to find schemes and plays that work. i think he scripts out a gameplan but has descretion to change it as he sees fit. i don't think john fox makes the decisions for him, but fox does make it known that the panthers are a run-first offense.

trgovac- i think he's john fox's puppet. he does what john tells him. fox is a defensive coach and i think he and trgovac work out a gameplan together. on game day, i think he calls in the plays that john wants him to call. i doubt he has much pull in deciding who stays and who goes. i think he's a sheep that follows because he doesn't want to lose his job.

fox- fox hasn't a clue how to run an offense. i think he leaves that up to davidson. i do think the run game is his baby and he encourages davidson to lean that way. i view fox as a player's coach. i think he's more of a cheerleader than an ass chewer.

[Cyberjag]

I don't claim to know how this stuff actually operates, but I know that each one of these guys is human and can't do everything. They all put in way more than 40 hours every week in planning and preparation. They have to work closely together, and each one has enough responsibilities to keep two people busy. This is what I believe about them all, and in that it becomes clear that the HC, OC, and DC are all out there playing individual chess games against their opposition. I think the HC has the hardest job, because he has to be involved in all of it. For those who think Fox is running the defense or controlling the offense, I just have to ask you when he has time to do that. Setting the vision is a lot different from implementing a scheme.

Anyway, here's how I think it shakes out for the Panthers. I'm really interested in your opinions as well.

Hurney is responsible for all the coaches and players on the team and their contracts. He manages other things I'm sure, such as the stadium staff and other personnel, but those duties are largely delegated. His day should be spent in short meetings with Fox to communicate team needs, planning on ways to manage the salary cap, meetings with players and coaches agents, and calls with other general managers throughout the league. Fox might tell him "get me a cornerback", and then Hurney will come back and tell Fox which ones he might be able to get and what they'll cost. Right now I bet his entire days are consumed with working out salary cap issues and trying to resign free agents.

Fox is the head coach, the guy in charge. He chooses his coordinators and also has input on the position coaches. He sets the vision for how he wants his team to play. He decides on how tough the strength and conditioning coaches need to make it on the players, he comes up with the best way to motivate his staff and his players, and he determines who will start and who will suit up for each game. He doesn't necessarily choose what schemes the team practices, but he chooses the strategy he wants executed in the games. When he studies film, he's looking at what the opposing coach is going to do in certain situations. He has to decide on the winning strategy. He has a certain set of tools in the players and schemes that are given him by his coordinators, and he has to use those to beat his opponent. He doesn't micromanage, he directs. For instance, he may have told Davidson to air it out when we got behind but let Davidson choose the plays to execute that strategy. It was likely his decision to start out covering Fitzgerald the way they had in the first meeting, and at halftime he directed his DC to give him a different look. I imagine he was pretty surprised that what worked before wasn't working at all in this game, and wasn't prepared for the extra protection that Warner got which gave him time to find Fitz on all those plays.

The HC is focused on team needs and will give the GM his wish list and consult with him on which players they can afford and who they don't have a chance for. He has to work with who the GM is able to get though, whether he wants to or not. Look at Wade Phillips--think he wanted both Roy Williams AND Terrell Owens on the same team or did he just think he could make them each happy they weren't getting every throw sent their way? He gives his input on personnel, but at the end of the day he has to work with what the GM gives him.

The Coordinators both do pretty much the same thing. Their job is to design plays and teach their units how and sometimes when to execute them. They work with the players and position coaches to learn who can do what and adjust their sets accordingly. They install sets and show the head coach what they expect out of each one. They communicate the strengths and weaknesses of each set and how they look with certain personnel in them. They study film on their opponents to look for ways they can tweak their base sets to take advantage of what they will see that week. Out of that study they assemble a basic playbook for the game and present it to the head coach. During the game, they call the plays. Usually they call two or three plays, and let the team captains decide which is the one that should be executed on the field.

Position coaches focus on technique and getting the most out of their players at individual positions. Strength and conditioning coaches do the obvious.