i keep reading these articles about who could be the next head coach and why they’d be a great fit. a lot of people on this board also keep throwing out names of successful coordinators.
based on our recent experience, as well as other teams, a great coordinator doesn’t automatically translate into a great head coach. for anyone who is in a management position at their jobs, you know that being good at your job doesnt mean that you know how to lead others and oversee an organization.
those are two very different skill sets and MP has been a clear example of someone who can strategize a defensive gameplan (for NE, not for us) but just plain sucks at managing people and creating a culture.
falling in love with successful coordinators might be missing the big picture and how their lack of experience at a head coaching level could completely derail them and the lions for another 3-5 years.
Eberflus, Daboll, Bieniemy, and Greg Roman are all names i’m seeing but i don’t know that they’ve ever been more than coordinators. i love the strategy and success they brought to their respective teams but what do they know about overseeing a team? sure some first timers have had success but i bet way more first timers fail than succeed.
on game day, a head coach is probably only responsible for 5% of the plays we see (when to go for it on 4th down, when to challenge, etc) while the coordinators handle the other 95%.
with that being said, i think what the lions desperately need at this point is a head coach whos been there and had success. someone who can change the culture and attitude of the team and get them focused on the big picture. simply put, i’m not interested in our next head coach learning on the job.
i do like the idea of finding coordinators who are creative and can follow the general direction that the head coach is laying out. while i understand that most successful NFL coordinators would not be interested in making a lateral move to the Lions, perhaps a successful college coach/coordinator would be enticed to make the jump to the NFL.
Good post and its what I’ve said all along…I have very little interest in getting a guy who will be learning on the job. I want a retread who has been a HC before. We are a dysfunctional organization and need more stability in the organization before we should be looking at the next hot-shot coordinator.
Coaches can also set the tone and direction during the game as far as playcalling. I’ve seen the head coach determine whether the next play or drive would be aggressive vs conservative…run vs pass…zone vs blitz, etc. I’ve also seen them try to predict what the defense would be doing (for instance) and how important a particular play is. So he might get to that situation and tell the OC “pull out your best man-beater on this play” or “let’s not call our best man-beater, lets save that for the 4th quarter.” A good head coach can influence a coordinator in a very positive or negative way during a game. If Andy Reid were the OC instead of the playcalling Head Coach back in Philly…a good HC would have told Andy on several occasions “we’re getting a little pass happy, let’s re-establish the run game here.”
A lateral move isn’t possible alot of the time unless the coordinator’s contract happens to run out…or for some reason the organization just wants to make a change. I don’t mind a first time coordinator making the leap up, particularly if we have an experienced HC. I obviously prefer a guy like Nathaniel Hackett (Green Bay OC, former Jags and Bills OC) who seemed to know what he was doing but was kind of a scapegoat for bigger problems going on in the organization. I also have no issue with someone like Bevel. What I don’t like is a long time coordinator who has been very average or below average for a very long time. Not only do you not have a high achiever in that scenario, you don’t even have the element of surprise because teams have tons of game film on the guy.
“with that being said, i think what the lions desperately need at this point is a head coach whos been there and had success. someone who can change the culture and attitude of the team and get them focused on the big picture. simply put, i’m not interested in our next head coach learning on the job”
I’m still in the Bevell kick - he does have five games … oh wait!, fours games of HC with the very team needing a HC next season, and it keeps continuity with Matt… and as a few teams did this year already, he stays at the OC as well…
If there are no decent, former HC’s, I would like Saleh…he may not have HC experience in the NFL, but he seems to have an heir of command over the his players that almost seems like an HC. Hell, whenever I watch an SF game, the broadcast shows and talks about him more than their actual HC. Some guys seem to have the “it” factor, and imo, of all the coordinater candidates he has “it”, and looks ready for the next level.
we never knew how good we had it until he was gone. if we could rewind the clock, i would have preferred Caldwell with some younger and more innovative coordinators.
If the new GM and coach are planning to keep Stafford, it’s actually possible Bevell returns as OC. If the new GM trades Stafford, Bev is gone for sure.
Keeping Bevell creates a problem. Does Rod hire the next GM on the condition that his head coach is Bevell? Or is the GM selected over better qualified candidates because he says that he wants Bevell?
I liked Austin. But yes, I would have liked to have seen Caldwell with some different coordinators.
Promoting the interim HC to full time HC doesn’t really seem to work these days. There are historical instances of it working out swimmingly, but most of the modern versions of it have flopped.
That’s one of the things I like about Marvin Lewis. He’s a steady leader like Caldwell, but he’s definitely got an edge and can stomach some more aggressive schemes. He’s also worked with some up-and-comers in the past, so I can see him doing that again.
Most head coaches have been coordinators at one time or another. There are definitely coaches who are better suited as coordinators than head coaches: Wade Phillips, Dick LeBeau, Munchak, Martz, etc… but you don’t know that until they’ve failed. Plenty of really successful coordinators went on to be successful head coaches as well, from Belichick to Bill Walsh to Shanahan.
We shouldn’t limit in any way during this search. Don’t zero in on experience, or an offensive guy, or whatever. Interview them all and find the right guy. That’s it. Just find the right guy, wherever he comes from.
I’m all for Marvin Lewis. Finished .500 or better in 10 of 16 seasons in Cincinnati. Made the playoffs 7 times. Idc that he didn’t win a playoff game, he got there. He’s always had aggressive defenses, none of the “bend but don’t break” crap. I think he checks all the boxes. You know what you’re getting. He’s a legitimate NFL coach.