Moving Towards our Future Front Office and Coaching Hires. All the Way to the Water Boy - Adam Peters Hired as GM! The Mighty Quinn is HC Kliff Kingsbury as OC. Joe Whitt jr at DC.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

Traits like guys who are always working hard, drawing up plays and obsessed with offense are traits that I like in an OC.  That is Kingsbury.  From all reports, the way things went down in AZ helped him realize that he wants to be focused on offense only.  Something I think fans do too much of is consider coaches  and players rom static positions, as if they can’t learn from their mistakes and make changes for the better.  Sometimes that’s true, often times it’s not.

[Riggo#44]

6 minutes ago, MartinC said:

It’s worth noting that Kingsbury has never been an OC at NFL level. 
 

Though he was OC by default when he was HC of the Cards I guess.

Have any of our candidates? I don’t count Brian Johnson. I’d rather have just about anyone else.

[Ball Security]

2 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Commanders coordinator tracker: Kliff Kingsbury in play as next OC

Cowboys’ Joe Whitt Jr. is front-runner at defensive coordinator

 

...Kingsbury, 44, previously was a middling head coach for the Arizona Cardinals and Texas Tech but has a strong track record of developing quarterbacks. By points scored, his Cardinals offenses finished 16th, 11th and 10th before falling to 23rd the year quarterback Kyler Murray tore his ACL; Washington’s best finish since 2018 is 23rd.]

 

In college, Kingsbury tutored Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes, Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel and Houston’s Case Keenum. In the NFL, he coached Murray.

 

In April, after being fired by Arizona with a record of 28-37-1, Kingsbury joined USC to help mentor Caleb Williams, projected to be a top pick in this year’s NFL draft. If Washington hires Kingsbury, it will fuel speculation the Commanders could trade up with the Chicago Bears to select the D.C. native.

Kingsbury runs a spread offense derived from the Air Raid, a pass-heavy scheme based out of the shotgun. But he calls runs at a higher rate than Bieniemy did last season.

A former quarterback at Texas Tech, Kingsbury excelled in the Air Raid from 1998 to 2002. The New England Patriots drafted him in the sixth round in 2003, and he became a journeyman backup in the NFL and the Canadian Football League until he retired in 2007. The next year, he joined Houston as an offensive quality control coach and began ascending the coaching ladder.

 

On the defensive side, the Commanders are strongly considering Joe Whitt Jr., the Cowboys’ secondary coach and pass game coordinator, two people familiar with the situation said. Whitt held the same title in Atlanta in 2020, when Dan Quinn was the Falcons’ head coach, then followed Quinn to Dallas the next season.

The Commanders, who formally announced Quinn’s hire as their head coach Saturday, are still working through the interview process for coordinators. Per NFL rules, teams must interview at least two external candidates for who are persons of color or women before hiring a coordinator.

Here are some candidates, and other names worth watching as Washington rounds out its coaching staff.

 

...Brian Griese, San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach

Griese, a quarterback who played 11 seasons in the NFL, jumped from the “Monday Night Football” booth to the sideline without any coaching experience in 2022. In two years, Griese, 48, has helped Brock Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 draft, develop into the league’s leader in passer rating and is headed to Super Bowl LVIII. He is on the Commanders’ list of candidates, a person with knowledge of the matter said. But if the team wants him, it will have to wait until after the Super Bowl to interview and hire him.

 

Brian Johnson, former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator

A former Utah quarterback, Johnson, 36, spent the past three seasons with the Eagles — two as the team’s quarterbacks coach and one as its offensive coordinator. He was let go in January after the Eagles lost to the Buccaneers in the first round of the playoffs. Johnson reportedly is expected to interview for the Commanders’ OC job.

 

Chip Kelly, UCLA head coach

The longtime coach and play caller has been speculated for years to want to get back into the NFL after four seasons coaching the Eagles (2013-15) and 49ers (2016). Kelly, 60, has been at UCLA since 2018 and could be on the Commanders’ radar for play-calling candidates.

 

Brian Fleury, San Francisco 49ers tight ends coach

 

Fleury, a Maryland native who played at Maryland and Towson, was an assistant at both schools before making the leap to the pros in 2013 as a quality control coach for the Buffalo Bills. After a stint coaching the Cleveland Browns’ linebackers (2014-15), Fleury spent three years (2016-18) with the Miami Dolphins as a football research analyst. He left in 2019 — just as Eugene Shen, the Commanders’ vice president of football strategy, began his time in Miami — to join the 49ers and work his way up to tight ends coach in 2022.

 

Others names to watch:

Tanner Engstrand, Detroit Lions passing game coordinator

 

Darrell Bevell, Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator

Tee Martin, Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach

Ronald Curry, New Orleans Saints passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach

Joe Bleymaier, Kansas City Chiefs passing game coordinator

Eric Studesville, Miami Dolphins associate head coach/running backs coach

 

Defensive coordinator

Joe Whitt Jr., Dallas Cowboys secondary coach/passing game coordinator

A former walk-on receiver at Auburn, Whitt turned to coaching in 2000 and joined the pro ranks as a defensive backs coach for the Falcons in 2007. After 11 seasons as a defensive assistant for the Packers, with whom he won Super Bowl XLV, Whitt, 45, spent time with the Browns and Falcons before following Quinn to Dallas as the Cowboys’ secondary coach and pass game coordinator in 2021. It’s worth noting that Whitt and Quinn share an agent.

 

Joe Cullen, Kansas City Chiefs defensive line coach

Cullen, 56, has 17 years of NFL coaching experience, primarily on the defensive line. After stops in Detroit, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Baltimore, he spent a year (2021) as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive coordinator before heading to Kansas City in 2022 to coach the Chiefs’ D-line. Should the Commanders want to interview Cullen, they’ll have to wait until after the Super Bowl.

 

Chris Harris, Tennessee Titans passing game coordinator/cornerbacks coach

The former Commanders defensive backs coach has been in the mix for coordinator jobs over the past couple of seasons. He spent last season on Mike Vrabel’s staff in Tennessee, but the arrival of new Titans coach Brian Callahan could open up new opportunities for him. Players in Washington still view him in high regard, making his name worth monitoring for a possible return.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/03/commanders-defensive-offensive-coordinator-search/

 

All those names and no Frank Smith. I don’t get it.

[Warhead36]

Just now, Ball Security said:

All those names and no Frank Smith. I don’t get it.

Frank Smith is already OC in Miami. He's not gonna leave for a lateral move nor would they let him.

[Skinsinparadise]

15 minutes ago, Riggo#44 said:

Reading the retorts from Johnson’s camp, I had the same thoughts. I was involved in something where a lot of falsehoods were written that affected me, personally. We did not respond. It eventually died out and forgotten about. When you respond, it puts another log on the fire and puts it back at the top of the Twitter list.

 

It will be very interesting how his interviews go next year.

 

I still hope he stubs is pinky toe on the leg of the bed, every morning, for the next year.

 

Yeah I advise candidates on issues like this routinely.  Once in a blue moon, I get dragged into something myself.  There was a well read blog that took a shot at me with a big time BS story.  I was tempted to respond.  I had friends who want to respond for me.  I left it alone.  It died down.  It's nothing now.

 

If Johnson's agent felt compelled to respond or even take a shot -- IMO the best shot would be saying the leaks are absurd and Johnson will stay above the fray.  He had a shot to at least say hey am the dude taking the high road and by extenstion that would be a subtle yet strong shot at this team.  But by accusing this team about being arrogant and the basketball shots are aimed clearly at Bob Myers-Magic Johnson -- what's the point of that.  You are just making enemies of a FO and all the people in it.  Magic has a network.  Myers has a nework.  Peters has a network.  So when you take a shot like that the damage you do to yourself bleeds further than just the targets in play -- it bleeds into those dudes network.

 

If I don't like someone, I can get another 15 people easily to not like that same person and will take my side because they trust me.  Same for all of us.  So again that's why I think it was stupid for them to take a shot back.  If they felt compelled to do it, then I'd do it the way I explained -- shoot at them for the leak.

Edited February 4 by Skinsinparadise

[Curtisp5286]

3 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

All those names and no Frank Smith. I don’t get it.

Maybe he isn’t interested in a lateral OC move.  

[MartinC]

9 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

All those names and no Frank Smith. I don’t get it.

Frank Smith is already an OC at the Dolphins - and under contract. 

[Anselmheifer]

32 minutes ago, KDawg said:

No. Quinn was never the first choice.

 

He was the guy standing when the smoke cleared. And that’s not a bad thing necessarily. He survived all the tests and remained when all the other candidates moved on or weren’t our choice. 
 

We’re being sold that he was their guy all along (though I haven’t seen reports saying exactly that, but the implication is they were enamored from the start), but he wasn’t. If he was, we wouldn’t have been the last team to hire a head coach.

 

I don’t think it’s complicated.

 

I think they thought highly of Quinn from the start but liked other potential hires better.

 

 

Yes. and exactly. Who cares? How many other teams got their exact first choice hire? Just the Chargers? The results are what matter. If Quinn brings in a great staff and we develop a quarterback and win, then, great. 

Literally the only reason I wanted Ben Johnson so badly is that I thought he was the best guy to design an offense from the ground up to successfully bring along and develop a rookie QB. I didn't think he was the best guy for building a staff and winning games. 

If we can develop our rookie QB, I'll be perfecntly happy with Quinn, and he will probably win more games than a Ben Johnson type guy. But, we have to develop that QB successfully. 

[Ball Security]

5 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

Frank Smith is already OC in Miami. He's not gonna leave for a lateral move nor would they let him.

He’’s Not a play caller in Miami. He’d be a play caller here. I thought that distinction would mean it’s not a lateral move.

[Command The 414]

Deleted post:

 

Sorry everyone it was fake news, I didn’t do enough research before posting this… again I’m sorry 

Edited February 4 by Command The 414
It was fake news, sorry I didn’t do enough research

[DWinzit]

Just now, Ball Security said:

He’’s Not a play caller in Miami. He’d be a play caller here. I thought that distinction would mean it’s not a lateral move.

I believe it is about the title...OC would be lateral 

[Anselmheifer]

53 minutes ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

This still doesn’t address that his offenses play sloppy and his lack of attention to detail. Kinda reminds me of Gruden in some ways (Gruden run game specifically) where they run a lot of different concepts but don’t really excel at any of them. 
 

Kingsbury is a shiny new toy without the shine. 

 

Honestly, I'd take Jay Gruden as OC over some of these guys. He is not a good HC. But, we have seen 1st hand that he can scheme receivers open, develop a young QB, and run a successful offense if he has weapons. He also would likely not get poached. Ever. 

[ggarriso]

26 minutes ago, Hooper said:

 

I don't want Johnson either, but my God, it's become very clear that dumping EB off on his "friend" Rivera was an all-time move by Reid. Add it to his HOF accomplishments. 

 

Andy Reid's Waterboy's aka EB's mismanagement of his own situation should be studied by scholars and wise men for years to come as an exemplar potato brain move.  EB was an OC in a dynasty level organization and all he had to sit there, pretend to look busy, and let daddy Andy handle the business.  Now many of the dummies in the media, and even some blind sheep here on this board, started to mistakingly correlate Chiefs success with some level of actual competency by EB himself. Now, here's where things get interesting.  In a moment which should go down in history as a model of lack of self awareness, EB somehow starts to actually buy into his own hype and leaves the comfy confines of Arrowhead to take an "Assistant HC" / OC (lol) job with Ron Riveria and the Commanders.  Now the thing to remember is KC was going to continue to let EB play house, act as a straw man OC and not shake up the apple cart.  But now one year later:

 

KC:  Going to the Super Bowl

EB:  Assistant OC'ed to 4-13;  Set, tied, or challenged records for Interceptions and Sacks; Unemployed

 

Well played, EB , Well Played.

 

[clskinsfan]

1 hour ago, Command The 414 said:

Exactly, I’d rather keep EB to be honest then to hire Brian Johnson … dude was fired after 1 season as you stated, even his players seemed to dislike him… no way do we want this guy imho… 

I want nothing to do with EB at all on this team. Talk about a man who's players hated him.

[spjunkies]

Yeah, EB certainly destroyed our all star level roster and superstar assistant coaches!

[Bantu]

Has there been any actual reporting from Commander's sources that Johnson didn't interview well? All I've seen so far was Garafolo saying that but not identifying any actual team. Seattle had interviewed him in person, I believe, and Washington initial virtual interview at the time Johnson pulled his name out of consideration. 

[bearrock]

Kind of meh about Kingsbury.  Kelly would be kind of concerning.  But Matt Canada is just wtf.  What on earth about his tenure in Pittsburgh inspires another hire as OC?

 

Edit:  thank goodness Canada was fake tweet

Edited February 4 by bearrock

[Commander Adama]

7 minutes ago, Command The 414 said:

My goodness.. please say it ain’t so

Please don't let this be real. Have they seen his games? They were horrible.

[RWJ]

12 minutes ago, Command The 414 said:

My goodness.. please say it ain’t so

So much crap being slung out on Twitter.  Anyone can make up a twitter name and call themselves whatever and then place a post out there.  Nothing from Keim, Schefter, Allbright, Fowler.  This is not true from what I can tell.  At this time.  

Edited February 4 by RWJ

[Andre The Giant]

3 minutes ago, RWJ said:

So much crap being slung out on Twitter.  Anyone can make up a twitter name and call themselves whatever and then place a post out there.  Nothing from Keimi, Schefter, Allbright, Fowler.  This is not true from what I can tell.  At this time.  

The poster said it was a joke. 
 

 

Edited February 4 by Andre The Giant

[Command The 414]

Just now, RWJ said:

So much crap being slung out on Twitter.  Anyone can make up a twitter name and call themselves whatever and then place a post out there.  Nothing from Keimi, Schefter, Allbright, Fowler.  This is not true from what I can tell.  At this time.  

Definitely agree with you on that … the twit I shared probably is just a random posting out garbage, I had to post though to garner thoughts lol 

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

32 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

Something I think fans do too much of is consider coaches  and players rom static positions, as if they can’t learn from their mistakes and make changes for the better.  Sometimes that’s true, often times it’s not.

I consider all of these things when discussing Kingsbury. I watched the Cardinals play enough to see that their offense was consistently a hot mess.

 

I don’t think that being obsessed over drawing up unique plays and coaching/teaching the details of said plays are one and the same. I think Kingsbury is maybe good at the former, but poor at the latter. Which is why his unit underachieved relative to expectations. 

Edited February 4 by AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy

[Jericho]

58 minutes ago, KDawg said:

We’re being sold that he was their guy all along (though I haven’t seen reports saying exactly that, but the implication is they were enamored from the start), but he wasn’t. If he was, we wouldn’t have been the last team to hire a head coach.

 

I don’t think it’s complicated.

 

I think they thought highly of Quinn from the start but liked other potential hires better.

 

 

I would agree with this.

 

Circumstantially it seems pretty clear Quinn wasn't their first choice. Arguably the most damning evidence of this is when Keim was directly asked if Quinn was the team's first choice. His answer: I don't know. Now there are two possibilities: (1) Keim literally doesn't know and answered truthfully; or (2) he does know and is not saying. As to the latter, if Keim knew Quinn was choice #1, wouldn't he say that? Everyone wins. Keim looks good. The team looks good. Quinn looks good. But he's not saying that. Which leaves the other possibility, that Keim knows Quinn wasn't Choice #1. But he doesn't want to admit that publicly, because he doesn't want to make anyone look bad. He still has to cover this team and why burn bridges this early? So he basically pleads the fifth. Or maybe going back to the original options, Keim legitly doesn't know. I mean he's a good reporter and pretty looped in. So if he doesn't know, who does? So there's that. But wouldn't you think the team would try and float stories that Quinn was the first choice regardless? You don't want stories out there that he wasn't their top choice. And if those stories are out there, Keim is clearly hearing them. And if he's not reporting it, it means it either conflicts with other things he's heard or he can't otherwise confirm it. Hence, the "don't" know. That, or the team is too lazy to even float any stories about Quinn and Keim legitly can't get any info. Those are basically the three options:

(1) Keim knows Quinn wasn't the first choice, but doesn't want to say it publicly to not lose sources;

(2) Keim is hearing the team put out stories that Quinn is their top choice, but either has sources refuting that or at least clouding it enough that he cannot verify it; or

(3) The team is too lazy to even try and spin the Quinn hiring and Keim cannot otherwise confirm Quinn was the top choice.

 

Arguably option 3 is the best option if you want to believe Quinn was the top choice, but assumes a lot of things that are pretty unlikely and even then it only leaves open a possibility.

 

The other main thing suggested Quinn wasn't option # 1 was the timing.

 

33 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

All those names and no Frank Smith. I don’t get it.

 

 I don't think they can hire Frank Smith unless the Dolphins let him leave. Even if he doesn't call plays, he is the coordinator and I believe the Dolphins can block any interviews

Edited February 4 by Jericho

[HTTRDynasty]

This is true.  But also, this is rich coming from the guy who was likely the primary leak in the organization over all these years.

 

 

[spjunkies]

1 minute ago, HTTRDynasty said:

This is true.  But also, this is rich coming from the guy who was likely the primary leak in the organization over all these years.

 

 

 

What in the world males you think he was the primary leaker? Those all came from Ron's circus crew, not Williams.