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.

[ThatNFLChick]

3 minutes ago, HTTRDynasty said:

Who said Goff sucked or was terrible though?

 

If you scroll back in this thread it was said and also in the comprehensive draft thread (not to mention the narrative on Twitter/X). 

 

 

Also John Keim on the head coaching search:

 

Edited January 15 by ThatNFLChick

[HTTRDynasty]

4 minutes ago, ThatNFLChick said:

 

If you scroll back in this thread it was said and also in the comprehensive draft thread (not to mention the narrative on Twitter/X). 

Well, that’s a dumb narrative. I do agree with those who don’t see him as a top 10 QB though (unlike Stroud). 

[ThatNFLChick]

John Keim said something interesting - he talked about how he heard Magic Johnson is a huge part of the interview process for head coaches because while Josh Harris and those guys can talk about structure, Magic knows more about the locker room culture and what guys in the locker rooms actually need in a leader.

[CommandB11]

7 minutes ago, ThatNFLChick said:

John Keim said something interesting - he talked about how he heard Magic Johnson is a huge part of the interview process for head coaches because while Josh Harris and those guys can talk about structure, Magic knows more about the locker room culture and what guys in the locker rooms actually need in a leader.

Makes some sense. Then again, as a Lakers fan, I saw what he did as executive of the Lakers and want him far away from hiring decisions.

[skinsmania123]

2 hours ago, ixcuincle said:

Was doing some research listening to Keim and Wagoner, but Wagoner basically said this Peters guy raided the late rounds of the draft, picking up gems like Kittle (5th round), Purdy (7th round) and Fred Warner. All those guys play huge roles for them today. I'm really looking forward to seeing him work his draft magic here. The 2023 draft class has been pretty lackluster, we all know Forbes played poorly and Chris Rodrigues was the only standout player (in very limited action). Curious to see what happens in April

That is one thing I focused on with Keim and Wagoner regarding Wagoner's evaluation of Peters. It also very clear that Shanahan was looking for specific "types" of players that would fit well within the system he wanted to run. So, Adams had an idea before he began evaluating players.  It is so important that the GM and HC are on the same page, which Spielman pointed out when he was interviewed by Keim. 

[Chris 44]

1 minute ago, CommandB11 said:

Makes some sense. Then again, as a Lakers fan, I saw what he did as executive of the Lakers and want him far away from hiring decisions.

I would like to see ownership as far away from hiring decisions outside of team pres/ GM as possible. They do not have anything to lose as far as their own jobs etc. They are much more likely to make emotional decisions. GMs and HCs have their careers at stake, their decisions have to be more level headed. Magic can spout off like a fan on twitter much like Doc Walker but in the end there are no repercussions for them due to the fact they are not getting canned over a poor decisions.

[Skinsinparadise]

Keim’s podcast today.

 

A. No runaway favorite for the job 

 

B. He mentioned again what if Ben Johnson is offered some control elsewhere. I am guessing someone is telling Keim something like that because even when he’s vague he rarely mentions things just purely theoretically 

 

C. He complemented every coaching prospect that they are considering 

 

D. He said he knows leadership is the number one criteria for them and it’s more important then play calling 

 

E. Defensive minded coaches are on their list too and again they want leaders of men above all

 

F, coaching interviews will happen virtually this week starting tomorrow 

[DWinzit]

3 minutes ago, skinsmania123 said:

That is one thing I focused on with Keim and Wagoner regarding Wagoner's evaluation of Peters. It also very clear that Shanahan was looking for specific "types" of players that would fit well within the system he wanted to run. So, Adams had an idea before he began evaluating players.  It is so important that the GM and HC are on the same page, which Spielman pointed out when he was interviewed by Keim. 

Yes and that's where the player evaluation may not be quite as important for the HC if:

He and the coordinators can verbalize exactly what they are want or need

The GM and scouting team is competent and on the same page as the coaching

[redskinss]

What a great way to start the offseason.

 

Josh harris 5 minutes after his season ended.

 

Jerry jones 5 minutes after his season ended. 

 

 

 

[Command The 414]

14 minutes ago, CommandB11 said:

Makes some sense. Then again, as a Lakers fan, I saw what he did as executive of the Lakers and want him far away from hiring decisions.

I agree totally.

 

Sometimes the greats of the game in whatever sport they played they can’t seem to equal that success as a coach or GM cause they were God Gifted in the abilities and can’t relate to those who actually have to work hard at their craft.  The best coaches most of the times are guys who were 2nd stringers or back ups or minor leaguers etc. and I see that in the FO as well, guys like Bird, Jordan, and various others have failed…

 

I think sometimes Magic arranges himself in a area (the Dodgers for example) where they were already good and naturally cause he’s tied to them he gets credit for being a executive to a great organization yet he really had nothing to do with it being great.  All just my opinion

Edited January 15 by Command The 414

[actorguy1]

42 minutes ago, Andre The Giant said:

Significant detail on Commanders’s hiring process.

 

 

 

 

 

---

The Commanders’ process moved fast. And, really, the wheels started turning a little over three weeks ago—when former Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers, who’d gone to work for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, reached out to former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman, and asked whether he’d come to Miami to meet with new Commanders owner Josh Harris. Spielman’s been living on Florida’s Gulf Coast and is in Fort Lauderdale every weekend for his work at CBS.

That made things easy on everyone. Spielman got there over the weekend of Week 16, and Harris told him that while no decision had been made on coach Ron Rivera or his front office, he wanted to be ready to roll if the Commanders did move on. He invited Spielman to join Myers on his search committee and, as soon as Spielman accepted, asked the old GM to start doing background work to find a head of football operations and head coach.

Two weeks later, the original list of 15 that Spielman worked off was whittled to five. Three days after that, 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters was aboard as new head of football ops.

The Commanders still have a ton of work to do, of course. That includes hiring a head coach. It also includes filling out both that coach’s staff, and Peters’s staff, making decisions on incumbents such as Martin Mayhew, and starting to build a reimagined football operation as Peters and his counterpart see fit.

But a big domino has fallen. Here’s how that part of this came together in D.C. …

• Spielman’s work through the final two weeks of the season was done quietly. He made calls but didn’t tell folks who he was working for, gathering information discreetly. Then, the Monday after Week 18, once Harris let Rivera go, Spielman drove to Miami and got to work talking with folks such as former Arizona Cardinals GM and Fritz Pollard Alliance exec Rod Graves, former New York Giants GM Jerry Reese, former Jacksonville Jaguars exec Michael Huyghue and former Pittsburgh Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, all whom worked in the league for decades, and attended last month’s accelerator program.

He was on the phone from 7:30 a.m. to about 11 p.m., checking every box on the five guys he’d identified, all of whom carried assistant GM titles: Peters, as well as Kansas City’s Mike Borgonzi, Cleveland’s Glenn Cook, Chicago’s Ian Cunningham, Philadelphia’s Alec Halaby.

• The first round of interviews happened at Harris’s offices in Miami. Each candidate spent two and a half hours with Spielman, then another two and a half hours with Harris and Myers. Borgonzi, Cook and Peters went Tuesday, in that order, then Cook and Halaby went Wednesday.

morning.

 

• After that, the larger group met one last time to pick Peters. It was close between the final two, with Peters’s seven years of experience as a No. 2, and the success his 49ers have had serving as a tiebreaker. (Cunningham is in his second year as a top lieutenant, and while the Bears seem headed in the right direction, they’re not there yet.)

 

And, again, there’s still plenty to figure out. But the framework now is in place. The club is set up like Harris’s other pro teams, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils, with a head of business (president Jason Wright) and head of football (Peters) reporting directly to the owner. The plan is for the coach to report to Peters, and finding that coach is obviously the next big priority (they’ve already interviewed Baltimore Ravens coaches Mike Macdonald and Anthony Weaver), with elements such as analytics and sports science left to be built out.

 

For now, it’s fair to say landing Peters is a big win. He’s been picky on taking interviews the past couple of years, and it so happened that just as he fit Washington (with Harris looking for an expert in personnel, and a guy who had knowledge in other areas, and was humble enough to know what he didn’t know and find experts in those areas to help him), Washington presented Peters with what he was looking for.

 

So six months in as an owner, Harris has made his biggest hire. And now, together, they’ll get to the hard part.

Edited January 15 by actorguy1

[DWinzit]

1 minute ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Keim’s podcast today.

 

A. No runaway favorite for the job 

 

B. He mentioned again what if Ben Johnson is offered some control elsewhere. I am guessing someone is telling Keim something like that because even when he’s vague he rarely mentions things just purely theoretically 

 

C. He complemented every coaching prospect that they are considering 

 

D. He said he knows leadership is the number one criteria for them and it’s more important then play calling 

 

E. Defensive minded coaches are on their list too and again they want leaders of men above all

 

F, coaching interviews will happen virtually this week starting tomorrow 

It sure feels like a number of the defensive minded coaches fit the leaders of men part more than the offensive guys. (We also need more players with this mentality moving forward) 

 

I see that and the requirement for some control being possible sticking points.

[dyst]

Play calling for a head coach is not the end all, particularly when the guy we are coveting is an OC and not the HC.

 

Dan Campbell doesn’t call plays, it’s Ben Johnson. So find yourself a coach (be it offense or defense), then get yourself the right coordinators and let them lead that side of the ball; if Ben doesn’t work out.

[Voice_of_Reason]

30 minutes ago, ThatNFLChick said:

John Keim said something interesting - he talked about how he heard Magic Johnson is a huge part of the interview process for head coaches because while Josh Harris and those guys can talk about structure, Magic knows more about the locker room culture and what guys in the locker rooms actually need in a leader.

I'm not sure what credentials Magic Johnson would have about locker room culture and coaching leadership.  Where would he have gotten that experience and knowledge?  

[method man]

Just now, Voice_of_Reason said:

I'm not sure what credentials Magic Johnson would have about locker room culture and coaching leadership.  Where would he have gotten that experience and knowledge?  

Wasn’t he the Lakers coach and GM for a bit? He sucked at both though

[ThatNFLChick]

3 minutes ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

I'm not sure what credentials Magic Johnson would have about locker room culture and coaching leadership.  Where would he have gotten that experience and knowledge?  

 

He played on several championship NBA teams? I think he meant he is a former pro player who won multiple championships and knows what kind of leadership players respond to and what a good locker room culture is. He has 5 NBA championships as a player and has championship rings in the NBA, MLB (Dodgers) and WNBA (LA Sparks) as an owner. 

[Voice_of_Reason]

1 minute ago, method man said:

Wasn’t he the Lakers coach and GM for a bit? He sucked at both though

If memory serves, he took over a couple of bad teams as a favor to the Lakers, and after the end of the season, got out of coaching.  He actually returned to the court shortly thereafter in a comeback, and then purchased 5% of the Lakers.  This was also like 1994/1995, 30 years ago.  

 

Since then, he's been an owner of the Dodgers and the Sparks, and his teams have won championships with both.

 

My going in stance: if you can get Magic to talk to candidates and pick his brain, there's nothing wrong with that. 

 

However, he shouldn't (and won't) be making the decision. I think the decision is going to be made by the whole advisory committee together, with the largest vote going to Peters.  And that, to me, is the absolute best situation you could hope for.

[Riggo#44]

20 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

D. He said he knows leadership is the number one criteria for them and it’s more important then play calling 

 

E. Defensive minded coaches are on their list too and again they want leaders of men above all

 

I feel like D. is going to knock Slowik down, and probably elevate Morris and Quinn? Total speculation--this interview process is going to be very interesting.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Just now, ThatNFLChick said:

 

He played on several championship NBA teams? I think he meant he is a former pro player who won multiple championships and knows what kind of leadership players respond to and what a good locker room culture is. He has 5 NBA championships as a player and has championship rings in the NBA, MLB (Dodgers) and WNBA (LA Sparks) as an owner. 

[HTTRDynasty]

So awesome to see. Hope our time is coming soon.

 

 

[actorguy1]

The bit that I took away from this was that before hiring Shanahan, they had fired three coaches in three years. Harbaugh, Tomsula and Kelly. It was only throwing money at Shanahan and promising him any power he wanted, was York able to get him. Sounds a bit like the Panthers and Johnson potentially.

 

[ThatNFLChick]

4 minutes ago, Riggo#44 said:

 

I feel like D. is going to knock Slowik down, and probably elevate Morris and Quinn? Total speculation--this interview process is going to be very interesting.

 

Peters knows Slowik very well, they worked together for like 7 years so I'm sure he has a pretty good idea of him. 

 

I am confused though, I assumed once Peter was chosen, Spielman and Myers jobs were done. Shouldn't it be Peters identifying the HC? I get if Harris still wants potential candidates to meet with Magic Johnson and Mitch Rales but Myers and Spielman are no longer part of the process correct?

[Riggo#44]

1 minute ago, actorguy1 said:

The bit that I took away from this was that before hiring Shanahan, they had fired three coaches in three years. Harbaugh, Tomsula and Kelly. It was only throwing money at Shanahan and promising him any power he wanted, was York able to get him. Sounds a bit like the Panthers and Johnson potentially.

This is a really apt comparison--more so than the Snyder comparisons. I don't recall what happened with the 9ers ownership group, but they were a disaster for a while. Even Shanahan had losing seasons 3 of his first 4 years (with that SB run in 2019).

This pretty much sums up the 9ers before they built this current team:

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I think the thing which excites me most is of the candidates we've heard of, they all seem like really good coaching prospects.  Will all of them work out? Probably not, because that's just the way the cookie crumbles.  But of the leading candidates:

 

- Ben Johnson: Lions Offensive Coordinator.  Seems like a born leader, good offensive mind, has a track record of putting together good offenses over a number of years. 

- Bobby Slowik: Texans Offensive Coordinator. Might be the best X's and O's coordinator, football lifer, analytic focus, did a phenomenal job with Stroud in his rookie year.  

- Raheem Morris: Rams Defensive Coordinator. Would be his second stint as Head Coach, but his first was a long time ago. Since then he has been a very good coach. Great leader.  Magnetic personality. He's definitely due a second opportunity somewhere.  

- Dan Quinn: Cowboys Defensive Coordinator. Turned around the Dallas defense (until yesterday) and is clearly an outstanding defensive coach, and players really respond to him.  He's probably due a second opportunity somewhere if he wants it.

- Anthony Weaver: Assistant head coach and DL coach for Baltimore.  Apparently just a great leader, knows football, could put together and lead a staff.  Already virtually interviewed.  Ravens organization and learning under John Harbaugh is a huge plus. 

- Aaron Glenn: Lions Defensive Coordinator. Good organization, learned from Quinn. Did a really good job with the Lions defense. Played for Parcells and Belichick with the Jets.  Seems like players really respect him and play for him.

- Mike MacDonald: Rams Defensive Coordinator.  That defense is sick and he's extremely well regarded as a defensive mind and a leader.

 

I think you could be happy with just about anybody on that list. I think the one I would shy away from most would be Quinn, but I think he's either going to stay in Dallas as the DC or HC, or go to Seattle, so I think that decision might be taken out of our hands regardless.

 

Depending on what happens with Dallas, and maybe Philly depending on what happens tonight, it's POSSIBLE any of those coaches could be the best coach in the NFC East in 2 years.  I never put that on a first year head coach, but all of them would have that ability.  Also, McCarthy is an idiot, Dabol got lucky in 2022 and might be in over his head, we'll see, and Siriani ... he might be out. 

 

Oh course, the light at the end of the tunnel could be a train.

 

But instead of looking for has-beens or never-gonna-bes, we've got a great list,  great process, good decision makers, a good structure, and the best candidates. 

 

 

[Riggo#44]

10 minutes ago, ThatNFLChick said:

I get if Harris still wants potential candidates to meet with Magic Johnson and Mitch Rales but Myers and Spielman are no longer part of the process correct?

No. They'll be around thought he coaching hire, I believe. I think Myers is going to stay on as an advisor past that too.