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.

[FrFan]

47 minutes ago, DWinzit said:

No argument about an offensive minded HC making the most sense for many reasons, yours included with the difficulty in installing a new scheme. There are a number quality defensive coaches available and they are the ones they are bringing in. I am a bit surprised they have only brought in one from the other side of the ball. It's like the have all there eggs in the BJ basket from the offensive side.

 

Two things about their interviewing beside 4 d to 1 o options. 

There must be something they have seen or heard that turned them off to Slowik.

Why Weaver? We don't know a ton about him other than his resume and it said he is a good communicator. 

 

With their options and more on the defensive side, it would be much easier for an offensive HC to bring in a good DC than visa versa 

 

 

Video interview from 2 years ago Anthony Weaver Knows the Expectations in His Return to Baltimore

 

[Skinsinparadise]

5 minutes ago, CommDownMan said:

 

ABC news said he was having an in person interview soon, but I haven't seen it anywhere else.

 

He had the interview last week.  If he killed it, I'd gather we'd be hearing his name as a serious contender but that's not the vibe I get from the beat guys.

Edited January 30 by Skinsinparadise

[Jericho]

3 hours ago, HTTRDynasty said:

I think a lot of this is due to the fact that the offensive coaching talent around the league has been somewhat picked clean the last few years. The trend for a while now has been to hire the hot young offensive coach (mostly from the Shanny/McVay tree). That’s eventually going to reduce the overall talent pool on that side of the ball, at least for a while. 

 

Just throwing it out there, but it seems most of the offensive guys are white. While the defensive guys have a lot more diversity. Make of that what you will.

[OtisDriftwood25]

I feel like the Peters news came out pretty fast in the interview process. They had a very long dinner or whatever. Hoping same news comes out of Macdonald today. 

[Conn]

23 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

@KDawg

 

I have reservations on your point of picking an offensive guy because offenses are harder to install.

 

We've all seen coaches come in here with different degrees of complexity in their offense and at some point mermers of the need to tone down what they have and what works best with what they have.

 

I'm not interested in Encyclopedia Brown level offense if we know we're getting a rookie QB.  Systems do wonders when in place for a long time, but man, this team needs a culture badly, more so then a system right now.  Our GMs comments strike me as prioritizing communication and alignment in the organization, I feel like I've overthought this for years, he's trying to bring it back to basics first it seems.

You don’t realize it but you’re posting a defense of the point that constantly changing offenses and offensive playcallers is more devastating than having to change defensive coordinators. (And defensive coordinators get stolen at a much lower clip as well)

 

Edit: and I think you mean Encyclopedia Britannica, not a children’s mystery book series. lol

Edited January 30 by Conn

[KDawg]

Just now, Conn said:

You don’t realize it but you’re posting a defense of the point that constantly changing offenses and offensive playcallers is more devastating than having to change defensive coordinators. (And defensive coordinators get stolen at a much lower clip as well)

As I read that response I thought the same but was just going to leave it alone and not reply. But yes, he absolutely made a case for hiring an offensive HC. 

[Warhead36]

9 minutes ago, ThatNFLChick said:

In this mic'd up, Johnson seems nice but kind of gives off Jim Zorn corny energy. Maybe not as bad as Zorn but he has a  'gee golly, awww shucks' kind of demeanor which might be part of the holdup. He doesn't really seem like a guy who commands a room which might be part of the hold up 

 

 

Macdonald's mic'd up made me feel better about him, his personality came off very Alpha, Johnson is a bit like Kirk Cousins

I don't know. Today's generation is different. Look at McDaniel in Miami. I'm not sure Shanahan really "commands the room" in that typical sense either. Nor does McVay. I think nowadays it's more about being able to communicate and relate to today's generation.

 

Ironically I actually think Zorn coulda been a better coach in this era(his issue was that he was in over his head from the managerial/overseer point of view and our organizational culture was garbage).

[ThatNFLChick]

Just now, Warhead36 said:

I don't know. Today's generation is different. Look at McDaniel in Miami. I'm not sure Shanahan really "commands the room" in that typical sense either. Nor does McVay. I think nowadays it's more about being able to communicate and relate to today's generation.

 

Ironically I actually think Zorn coulda been a better coach in this era(his issue was that he was in over his head from the managerial/overseer point of view and our organizational culture was garbage).

 

But what Miami was looking for and what we are looking for could be different. Maybe Miami wasn't looking for a strong leader of men type, their main goal might have been finding someone who could maximize their talent on offense and fix Tua. 

 

I also disagree about McVay, he has a very assertive demeanor and personality.

[Renegade7]

5 minutes ago, Conn said:

You don’t realize it but you’re posting a defense of the point that constantly changing offenses and offensive playcallers is more devastating than having to change defensive coordinators. (And defensive coordinators get stolen at a much lower clip as well)

 

4 minutes ago, KDawg said:

As I read that response I thought the same but was just going to leave it alone and not reply. But yes, he absolutely made a case for hiring an offensive HC. 

 

If defensive coordinators are plucked less then playcallers, like you say, I don't see how that's a case to put too many eggs in the basket of which playcaller we pick first.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see someone who helps setup a system that if they leave the next OC can keep the similar concepts going instead of implementing a new offense with completely different terminology.

 

Isn't that typically what teams do when they lose their OC and promote from within?  That's not the same as hiring a new OC from the outside everytime we potentially lose one to a promotion.

Edited January 30 by Renegade7

[Command The 414]

I’m probably way off base here but I’m really thinking that if by the end of the day Ben Johnson isn’t hired (or at least working on the specifics of a deal) I can see a Weaver or Glenn hire which imho fits their desire for leading… we’ve all heard when Mike Tomlin interviewed with the Steelers nobody gave him a shot, but his interview with the brass went so well and he knocked the socks off of them… I could see Anthony Weaver being that guy…. just a hunch and nothing definitive, just opinion 

[OtisDriftwood25]

Mike Macdonald HC

Arthur Smith OC

Chuck Smith DC

 

 

[KDawg]

Just now, Command The 414 said:

I’m probably way off base here but I’m really thinking that if by the end of the day Ben Johnson isn’t hired (or at least working on the specifics of a deal) I can see a Weaver or Glenn hire which imho fits their desire for leading… we’ve all heard when Mike Tomlin interviewed with the Steelers nobody gave him a shot, but his interview with the brass went so well and he knocked the socks off of them… I could see Anthony Weaver being that guy…. just a hunch and nothing definitive, just opinion 

 

In the very, very not great scenario where we do not hire an offensive guy... Weaver and Mac are the only two guys I'm really all that interested in.

 

If my excitement scale was 1-10, 1 being totally underwhelmed and 10 being excited:

 

Ben Johnson 10

Bobby Slowik 8

Anthony Weaver 6

Mac 6

Dan Quinn -5

[HigSkin]

Keim on The Junkies -

 

• Asked about all the signs pointing to Johnson - group has been quiet but expectation of people around the league is Johnson
• He suggests Peters favors Johnson (in a sense he's the hottest coordinator out there and league sees it the same)
• He doesn't see anything as being a massive lock like Peters hiring
• Clearly knows he's a top candidate
• Could be people saying slow down, let's get through this process to make sure
• Johnson is a really good communicator
• Meyers and Speilman are still part of the interview process.  Peters-Harris-Rales obviously but not sure about Magic
• Harris is a very diliberate decision maker about coaching and FO/staff
• Guesses announcement comes Thursday afternoon or early Friday - wrap up today, a day to discuss then decision then offer

 

 

Edited January 30 by HigSkin

[Warhead36]

I think you'd like to make it official by middle of this week so you can get a press conference out Friday. If not, you can't really announce anything during Super Bowl week because all the media focus will be in Vegas.

[Conn]

28 minutes ago, Jericho said:

 

Just throwing it out there, but it seems most of the offensive guys are white. While the defensive guys have a lot more diversity. Make of that what you will.

That’s what you get when half the league’s prominent offensive guys are nepotism hires. The fact that many of them turned out to be great doesn’t really change the fact that they got their start as Quality Control guys or whatever through family connections. The entire landscape of the league’s coaching trees is affected by that. And it seems to happen less on defense, in recent times. Or at least those guys rise to coordinators more slowly (probably because there is less of a DC —> HC pipeline these days so people aren’t moving up as fast as on the offensive side of the ball)

Edited January 30 by Conn

[Ball Security]

6 minutes ago, OtisDriftwood25 said:

Mike Macdonald HC

Arthur Smith OC

Chuck Smith DC

 

 

Sell me on Arthur Smith. What’s the attraction about him?

[Command The 414]

2 minutes ago, KDawg said:

 

In the very, very not great scenario where we do not hire an offensive guy... Weaver and Mac are the only two guys I'm really all that interested in.

 

If my excitement scale was 1-10, 1 being totally underwhelmed and 10 being excited:

 

Ben Johnson 10

Bobby Slowik 8

Anthony Weaver 6

Mac 6

Dan Quinn -5

It’s kinda weird how Slowik in many eyes has fallen off the radar since their loss to the Ravens … but similar to you I still have him high as well… I think his work w/Stroud is actually being undervalued a lot… and we know that’s the route we are going… also w/Slowik the Texans offense this season compared to last season was in many ways very similar to what will be structured here for us in 2024, which was very different, whereas Ben Johnson has ran the same offense with pretty much the same skill players two years in a row.  

In all likelihood, we know it’s going to be Ben Johnson, but I also think Bobby Slowik could be in will be a fine head coach someday

 

[Renegade7]

17 minutes ago, Conn said:

 

Edit: and I think you mean Encyclopedia Britannica, not a children’s mystery book series. lol

 

No, I mean the children's book sarcastically : )

 

Life is short...

[Conn]

10 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

 

 

If defensive coordinators are plucked less then playcallers, like you say, I don't see how that's a case to put too many eggs in the basket of which playcaller we pick first.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see someone who helps setup a system that if they leave the next OC can keep the similar concepts going instead of implementing a new offense with completely different terminology.

 

Isn't that typically what teams do when they lose their OC and promote from within?  That's not the same as hiring a new OC from the outside everytime we potentially lose one to a promotion.

The talent runs dry eventually, if you’re successful enough. Don’t you want to plan for success? You don’t ever need to replace your genius offensive playcaller if he’s the HC, then he grooms his OC and position coaches to maybe get hired away someday (but it’s less likely bc they don’t call the plays—this helps ensue more stability on offense). And defensive coaches get stolen much less often, and if they are stolen, there’s usually a small batch of recently fired DC’s who tried their hand at being a HC and failed. So that encourages stability. Also defensive dominance is much more up and down unless you’re the Ravens. It’s not as sticky year over year as offensive dominance (because on offense, the right QB/playcaller marriage can carry you for a generation if you’re lucky). 
 

Basically I couldn’t disagree with you more, but it’s been talked to death on this board and elsewhere and something like 70%+ of people understand the point even if they disagree with it or don’t care. So it’s kind of a pointless conversation, you’re arguing against the new conventional wisdom that has a lot of data points to look at for affirmation. 

[MartinC]

32 minutes ago, Jericho said:

 

Just throwing it out there, but it seems most of the offensive guys are white. While the defensive guys have a lot more diversity. Make of that what you will.

That’s starts with historically QBs being white = QB coaches being white = OCs being white = HCs being white.

 

That’s obviously a generalization (and many QB coaches never played QB in the NFL). But a big part of getting more minority HCs is getting more minorities coaching QBs and becoming OCs.

[HTTRDynasty]

I know Ben Johnson came from the Joe Phlibin tree, if any. Let’s just hope he learned how NOT to lead a group of men from Philbin.
 

As good of an offensive mind as he was, Philbin had one of the most bland personalities in HC history; that’s really my only concern with BJ. It’s not a major concern though. 

[Command The 414]

4 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

Sell me on Arthur Smith. What’s the attraction about him?

Me too, Arthur Smith offenses to me are pretty bland, vanilla and even back in Tennessee w/Titans he had studs on the OL, RB & AJ Brown and still imho was Bland … no thanks to Smith for me 

[OtisDriftwood25]

10 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

Sell me on Arthur Smith. What’s the attraction about him?

I think he’s a run oriented OC. I believe there was a reason he was hired as a head coach because he was a Ben Johnson a few years ago. Cooley liked him when he was here. Ridder and Heinecke were the worst quarterback situation in the league. With a defensive team, I think you want that type of scheme. He also won 2 AFC South with Tannehill.

Edited January 30 by OtisDriftwood25

[Warhead36]

I don't think personality type really matter all that much. Its more about being able to communicate effectively what your plans are for any given game and them implement those plans, with the ability to adjust to situations.

 

One of the major issues we had with Rivera/Del Rio was that the communication sucked and you could tell simply by listening to Rivera speak. It permeated on the field with guys always being confused, blowing assignments, etc.

 

I remember when the Rams fired hired McVay and I think it was Todd Gurley who raved about how McVay just communicated things so effectively to the point where it really made everything super simple for the offense. As a result they had a massive turn around season.

[Conn]

No leaks from SEA or SEA beat reporters about how splendid the interview went and how he’s their top target? Seems positive