2015 coaching carousel

Mugsy's Jock

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So... bookkeeping...
 
Buffalo, SF, Oakland, Jets -- Filled
Chicago -- Seems like John Fox is in the lead
Atlanta -- Seems like Dan Quinn in in the lead
Denver -- TBD
 
Aside from possibly the Falcons, is there no chair left for Josh McDaniels when the music stops?
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Rudy Pemberton said:
Poor Doug Marrone.
Why? He did it to himself. He bailed on the Orange. He bailed on Buffalo. Probably will end up in college again. I was never really impressed with him as a coach and the stuff that's coming out recently has me believe that not many people are fans of him as a person either.
 

Remagellan

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Agreed on Marrone.  Maybe the lesson is that when you're 25-25 in college and 15-17 in the pros, you might want to wait and maybe put together another "winning" season (and let's get real, if the Pats needed that last game, his Bills would have finished 8-8 instead of 9-7) before quitting your job to seek another one.  
 

Super Nomario

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Super Nomario said:
He's only really been in SF, and the administrations he's worked under - Nolan, Singletary, Harbaugh - don't have any NFL footprint at present. Maybe he networks like crazy and he has ideas for who he wants to hire for coordinators and assistants and can get those people, but it seems more likely that this is a Baalke power play and the GM is going to have major input into the staff.
 
He was interim head coach for one game five years ago after Singletary got canned, for what it's worth.
Kawakami's take is essentially the same as mine: Tomsula may or may not be an effective head coach, but this move has a lot to do with Baalke seizing power.
 
Marciano490 said:
Seems like part of the fact that head coaches are younger than ever would imply that it's hard to compare dues paying between eras.  The time Parcells and the good Bill had to spend in the trenches doesn't necessarily mean much in a world of non-gray-haired HCs.
I think it's interesting. There seem to be a lot of Peter Principle guys like Norv Turner or Gary Kubiak who are awesome at coordinating so they get promoted but then they suck at head coaching, so experience is no guarantee of success. It may still be a prerequisite, though. A coordinator has position coaches underneath him so he gets used to delegating / management stuff. It seems like the scope of a defensive line coach's accountability would be a lot less. There's also the coach's credibility in the room - if the Niners start next season 2-4 or something (possible with nine games against 2014 playoff teams on the schedule), are players and assistants going to start undermining his authority?
 
Also, can we comment on Tomsula's physical appearance? He looks like a cross between Jason Segel and Ron Jeremy:
 

cromulence

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Yeah I thought Mario too, but I have to say the Segel/Jeremy combo is pretty damn good as well.
 

mauf

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Remagellan said:
Agreed on Marrone.  Maybe the lesson is that when you're 25-25 in college and 15-17 in the pros, you might want to wait and maybe put together another "winning" season (and let's get real, if the Pats needed that last game, his Bills would have finished 8-8 instead of 9-7) before quitting your job to seek another one.  
A coach who misses the playoffs his first three seasons and is no longer working for the owner or GM who hired him is a lock to be fired. That's where Marrone was likely to be after next season. Even if he sits out the 2015 season, he's better off leaving now, especially if he thought the FO was unlikely to get him a better QB than Manuel.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Tyrone Biggums said:
Why? He did it to himself. He bailed on the Orange. He bailed on Buffalo. Probably will end up in college again. I was never really impressed with him as a coach and the stuff that's coming out recently has me believe that not many people are fans of him as a person either.
 
Marrone apparently has a standing offer to join Bill O'Brien as consultant.  Apparently, their wives were college roommates.  http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2015/01/report_if_doug_marrone_doesnt_land_head_coach_job_he_could_join_bill_obrien_as_t.html
 

8slim

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soxfan121 said:
 
Making him a prime college program hire next year. 
 
I'd be surprised if he went back to college.
 
Reportedly he hated recruiting and really hated fundraising/schmoozing with boosters.
 
He really is an NFL guy.
 

Al Zarilla

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OMG, I'm watching the press conference introducing Tomsula. My mother told me if you can't say anything good about somebody, you know, but he sounds as dumb as a box of rocks and twice as boring. I am completely astonished they picked this guy. The one thing I've consistently heard about him is they say all the players like him. Maybe it's because the average pro football player is not too bright? Now watch them go 12 - 4 in 2015. 
 

Spacemans Bong

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Tomsula is the definition of a loyal organizational soldier, so he's not going to rock the boat too much. That he got picked over Fangio is worrying.

There's a chance he gets surrounded with capable coaches and coordinators, and his popularity with the players and generally easygoing style gets everybody smiling again after the ugly ending to the Harbaugh era. But I think it's unlikely.
 

JCizzle

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Al Zarilla said:
OMG, I'm watching the press conference introducing Tomsula. My mother told me if you can't say anything good about somebody, you know, but he sounds as dumb as a box of rocks and twice as boring. I am completely astonished they picked this guy. The one thing I've consistently heard about him is they say all the players like him. Maybe it's because the average pro football player is not too bright? Now watch them go 12 - 4 in 2015. 
 
Yeap, I watched the whole thing. He is not a bright man, this is going to be a disaster. I'm not sure how you manage to do Singletary twice in the span of three coaches, but I think they found a way.
 

Awesome Fossum

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Dan to Theo to Ben said:
Callahan hates pressure after his Oakland gig or something? going to a worse organization and rung down. I don't get it.  How much more $ could this job be compared to Jerrah OC?
 
The Cowboys just promoted Linehan to be the OC and call plays, so he was facing stepping a rung down in Dallas too. The article indicates that Dallas wanted to keep him, but wasn't going to be willing to match the offer he got from the Skins.
 

Clears Cleaver

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Marrone is interviewing for the Broncos head coaching job Saturday. I wonder if he is hired that it would push Manning out the door. or if he's only offered the job if manning said he's leaving.
 
Fox > Marrone I think
 

Tony C

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Bears and Raiders are the teams that have most upgraded their HC slot this off-season, seems to me. Probably the Jets, too, but who knows. Not that Fox and Del Rio are great coaches, but bringing steady pros into those positions seems to me a lot smarter than going the coordinator route.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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From a Patriots fan perspective, I'm hoping Kubiak lands the job.  As discussed elsewhere, the fit with Manning is pretty questionable, not just the mobility required of the QB in his offense but also the general fit of Peyton with a coach that has a strong offensive philosophy that differs from the Manning/Tom Moore offense.  And losing Kubiak hurts the Ravens, which is a plus as well.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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RedOctober3829 said:
 
Aaron Wilson ‏@RavensInsider 1m1 minute ago
Gary Kubiak is the frontrunner for the Broncos' job. If he wants the position, he'll land the job, barring second thoughts on his part.
 
 
 
LaCanfora tweeted a few days ago that when Manning was doing his QB search in '12, he hears that the team Manning "really wanted to go to . . . .was HOU...", but for whatever reason, the Texans and Kubiak weren't interested.  If it were for football reasons, I can't see that getting any better.  It would be interesting to see how Manning holds up trying to throw on the move as Kubiak demands. . . .
 
 
 
bosockboy said:
Kubiak and his ability to move the ball via the run seems to be a good fit to keep Manning.
 
Did you mean "good fit" or "not a good fit."  if the latter, I'd be interested in hearing why you think so.
 

Remagellan

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FWIW
 
 
Robert Mays @robertmays  ·  Jan 14
If the Broncos hire Kubiak, Manning is as good as gone. Baltimore was dead last in the league in snaps from the shotgun last year
 
I think Manning might be gone anyway.  He really can't do any thing else to change his legacy, and I bet he'll be very cautious about risking injury to play another year.  He'll get the seat the TV guys were warming up for Rex Ryan.  
 

OCST

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Super Nomario said:
Kawakami's take is essentially the same as mine: Tomsula may or may not be an effective head coach, but this move has a lot to do with Baalke seizing power.
 
I think it's interesting. There seem to be a lot of Peter Principle guys like Norv Turner or Gary Kubiak who are awesome at coordinating so they get promoted but then they suck at head coaching, so experience is no guarantee of success. It may still be a prerequisite, though. A coordinator has position coaches underneath him so he gets used to delegating / management stuff. It seems like the scope of a defensive line coach's accountability would be a lot less. There's also the coach's credibility in the room - if the Niners start next season 2-4 or something (possible with nine games against 2014 playoff teams on the schedule), are players and assistants going to start undermining his authority?
 
Also, can we comment on Tomsula's physical appearance? He looks like a cross between Jason Segel and Ron Jeremy:
 
he looks like he's about to drop dead of a massive coronary, is what he looks like.
 

mauf

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There could be any number of reasons for Peyton Manning to defer announcing his retirement until after the Super Bowl, but I can't imagine John Fox would leave Denver for Chicago unless he was fairly certain #18 wasn't coming back.
 

DJnVa

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It wasn't just Fox's choice though. Elway was going to make a move.
 

Three10toLeft

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maufman said:
There could be any number of reasons for Peyton Manning to defer announcing his retirement until after the Super Bowl, but I can't imagine John Fox would leave Denver for Chicago unless he was fairly certain #18 wasn't coming back.
 
Uhhh.... I don't think John Fox had much of a choice in the matter of him staying or going.
 

86spike

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
From a Patriots fan perspective, I'm hoping Kubiak lands the job.  As discussed elsewhere, the fit with Manning is pretty questionable, not just the mobility required of the QB in his offense but also the general fit of Peyton with a coach that has a strong offensive philosophy that differs from the Manning/Tom Moore offense.  And losing Kubiak hurts the Ravens, which is a plus as well.
 
 
bosockboy said:
Kubiak and his ability to move the ball via the run seems to be a good fit to keep Manning.
 
I'm not sure Kubiak is the motivator that I would hope for in a new head coach, but I actually don't think Manning is the central concern for the team.  They are looking for a coach for the next 5+ years and Peyton will be gone for most of that.
 
That said, perhaps Kubiak is open to sticking with the current offensive structure if Peyton returns (with heavier focus on the run to reduce Manning's throws) and Manning will buy in (or has already has bought in).  It will take more than one offseason to rework a roster into a zone-blocking run attack anyway, so maybe Elway is asking his coach candidates about how they would approach a slow transition.
 
On a semi-related topic, here's a rough story about John Fox being the new Lovey Smith in Chicago:
 
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-01-16/john-fox-new-chicago-bears-head-coach-marc-trestman-lovie-smith-fired-jay-cutler
 
Can't disagree with that assessment even though I think  Lovey's time was up a couple years back and they really had to let him go.
 

Rook05

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Flaming out in the first game two out of three years with that roster and getting pasted in the Super Bowl didn't leave a lot of confidence in Fox. They spent a ton on the D this year with only a marginal improvement--yes, they were ranked fourth overall but they needed to carry the team for longer stretches in December and January. Plus, Elway (and Manning) had enough of the lack of adjustments from week to week. One player was quoted as saying that once the Broncos put stuff on tape Sept-Oct, the rest of the league caught up without the team adapting.

Then there's the whole argument about last Sunday's gameplan. It looked like they were planning on ground-and-pounding it, but they got away from that pretty early. There's been lots of speculation as to who was responsible for that with rumblings that it might have been Peyton and Gase ignoring what Fox wanted. The Glazer report on Sunday hints that he was halfway out the door anyway.

Fox has a solid reputation as a rebuilder/caretaker but I think it's clear that he's not going to take this Bronco team much further. Ironically, that's what the Bears need now. Elway deserves credit for being decisive, but his timing is tough and now he's stuck with the leftovers.
 

Super Nomario

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86spike said:
 
 
 
I'm not sure Kubiak is the motivator that I would hope for in a new head coach, but I actually don't think Manning is the central concern for the team.  They are looking for a coach for the next 5+ years and Peyton will be gone for most of that.
 
That said, perhaps Kubiak is open to sticking with the current offensive structure if Peyton returns (with heavier focus on the run to reduce Manning's throws) and Manning will buy in (or has already has bought in).  It will take more than one offseason to rework a roster into a zone-blocking run attack anyway, so maybe Elway is asking his coach candidates about how they would approach a slow transition.
If Koobs is coming, I can't imagine he wouldn't bring ZBS. If the OL / RB personnel doesn't fit that, they'll bring in new OL / RB. Franklin's a free agent anyway, and most of the other guys have cuttable contracts if they don't fit ZBS.
 

Rudy's Curve

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Kubiak's offenses also generally require mobility from the quarterback to get outside the pocket on rollouts. Flacco will never be mistaken for a runner but he's clearly able to do that. Peyton can't.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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86spike said:
I'm not sure Kubiak is the motivator that I would hope for in a new head coach, but I actually don't think Manning is the central concern for the team.  They are looking for a coach for the next 5+ years and Peyton will be gone for most of that.
 
That said, perhaps Kubiak is open to sticking with the current offensive structure if Peyton returns (with heavier focus on the run to reduce Manning's throws) and Manning will buy in (or has already has bought in).  It will take more than one offseason to rework a roster into a zone-blocking run attack anyway, so maybe Elway is asking his coach candidates about how they would approach a slow transition.
I think that's the right way to approach the situation and maybe Kubiak is that guy. I don't know.

As a Pats fan, though, all I'm really hoping is that the Broncos fall off next year. Our window with Brady is basically 1-2 more years and we'll probably take a step back after that. So if the Broncos are doing things that make the transition next year a bit rougher but set themselves up better for 2+ years into the future, that's OK with me.
 

Shelterdog

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Rudy's Curve said:
Kubiak's offenses also generally require mobility from the quarterback to get outside the pocket on rollouts. Flacco will never be mistaken for a runner but he's clearly able to do that. Peyton can't.
 
Assuming Manning can turn back into the early season Manning I think Manning is good enough--and Kubiak smart enough--that they'll figure something out. 
 

dcmissle

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86spike said:
 
 
 
I'm not sure Kubiak is the motivator that I would hope for in a new head coach, but I actually don't think Manning is the central concern for the team.  They are looking for a coach for the next 5+ years and Peyton will be gone for most of that.
 
That said, perhaps Kubiak is open to sticking with the current offensive structure if Peyton returns (with heavier focus on the run to reduce Manning's throws) and Manning will buy in (or has already has bought in).  It will take more than one offseason to rework a roster into a zone-blocking run attack anyway, so maybe Elway is asking his coach candidates about how they would approach a slow transition.
 
On a semi-related topic, here's a rough story about John Fox being the new Lovey Smith in Chicago:
 
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-01-16/john-fox-new-chicago-bears-head-coach-marc-trestman-lovie-smith-fired-jay-cutler
 
Can't disagree with that assessment even though I think  Lovey's time was up a couple years back and they really had to let him go.
Is a motivator needed, or simply someone who has the stones to impose his will when needed? The wounded ducks flew all night long -- well past the point that it became quite clear Peyton was not winning that game with his arm. What happened to the new found commitment to the running game?

It's not a spurious concern. Jeff Saturday has been retired for several years now, and some have it that he was the last person who Manning would listen to. "Listen, asshat. you are wrong on this one. We're running the ball."

The most dangerous stat in the world for a Broncos fan is that Manning went 10 for 11 on passes > 20 yards against the 48ers in October. Cause you know Peyton is telling himself that but for the quad injury things would have been different. Problem is he will be older next season, not younger.

This cannot be lost on John Elway, who picked up two rings on his way out the door by sharing center stage
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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If the Broncos hire kubiak, Matt schuab will be available...
Schaub is probably an upgrade over Brock if Manning doesn't decide to come back . . . .

Obviously I'm biased but I don't see why Kubiak takes the Broncos job unless it's solely to work with a friend. If Manning comes back, Kubiak has to figure out how to change hos offense for a season plus the Broncos are going to have to revamp their roster using $19-ish million in cap space for PM. The Broncos have salary decisions on PM, the Thomases, Ware, possibly Miller, Talib, Kneighton, not to mention Welker, Moore, Franklin, and Montgomery (etc.). Plus, this is probably PM's last year so long term it looks like a rebuild job with an unproven QB.

If PM doesn't come back, the Broncos have cap flexibility but they're just one year sooner into rebuild.

As opposed to building his resume with the Ravens and next year maybe finding a job with a better QB situation.

Doesn't strike me as the greatest job, but maybe he wants to get the band back together.