He was Jordan Love's QB coach for two years, then Justin FIelds saw some pretty massive improvement in his 2nd and 3rd year performance when Getsy came in.
unless it’s Caley - technically an outside hire but for all intents and purposes isn’t
McDaniels is likely still sorta in the running of OC. He's not that old, but knows his way around. That would allow Mayo to worry a bit less about the offense. However McDaniels isn't a McVay guy, obviously, and based on the other interviews, that's what they want.
Not sure how we can be optimistic or pessimistic when we know so little about the offense at this point. We don't know who the QB is, who the offensive line coach is, what the O-Line looks like, who most of our receivers are, who our tight ends are. We know next to nothing. And we aren't in the room so we don't know what Caley's vision is for the offense (or anyone else's vision for that matter). The most important thing is one of these candidates having a vision for the offense and teaming with Mayo and the FO to help execute that vision. We don't know what that is so not sure how we can have a take on it at this point.
That's all fair. I just don't see Nick Caley on anyone's "up and coming" list, and he also doesn't have any coordinator experience yet. I'll remain hopeful, and I think the players are ultimately more important.
This is fair but I can't judge things by what BB did that one season with Patricia. It's just so out of whack.
which, to me, is why Caley is such an odd choice (if he is the choice). He has no experience working with or developing QB. No experience calling plays. He’s been almost exclusively a TE coach and has no track record of developing or improving any TE talent.
Doesn't help that the best Caley could hope for elsewhere is a position coach assignment, and definitely has the feel of insularity that was the criticism of Bill towards the end of his tenure. Mayo is taking the guy he knows instead of bringing in some new blood with new ideas, etc. He just did the same for DC. Now, that insularity worked for many years, so maybe the criticism is overblown, but I agree, the skepticism is completely valid.
Patricia had 2 years of offensive assistant and a few years as a head coach where presumably he was involved in offensive game planning. Which isn’t to say he was a good choice for OC but assuming Caley has a “reasonable floor” seems like a stretch based on his resume.
I know he was doing it at the end of his NE tenure. I'm not sure when it began though. Iirc, it was discussed in a Do Your Job team video, and I believe there were also some articles written about it.
https://www.pressherald.com/2022/09/20/patriots-notebook-plenty-of-hands-cooking-up-offensive-game-plans/
I think they thought BoB was staying. Though I will say, league wide the progress has been pretty slow because of the new interview rules holding up the ability to interview assistants from playoff teams (usually frontrunners for most HC/Coordinator jobs, and guys holding off to see if a spot opens from one of those guys getting a job).
While I tend to agree that a TE coach is a viable path to OC given the responsibilities involved I do have to question the value and validity of Caley knowing the players. What players of importance does Caley know that are likely to be here next season? Rham and Strange maybe Andrews? He doesn't know Pop who is the only WR under contract that should be here more than 1 more season. None of the QBs he knows are worth a damn and no one else on offense is under contract including Bourne and Henry.
Having to wait to interview assistants on active playoff teams is definitely one of the blockers. Another was likely waiting for BB to land another job. This surely would impact the cast of holdovers who might or might not be available. If Caley does not sign this week after the in-person interviews (or Tanner Engstrand, I guess), it would strongly suggest they are targeting Fleury or Kubiak.
I think that's a little bit of an oversimplification. As OC, he'd likely have input into some key FAs, like Onwenu, Henry, Trent Brown and Bourne. If Rhamondre is someone to extend. Can Parker have a role or is he a sunk cost. Knowing the players isn't some sort of big difference maker or anything, but it does give him some unique insight.
I don't think he'd be a disaster, but I think the overall strategy is one that makes disaster more likely. This is a rare chance to really expand the coaching network. The Patriots have had basically a reverse triangle of coaching talent... guys leave, they take a few of the lower/middle level guys... not all come back, but the Patriots don't add anyone outside the very bottom level... just talent bleed throughout the offensive staff in particular. If you go to someone who has history outside the org you're likely getting guys from their network with them. If you bring in Caley.... he has no real network, he was here his whole career then was the 3rd or 4th banana in LA for one season, any guys leaving LA are probably going with Robinson who was above them for several years and has deeper relationships.
Kubiak is exciting. 9ers receivers led the league in separation in 2023. Purdy has obviously been excellent but he's also put in positions to succeed. Shanahan's assistants have also been very good when elevated elsewhere (Slowik most recently).
Is it a pedestrian skill group? Andrews is a top 5 TE, they added a 1st round rookie WR, had a previous 1st round WR, added OBJ... that's a good group. And... teams are unlikely to have Lamar Jackson, so I'm not sure a below average passing attack with a great run game is as attractive to teams looking for coaches when they are unlikely to have an elite running QB to slot into it.
This is seriously like the worst fucking labor market for high end positions outside of a petrol state.
Small sample recency bias for sure, but after what I saw from Monken yesterday… pass.
BAL WR coach Greg Lewis interviewing for Saints OC position. Yes the Greg Lewis who "played" for NE after being acquired from PHI for a 5th rd pick in 2009 draft. He only played pre-season and was released, one of the worst trades of the Bill B era.
One of the worst trades in the Bb era is a bit of a stretch. They traded pick 159 for Lewis and 2010 pick 231. There were by my rough count about 15 guys from 159 to the end of the 2009 draft that had meaningful careers (including career special teamers, punters and guys who only had limited success in their 2nd or 3rd stop). Edelman, Jason McCourty and Matt Slauson were the only impact guys to come out of late round 5-7.
