NFL Blog

COACHING COUNTS

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009      Email Print

Through the first half of this NFL season we have seen the kind of importance coaching can play on a team.  Starting with the Saints, the offense Sean Payton brought to New Orleans has been a perfect fit when run by a quarterback like Drew Brees, but even the league’s top offense could not get the team to the playoffs last year.

Enter new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (and a couple of new players like Darren Sharper and Jabari Greer) and his aggressive attitude and it has changed the mindset of the entire team.  What Gregg Williams has done, largely with the same players, has not just improved the defense, but improved the offense as well because the turnovers have gotten the ball back to Brees faster than it did a year ago.  At the same time the Saints defense has done a nice job stopping opponents so Brees and the offense can set the tone for the games instead of playing from behind.  That opens the entire playbook to Payton, who has proven he is one of the game’s top play-callers.

Coaching has made a huge difference elsewhere too.  During the off-season 33-year old Josh McDaniels had a tough time early in his first head coaching job.  Quarterback Jay Cutler acted more like a baby than a highly paid professional athlete when his name came up in trade talks (as does every player who has ever played professional sports) and forced his way out of Denver.  In the trade with the Bears, Denver received a first round pick in ’09, which the Broncos used to take defensive end Robert Ayers, a third round pick they traded with Pittsburgh, another first round pick for next year and quarterback Kyle Orton.

McDaniels has proven he knows what he’s doing on offense, as Orton has been more than efficient running the offense and taking care of the football.  Through the first six games Orton’s only interception was an end-of-the-half Hail Mary against the Patriots that was picked off by wide receiver Randy Moss.

On defense, former 49ers head coach Mike Nolan has proven what an outstanding defensive coach he is and the Broncos have been one of the most surprising teams in the league.

Mike Singletary has changed the mindset in his first full season in San Francisco and in the process made the 49ers competitive again.

On the other side of this coaching coin, three head coaches decided to fire their offensive coordinators following training camp and the pre-season.  This had never happened before in my memory, but happened three times this season.  

New Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris, who had never been a coordinator in season before becoming a head coach, hired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski to his first staff, then fired the OC after reportedly disagreeing on who to start at quarterback.  The team drafted Josh Freeman out of Kansas State in the first round and knew he was not ready to play at the start of his rookie year.  The Bucs had signed veteran Byron Leftwich to a free agent deal, which is who Morris wanted to play instead of veteran Josh McCown, who Jagodzinski wanted to play.  Reportedly Jagodzinski was so adamant that Leftwich was not “the guy” that Morris fired the coach he had hired to run the offense before opening day.  The Bucs traded McCown, then went out and became one of the worst teams in the NFL.  Leftwich was benched after going 0-3 and dropped to third on the depth chart, while second year pro Josh Johnson, who never saw the field as a rookie, was handed the starting job.  Now the larger question than the Buccaneers’ overall record may be the ability of Raheem Morris to handle head coaching decisions.

In Buffalo Dick Jauron fired his offensive coordinator Turk Schonert after the pre-season and the Bills have become one of the worst offensive teams in the NFL.  New Kansas City head coach Todd Haley, who had been offensive coordinator in New England, inherited his OC, the well-respected Chan Gailey, but decided after the pre-season to take over the duties himself.  

Through the first six weeks of the season, the combined records of the three teams that fired offensive coordinators after training camp was 3-15.

Players are unquestionably the ones who make the plays and, in turn, make the biggest difference, but as we are seeing through the first half of this season, the influence of coaches can not be underestimated.  Coaches put players in the right position to make plays.. and when they do it well, that can be the difference between winning and losing.

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