Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Brandon Staley has to be close to the top of this list in that he was only a one-year DC. Defense was good but now it may have been a case of
a defense that was not pervasive yet and caught teams off guard a little. In other words, it was the scheme as much as the coach. When NFL teams had a year of tape to watch they came up with solutions and the defense was not as effective.

I can think of Scott Linehan and Spaguolo but they had more experience but were "hot" then "not" after being head coaches.

But there are tons of others hot assistants got the head coaching gig and mucked it up

The Chargers have themselves to blame. They show disrespect towards Ekeler and his 38 TDs over two seasons and then the season goes downhill from there with a talented team either hurt, inconsistent or underachieving. Belichick would be perfect for the team loaded with talent, but would the players respond and would management take the chance on getting him?

A tough season for Kellen Moore as well, who dealt with injured players and decided not to take the position of interim HC, according to reports.

Speaking of hot coaching candidates, Lions offensive coach Ben Johnson could feel teams breathing down his neck, if the Lions can continue the offensive momentum of tonights easy win over Denver. Can the defense find a way to help the team more as it makes a stab for next weeks division championship, possibly their first since 1993?

JohnTurney wrote: ↑Sat Dec 16, 2023 10:20 pm ....But there are tons of others hot assistants got the head coaching gig and mucked it up

Phil Bengston immediately comes to mind.
Although, in a way, he was set up for failure as Vince's Packers were pretty much in decline by the time Phil got the HC job.

I enjoy 'hot commodity' coordinators who aren't even good coordinators, yet somehow get the reputation as an up-and-coming HC prospect. One guy I never understood was Adam Gase...he was terrible as an OC in Chicago yet somehow parlayed that into a HC gig in Miami...was terrible there yet the Jets decided to give him another shot. Weird. Kevin Gilbride is another guy who never really accomplished much as an OC, yet was always mentioned as a 'top mind' and was unsurprisingly terrible as a HC.

Dan Henning kept getting NFL employment; he coached for 7 years and had 7 losing seasons. I think that is some type of record, no?

I disagree slightly on Gilbride, Bryan. Youre right about him being a bad head coach, like Henning and also Cam Cameron, but he was a good offensive coach for Houston, Jax and the Giants. His chuck-and-duck offense didnt thrill Buddy Ryan of course ... haha.
He did sputter with different teams before joining the Giants, however. His failure to develop Cody Carlson to succeed Warren Moon was a disaster in 1994 and set the team --and city-- back, as well.

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Tue Dec 19, 2023 11:55 am I disagree slightly on Gilbride, Bryan. Youre right about him being a bad head coach, like Henning and also Cam Cameron, but he was a good offensive coach for Houston, Jax and the Giants. His chuck-and-duck offense didnt thrill Buddy Ryan of course ... haha.
He did sputter with different teams before joining the Giants, however. His failure to develop Cody Carlson to succeed Warren Moon was a disaster in 1994 and set the team --and city-- back, as well.

Yes, I am probably being too harsh on Gilbride. Looking at this record, he was more 'inconsistent' than 'bad' as an OC. He did have staying power.

The thing that's driven me nuts recently is the hiring of the OC who suddenly is a hot commodity after inheriting a future HOF QB.

Josh McDaniels Patriot offense was never productive after Brady but at least he was part of a consistently great franchise. But really amazing how Adam Gase became a genius by getting the best out of Peyton Manning in Denver and Nathaniel Hackett pulled MVP performance back out of Aaron Rodgers. In Tampa Byron Leftwich was considered a hot commodity originally until Brady got truly old then left.

My oldest son is a very successful engineer/project manager. He and I have discussed how head coaching failures may often be failures in project management of the sort he has often seen on the job. Someone who is very good at managing a smaller group may not do as well when put in charge of a larger group.

Saleh and DeMeco Ryans were the hot commodities coming from SF, but while Ryans is having an outstanding coaching season, which should get COTY ... Saleh is struggling. Both inherited talented young QBs but the Jets face more scrutiny and distractions than the Texans. How long before Saleh is back to just coaching defenses? Can Rodgers save his job next year?

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Tue Dec 19, 2023 6:16 pm Saleh and DeMeco Ryans were the hot commodities coming from SF, but while Ryans is having an outstanding coaching season, which should get COTY ... Saleh is struggling. Both inherited talented young QBs but the Jets face more scrutiny and distractions than the Texans. How long before Saleh is back to just coaching defenses? Can Rodgers save his job next year?

Do you really think Zach Wilson is a "talented young QB"? He sure hasn't looked it to me.