Another year down in the NFL, another year of new hot head coaching candidates. I can’t fault coordinators for jumping at jobs knowing the way things work in this league. Just last off-season Jason Garrett was one of the most highly sought coordinators, now he’s just another name. Same thing with Ron Rivera not long ago. This year’s crop included names like Jim Schwartz, Leslie Frazier, and Josh McDaniels. While the Bill Walsh coaching tree has certainly bred success, the Bill Belichick tree has been anything but.
Charlie Weis has struggled at Notre Dame in the years without primo talent he inherited, Romeo Crennel was shaky at Cleveland, and Eric Mangini wasn’t anything special with the Jets. If those three are any indication, it would be that Belichick’s the mastermind of the staff, not the coordinators. Furthermore, the Patriots’ success speaks to the job Scott Pioli did as the player personnel VP. He acquired Randy Moss, signed Wes Welker, and drafted Matt Cassel as a backup, just to name a few. Pioli seems to have a strong eye for talent while there’s no doubt Belichick brings them in and makes them work. For the Chiefs to hire Pioli it seems like a good move. But for the Broncos to hire McDaniels seems questionable to me.
Not only has pulling from the Belichick tree proven to provide less than desirable results, but McDaniels’ specialty isn’t on the side of the ball that needs the improvement in Denver. When Mike Shanahan was fired by the Broncos, we concluded the team needed to upgrade its defense considering Shanahan was an offensive specialist. That being said, why bring in another offensive-minded guy to run the team? So he can get the offense scoring 30 points again like last year but the defense giving up 35 again? Couldn’t most coaches succeed with the offensive talent they’re inheriting in Denver? Why wouldn’t you bring in a Jim Schwartz or Steve Spagnuolo or Rex Ryan — guys that specialize in defense? This hiring just doesn’t make much sense to me given the Broncos’ current situation.
