bmags

See I think this is where there is gray area. Willie was hired to be a 3rd base coach after that, and is now much closer to being a manager. Who knows if this was a helpful way to raise his profile.

I don’t get why Champ Kelly is a big loss? Also congrats @Brian

So Chris Morgan is the OL coach. I thought it was going to be an interesting decision. It's hard in our position to know really much about coaches that don't get spotlighted for excellent work, but one thing I've been batting around in my head is what happened with Fangio, as I know I'm repetitive. But there is Zero doubt Mike Munchak is a great O Line coach, as there was zero doubt Harry Hiestand is. But they were hired under offensive coaches that wanted to run an outside zone scheme that wasn't their specialty (this is my understanding - could be wrong). After 1 year, Fangio dumped Scarangelo (Shanahans QB coach), and went to Shurmur. He chose the Oline coach, basically. Nagy ditched Hiestand and got Castillo. Morgan worked under Shanahan in 15-17 in ATL all the way through 2020. He was in Pitt last year as an asst oline coach and took over the last 3 games as they tried to move to an outside zone based scheme. And last summer I read this article which was excellent https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/08/16/why-its-hard-to-copycat-the-shanahan-style-offense-daily-coverhttps://www.si.com/nfl/2021/08/16/why-its-hard-to-copycat-the-shanahan-style-offense-daily-cover So it's good to have now OC and OL coach on the same page. We'll see how they continue to move.

Boo I wonder if they tried to make him WR coach + Passing Coordinator or if a college team just giving him OC rules was more appealing (I swear to god if he ends up in Minnesota lol)

Even though I think the Bears especially needed a Harbaugh to break out of the doldrums, I really, really like Poles and Eberflus. Maybe I like them more just because the response has been really rude. These aren't bizarre out there candidates, they deserve their roles and they hit that spot I've wanted to see was people that aren't assured they know the right plays or schemes, but that they don't know everything and will bring in smart people and play to their strengths behind a general team identity. I hope it works, it's what I've wanted absent a true genius being out there. And I think Patrick Graham may be that eventually, and McDaniels may be that, but I think this is sustainable.

Honestly wendell carter should cause us all to pause a bit. Like Patrick Williams, Wendell was the youngest player drafted. He looked timid and lost, and now in his 4th season (age 22), he's putting together a closer package to what we thought. He's shooting 4x as many 3s and hitting 34% which is fine for his position. He's up to 13 and 10. Pat obviously we want more than that, but he is y o u n g and just got screwed out of his second season.

Ayo is 2 years older than Patrick Williams.

I have been so bummed about losing Caruso and Ball I’ve been mostly it’s watching the first quarters. Its crazy how packed the East is. I just really don’t want to be in the play in. It has also just destroyed my motivation for a big trade. However if PWilliams hits, then suddenly you have Dosunmu and Him as really decent young talent.

It’s so disappointing. But who knows, maybe Jim Harbaugh was just extremely lucky at consistently winning for the last 15 years.

Good article on Joe Brady: https://theathletic.com/3002445/2021/12/09/did-joe-brady-deserve-to-get-fired-analyzing-his-philosophy-concepts-personnel-and-adjustments/

Yes, was going to talk about this. Been holding out getting excited on Brady because college teams really, really want him back but he seems to prefer NFL. Would just be so thrilled with him as passing coordinator and Getsy bringing LaFleur's run game concepts. Totally agree on Munchak, I noted at some point, but I think one of the reasons Fangio ditched Scangerelo so early was his run concepts didn't mesh with munchak and he went with the more proven quantity. Seems like that happened with Nagy and Hiestand too. I guess there is a big issue right now with more teams wanting to run outside zone than exists strong oline coaches for it. First mover advantage (probably why GB chose to keep their OL coach over Getsy)

yes, they suck in all the ways that win football games, but their work engaging their players especially in 2020 and after is notable and seems to have made real impact on him.

Ugh who was the guy they signed to meet the salary floor that then promptly went hot and won two games in what was the luka, ayton, trae draft?

This situation sucks. I get that Flores may not be the best people manager, but it really does seem like he was set in a poisonous situation. It is crazy to me that a guy like Raheem Morris just can't find his way back despite the very interesting background of now having been a former head coach, coaching a dominant defense, and having been an offensive coach (WRs). And Flores turning chicken crap into a real football team, only to have the toxic relationship likely put upon him as a reason he can't be hired just sucks. I wish Bears would have given him a stronger look. I don't know re: Giants, but if they were putting out rumors that they were leaning into him because of Brookly ties just to cover that up it sucks, but the Rooney Rule will set some of this awkwardness up.

I take it back that pro football network draft simulator is still too much fun.

This is good stuff. I think this offseason the oline is the most exciting thing to watch. Even though our power run game was surprisingly strong last year, it always just felt like our Oline was soft. Even the guys people said were good (interior pre-mustipher) would always seem to get overrun when there was a few yards needed. It will be interesting to see, with limited resources, if they attack getting some more playmakers (where we are completely deficient) or building out oline.

Yep, also makes offseason much less fun. Remember how much enjoyment we all got out of that pro football network tool last year?

I like Kenny Pickett. I hope that guy does well (unless in division)

I mean I could not care less about the mccaskeys needing to pay more for a coach because they’ve been so inept at building the organization correctly, and obviously they should have hired Harbaugh first.

So now MN is bringing Harbaugh in for an in-person. That's going to be a hard pill for me to swallow playing Harbaugh/Fangio in the division. But keeping that separate, I am hopeful for this offensive staff but it did make me nervous looking over at what Fangio put together in Denver. Vic took Shanahan's QB coach (Scarangelo) and was joined by the Steelers longtime Offensive Line coach (Munchak) and it just bombed the first year. But...that was Lock's first year, Flacco, and Brandon Allen. I also think there was likely a mismatch between Munchak and Scarangelo that was similar to Hiestand and Nagy. I know we mentioned Callahan but we do want an Oline coach that is aligned to Getsy's run scheme. Actually I think Vic pulled the plug a little early on this just going through the stats. Something I don't think Eberflus will do. They ran the ball well and threw it deep.

I’ll be really bummed if Poles doesn’t work out. This is exactly the attitude I want to hear (re: visiting other league front offices for an edge). I wonder if that was Sloan?

I really hope the Bears land Joe Brady for QB. His vertical passing concepts will be an awesome addition

Last year Nick Siriani went viral for how bad his press conference was. That team improved to go to the playoffs. Dan Campbell was pointed and laughed at for his over the top coachiness. He then became a darling of the same people during the season. These guys haven't even had a chance to know what this team is. The bit about Eberflus not calling plays was definitely the most noteworthy part of the press conference.

I really hope they make Getsy available

Love working from home where I can just have this in the background lol. Poles started off a little shakey, and then by the end he was really interesting to me. It was definitely funny how little they seemed to care about the media questions on the conspiracy process stuff related to their hire. Eberflus is interesting to me. I think without a doubt given the option you'd take a real savant scheme guy as head coach. But you are in deep shit when you think you have a savant guy and they aren't. I don't think there were any shanahan/belicheck level geniuses in this round, but I could be wrong and Daboll is that guy. Daboll what I liked was how he changed based off personnel. That is in fact what Flus seemed to be implying. They kept trying to pin him down to how his cover-2 system would play, and he didn't commit at all to it. All questions like this he'd basically respond "we'll see what we have and what we need and play a defense on that". Which, if it fails in 4 years we'll say it was because this guy was an idiot. But I think if it succeeds it's because he's prioritizing teaching the players and relying on his coaches to scheme them up for success. Not having a system defining it. Who knows, but this is definitely a different crew, we'll see if it works. Clearly, Eberflus sees his role as more of a Tomlin and John Harbaugh, and was appropriately focused on coaches that can execute. Maybe the most interesting thing out of this is they just did not talk about the roster, even fields. I think they are setting the standard that this isn't one player above another?