Quote:I don't get why this is such an uninspiring hire.
He was defensive coordinator over the most dominant defenses in team history.
He went to Atlanta and became the best coach in terms of W-L-T record in team history. I could see if he absolutely bombed in Atlanta. But he didn't.
Unless you want an offensive coach to help ensure Bortles' development, I don't get the complete aversion to Smith.
Agreed. He had five straight winning seasons when he arrived in ATL. He had two bad seasons back-to-back that I still think were hindered by key injuries on both sides of the football.
The key will be who he hires as an OC for his staff though. He had Mularkey there for those five years and now he's an HC for the tacks. And his last two losing seasons there he had Koetter as his OC who is now coaching the Bucs.
So Mike's at least in part responsible for getting some of these guys back up into the HC circle.
Quote:Is everybody assuming that if Marrone gets the HC job he will just keep all the current Jags staff in place?
I don't necessarily think that's the case.
I think he would probably keep Hackett which would be a meh move for us. Hackett is ok and marring has familiarity with him, but there are better OC candidates available.
I'd be ecstatic if marrone got the job and hired someone like Mike McCoy as OC.
I don't think he has any ties to Wash, and while it looks like his defense has performed well, I feel like it was more the talent of the players carrying him. I would imagine he tries to upgrade his DC.
That's the key with Mike Smith. I could see him potentially going after someone like Mike McCoy to come into Jacksonville with him for a few years to be spit right back out into the HC circle by 2020. That's what he did with Mularkey and Koetter.
Quote:That's the key with Mike Smith. I could see him potentially going after someone like Mike McCoy to come into Jacksonville with him for a few years to be spit right back out into the HC circle by 2020. That's what he did with Mularkey and Koetter.
My main interest in a new head coach is someone who is going to command respect, and can bring in top notch coordinators.
Mike Smith fits that bill as well as marrone and a couple others for me.
Quote:No one has a clue as to who will be or should be hired.
But Brooklyn will continue quoting twitter posts from people we've never heard of - and then give us his editorial comment (invariably negative).
I hope someone that Brooklyn is pulling against gets hired so we can get 52 more weeks of terrific insight and analysis.
Unless you know Tony Khan and somehow get him drunk (does he drink? is he allowed to drink?) we all know the same thing - which is nothing.
No matter who the Jags hire I'm sure that is what we will receive.
Quote:Maybe, maybe not. There's really too many unknown commodities right now out on the market for us to hire. We're either looking at all-star coordinators with no previous head coaching experience or a very, very questionable stint at it on their first go around.
Other than Tom Coughlin. Mike Smith is the only coach available that's lead a successful team before. He's the only other one that has a winning record to his name.
I still like David Shaw personally. But it's doubtful they'll interview him. He's cozy at Stanford. Can't say I blame him for that. But, if Caldwell does decide to take a chance on an unknown commodity I'd rather see him go with Kyle Shanahan over Josh McDaniels. Kyle has at least had success with three different locations as a play caller with play-off caliber teams. McDaniels has always had Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
I wouldn't mind Matt Patricia either. When you look at his overall history with New England. This guy has done it all just about. He's coached on offense, defense and I think special teams before climbing his way up to DC.
If we were in a total rebuild like 4 years ago, then a guy like Patricia makes sense. But for the fans and for Caldwell's job security they must hire someone who can immediately get us in the division hunt. For my money only Smith and Marrone can do that.
This makes sense. We don't need a guy with a "vision". We need someone who can come in, and with the parts already in place field a competitive team. I don't think a first time HC can do that, it has to be someone with prior WINNING experience. I think only Mike Smith offers that.
Quote:If we were in a total rebuild like 4 years ago, then a guy like Patricia makes sense. But for the fans and for Caldwell's job security they must hire someone who can immediately get us in the division hunt. For my money only Smith and Marrone can do that.
I don't care who we hire. I just want it to be the correct hire.
Quote:Something tells me if we hire Mike Smith our team will be as mediocre as his name. Another uninspiring hire.
Agreed. But this team and fanbase are used to mediocrity.
One caveat I'll add on McDaniels. A lot of people criticize him for the one year he was the Rams OC and they struggled. In his defense, that offensive roster was pretty terrible.
Bradford in his second year missed almost half the year so he had to play AJ Feely and Kellen Clemens. He got Steven Jackson to an 1100 yard season, while his number one WR was Brandon Lloyd and his #2 was Steven Jackson as well.
They finished the season last in PPG and 31st in YPG ahead of... Jax.
That offensive roster was similar to our dumpster fire we had when it was only MJD. Dirk was our OC in 2011 and we won 5 games, he seems to be pretty successful in turning around TB
Quote:That's the key with Mike Smith. I could see him potentially going after someone like Mike McCoy to come into Jacksonville with him for a few years to be spit right back out into the HC circle by 2020. That's what he did with Mularkey and Koetter.
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Dang, the Mike Smith tree is looking better than the Belichick tree right now.
Quote:Agreed. But this team and fanbase are used to mediocrity.
I love when people say 'this fanbase'. What an asinine statement.
Quote:I love when people say 'this fanbase'. What an asinine statement.
That sounds just like something that someone who knew someone who was in this fanbase would say!
Quote:Agreed. He had five straight winning seasons when he arrived in ATL. He had two bad seasons back-to-back that I still think were hindered by key injuries on both sides of the football.
The key will be who he hires as an OC for his staff though. He had Mularkey there for those five years and now he's an HC for the tacks. And his last two losing seasons there he had Koetter as his OC who is now coaching the Bucs.
So Mike's at least in part responsible for getting some of these guys back up into the HC circle.
(Emphasis added)
We are in complete agreement here.
As to the emphasized portion, Ken Whisenhunt should be available now. He was head coach with Arizona when they made it to the Super Bowl, and most recently, he was offensive coordinator with the Chargers. Despite the slew of injuries the Chargers had on offense, they still finished 14th in yards, 9th in points, and 8th in passing. Rightly or wrongly, for some reason, I always view him and Mularkey as having similar philosophies. Perhaps that's due to them both playing TE in the NFL around the same time and both being on the same coaching staff. But there are other viable OCs out there, including Norv Turner and Mike McCoy.
Quote:Also, "all y'all"
Well, I guess someone that lives 900+ miles from Jacksonville would indeed have his finger on the pulse of 'this fanbase'.
My bad.
Quote:(Emphasis added)
We are in complete agreement here.
As to the emphasized portion, Ken Whisenhunt should be available now. He was head coach with Arizona when they made it to the Super Bowl, and most recently, he was offensive coordinator with the Chargers. Despite the slew of injuries the Chargers had on offense, they still finished 14th in yards, 9th in points, and 8th in passing. Rightly or wrongly, for some reason, I always view him and Mularkey as having similar philosophies. Perhaps that's due to them both playing TE in the NFL around the same time and both being on the same coaching staff. But there are other viable OCs out there, including Norv Turner and Mike McCoy.
Nah, hes under contract and theirnpushing for Toub or a DC at HC to keep the offensive staff.
Quote:Nah, hes under contract and theirnpushing for Toub or a DC at HC to keep the offensive staff.
If true, and the Bolts are successful in hiring a coach that will keep the offensive staff intact, then nevermind.
But usually a new coach wants his guys there with him. If this plays out like normal. I would think Whisenhunt becomes available.
Quote:Marrone would take this team farther than Gus could of course.
He'd still be dealing with a QB issue and he'd have to make adjustments in the defensive play calling -- but he could probably get this squad near or at .500 right away.
He's not my first choice - but I wouldn't hate it - as long as he came in with guns blazing and shook some things up that haven't been working on both sides of the football.
I guess it depends on who he keeps on the defensive staff - how he affects the philosophy on that side of the ball - plus who he hires as a QB coach to work with Blake, Allen and hopefully a new kid. His success in Jax would rest largely in how he addresses those things IMO.
I think he and Hackett would do well with the offense if they get moderately better QB play.
That said - I see Caldwell going elsewhere.
I'm with you.
I'm absolutely OK with Marone and Hackett