Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

My stance on an NFL Head Coach is that he needs to be a manager more than anything. The way I see it is that it is his job is to set the culture for the team, keep the expectations clearly defined, always have the big picture in mind and generally keep everyone pulling the rope in the same direction. I cringe whenever I see a Head Coach with the massive play-calling sheet in his hand during a game because I feel like he is in danger of losing sight of the aforementioned big picture.

 

So I started to wonder when was the last time that a Head Coach had play-calling duties and won the Superb Owl. Below is a list of recent title winning teams and their Head Coaches:

 

<p style="margin-left:80px;">Winner - Head Coach:

• New England - Belichik
  
• Seattle - Carroll
  
• Baltimore - Harbaugh (the other one)
  
• New York Giants - Coughlin
  
• Green Bay - McCarthy
  
• New Orleans - Payton
  
• Pittsburgh - Tomlin
  
• New York Giants - Coughlin
  
• Indianapolis - Dungy
  
• Pittsburgh - Tomlin
  
• New England - Belichik
  
• New England - Belichik
  
• Tampa Bay - Gruden
  

<p style="margin-left:40px;"> 

As near as I can tell, of those 13 different Champion squads only two of them had Head Coaches as play-callers; Payton with New Orleans and Tampa Bay with Gruden. I do find it odd that of the repeat teams on the list, Pittsburgh, New York and New England, none of those Head Coaches called their own plays.

 

EDIT: I've learned that McCarthy called his own plays for the Green Bay title but he has since given up those duties.

 

So what do you think? Is it good or bad?

Quote:So what do you think? Is it good or bad?

I can't vote on the poll because my answer would be, "It depends on the coach." I suppose my preference would be that the coordinators call the plays, with the head coach having veto power, but I could also see validity to the argument that, if your head coach was hired because he's an offensive mastermind, wouldn't you want the mastermind calling the plays instead of a less-experienced coordinator?

Quote:I can't vote on the poll because my answer would be, "It depends on the coach." I suppose my preference would be that the coordinators call the plays, with the head coach having veto power, but I could also see validity to the argument that, if your head coach was hired because he's an offensive mastermind, wouldn't you want the mastermind calling the plays instead of a less-experienced coordinator?

 

If he's an offensive mastermind, wouldn't you want him to focus on calling the Offense instead of keeping everything together?

The head coach in the NFL is a different position than a head coach in college, high school, etc.  The head coach in the NFL is kind of an upper level manager that has people working for him to do certain tasks, ie. offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, etc.

 

My thinking is for a head coach to be calling individual plays, that's pretty much "micro-managing" and should be avoided.  A head coach should trust the people that work for him.

 

Look at the train wreck in Dallas when Jerry Jones gets on the sidelines.

Quote:If he's an offensive mastermind, wouldn't you want him to focus on calling the Offense instead of keeping everything together?

If he displays all the defensive acumen of a wet rock, then yes, I'd prefer he have a job title that leaves him explicitly in control of the offense.

Quote:If he displays all the defensive acumen of a wet rock, then yes, I'd prefer he have a job title that leaves him explicitly in control of the offense.

 

I guess that's the thing though. I don't really care if my Head Coach is a football genius; to me that's not his job. His job is to manage a group of players and coaches, not draw up plays and schemes. I would rather my Head Coach be capable of hiring and leading offensive and defensive geniuses rather than be one himself.