Quote:The history of the BB coaching tree should give one at least some pause, I agree.....however, IIRC, only O Brien has gone on to first be a head coach prior to then going to the NFL as far as assistants from that tree, previously. The others have all tried to go straight from that tree as an assistant to the NFL, no? So the circumstances aren't identical. 

 

As for your Eagles point, you might raise a good point there. But again.....in Rhodes case, there was no head coaching experience before his Eagles gig, whereas Kelly has prior HC experience. 

 

In the case of Josh McDaniels, he went directly from being Patriots Offensive Coordinator to Broncos HC.  It will be interesting to see if the 2 year stint at Penn State helps prepare Bill O'Brien better than it did McDaniels for what's ahead.  So much is going to depend on which QB ends as the Texans QB of the future and how well O'Brien and his staff develop him.  

 

Having HC experience prior to becoming an NFL HC is better than the alternative if everything is equal.  However,  we have seen many times,  coaches with no previous HC experience have done well as NFL HC's.   And vice versa.    After 1995,  I couldn't praise Ray Rhodes and then Eagles Defensive Coordinator Emmitt Thomas enough for the job they did that season.  Eagles fans have to hope that history doesn't repeat itself in Chip Kelly peaking in his first season as an NFL HC like Rhodes did 18 years ago.

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