Report: Mark Brunell interviewing for Lions QB coach - ProFootballTalk (nbcsports.com)

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These are my initial thoughts:

Mark Brunell was the best Jaguars QB in their 26 season history. In addition, Brunell played for a number of teams, was a teammate with Dan Campbell with the Saints, and was with the Jets when Anthony Lynn was their Running Back Coach. He also coached High School Football in Jacksonville.

I have great respect for what Mark Brunell has accomplished in football and as a person. My concern is he's never coached on even the college level, let alone the NFL level.

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Gotta start somewhere.

Byron Leftwich is the Offensive Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He started coaching mostly as a QBC for the Arizona Cardinals. Mike Kafka is Quarterback Coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, and was only a graduate assistant for a year. A lot of players go on to coach. I think it'll be a trend for the future

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Gotta start somewhere.

Byron Leftwich is the Offensive Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  He started coaching mostly as a QBC for the Arizona Cardinals.  Mike Kafka is Quarterback Coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, and was only a graduate assistant for a year.  A lot of players go on to coach.  I think it'll be a trend for the future

I didn't realize that Byron Leftwich's first NFL Coaching Job and overall coaching job was as Cardinals QB ( with an internship working with the Cardinals QBs the previous training camp. ). 

According to the Chiefs Bio of Mike Kafka, he had one year as an Offensive Quality Control Coach with the Chiefs, after being a Grad Assistant at Northwestern.

Mike Kafka (chiefs.com)

I'm not remotely sure how much these buffers helped Leftwich and Kafka making the transition to QB Coach.  Working under Andy Reid or Bruce Arians very likely helped greatly in their transitions.

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Thank god the Lions hired him.

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Thank god the Lions hired him.

I don't know myself how he will do as a coach, but please enlighten me on the insights that you have where you felt it necessary to say this in two threads.

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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/l...-autopilot

In retirement, Brunell has coached high school football in Jacksonville and spent the past five seasons as a mentor to draft-eligible quarterbacks at the combine.

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The Combine mentoring experience is a positive I was also unaware of.

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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/l...-autopilot

In retirement, Brunell has coached high school football in Jacksonville and spent the past five seasons as a mentor to draft-eligible quarterbacks at the combine.

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The Combine mentoring experience is a positive I was also unaware of.

Brunell learned/played under some good coaches:

Holmgren
TC
and Sean Payton

I don't think he would have had such a long and productive career if he zoned out while they were coaching him.

He seems to communicate well.

He should be able to provide guidance to young QBs.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Good for him!

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/l...-autopilot

In retirement, Brunell has coached high school football in Jacksonville and spent the past five seasons as a mentor to draft-eligible quarterbacks at the combine.

..........

The Combine mentoring experience is a positive I was also unaware of.

Brunell learned/played under some good coaches:

Holmgren
TC
and Sean Payton

I don't think he would have had such a long and productive career if he zoned out while they were coaching him.

He seems to communicate well.

He should be able to provide guidance to young QBs.

Those are 3 of the best coaches to learn the QB position from.  

One thing that's near certain is that Mark Brunell will be working with a developmental QB in the coming months.  

Dave Birkett on Twitter: "Lions make three assistant coach hires official: Mark Brunell, Duce Staley and Mark DeLeone" / Twitter

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Good for him!

Mark Brunell certainly is appreciated in Jacksonville.


Dave Birkett on Twitter: "From Jacksonville Episcopal, where new Lions QBs coach Mark Brunell coached the past 8 years https://t.co/bEMc0g5WM5" / Twitter

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How much do QB coaches make?

It's a shame he blew through that $50 mil he made and has to work now.

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My sig goes here!

How much do QB coaches make?

It's a shame he blew through that $50 mil he made and has to work now.

Who knows how much money he really has, though?  In Florida, they cannot take your house in a bankruptcy.  My understanding is, when he had the financial difficulty, he was living in an ocean front house in Ponte Vedra.  So he might have been able to survive the bankruptcy with a lot of assets still intact.  

He lives in my neighborhood now, in a really nice house on the river.  So he's not poor.

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How much do QB coaches make?

It's a shame he blew through that $50 mil he made and has to work now.

Who knows how much money he really has, though?  In Florida, they cannot take your house in a bankruptcy.  My understanding is, when he had the financial difficulty, he was living in an ocean front house in Ponte Vedra.  So he might have been able to survive the bankruptcy with a lot of assets still intact.  

He lives in my neighborhood now, in a really nice house on the river.  So he's not poor.

He had assets, but if I remember correctly he had most of his cash tied up in real estate which then crashed. Don't remember if he kept the assets or had to sell them.

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Brunell will do just fine as a QB Coach.

He is one of the most underrated QBs. If the clock doesn’t run out on the Vikings during the 2003 draft, then Brunell stays another 3 years as the Jaguars QB.

Instead the Jags draft Leftwich and Brunell goes to Washington. I recently watched the top 100 throws in NFL history and Mark had 3 of the top 100 passes of all time.

2 as a Jag vs Denver and Baltimore and 1 as a Washington Football Teamer on MNF to Moss.

In the QB Competitions during the offseason, he always scored in the top 5 and had one of the strongest arms throwing the ball 68-69 yards in his 30’s.

He backed up Favre for 2 seasons and could have been a starter for another team during those 2 years. Brunell and McNabb had the same numbers the first 8 years of their career. 3 time Pro Bowler, 2 time PB MVP. 2 AFC Title games, 4 playoff appearances in a row. Led the league in passing yards and QB rushing yards in 1996.

He had 4300 yards in 1996 in an era where QBs didn’t have 4300 yard passers.

He has played in some big time games and made some BIG time throws. He was a true dual threat QB. And he backed up Brees, so I think he is as qualified for the job of QB Coach as any.

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Brunell will do just fine as a QB Coach.

He is one of the most underrated QBs. If the clock doesn’t run out on the Vikings during the 2003 draft, then Brunell stays another 3 years as the Jaguars QB.

Instead the Jags draft Leftwich and Brunell goes to Washington. I recently watched the top 100 throws in NFL history and Mark had 3 of the top 100 passes of all time.

2 as a Jag vs Denver and Baltimore and 1 as a Washington Football Teamer on MNF to Moss.

In the QB Competitions during the offseason, he always scored in the top 5 and had one of the strongest arms throwing the ball 68-69 yards in his 30’s.

He backed up Favre for 2 seasons and could have been a starter for another team during those 2 years. Brunell and McNabb had the same numbers the first 8 years of their career. 3 time Pro Bowler, 2 time PB MVP. 2 AFC Title games, 4 playoff appearances in a row. Led the league in passing yards and QB rushing yards in 1996.

He had 4300 yards in 1996 in an era where QBs didn’t have 4300 yard passers.

He has played in some big time games and made some BIG time throws. He was a true dual threat QB. And he backed up Brees, so I think he is as qualified for the job of QB Coach as any.

Cool but he wasn't a great QB. He was very good though.

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"Treyvon Wallet is elite run defender and better overall than Aidan Hutchinson" 11/11/23

Brunell will do just fine as a QB Coach.

He is one of the most underrated QBs. If the clock doesn’t run out on the Vikings during the 2003 draft, then Brunell stays another 3 years as the Jaguars QB.

Instead the Jags draft Leftwich and Brunell goes to Washington. I recently watched the top 100 throws in NFL history and Mark had 3 of the top 100 passes of all time.

2 as a Jag vs Denver and Baltimore and 1 as a Washington Football Teamer on MNF to Moss.

In the QB Competitions during the offseason, he always scored in the top 5 and had one of the strongest arms throwing the ball 68-69 yards in his 30’s.

He backed up Favre for 2 seasons and could have been a starter for another team during those 2 years. Brunell and McNabb had the same numbers the first 8 years of their career. 3 time Pro Bowler, 2 time PB MVP. 2 AFC Title games, 4 playoff appearances in a row. Led the league in passing yards and QB rushing yards in 1996.

He had 4300 yards in 1996 in an era where QBs didn’t have 4300 yard passers.

He has played in some big time games and made some BIG time throws. He was a true dual threat QB. And he backed up Brees, so I think he is as qualified for the job of QB Coach as any.

Cool but he wasn't a great QB. He was very good though.

If Barlow doesn’t fumble in the 2nd half of the AFC Title game in 1999, or if Hudson didn’t try to lateral an interception in the division game in 1998 at the Jets, if Clay doesn’t pick off Brunell on the goal line in 1996, then there’s a chance he would have went down as a great QB.

He would have had to beat Favre in 1996 and The Greatest Show on Turf in 1999. 

I agree he was very good but not great.

I laugh when people say he was average. Chris Berman said he was playing like an MVP in 1998 when the Jags beat the Bucs on MNF. 

Anyway, I think he will make a good QB Coach. If Byron Leftwich can be a QB Coach then I think Brunell can too.

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Being a great (or good) player has very little to do with being a good coach.

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Being a great (or good) player has very little to do with being a good coach.

Very true.

A good coach is a person that can articulately describe proper form and function, reaction and action in certain situations... 

There's an old saying.. those that can, do; those that can't, teach.

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Cool but he wasn't a great QB. He was very good though.

If Barlow doesn’t fumble in the 2nd half of the AFC Title game in 1999, or if Hudson didn’t try to lateral an interception in the division game in 1998 at the Jets, if Clay doesn’t pick off Brunell on the goal line in 1996, then there’s a chance he would have went down as a great QB.

He would have had to beat Favre in 1996 and The Greatest Show on Turf in 1999.  LOL wasn't gonna happen

I agree he was very good but not great.

I laugh when people say he was average. Chris Berman said he was playing like an MVP in 1998 when the Jags beat the Bucs on MNF. 

Anyway, I think he will make a good QB Coach. If Byron Leftwich can be a QB Coach then I think Brunell can too.

Nope, not even close. He wasn't great, period.

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"Treyvon Wallet is elite run defender and better overall than Aidan Hutchinson" 11/11/23

He was great in my eyes with 4 straight playoff appearances, 3 Pro Bowls, 2 PB MVPs, 2 Receivers with a 1000 yards, led league in passing yards in 96, led qb in rushing in 96, beat Buffalo and Denver in 96, came back from an ACL in 97 and went in to win back to back division titles in 98 99. And he’s now in the Pride of the Jaguars. He was the first trade in Jags history. The more I think about it, Pretty sure he’s great not good.

Anyway I hope he works his way up the coaching ranks and becomes a head coach here in Jax one day.

I realize good players don’t make good coaches but I think Brunell could be a good coach.

Haunting there’s no need to tell me what you think this is my opinion. Have a nice day.

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He was great in my eyes with 4 straight playoff appearances, 3 Pro Bowls, 2 PB MVPs, 2 Receivers with a 1000 yards, led league in passing yards in 96, led qb in rushing in 96, beat Buffalo and Denver in 96, came back from an ACL in 97 and went in to win back to back division titles in 98 99. And he’s now in the Pride of the Jaguars. He was the first trade in Jags history. The more I think about it, Pretty sure he’s great not good.

Anyway I hope he works his way up the coaching ranks and becomes a head coach here in Jax one day.

I realize good players don’t make good coaches but I think Brunell could be a good coach.

Haunting there’s no need to tell me what you think this is my opinion. Have a nice day.

He was never great. You are alone there. 

2 PB MVP's
2 WRs with 1000 yards? yeah, because both sucked without Brunell  Put Jimmy and Keenan with Manning and they would be HOFs, sadly they only had Brunell.

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"Treyvon Wallet is elite run defender and better overall than Aidan Hutchinson" 11/11/23