Offensive Newbies

Rarely, and I do mean rarely, will I go over the Miami Herald and use information culled off the blog articles of Armando Salguero.  However, his presentation in an article yesterday regarding the new offensive coaching changes was something I simply couldn’t pass up.  Perhaps it was the fact that his piece was not based on opinion but hard facts that surround the changes made with these coaches.

For a second let’s forget about the hiring of Brian Daboll who has only 2 solidly uneventful years as an OC…both miserable in Cleveland.  We’re talking about the rest of the staff that seem to be question marks.

Salguero pointed out that Ireland said this offense would be “exciting” and maybe it will be, far too early to tell.  The fact that what you are about to read, if you haven’t already over there, will likely put a little damper on any enthusiasm you may have.  Now, take into account that this, like Salguero’s piece is not opinion, and in no way am I criticizing the moves.  Form your own opinions or better yet, let next season play out and form your opinion.

Either way, if there were not enough questions already surrounding the offense, here’s a few more “why’s” to ask.

Let’s start with the first obvious coaching change.  Quarterback coach Karl Dorrell.  Dorrelll has never been a quarterback coach before on any level.  To be fair, Dorrell was an offensive coordinator at the collegiate level and worked with the QB’s there but not one on one.  It’s also a natural progression for some WR coaches to be promoted to QB coach.  Usually that does not happen on a team where the QB’s are a major problem area.

New running back coach Jeff Nixon, who I failed to mention in my “Time To Get Caught Up” article yesterday,  has never been a running backs coach in the NFL.  He did play RB at West Virginia, and I heard he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before his interview.

Tight end coach Dan Campbell has never been a position coach at any level before.  The fact that Campbell has never been a coach is not an issue with me, not for the TE’s.  Most TE’s are really coached up by the offensive line coaches and WR coaches as common practice and the TE coach is usually someone who works with them on techniques and route running as well as how to use their footwork in blocking protection schemes.  From that standpoint, Campbell should be fine after having first hand knowledge of the position after 11 years in the NFL as a starter.  This would be akin to Chad Pennington taking over as the QB coach.

Wide receivers coach Steve Bush has never filled that job at any level.  This is a little more surprising than say, Campbell or even Dorrell.  Bush was the offensive quality control coach which means that he isn’t exactly an X’s and O’s guy as much as he is a film breakdown kind of guy.  Tasked now with working with a corp of WR’s will be taxing, especially if any rookie wide-outs are brought in.  He will have to explain and teach the nuances of coverage schemes in conjunction with what the QB will see.  Considering that the QB position right now is in question, that won’t be an easy job…for a veteran wide receiver coach.  To make matter worse, or better depending on how you view the glass, Bush did serve as a defensive coordinator at the college level.  Yes, I said defensive.

Wide receiver assistant Ike Hilliard has never coached in the NFL at all.  While he was a WR at one time, the fact is that now he will hold his first NFL coaching job and even though it’s as an assistant, it’s working directly with a coach who has never held that job either.
Salguero wrapped up his article with this bit of information, I tried to think of a better one but it really sums it up nicely:

"Brian Daboll is the most experienced  of the Dolphins new offensive coaching hires, with 2 years of OC experience."