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July 7, 2020 at 2:29 pm #117671
znModeratorMost valuable traits of an NFL head coach? Eight star players weigh in
Jim Trotter
https://www.nfl.com/news/most-valuable-traits-of-an-nfl-head-coach-eight-star-players-weigh-in
The last time NFL coaches did not have on-field access to players during the offseason was 2011, during the owner-imposed lockout. When a new labor agreement was finally reached and players returned to their clubs, the discussion quickly turned to which teams would be the least impacted by the disrupted offseason.
In hindsight, the answer seems obvious: Clubs with established, proven coaches fared best. In fact, of the 12 franchises that reached the playoffs that season, six had head coaches boasting previous Super Bowl experience (with five owning rings), three others had coaches who would later reach the title game (with two winning) and another had a coach who would advance to a conference final.
Understanding that coaching will be at an even greater premium this season after franchises were prevented from having on-field workouts with players because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I began wondering which traits are most important for a successful head coach. Rather than ask owners — whose hiring practices aren’t exactly flawless, otherwise there would not be an average of nearly seven head coaches fired every year since 2000 — I sought out a player at each position group for his thoughts.
So, what are the three most important qualities of a successful NFL head coach? Here are the players’ responses:
QB Jared Goff
Los Angeles Rams · 5th season
1) Listening: The ability to be open-minded to others’ ideas and others’ thoughts, and the ability to actually take those in where your ego is not too big where [you think] you’re the only one who’s right.2) Communication: How well you’re able to communicate to everyone, not only your players and coaches, but everyone within the building and the front office. But especially players — how you’re able to communicate with players that are smart and are extremely intelligent and can handle a lot, and then at the same time the players that need to be helped out a little bit more, and not be frustrated but to communicate in a way that helps them. That’s part of why I think [Rams coach Sean McVay] does so well.
3) Connectivity: Genuinely connecting with your players and genuinely connecting with your staff. And showing a true interest in not only who they are as football players, but who they are as people. That’s another thing that Sean does really well, being able to connect with everybody no matter who it is, from top to bottom of the roster. Everyone. Being able to understand them as a person and truly have a relationship with them.
RB Frank Gore
New York Jets · 16th season
1) Honesty: A coach being straight up with a player is critical. We’re all men at the end of the day, and I hate when a coach isn’t 100 percent real with you. I might not like what you have to stay, but I respect that you’re straight up with me.2) Steadiness: When things aren’t going good, he has to stay the same. They can’t be up and down. When you do that, you’re showing weakness and you lose respect. How are you going to be a leader to a bunch of men, and as soon as something doesn’t go right — say, we lose back-to-back games — you’re in the tank. I don’t respect that.
3) Flexibility: Every player is different, so you shouldn’t try to treat every player the same. Some guys might need you to talk to them more, some not as much. Some guys might need you to be hard on them, but other guys might not need that as much.
WR Larry Fitzgerald
Arizona Cardinals · 17th season
1) Gaining a player’s trust: If a player knows you care for him and his well-being, he will run through a wall for you.2) Honesty: That consists of being real with him no matter what, not telling a player what you think he wants to hear.
3) Being a student as well as a teacher: Find the things a player does well, as opposed to harping on the things he doesn’t do as well. Everyone learns differently. Some guys are visual learners, some guys are walk-through learners; so being a great teacher means you need to be a good observer and listener.
TE Travis Kelce
Kansas City Chiefs · 8th season1) Leadership: That’s a general term, but it goes a little bit deeper than that. When you’re thinking of somebody who can lead an army, lead a group of men, lead a mass group of people, you have to have some sort of order, and that’s what Coach (Andy) Reid really does for us. He creates order and then his discipline upon that order is what really drives the system. That’s everything right there. He creates an environment of this is how it’s done. Everybody understands it, everybody abides by it and everybody knows this is how I get better within it. He leaves no gray area. he establishes a set of rules and expectations and demands those expectations be met. It’s literally what you would think it would be. If you’re not here, you’re going to get fined. And if you keep doing it, you’re going to be out of here. Those are demands that aren’t necessarily in the rule book, but if you don’t do this, you’re going to be an example set and you’re going to be out of here.
2) Honesty, trust, truth: When you get a coach who can just flat-out put it on the table and let you work for your paycheck, your food, where you know what’s in front of you and what’s expected of you, that’s all you can ask for — the opportunity to know exactly what you’ve got to do to succeed, and then that coach being able to provide the tools to be able to do it. I would rather a coach tell me “you’re [soft]” than go out there and hit somebody [soft] and have the coach say “that was OK” when it wasn’t. I’d prefer he say, “We need more effort, we need more collision, we need more oomph. We need you to start playing like a grown man.” If you put it on the table, I know what I have to do to meet those expectations.
3) Scheme: A lot of head coaches aren’t offensive or defensive coordinators (while being a head coach), but specifically thinking about my situation, what I appreciate is Coach Reid’s scheme. He’s one of the greatest to ever do it. When you have a coach who can mirror stuff up and create confusion for the defense, because of all the hard work and all the preparation he puts in before the week even starts, that is such a blessing to a player. I’ve understood that since I’ve been in Kansas City. The scheme behind the knowledge is what has thrown me into a category I probably had no business being in, which is one of the best tight ends in the league. If you master the order and then be disciplined to go out and be a football player within his scheme — I’m just blessed.
OL Jack Conklin
Cleveland Browns · 5th season1) Consistency. It refers to how they’re going to handle every situation. When you know your coach and how he’s going to handle everything, when he sets a basis for everything, you can expect and you know the way to go about everything. That goes from just the day-to-day stuff with what you’re expected to do to how he’s going to handle a tough situation during a game. The most successful coaches I’ve been around, you knew how they were going to handle things and you could count on them to do it the same way in and out every day.
2) Organization. It goes with consistency. With football and how we’ve been programmed to work since college, we’re all so structured. We want to know what time everything is, down to cadence. When a coach brings that Day 1, setting that standard, that really plays well to the players, especially offensive linemen. We’re obviously a pretty unique group that has to work cohesively together for an offense’s success, so when you’re organized, we know what to expect every day.
3) Loyalty. That just goes to more of a player’s type (of) coach. You know he’s going to have your back. When you work hard for him and you do what they ask of you, they’re going to have your back on the field and off the field.
DL Calais Campbell
Baltimore Ravens · 13th season1) Open and frank communication: A great coach has the ability to develop a bond with the team, express their love for the game and motivate the guys before every game. They usually hold “keep it real” meetings to ensure players know where they stand at all times. Great coaches know how to push the guys’ buttons and have the hard conversations. And they always keep their word.
2) Leadership: A great coach sets yearly and weekly team goals while convincing the guys to buy into them over their personal goals. He also could build a player-led committee to handle all locker room issues. He would allow the coordinators to do their job, but would hold them — as well as the other coaches and players — accountable. He would make sure the guys are prepared and are ready for every situation throughout the game. He would also have efficient practice schedules and meetings to create good practice habits, never wasting players’ time.
3) A sound, composed, competitive spirit: A great coach would keep the guys focused on the big picture in all circumstances, and would never get too emotional after a win, loss or tie. But would still express the hate for losing and the love for winning as much as the players would. We have to know it means something to them all while understanding we can’t win them all. Energy is contagious and the coach sets the tone.LB Demario Davis
New Orleans Saints · 9th season1) Leader of men: He has to be able to command the respect of the staff and players.
2) Detailed in the playbook: He needs to present schemes that help his players be better prepared than their opponents on Sunday.
3) Competitive will to win: He doesn’t accept losing or a losing culture. Winning is the most important thing.DB Richard Sherman
San Francisco 49ers · 10th season1) Philosophy/honesty: A lot of it starts with a good philosophy. I’ve only had two NFL head coaches, and one thing I’ve seen as a common thread is, Pete (Carroll, in Seattle) has his compete, compete, compete philosophy. He has a whole psychological aspect that he goes through with it and he has a routine that he goes through and puts his players through. He has a way of coaching, a way of talking to his coaches, a way of having his coaches talk to his players. They don’t do the whole rah-rah, curse-you-out style. He would never hire a coach like that. It’s all about positive feedback and positive reinforcement and getting the best out of your players. Kyle (Shanahan, in San Francisco) is similar in that he has a philosophy of the best man plays. He doesn’t care about your draft position or any of that. He’s more of a straight shooter than Pete. Pete has a way of making sure everybody feels good, making sure he pushes buttons with certain players and not pushing buttons on other players. Kyle is different. He’s one size fits all. I’m going to cut it to you as straight as I can, as best as I can, and I’m going to explain every single detail of what I understand about the game that either makes this a good play or a bad play or makes us a good team or a bad team. That honesty is something that I think is valuable in a head coach because there’s no gray area. You know where you stand at all times, almost to a point where you’re like, “Damn! That’s how you really feel?” But you can respect that as a player because what he’s saying is objective: Did we win or lose the down? Why did we win or lose the down? If you can give him a fair point back to him, he can take that. He’s flexible in that way.
2) Knowledge of the game: Kyle is one of the best offensive minds we’ve ever had in this game. That comes into it. With Pete, it’s the Cover 3 he brought to the league. It seems so simple, but nobody can run it like we ran it. The way both of them implement what they do — they talk to others on a personal level, then have the great coaches around them who believe in their philosophy.
3) Staff assembly: Kyle’s guys have been with him since he’s been an assistant or a graduate assistant. How you pick the staff is a big part of their success. That’s what makes the team great. It’s not just the head coach; the head coach gets all the credit, but it’s the pieces he puts around him because they still have to deliver his message, and they deliver it on a day-to-day basis. We might sit in a meeting with the head coach for 30 minutes a day, but I sit in meetings with the assistants for five to six hours a day. So the staff is critical.
July 7, 2020 at 7:49 pm #117684znModeratorNFL’S BEST COACHES 2020
Patrick Daugherty
https://www.rotoworld.com/article/goal-line-stand/nfls-best-coaches-2020
Five of the NFL’s 32 head coaches have spent time on Andy Reid’s staff. That number is four for Bill Belichick, though it balloons to six if you include his former players Mike Vrabel and Kliff Kingsbury. If you count Reid and Belichick themselves, 13 of the league’s 32 bosses can be linked to just two trees. For all that imitation, Reid and Belichick own the past four AFC Championships, and three of the past four Super Bowls. The fourth was won by Reid disciple Doug Pederson. It would seem there is a clear takeaway: To win in the NFL, it is better to set trends than follow them.
Two men who have followed that advice are Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, Reid and Belichick’s past two Super Bowl victims. They offer hope that, maybe one day, someone else might lead this list. As for now, Belichick and Reid remain without peer. As I say every year, players, owners, assistants, injuries and acts of God can matter as much as coaching acumen. That’s why, though this is a rankings article, I try not to think of it that way. I view it as more of a compendium, an assessment of where the league’s 32 coaches find themselves right now. How they got here and where they might be going. Last year’s list can be found here. 2018’s is here.
1. Bill Belichick
Career Record: 273-127 (.683)
With The Patriots Since: 2000
Last Year’s Ranking: 1The inclination will be to turn 2020 into a referendum on the great Pats debate: Tom Brady or Bill Belichick? I won’t indulge. It’s unknowable, and it doesn’t matter. That doesn’t mean we can’t acknowledge the “post-Brady” wonders Belichick has already worked. With his aging quarterback saddled with an underwhelming supporting cast, 2019 Belichick oversaw a defense that allowed a league-low 225 points. Never in New England had the NFL’s greatest mind surrendered so few points. That formed the backbone of Belichick’s 10th straight 11-win campaign, and 16th in 20 years. That includes 2008, when a torn ACL limited Brady to 11 attempts. We already know Belichick is going to keep on winning. That doesn’t say anything about Brady, who is probably the best to ever do it. It just means that a Lennon found a McCartney. It’s not an either/or. It’s both, but the nature of Belichick’s position means he will get to keep doing it longer than his former quarterback, putting his records further out of reach and adding more glorious chapters to an already incomparable career.
2. Andy Reid
Career Record: 207-128-1 (.618)
With The Chiefs Since: 2013
Last Year’s Ranking: 2We didn’t need a Super Bowl to tell us Andy Reid’s place in the pantheon. He is the second best coach of his generation, and one of the greatest of all time. We got a Lombardi anyways, forever inoculating Reid against “he never won the big one” caveats while validating two decades of precise, innovative football. Reid has won at least nine games each of his seven seasons with the Chiefs, averaging 11. He has made the playoffs 15-of-21 years as a head coach, doing so with such disparate quarterbacks as Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes. In a copycat league, Reid has always been a trendsetter. 62-year-old Reid’s résumé is now complete, but his tutelage of 24-year-old Mahomes means the Super Bowls could just be getting started.
3. Sean Payton
Career Record: 131-77 (.630)
With The Saints Since: 2006
Last Year’s Ranking: 6Remember Sean Payton trade rumors? They seem funny now as Payton basks in his second Saints wind, but they were often fueled by the man himself. Payton had seemed to reach the limits of what he could accomplish with record-breaking quarterback Drew Brees. The duo lit up scoreboards and stuffed stat sheets but couldn’t keep the other team out of the end zone. Payton appeared hungry for a change of scenery. He got it in the form of the Saints’ already-legendary 2017 draft class, which has revitalized both coach and team to three straight 11-win campaigns, including 13 each of the past two years. It hasn’t simply been the case of an old dog doing his usual tricks. After a decade of passing pyrotechnics, Payton rediscovered his preferred balance on offense, using two-back attacks to set up Brees’ unparalleled efficiency. Frustration has been found in the playoffs, though Payton has quietly become the 27th winningest coach in NFL history, with the 21st best winning percentage. Only Bill Belichick, Andy Reid and Mike Tomlin have more victories amongst current sideline bosses. Payton can sidetrack himself — hello, Taysom Hill — but his reinvigorated pursuit of a second Lombardi is not about to run out of steam.
4. John Harbaugh
Career Record: 118-74 (.615)
With The Ravens Since: 2008
Last Year’s Ranking: 8John Harbaugh has been the Ravens’ coach for 12 seasons. In Year 1, he reached the AFC Championship Game. In Year 5, he won the Super Bowl. In Year 12, he notched a career-best 14 victories. Harbaugh’s accomplishments have come in the hyper-competitive AFC North, most of them with statuesque quarterback Joe Flacco. Harbaugh’s seat has gotten hot once or twice over the years, most recently in 2018. His coolant arrived in the form of Lamar Jackson, a rare young talent, but one who necessitated a complete overhaul of the Ravens’ substance and style on offense. That is not the sort of change most NFL coaches are willing to make, let alone in Year 11. Harbaugh did it in the middle of the season, saving his job and pointing the Ravens back toward a bright future. “If you don’t like change, you’re gonna like irrelevancy even less,” has become one of Harbaugh’s mantras. That is manifested in his embrace of analytics. You are not going to become an old NFL dog without learning new tricks. Harbaugh got the memo and has put himself in excellent position to become just the 14th head coach to win multiple Super Bowls.
5. Doug Pederson
Career Record: 38-26 (.594)
With The Eagles Since: 2016
Last Year’s Ranking: 4Doug Pederson quickly gained a reputation as the league’s analytics prince, but his recent seasons have been more MacGyver than mathematics. If you need to win a playoff game with your backup quarterback, Pederson is your man. A 4-0 finish to steal the division after starting 5-7? Pederson will get it done. Craving normalcy? Pederson hasn’t really had it since Carson Wentz’s 2017 ACL tear. That’s when things got weird and have stayed so. A huge part of it has been personnel. The Eagles routinely don’t have it in the secondary, while the injuries got so bad on offense last year that “Greg Ward” spent time as the No. 1 receiver. Pederson continues to make lemonade out of lemons, which can obscure his continued devotion to cold, hard logic. Even at 9-7, the Eagles remained one of the league’s most efficient offenses last season, as well as one of the most aggressive on fourth down. Pederson knows what he’s doing, and it will look even better if his team can get just a little bit healthier with a little bit better roster.
6. Mike Tomlin
Career Record: 133-74-1 (.642)
With The Steelers Since: 2007
Last Year’s Ranking: 7The Steelers have only three playoff victories since their defeat in Super Bowl XLV in 2011. They are coming off an 8-8 campaign. So why has Mike Tomlin’s value never been clearer? “(Coach Tomlin) straight up went high school football coach and drew up how we were going to defend Cleveland,“ an anonymous player told ESPN’s Dianna Russini after the Steelers’ Week 13 win over the Browns. “He saved the game.” Let’s not make too much of that. It was simply Tomlin doing his job. But that’s what he did all year after Ben Roethlisberger went down in Week 1. Essentially playing without a quarterback, Tomlin rallied his team to an 8-8 finish. Amongst their defeats were a two-pointer to the 11-5 Seahawks, a four-pointer to the NFC champion 49ers and a three-pointer to the 14-2 Ravens. Six of their eight losses were to playoff clubs. Again, this was with Mason Rudolph and “Devlin Hodges” under center. Tomlin did everything he could to keep his overmatched squad in the hunt until they collapsed to three straight losses after an improbable 8-5 start. Tomlin should have more playoff victories. The same is true of every other long-term coach not named Bill Belichick.
7. Sean McVay
Career Record: 33-15 (.688)
With The Rams Since: 2017
Last Year’s Ranking: 3The key to Sean McVay’s success as a play-caller has been his manipulations of Jared Goff. With the offensive line in disarray and Todd Gurley looking like a shell of his former self, it was much more difficult in 2019. Increased pressure had Goff running for the hills, and Gurley was not an effective safety valve. In the context of that offensive dysfunction, 9-7 was almost impressive. There remains zero doubt about McVay’s ability to scheme offense. The question has become if he’s biting off more than he can chew in other areas. Les Snead is the general manager, but McVay’s fingerprints are all over the team’s hyper-aggressive moves in the trade market. The Rams now have an over-leveraged roster and a shortage of draft picks to fix last year’s issues. McVay has also parted ways with war horse DC Wade Phillips in favor of obscure 37-year-old Brandon Staley. McVay is doubling down on his McVay-ness. Long term, McVay remains a strong bet. He is one of the NFL’s best coaches with obvious room to grow. Short term, McVay might have to work through some growing pains before getting back to the Super Bowl.
8. Kyle Shanahan
Career Record: 23-25 (.479)
With The 49ers Since: 2017
Last Year’s Ranking: 15Kyle Shanahan’s quarterback finally got healthy, but that is not the reason he reached his first Super Bowl as head coach. The key to Shanahan’s 2019 was trust in his key lieutenants coming to fruition. Robert Saleh on defense. John Lynch in the front office. As they did their thing, Shanahan did his, deploying a lethal rushing onslaught despite lacking anything resembling a true lead back. Shanahan ground his opponents into dust with the running game while picking his spots with an uneven passing attack. That’s what makes the 49ers’ 2019 so promising. Shanahan wasn’t undermanned only in the backfield, but also the receiver corps. This was not an offense overflowing with weapons or excellent individual performances. It was Shanahan making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. It’s the trait that separates exceptional coaches from ordinary ones. Leaning on scheme instead of talent isn’t the easiest way to make an NFL living, but Shanahan has now proven both as an assistant and head coach that he has the right Super Bowl stuff.
9. Pete Carroll
Career Record: 133-90-1 (.596)
With The Seahawks Since: 2010
Last Year’s Ranking: 5Pete Carroll has stacked up victories everywhere he’s been. Now it’s become a vision quest for the league’s oldest coach, who must not only win, but do it his way. That means running the ball — come hell or high water — despite having one of the most efficient, explosive quarterbacks of the 21st century. Russell Wilson has been reduced to openly begging for a more aerial, up-tempo offense, but there is little reason to expect 68-year-old Carroll to change his ways as he chases his platonic ideal of football. For all the internet fuss, the results have remained strong. The Seahawks have averaged 10 wins in six seasons since their Super Bowl triumph, never posting fewer than nine. It’s just impossible not to think that Carroll could have it even better if he stopped handicapping his offense. Wilson is a nuclear weapon at quarterback. The Seahawks have to stop employing him like a WWI-era dogfighter. Carroll is not only one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, but football history. Nothing between now and retirement will change that. It would still be nice to see him go down swinging instead of running.
10. Mike Zimmer
Career Record: 57-38-1 (.599)
With The Vikings Since: 2014
Last Year’s Ranking: 9Mike Zimmer’s stone age 2019 football produced a playoff victory and head-coaching gig for OC Kevin Stefanski. If you are going to insist on establishing the run, that’s not a bad outcome. Another good outcome was having Gary Kubiak at the ready to replace Stefanski. Kubiak will continue to pound the rock and complement it with a devastating play-action attack, playing into both Zimmer’s wishes and Kirk Cousins’ strengths. Defensive-minded Zimmer takes care of his side of the ball. That’s a huge bar for any head coach to clear. The next step is finding the right stewards for the unit you don’t coordinate, and Zimmer has done so in Kubiak, Cousins and Dalvin Cook. Kubiak’s old school mentality makes for easy jokes on Twitter, but it also has him in excellent position for his fourth playoff appearance in seven years.
July 7, 2020 at 7:57 pm #117686znModerator6. SEAN MCVAY — LOS ANGELES RAMS
CBS’ take: For as much criticism as Sean McVay took after a disappointing 2019 season, it’s important to put that disappointing season in context. McVay, hired at the age of 30, went 24-8 in his first two seasons with two playoff appearances and a trip to the Super Bowl. His disappointing 2019 season still included nine wins, which means his record after three seasons is 33-15, which means his winning percentage is 68.8.
247Sports’ take: The Rams’ 2019 season was not what anyone expected, but don’t let it overshadow the two previous years. Los Angeles won the NFC West in both of McVay’s first two seasons and won 11 or more games in both of those seasons. McVay has posted a career record of 35-17 in just three seasons and won the NFC Championship in his second season. He’s just getting started, really.
July 8, 2020 at 2:49 pm #117726znModeratorMost valuable traits of an NFL head coach? Eight star players weigh in
Jim Trotter@JimTrotter_NFL
Found it interesting that when I asked players which traits are most important for a successful NFL head coach, nearly each of them referenced interpersonal skills before mentioning X’s and O’s. -
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