2014-15 NFL Coaching Carousel Thread

Marrone and his conservative playbook won't be missed in Buffalo. Just keep Schwartz, pay Jerry Hughes whatever he wants, do not hire Reich as the HC (maybe OC), and find a QB. Whew. Go Bills.
But, really, Hackett has to be gone I have to imagine.

 

I am fascinated by the deal that Marrone pulled off when he signed on with the Bills. An out where Buffalo pays $4M to go away if ownership changes. Freaking brilliant.

How did Marrone get this leverage?!? His choices were the Browns and the Bills -- two NFL teams that fire coaches with disturbing regularity. Apparently he took less money to go to Buffalo but secured this contract language. Outstanding. Shrewd. Marrone's agent earned his money on this deal.

 

On Rex Ryan...

I find him to the be anti-Schottenheimer.

While the constant talk is that he led the Jets to two straight AFC title games, let's remember that he beat the Bengals and the Colts with Caldwell giving the Jets a fourth time out plus a win over the Patriots - not unusual of late.

However, his teams (and his coaching philosophy) is built to win in the playoffs. They get involved in these tree-stump pulling contests in the playoffs and have found some success.

Yet Ryan doesn't have teams that can win consistently in the regular season in today's NFL. That's a problem.

To win a title in the 2014 NFL, a team must be able to play at two separate speeds. The regular season, where you have to win more than a few shootouts, followed by the playoffs, where the 41-35 game in October is now a 20-14 quagmire often played in poor weather elements.

Those are two entirely different sets of challenges.

It's also why I think Seattle is uniquely positioned to win again. They can win shootouts but also stiffen on defense and win in the rain. It's why some of the teams - notably Green Bay - stumble in the post-season. We saw a touch of it in Buffalo, which had a playoff feel two weeks ago. Poor weather and a tight game.

We see it with Peyton Manning's teams in January, also. Once weather comes into play, once the number of plays and possessions drop in January games, the high-performing offenses have real difficulty once they get off the interstate and have to go "off road".

 

No way Marrone would have left if he didn't have inside information on another job. I bet he winds up with the Jets. But he'll wind up somewhere and it won't be Walmart.

 

Can someone explain why the Jets would want to hire Doug Marrone?

 

Marrone was afraid Polian (or whomever will now be brought in to fill the role envisioned for Polian) would shit-can him.

 

This speaks to the brilliance of Marrone getting that clause in his contract.

When he signed on with Buffalo in 2013, he probably knew Wilson wouldn't be alive after the common 3 years a first-time NFL coach gets. That means new ownership. likely a new GM.

Marrone went 15-17 in Buffalo - BUFFALO - with EJ Manuel and Kyle Orton as his quarterback. Before that, he went 25-25 at Syracuse, a program that was 10-37 in the four years before him. He clearly makes bad situations better and has a track record of it.

I also imagine he took a look at Buffalo. New owner, new GM/VP coming in and probably thought he had peaked. If Buffalo, with a tougher schedule in 2015, falls back to 7-9 or 6-10 (or worse), Marrone gets canned.

Think of it like this -- if you were well respected in your field and a new owner came into where you work, wouldn't you exercise your option to find something better as soon as possible before waiting for the guillotine?

 

It sounds like it was simpler than that -- he asked for an extension, they said no (or at least weren't offering much of a deal), and he saw the writing on the wall.

 

It seems like in most years there's one guy who everybody is after head and shoulders above the others. I don't think that guy exists this year, which surprises me a little bit because I thought Pep Hamilton was going to be that guy. He still might be, but he hasn't been mentioned much at all, even on the rumor sites.

I think it's good for GMs and team presidents to go into coaching searches with an open mind, but sometimes it's good to have a plan, like when the Eagles went after Chip Kelly. I know a few of the teams have GMs to hire as well, Buffalo has its own front office issues. Nobody knows why McKenzie hasn't been fired yet in Oakland. The Niners are such a mess it's not even funny and that basically leaves the Falcons, which crazy as it is to say, might be the best opening out there.

 

As a Jet fan not inspired by the idea of Marrone but then again I was originally uninspired
by The Yankees choice of Joe Torre in '96. Both old school NYC natives. Maybe The Jets
catch lightening in a bottle like The Yankees did.

Marrone is part of that Dick McPherson Syracuse mafia that keeps surfacing to
limited success so far.

 

Yeah, I thought hiring Marrone was a terrible move by the Bills and he wound up being pretty good. At this point, I'll be very surprised if he doesn't get the Jets job. I don't know if it will be the right hire, but it makes sense from the standpoint that the new coach is the polar opposite of the old coach. Needless to say, the Jets beat writers will be quite bored with Marrone when compared to Rexy.

 

Keep in mind that Chizik went 5-19 at Iowa State. Two years later at Auburn, 14-0 and the title. Just never know.