Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) This topic came up buried in another thread many are likely ignoring, so I thought it deserved a bump. I'm asking to be educated here. Where and when has a coach been given a double-step (double promotion) in 1 year and been successful? By double-step or double promotion I mean going from a positional assistant to being HC, ie DB coach starting year one, HC starting year two. The Ravens in 2008 brought in Eagles DB coach John Harbaugh as their HC. But, Harbaugh had previously been ST coordinator for 9 years, which I view as equivalent to OC or DC, and had switched to DB coach at his own request to broaden his experience and make himself more hireable. The SF 49'ers promoted Tomsula from DL coach to HC, and it was a disaster, but I'm thinking probably there are successful examples, I just don't know of or remember them. Bring out your football coach chops and help out! The Bills relevance of course, is that ALynn has been an RB coach since 2003, with Jacksonville, Dallas, Cleveland, and since 2012 with Ryan and the Jets. From 2000 to 2003, he was an assistant coach then special teams assistant with the Broncos, the team with which he won 2 SB rings as a ST player and RB. Now he is being named by many as a "lock" or "done deal" to be the Bills HC. I believe Lynn is a good and experienced football coach, and he may have the personality traits to make him a good HC. The major argument for trying to keep him would be to keep this year's successful O intact while improving on D. In general, HC who try to serve as their own coordinators on one side of the ball seem to work at a handicap to HC who serve as a football executive and delegate control to an OC and DC. But, to go from RB coach one year to HC the next without a couple years of experience seems like a huge step, almost setting a guy up to fail. So I'm looking for some examples where it has worked. Edited January 1, 2017 by Hapless Bills Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangarang Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Andy Reid was never a coordinator. He went from o-line coach, to QB coach, to HC of the Eagles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klos63 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 This topic came up buried in another thread many are likely ignoring, so I thought it deserved a bump. I'm asking to be educated here. Where and when has a coach been given a double-step (double promotion) in 1 year and been successful? By double-step or double promotion I mean going from a positional assistant to being HC, ie DB coach starting year one, HC starting year two. The SF 49'ers promoted Tomsula from DL coach to HC, and it was a disaster, but I'm thinking probably there are successful examples, I just don't know of or remember them. Bring out your football coach chops and help out! The Bills relevance of course, is that ALynn has been an RB coach since 2003, with Jacksonville, Dallas, Cleveland, and since 2012 with Ryan and the Jets. From 2000 to 2003, he was an assistant coach then special teams assistant with the Broncos, the team with which he won 2 SB rings as a ST player and RB. Now he is being named by many as a "lock" or "done deal" to be the Bills HC. I believe Lynn is a good and experienced football coach, and he may have the personality traits to make him a good HC. The major argument for trying to keep him would be to keep this year's successful O intact while improving on D. In general, HC who try to serve as their own coordinators on one side of the ball seem to work at a handicap to HC who serve as a football executive and delegate control to an OC and DC. But, to go from RB coach one year to HC the next without a couple years of experience seems like a huge step, almost setting a guy up to fail. So I'm looking for some examples where it has worked. I can't think of any and I don't want to move too far off topic, but instead, I can probably list dozens that made the 'single step' unsuccessfully. If Lynn had only been an assistant coach a few years, I'd be more worried. Also, I don't believe success as coordinator is a factor in determining success as a head coach. HC requires a different set of skills that a OC/DC may have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. L. Hot-Flamethrower Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 I can't think of any and I don't want to move too far off topic, but instead, I can probably list dozens that made the 'single step' unsuccessfully. If Lynn had only been an assistant coach a few years, I'd be more worried. Also, I don't believe success as coordinator is a factor in determining success as a head coach. HC requires a different set of skills that a OC/DC may have. ^^^^this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffalothruMyVeins Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 I believe John Madden was the OL coach of the Raiders before he took over as HC, with great success. Just the one off the to of my head, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Mike tomlin was pretty close. Had just 1 year as a D.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) Andy Reid was never a coordinator. He went from o-line coach, to QB coach, to HC of the Eagles. Thanks, Bang, exactly the gouge I was seeking. Reid had a very good run with the Eagles, too. Edited January 1, 2017 by Hapless Bills Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJBobby Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Andy Reid was never a coordinator. He went from o-line coach, to QB coach, to HC of the Eagles. In one year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 It would be the exception and not the rule. Are ya' feelin' lucky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 I can't think of any and I don't want to move too far off topic, but instead, I can probably list dozens that made the 'single step' unsuccessfully. If Lynn had only been an assistant coach a few years, I'd be more worried. Also, I don't believe success as coordinator is a factor in determining success as a head coach. HC requires a different set of skills that a OC/DC may have. I can understand the argument that HC requires a different skill set than OC and DC. And yet, one of the major arguments for Lynn, continuity with the offense, requires that not only he be OC with the different skills it entailes, but pick up those very different HC skillsets concurrently. I understand what you're saying, but I feel it's like looking at the failure rate of QBs drafted in the first round. Even in the first round, something like half the QBs drafted even in the first round don't achieve success as QB in the NFL, but they are still significantly more likely to succeed than QB drafted later. Similar kind of thing with HC. It is true that HC from the OC, DC, and ST coordinator ranks don't always achieve success as HC. But they still have more exposure to a broader view of the game, as do coaches who have served in a variety of coaching assistant roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klos63 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I can understand the argument that HC requires a different skill set than OC and DC. And yet, one of the major arguments for Lynn, continuity with the offense, requires that not only he be OC with the different skills it entailes, but pick up those very different HC skillsets concurrently. I understand what you're saying, but I feel it's like looking at the failure rate of QBs drafted in the first round. Even in the first round, something like half the QBs drafted even in the first round don't achieve success as QB in the NFL, but they are still significantly more likely to succeed than QB drafted later. Similar kind of thing with HC. It is true that HC from the OC, DC, and ST coordinator ranks don't always achieve success as HC. But they still have more exposure to a broader view of the game, as do coaches who have served in a variety of coaching assistant roles. I'll admit, it's an imperfect science. We have proved that over and over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) Mike Tomlin was a DC for one season before becoming Steelers coach. Edited January 2, 2017 by matter2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Considering Lynn was talked about a year ago as a potential HC leaves me less worried about it. This topic came up buried in another thread many are likely ignoring, so I thought it deserved a bump. I'm asking to be educated here. Where and when has a coach been given a double-step (double promotion) in 1 year and been successful? By double-step or double promotion I mean going from a positional assistant to being HC, ie DB coach starting year one, HC starting year two. The Ravens in 2008 brought in Eagles DB coach John Harbaugh as their HC. But, Harbaugh had previously been ST coordinator for 9 years, which I view as equivalent to OC or DC, and had switched to DB coach at his own request to broaden his experience and make himself more hireable. The SF 49'ers promoted Tomsula from DL coach to HC, and it was a disaster, but I'm thinking probably there are successful examples, I just don't know of or remember them. Bring out your football coach chops and help out! The Bills relevance of course, is that ALynn has been an RB coach since 2003, with Jacksonville, Dallas, Cleveland, and since 2012 with Ryan and the Jets. From 2000 to 2003, he was an assistant coach then special teams assistant with the Broncos, the team with which he won 2 SB rings as a ST player and RB. Now he is being named by many as a "lock" or "done deal" to be the Bills HC. I believe Lynn is a good and experienced football coach, and he may have the personality traits to make him a good HC. The major argument for trying to keep him would be to keep this year's successful O intact while improving on D. In general, HC who try to serve as their own coordinators on one side of the ball seem to work at a handicap to HC who serve as a football executive and delegate control to an OC and DC. But, to go from RB coach one year to HC the next without a couple years of experience seems like a huge step, almost setting a guy up to fail. So I'm looking for some examples where it has worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangarang Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 In one year? No, not in one year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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