1 – I like the hire of Kingsbury. When he was first hired, a part of me was thinking “stop trying to copy someone else. It will never work”, but after thinking some more about it, I start realizing that they were not trying to copy anything from anyone. Well, if you think hiring a young, offensive-minded head coach is copying, then yes, they are trying to copy other teams, but I don’t think that. I think they analyzed their roster, and then found the best candidate to protect Rosen (at Texas Tech the quarterback was rarely touched) while develop him (Kingsbury’s work with young quarterbacks at Texas Tech has been well documented), deploy David Johnson (at Texas Tech the runningbacks often had huge games) and utilize Christian Kirk and Chad Williams (at Texas Tech the wide receivers had great conditions. They even went to the college ranks to find said head coach. This was not a rebound or consolation prize for not getting Sean McVay or Matt Nagy. The Packers tries to emulate those team’s success by hiring Matt LaFleur. The Bengals tries to emulate that success by hiring Zac Taylor. The Cardinals did not. In the future people might try to copy the Cardinals’ approach because they were the first movers.
2 – I have nothing to back this up, but I believe Kingsbury was their first choice all along. I believe that when they several times said “we are keeping it close to the vest” it meant that they couldn’t exactly say “we have been intrigued with this college coach for a long time, and now that we are out of a head coach we are laying out hints for him to quit his new job at a major program.” Yes, it could obviously had been spinned another way than that, but my point is that I am convinced he (or anyone else) would not quit his new topjob to only go to a job interview without having the slightest idea what it very well could lead to. In other words, I strongly believe they got their primary choice.
3 – Steve Keim is really betting on himself. He has obviously made bold decisions in the past (hiring Bruce Arians, trading for Chandler Jones, drafting Tyrann Mathieu to name a few), but trading up in the first round to target your potential franchise quarterback and hiring a recently fired college head coach to lead your team out of the misery after a historical bad season? That’s superbold.
4 – If there was one coach from the previous staff, I would like the new staff to bring with them it would have been Jeff Rodgers. Special teams are criminally underrated, in my opinion, and I thought Rodgers did a great job with the unit last year.
5 – Tom Clements wasn’t one of the guys I wanted the most, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the hire. He obviously brings a wealth of experience, and he has proven to be very good with quarterbacks. I also know that he did some in-game analysis for Mike McCarthy while they were together in Green Bay. Also, it’s hard not to think that Steve Keim, Michael Bidwill and Kliff Kingsbury wanted the Packers-connection between Tom Clements and new wide receiver coach David Raih.
6 – I have a bit of skepticism with the hire of Clements as well. The local reporters say that he will essentially be the de facto offensive coordinator. Then why the title? Why not call an offensive coordinator the offensive coordinator? So, what exactly is Clements going to do? I mean other than being a quarterback coach. The locals also reports that Clements will be sort of a “bench coach” to Kingsbury, while other insiders point to him being “the primary offensive assistant.” What does those things even mean? No, he is not just a glorified position coach as many has suggested. Again, why the title then? He is not stupid (well, I suppose he isn’t), so why would he want the coordinator-title if it wasn’t relevant, and other the other side, why would the Cards give him the title if it wasn’t relevant?
With the Packers he was heavily involved with the offensive game planning, and for many years the Packers has been well-known for running a west coach offense. Was that Mike McCarthy’s preferred system? Was it Clements’? Will he bring details from that system to mesh with Kingsbury’s ideas?
Why did they hire a passing game coordinator, when passing offense supposedly is Kingsbury’s biggest strength as a play caller? Why not a run game coordinator?
Oh, and don’t give me that “Sean Kugler will help coordinating the run game.” He might end up doing that, but it obviously is not the intention since he wasn’t named offensive line coach / run game coordinator. If the titles were thrown around that lightly (and this goes to Clements as well as I have written), they wouldn’t have any validity, so why would they even exist – and this goes for both parties, both the employee and the employer?
7 – I can’t really decide what I think of the hiring of Vance Joseph. Don’t get me wrong, I think he is good, but is he experienced enough? I mean, is three years as a high-ranked coach enough? Again, I am not talking about if he is a good enough play-caller, but I guess I just thought that they would bring in coordinators with a wealth of experience. Like Mike Nolan or Dom Capers, who were rumored to be in the mix. Having said that, I think it speaks volume that, literally the day after he was let go by Denver, he had an interview set up with the Bengals for their head coaching-job, and both the Browns, the Jets and the Cardinals interviewed him for their coordinator-openings. In sport it can often tell you something about someone’s abilities by how sought-after he or she is. It also tells us that Bidwill must have really opened up the checkbook.
8 - I haven’t been following Joseph’s past stints closely enough to say which system he is going to run, but I suppose there will be more focus on penetration from the defensive line, more blitzes and probably more man coverage. In other words, I suppose it will fit the personnel better than Al Holcomb’s defense did.
9 – Man, I wanted them to bring back Stump Mitchell. I think that if the offense is going to be explosive it needs the old David Johnson, and even though Kingsbury might utilize him much better than last year, a good position coach would really help as well. I’m sure James Saxon is a good alternative, by the way. I don’t know more about him than I can read, and it’s kind of encouraging that both the Steelers’ fans and their players are furious that Saxon was let go.
10 – I literally shivered when I saw that the Cardinals had hired Billy Davis, just because I remember his last stint in Arizona. However, after letting it sink in, I’m not that negative about it. I mean, he is hired as the linebackers-coach which he has previously been very successful with at various places.
11 – I like the hire of offensive line coach Sean Kugler, I really do. It’s just that I can remember how most people (including me) was elated when they brought Russ Grimm in, and I guess all of us remembers how most people (including me) had high expectations after they hired Ray Brown before last year. Kugler was in demand, and he is in fact known as one of best.
12 – I don’t know much about Steve Heiden, but he was hired by Bruce Arians, retained by Steve Wilks and now retained by Kliff Kingsbury. That says a lot about Heiden. I don’t know for sure, but I got to think it is extremely rare that a coach are kept on the different head coaches staff’s throughout three different regimes.
Buddy Morris has also been retained by two staff’s after Arians’, but he isn’t really an on the field-coach, so other elements probably goes into that.
13 –They retained and promoted Chris Achuff to defensive line coach? Really? After how the defensive line played last year? I am not saying this is necessarily a bad hire (and, after all, Kingsbury did play against Achuff’s defensive lines four times in college), but color me skeptical.
14 – I can’t wait to see Kingsbury’s offense in full effect. His offenses in college were certainly high-octane and super-explosive, but the game is simply different in the NFL. I guess my point is that if he really is this offensive wizard with a razor-sharp mind like everyone in the know seems to think, then he should be able to adapt his systems and playcalling to the NFL.
15 – I like this coaching staff. I would have done things differently here and there, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. Maybe the assistants will help the gamble with Kingsbury work, and maybe they won’t, but no-one, who knows just a little about these coaches, can deny that the conditions to succeed are now there, and that the “experiment” is most fascinating.
2 – I have nothing to back this up, but I believe Kingsbury was their first choice all along. I believe that when they several times said “we are keeping it close to the vest” it meant that they couldn’t exactly say “we have been intrigued with this college coach for a long time, and now that we are out of a head coach we are laying out hints for him to quit his new job at a major program.” Yes, it could obviously had been spinned another way than that, but my point is that I am convinced he (or anyone else) would not quit his new topjob to only go to a job interview without having the slightest idea what it very well could lead to. In other words, I strongly believe they got their primary choice.
3 – Steve Keim is really betting on himself. He has obviously made bold decisions in the past (hiring Bruce Arians, trading for Chandler Jones, drafting Tyrann Mathieu to name a few), but trading up in the first round to target your potential franchise quarterback and hiring a recently fired college head coach to lead your team out of the misery after a historical bad season? That’s superbold.
4 – If there was one coach from the previous staff, I would like the new staff to bring with them it would have been Jeff Rodgers. Special teams are criminally underrated, in my opinion, and I thought Rodgers did a great job with the unit last year.
5 – Tom Clements wasn’t one of the guys I wanted the most, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the hire. He obviously brings a wealth of experience, and he has proven to be very good with quarterbacks. I also know that he did some in-game analysis for Mike McCarthy while they were together in Green Bay. Also, it’s hard not to think that Steve Keim, Michael Bidwill and Kliff Kingsbury wanted the Packers-connection between Tom Clements and new wide receiver coach David Raih.
6 – I have a bit of skepticism with the hire of Clements as well. The local reporters say that he will essentially be the de facto offensive coordinator. Then why the title? Why not call an offensive coordinator the offensive coordinator? So, what exactly is Clements going to do? I mean other than being a quarterback coach. The locals also reports that Clements will be sort of a “bench coach” to Kingsbury, while other insiders point to him being “the primary offensive assistant.” What does those things even mean? No, he is not just a glorified position coach as many has suggested. Again, why the title then? He is not stupid (well, I suppose he isn’t), so why would he want the coordinator-title if it wasn’t relevant, and other the other side, why would the Cards give him the title if it wasn’t relevant?
With the Packers he was heavily involved with the offensive game planning, and for many years the Packers has been well-known for running a west coach offense. Was that Mike McCarthy’s preferred system? Was it Clements’? Will he bring details from that system to mesh with Kingsbury’s ideas?
Why did they hire a passing game coordinator, when passing offense supposedly is Kingsbury’s biggest strength as a play caller? Why not a run game coordinator?
Oh, and don’t give me that “Sean Kugler will help coordinating the run game.” He might end up doing that, but it obviously is not the intention since he wasn’t named offensive line coach / run game coordinator. If the titles were thrown around that lightly (and this goes to Clements as well as I have written), they wouldn’t have any validity, so why would they even exist – and this goes for both parties, both the employee and the employer?
7 – I can’t really decide what I think of the hiring of Vance Joseph. Don’t get me wrong, I think he is good, but is he experienced enough? I mean, is three years as a high-ranked coach enough? Again, I am not talking about if he is a good enough play-caller, but I guess I just thought that they would bring in coordinators with a wealth of experience. Like Mike Nolan or Dom Capers, who were rumored to be in the mix. Having said that, I think it speaks volume that, literally the day after he was let go by Denver, he had an interview set up with the Bengals for their head coaching-job, and both the Browns, the Jets and the Cardinals interviewed him for their coordinator-openings. In sport it can often tell you something about someone’s abilities by how sought-after he or she is. It also tells us that Bidwill must have really opened up the checkbook.
8 - I haven’t been following Joseph’s past stints closely enough to say which system he is going to run, but I suppose there will be more focus on penetration from the defensive line, more blitzes and probably more man coverage. In other words, I suppose it will fit the personnel better than Al Holcomb’s defense did.
9 – Man, I wanted them to bring back Stump Mitchell. I think that if the offense is going to be explosive it needs the old David Johnson, and even though Kingsbury might utilize him much better than last year, a good position coach would really help as well. I’m sure James Saxon is a good alternative, by the way. I don’t know more about him than I can read, and it’s kind of encouraging that both the Steelers’ fans and their players are furious that Saxon was let go.
10 – I literally shivered when I saw that the Cardinals had hired Billy Davis, just because I remember his last stint in Arizona. However, after letting it sink in, I’m not that negative about it. I mean, he is hired as the linebackers-coach which he has previously been very successful with at various places.
11 – I like the hire of offensive line coach Sean Kugler, I really do. It’s just that I can remember how most people (including me) was elated when they brought Russ Grimm in, and I guess all of us remembers how most people (including me) had high expectations after they hired Ray Brown before last year. Kugler was in demand, and he is in fact known as one of best.
12 – I don’t know much about Steve Heiden, but he was hired by Bruce Arians, retained by Steve Wilks and now retained by Kliff Kingsbury. That says a lot about Heiden. I don’t know for sure, but I got to think it is extremely rare that a coach are kept on the different head coaches staff’s throughout three different regimes.
Buddy Morris has also been retained by two staff’s after Arians’, but he isn’t really an on the field-coach, so other elements probably goes into that.
13 –They retained and promoted Chris Achuff to defensive line coach? Really? After how the defensive line played last year? I am not saying this is necessarily a bad hire (and, after all, Kingsbury did play against Achuff’s defensive lines four times in college), but color me skeptical.
14 – I can’t wait to see Kingsbury’s offense in full effect. His offenses in college were certainly high-octane and super-explosive, but the game is simply different in the NFL. I guess my point is that if he really is this offensive wizard with a razor-sharp mind like everyone in the know seems to think, then he should be able to adapt his systems and playcalling to the NFL.
15 – I like this coaching staff. I would have done things differently here and there, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. Maybe the assistants will help the gamble with Kingsbury work, and maybe they won’t, but no-one, who knows just a little about these coaches, can deny that the conditions to succeed are now there, and that the “experiment” is most fascinating.
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