Air Raid Offense - Kingsbury

TheCardFan

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The more I think about KK being the HC (with lots of veteran assistants and a 3-4 D)...the more excited I get.

At this point, our offense is nearly 100% open. We have Rosen, DJ, Fitz, Kirk, Cole, and Pugh. Pugh may not fit this system well but we can easily add players to fill in those holes much easier than a traditional NFL system IMO.

How good would Fitz be in Air Raid? That may get him to play for another 2-3 years.

I could be mistaken but I don't think we would need to spend a ton of FA money on offense. The Air Raid doesn't have Antonio Brown, Juilo Jones, or AJ Green types. We could spend FA money on filling in the defense.

The key to this move would be a veteran coaching staff and a solid DC.

The case for Air Raid in the NFL:
https://www.theringer.com/2018/8/14/17685080/air-raid-offense-mike-leach-lincoln-riley

Here is the playbook from Mike Leach:
http://www.footballxos.com/download/texas-tech-offense-mike-leach-pdf/?wpdmdl=4096&ind=0
 
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Dan H

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I'm down.

Edit - man, that's a great article. And a prime example of why I'm getting more and more excited about the thought of Kingsbury.

But the main reason Air Raid college teams tend to have bad defenses has nothing to do with those teams’ respective offenses. (Imagine someone arguing that an NFL team couldn’t have a good running game if it ran a base Cover-2 defense. That wouldn’t make sense, because those two things aren’t related.) Air Raid college teams tend to have bad defenses because when an NCAA program hires an Air Raid head coach, it is immediately presumed that program no longer cares about defense. And at the college level, those presumptions matter greatly.
 
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AZCrazy

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Wow! Kind of surprised the Mike Leach playbook got leaked, but it is amazing insight into the things that have to go through the players' heads in two seconds after the play gets called, and that the fans demand near perfection.
 

The Kraken

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I hope if we do go the KK route, that we run a wide open offense using Air Raid concepts, not the complete system.

I am worried that the Air Raid is a great college offense that offsets differences in player talent, but like the "Run and Shoot" of the late 80's and other "gimmick" offenses (wildcat, zone read, etc) quickly is cracked by NFL Defensive Coordinators and it quickly becomes obsolete.
 

overseascardfan

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I wonder if a Gase, Kingsbury, Bowles coaching staff is possible? I think Gase. Is best option now that McCarthy turned us down. But would Gase hire Kingsbury as his OC? Heard on Doug & Wolfe this morning that ARZ likes Kingsbury as an OC but they can’t force the new HC to make him the OC. Hopefully ARZ moves fast so we don’t end up our fourth or fifth option.
 

RON_IN_OC

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I wonder if a Gase, Kingsbury, Bowles coaching staff is possible? I think Gase. Is best option now that McCarthy turned us down. But would Gase hire Kingsbury as his OC? Heard on Doug & Wolfe this morning that ARZ likes Kingsbury as an OC but they can’t force the new HC to make him the OC. Hopefully ARZ moves fast so we don’t end up our fourth or fifth option.
The problem with hiring KK as OC is he will likely be gone in a year or 2, with any success in AZ.

It's the same issue that hiring a defensive head coach has...as heard from Pat Kirwin.

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wa52lz

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I wonder if a Gase, Kingsbury, Bowles coaching staff is possible? I think Gase. Is best option now that McCarthy turned us down. But would Gase hire Kingsbury as his OC? Heard on Doug & Wolfe this morning that ARZ likes Kingsbury as an OC but they can’t force the new HC to make him the OC. Hopefully ARZ moves fast so we don’t end up our fourth or fifth option.
I wonder if a "retread" like Caldwell would be more open to OC/DC suggestions then Gase? I think it was Max Starks saying something like this the other day on 620 in re: to Bowles as the team choice for DC. The "hot young" candidates would be more likely to want more control of staff.
 

football karma

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The "hot young" candidates would be more likely to want more control of staff.

one aspect of the FO I find troubling is their repeated/ alleged actions to "suggest" assistant coaches on the HC hires

they pretty much forced Clancy Pendergast on Whisenhunt.

Arians told them to pound sand

curious if they will try to do the same here / not sure if this is common or no around the NFL
 
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TheCardFan

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one aspect of the FO I find troubling is their repeated/ alleged actions to "suggest" assistant coaches on the HC hires

they pretty much forced Clancy Pendergast on Whisenhunt.

Arians told them to pound sand

curious if they will try to do the same here / not sure if this is common or no around the NFL

Did they force Wade Phillips on McVay or did he understand/accept that he knows nothing about defense and his success depends on it? He seems very mature and I suspect it was the latter.

Arians also told them to pound sand on Amos Jones. I think this is part of the reason he left (change was coming and he wouldn't accept it).
 

Chopper0080

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No one is hiring one of these younger coaches if that coach comes in and starts throwing his weight around. The benefit of these guys is the level of self awareness and collaboration they show. They are more focused on how to adjust their system to make it work for their players than grind their players into working in their system. That is the NFL coaching revolution that Belichick and Reid have led.
 

RON_IN_OC

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one aspect of the FO I find troubling is their repeated/ alleged actions to "suggest" assistant coaches on the HC hires

they pretty much forced Clancy Pendergast on Whisenhunt.

Arians told them to pound sand

curious if they will try to do the same here / not sure if this is common or no around the NFL

It's not a Cards thing...it's an NFL thing. If a team feels they have a good assistant in place, it's very common (look at Kitchens in Cleveland) for teams to withhold them interviewing from new teams, until their own HC vacancy is filled and that person can say yeah or nay.
 

overseascardfan

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The problem with hiring KK as OC is he will likely be gone in a year or 2, with any success in AZ.

It's the same issue that hiring a defensive head coach has...as heard from Pat Kirwin.

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On the flip side, KK could be canned in a year or two if he is hired as HC. The only difference is it’s easier to replace a coordinator than a HC. If KK bolts after a year or two of success then that is more palatable than having to replace him and his entire coaching staff in a year if he fails.
I wonder if a "retread" like Caldwell would be more open to OC/DC suggestions then Gase? I think it was Max Starks saying something like this the other day on 620 in re: to Bowles as the team choice for DC. The "hot young" candidates would be more likely to want more control of staff.
I’m sure a no nonsense guy like Gase would that is why I said I wondered if he would be willing to hire KK & TB. I doubt he would want his MIA staff that didn’t work out for him so he should be open to these guys unless he doesn’t like them for one reason or another.
 

GatorAZ

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Unless he really wants to leave the college game I don’t see why he’d take an OC job with a project QB. He’s going to kill it with J.T. Daniels and likely take over for Clay Helton in a year. You’re really only leaving a top-5 job in CFB unless it’s for a HC job in the pros.
 

slanidrac16

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I want to watch an electric offense . I believe getting a guy like Taylor or Kingsbury would do that . Add a couple of competent o-linemen, and 1 good receiver( assuming Fitz stays) and we would see a great offense. Great? Yes. They would turn DJ, Kirk, Edmonds, Logan and fitz AND Seals-Jones into monsters. I highly doubt Kingsbury will come here as OC.
 

RON_IN_OC

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I want to watch an electric offense . I believe getting a guy like Taylor or Kingsbury would do that . Add a couple of competent o-linemen, and 1 good receiver( assuming Fitz stays) and we would see a great offense. Great? Yes. They would turn DJ, Kirk, Edmonds, Logan and fitz AND Seals-Jones into monsters. I highly doubt Kingsbury will come here as OC.
Well, IMO, KK can be one and done as OC at USC or with an NFL team...he just has to figure out which scenario gives him the best opportunity.

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MaoTosiFanClub

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Let the record show that MTFC opines that the hiring of KK would be a "nightare scenario." Why?
There's literally a dozen Air Raid coaches out there with better resumes than Kingsbury.

KK is getting these interviews because of Mahomes and because franchises are stupid enough to believe that he can create a similar bond as McVay/Goff but if we are hiring college coaches because of how a young QB looks in the NFL we should theoretically hire Bobby Petrino or Sonny Dykes (Air Raid!). Both those guys have better coaching resumes than KK too FYI.
 

overseascardfan

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Grain of salt, but ...

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Who would his coordinators be is the question? As of now who are the possibilities if not KK? Caldwell, Campbell, Gase? Not a lot of options at this point.
 
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TheCardFan

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There's literally a dozen Air Raid coaches out there with better resumes than Kingsbury.

KK is getting these interviews because of Mahomes and because franchises are stupid enough to believe that he can create a similar bond as McVay/Goff but if we are hiring college coaches because of how a young QB looks in the NFL we should theoretically hire Bobby Petrino or Sonny Dykes (Air Raid!). Both those guys have better coaching resumes than KK too FYI.

Edit - he is getting the interviews because he has coached/developed Manziel (best years), Davis Webb (in NFL), Baker Mayfield, and Mahomes. That is a pretty damn solid list of QB's. Name another air raid HC that has that resume with QB's.
 
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