Cardinals' HC Candidates Coaching Trees

[Mitch]

This is dedicated to Jeff Gollin per his request.

Steve Wilks

Notre Dame 2004---Ty Willingham
Washington Huskies 2005---Ty Willingham
Chicago Bears 2006-2008---Lovie Smith
San Diego Chargers 2009-2011---Norv Turner
Carolina Panthers 2012-present---Ron Rivera (Super Bowl Runner-up 2015)

Years of NFL Coaching Experience: 12

Regular Season NFL Team Records: 117-74-1

John DeFliippo

New York Giants 2005-2006---Tom Coughlin
Oakland Raiders 2007-2008---Lane Kiffin
New York Jets 2009---Rex Ryan
San Jose University 2010-2011---Mike MacIntyre
Oakland Raiders 2012-2014---Dennis Allen, Tony Sparano* (interim, 2014)
Cleveland Browns 2015---Mike Perrine
Philadelphia Eagles 2016-present---Doug Pederson

QBs: Eli Manning, Josh McCown, JaMarcus Russell, Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Terrelle Pryor, Matt McGloin, Derek Carr, Matt Shaub, Chase Daniel, Carson Wentz, Nick Foles

Years of NFL Coaching Experience: 11

Regular Season NFL Team Records: 69-105

Brian Flores

New England Patriots 2004-present---Bill Belichick

Years of NFL Coaching Experience: 12

Regular Season NFL Team records: 175-47 (Super Bowl Champions: 2004, 2014, 2016)


Keith Armstrong

Notre Dame 1993---Lou Holtz
Atlanta Falcons 1994-1996---June Jones
Chicago Bears 1997-2000---Dave Wannstedt, Dick Jauron
Miami Dolphins 2001-2007---Dave Wannstedt, Nick Saban
Atlanta Falcons 2008-present---Mike Smith, Dan Quinn (Super Bowl Runner-up 2016)

Years of NFL Coaching Experience: 24

Regular Season NFL Team Records: 183-201

* Impressive that Armstrong was retained by 3 teams through 3 coaching changes.

James Bettcher

Indianapolis Colts 2012---Chuck Pagano, Bruce Arians*
Arizona Cardinals 2013-present---Bruce Arians

Years of NFL Coaching Experience: 6

Regular Season NFL Team Records: 60-35-1

 

[Southpaw]

Nice research Mitch.

My take;

Not much glamor or bling with any of these guys. Color it bland.

Seems parallel to Keim's drafts. Make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. We have seen the bust potential.

Something seems very wrong with this whole event.

 

[oaken1]

what doesnt show in that Wilks tree is that he has been following Ron Rivera...(Bears, Chargers, Panthers)

I did some research and the NY Giants seam to think he would bring in either DeFillipo or Norv Turner as OC...with Al Holcomb as DC

Holcomb is the Panthers linebacker coach

Wilks also holds the assistant HC title in Carolina and according to some players he is "much more than just a DC"... so even though he has limited time as a coordinator it appears he has some limited experience as a HC,..or at least a small amount of hands on in that regard.

It looks like a team of...
Wilks
DeFillipo
Bettcher

is very possible....I would actually be fairly happy with that.

 

[Southpaw]

did some research and the NY Giants seam to think he would bring in either DeFillipo or Norv Turner as OC...with Al Holcomb as DC

Norv Turner and his family just signed on with the Panthers after Shula and Dorsey were fired by Cam Newton.

 

[cardpa]

And the guy with the least experience coaching in the NFL is Bettcher.

 

[oaken1]

Norv Turner and his family just signed on with the Panthers after Shula and Dorsey were fired by Cam Newton.

well that helps to clear up an image.

 

[Jetstream Green]

I can look at a resume and see possibly who the guy might have had as a mentor, some direction to emulate but life teaches us that it's not as much about quality but who you know which usually gets the job. Just because a guy's resume does not look impressive does not mean they are not qualified, most just need a chance

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Why would a 4-3 guy (Wilks) keep a 3-4 guy (Bettcher) as d coordinator? He wouldn’t.

 

[Chopper0080]

Nice research Mitch.

My take;

Not much glamor or bling with any of these guys. Color it bland.

Seems parallel to Keim's drafts. Make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. We have seen the bust potential.

Something seems very wrong with this whole event.

Yeah, I will say it again, none of these options has much of a resume to back them up or make them stand out. They are all meh. Frankly, I don't know that any of them will be able to be successful unless Steve Keim really improves his drafting. I don't believe they will be able to overcome the first round pick misses like Arians semi-did.

 

[gimpy]

Apparently none of these interviewees has a resume that you like. So, who does have a resume that you do like?
I, for one, like the idea of new blood, if we cannot get a Bill Belichek or similar.

 

[Veer]

Why would a 4-3 guy (Wilks) keep a 3-4 guy (Bettcher) as d coordinator? He wouldn’t.

That's common sense but often it isn't that simple. Wilks inherited a great Panthers defense with perfect players to run a zone-heavy 4-3. We have no dominant 4 man rush, lack the great LBs you need in a 4-3 and our secondary was mostly built on man cover guys who aren't really comfortable in zone. Until Wilks makes the transition to the Panthers scheme with us, he could already be done. If he is a good defensive mind he will keep the 3-4 base in place and add some of the Panthers sub packages.

 

[juza76]

That's common sense but often it isn't that simple. Wilks inherited a great Panthers defense with perfect players to run a zone-heavy 4-3. We have no dominant 4 man rush, lack the great LBs you need in a 4-3 and our secondary was mostly built on man cover guys who aren't really comfortable in zone. Until Wilks makes the transition to the Panthers scheme with us, he could already be done. If he is a good defensive mind he will keep the 3-4 base in place and add some of the Panthers sub packages.

Our linebackers are better suited to play with 43 defense
Bucannon a wolb
Reddick solb
Bynes can be a efficient Ilb, no weakness on his game
Golden and jones played de for several years

 

[Chopper0080]

Apparently none of these interviewees has a resume that you like. So, who does have a resume that you do like?
I, for one, like the idea of new blood, if we cannot get a Bill Belichek or similar.

None of them...that is the problem. It seems like a huge jump for all of the remaining candidates.

 

[Jetstream Green]

That's common sense but often it isn't that simple. Wilks inherited a great Panthers defense with perfect players to run a zone-heavy 4-3. We have no dominant 4 man rush, lack the great LBs you need in a 4-3 and our secondary was mostly built on man cover guys who aren't really comfortable in zone. Until Wilks makes the transition to the Panthers scheme with us, he could already be done. If he is a good defensive mind he will keep the 3-4 base in place and add some of the Panthers sub packages.

I disagree if Wilks plans to be hands on with the defense. I can understand if this was college or mostly high school but this is the pros where inches count. If you want to compare being a master at defense to art, one might make their style a tad inherent of other qualities but they are not going to change what they feel they have mastered in my opinion. The last thing Wilks is going to want to do is implement a system which does not adhere to what he has mastered in my opinion. Arians started running the ball more but he still ran off the foundation of his familiar offense. Now Wilks might run elements of the 3-4 into his 4-3, but it's very likely his foundation will be the 4-3. Now if he embraces more of an overseer approach as the main emphasis which is really what constitutes a head coach without a direct extension of himself on defense, he might get a DC who actually runs a 3-4 where his own main emphasis is defensive fundamentals, such a tackling

 

[Hypothesis]

Our linebackers are better suited to play with 43 defense
Bucannon a wolb
Reddick solb
Bynes can be a efficient Ilb, no weakness on his game
Golden and jones played de for several years

Jones is a better 34 OLB than he is a DE. Golden has never played DE in the NFL and I don't think would transition that well to playing solely at LDE. Bucannon is too stiff hipped to play OLB in a 43. Reddick might be able to make the transition.

We would have to revamp a lot of our defensive personnel to make a successful switch to a 43. 43's are generally more expensive to build and maintain, and you lose a bit of athleticism with 4 DL's on the field.

This is why I'd like to maintain a base 34 and get a coach like Flores who has experience with adaptable hybrids. They can swap from a 34 to 43 depending on situation.

 

[Chopper0080]

If I had a choice at this point, I would probably go with Wilks. He comes with a history of success as a coordinator. He was able to replace a coach who left getting a promotion. He is younger, but has been around the league. Our best personnel is on defense, so I believe he has the best chance to make the most of our personnel. We are less dependent on him getting two good coordinators vs Flores and DeFilippo. I only know about Wilks what has put out there so my preference of him is mainly his ability to maximize our personnel which is better on defense than offense.

 

[Chopper0080]

Jones is a better 34 OLB than he is a DE. Golden has never played DE in the NFL and I don't think would transition that well to playing solely at LDE. Bucannon is too stiff hipped to play OLB in a 43. Reddick might be able to make the transition.

We would have to revamp a lot of our defensive personnel to make a successful switch to a 43. 43's are generally more expensive to build and maintain, and you lose a bit of athleticism with 4 DL's on the field.

This is why I'd like to maintain a base 34 and get a coach like Flores who has experience with adaptable hybrids. They can swap from a 34 to 43 depending on situation.

Jones has developed into a pretty good edge rusher. He won't be greatly impacted by a switch. Golden is a big question mark. Kareem Martin might have the edge on him. Bucannon hasn't been very good anywhere so I don't believe he is a big deal. You can play man out of a 4-3, so that worry is a bit overblown.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Jones has developed into a pretty good edge rusher. He won't be greatly impacted by a switch. Golden is a big question mark. Kareem Martin might have the edge on him. Bucannon hasn't been very good anywhere so I don't believe he is a big deal. You can play man out of a 4-3, so that worry is a bit overblown.

In addition, outside LB in a 4-3 might actually be the best fit for reddick ala Wilbur Marshall (man would that be great).

 

[Hypothesis]

Jones has developed into a pretty good edge rusher. He won't be greatly impacted by a switch. Golden is a big question mark. Kareem Martin might have the edge on him. Bucannon hasn't been very good anywhere so I don't believe he is a big deal. You can play man out of a 4-3, so that worry is a bit overblown.

Part of what makes Jones as effective as he's been is that he is standing up and moving around. You put his hand in the dirt sure, he will still probably be effective, but I think he's more effective without his hand in the dirt. Move arguably one of the best D players in the league to 43 DE, you make him 1 dimensional. Plus he might have to put on some of that weight he lost in the offseason. Then you have to account for the fact that he is just coming off of his best season in his career where he was playing OLB. Does he want to go back to DE?

And yes, you can play man out of a 43 but it requires very highly athletic LBs which is what we lack. Reddick might be able to pull it off but I haven't seen proof that he can and Bynes isn't under contract.

If you bring in Wilks, our D won't be running much man anyway. Wilks defense ran zone ~80% of the time.

 

[Chopper0080]

Part of what makes Jones as effective as he's been is that he is standing up and moving around. You put his hand in the dirt sure, he will still probably be effective, but I think he's more effective without his hand in the dirt. Move arguably one of the best D players in the league to 43 DE, you make him 1 dimensional. Plus he might have to put on some of that weight he lost in the offseason. Then you have to account for the fact that he is just coming off of his best season in his career where he was playing OLB. Does he want to go back to DE?

And yes, you can play man out of a 43 but it requires very highly athletic LBs which is what we lack. Reddick might be able to pull it off but I haven't seen proof that he can and Bynes isn't under contract.

If you bring in Wilks, our D won't be running much man anyway. Wilks defense ran zone ~80% of the time.

45 % or less of defensive snaps are out of a base package. Jones value is as a pass rusher. Generally, we aren't needing his superior pass rush skill out of our base package. I doubt any defensive coordinator is going to make Jones change his body type in a way that makes him a less impactful pass rusher.