I thought I would try to sell big parts of this board on the idea of Mike McCoy as the offensive coordinator.
The last few days I have understood that it is a very difficult task, but I will give it a try.
I should mention at first that I do not think McCoy will come to Arizona. The reports say that the Vikings are considering him as well, and I just think an established offensive coordinator would want to work with a veteran quarterback, two star wide receivers, a great tight end, an ascending runningback and a good offensive line. I don’t know if any other teams are targeting McCoy, but for right or wrong he seems to be a coveted candidate, and I just think there are more attractive teams for him than Arizona. If for example the Giants wants him, I would think he would want that job as well over what Arizona can offer.
One of the problems as I see it is that some on this board unfortunately seem to think that McCoy has only had success with Peyton Manning as his quarterback. That is simply not true, and I think it is a pity if some are dismissing McCoy based on incorrect information. That’s doesn’t really seem fair to anyone.
Last year in Denver he was probably turned into a scapegoat, and that resulted in him being fired. The team had lost six games in a row but though it is obviously debatable, I think it is simply unfair to put the blame solely on McCoy. Also, the offense didn’t improve drastically under their new offensive coordinator, Bill Musgrave though it became much simplified.
It’s kind of easy to see why Wilks would want McCoy after what McCoy has been able to do with quarterbacks and offenses over the years. When McCoy was the quarterback coach with the Panthers in 2004, 2005 and 2006 he got the best out of quarterback Jake Delhomme and made him into an above average starting quarterback if not more. The year after, he started his first stint with the Broncos as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, and that resulted in quarterback Kyle Orton, a career journeyman, having by far two of the three best seasons of his career, including leading them to a top 10-offense in the league.
In my opinion, however, McCoy did his absolute best work with the Broncos in 2011, as I addressed in another thread. The head coach at that time, Josh McDaniels, inexplicable paid a lot of resources to draft Tim Tebow at quarterback, basically telling McCoy to come up with a system that would fit Tebow. So he did, and as McDaniels had been fired the next season, it was now entirely up to McCoy to figure out how to win with Tebow. That season the Broncos led the league in rushing and doing enough to win their division despite going 8-8. As the #4 seed they met the #5 seed, the Pittsburgh Steelers, that has gone 12-4 and were huge favorites. Denver won the game, and I’ll say it again, with Tim Tebow as their quarterback. I can’t think of a better single-game coaching job than what Mike McCoy did that day.
Obviously, none of us know what kind of role McCoy played when the Broncos broke multiple passing records with Peyton Manning at quarterback, or for that matter if McCoy, offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt or quarterback coach Frank Reich were the main driving force in reviving Philip Rivers’ career and the Chargers offense. I tend to think things like that are results of the parties working together and everyone involved coming with input. I can only conclude that two years in a row McCoy’s systems helped rejuvenate a highly regarded quarterback, and that those systems were completely different from what McCoy successfully ran with Tebow. And yes, it has been confirmed multiple times that McCoy was the main designer of the three systems. It’s just that he might not have been the primary playcaller in two of them.
What, to me, primarily speaks against McCoy is that the players on the Broncos offense last year supposedly did not understand his system. That might be because those players are simply not that good, which would fall on the shoulders of de facto general manager, John Elway, but I also understand that it was McCoy’s job to make those pieces work, and he did not. He is none the less known for his ability and willingness to adjust the schemes to fit his players.
This post is not about convincing anyone that Mike McCoy would be a fantastic hire. It is about getting some facts about him as a coach correct, and with that hopefully get a more nuanced perspective on him. I mean, it is completely up to Mr. Bidwill, Steve Keim and Steve Wilks who they want to hire to their coaching staff, and though I can only speak for myself, I know I will try my best to get excited about the hire whoever it might be.
The last few days I have understood that it is a very difficult task, but I will give it a try.
I should mention at first that I do not think McCoy will come to Arizona. The reports say that the Vikings are considering him as well, and I just think an established offensive coordinator would want to work with a veteran quarterback, two star wide receivers, a great tight end, an ascending runningback and a good offensive line. I don’t know if any other teams are targeting McCoy, but for right or wrong he seems to be a coveted candidate, and I just think there are more attractive teams for him than Arizona. If for example the Giants wants him, I would think he would want that job as well over what Arizona can offer.
One of the problems as I see it is that some on this board unfortunately seem to think that McCoy has only had success with Peyton Manning as his quarterback. That is simply not true, and I think it is a pity if some are dismissing McCoy based on incorrect information. That’s doesn’t really seem fair to anyone.
Last year in Denver he was probably turned into a scapegoat, and that resulted in him being fired. The team had lost six games in a row but though it is obviously debatable, I think it is simply unfair to put the blame solely on McCoy. Also, the offense didn’t improve drastically under their new offensive coordinator, Bill Musgrave though it became much simplified.
It’s kind of easy to see why Wilks would want McCoy after what McCoy has been able to do with quarterbacks and offenses over the years. When McCoy was the quarterback coach with the Panthers in 2004, 2005 and 2006 he got the best out of quarterback Jake Delhomme and made him into an above average starting quarterback if not more. The year after, he started his first stint with the Broncos as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, and that resulted in quarterback Kyle Orton, a career journeyman, having by far two of the three best seasons of his career, including leading them to a top 10-offense in the league.
In my opinion, however, McCoy did his absolute best work with the Broncos in 2011, as I addressed in another thread. The head coach at that time, Josh McDaniels, inexplicable paid a lot of resources to draft Tim Tebow at quarterback, basically telling McCoy to come up with a system that would fit Tebow. So he did, and as McDaniels had been fired the next season, it was now entirely up to McCoy to figure out how to win with Tebow. That season the Broncos led the league in rushing and doing enough to win their division despite going 8-8. As the #4 seed they met the #5 seed, the Pittsburgh Steelers, that has gone 12-4 and were huge favorites. Denver won the game, and I’ll say it again, with Tim Tebow as their quarterback. I can’t think of a better single-game coaching job than what Mike McCoy did that day.
Obviously, none of us know what kind of role McCoy played when the Broncos broke multiple passing records with Peyton Manning at quarterback, or for that matter if McCoy, offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt or quarterback coach Frank Reich were the main driving force in reviving Philip Rivers’ career and the Chargers offense. I tend to think things like that are results of the parties working together and everyone involved coming with input. I can only conclude that two years in a row McCoy’s systems helped rejuvenate a highly regarded quarterback, and that those systems were completely different from what McCoy successfully ran with Tebow. And yes, it has been confirmed multiple times that McCoy was the main designer of the three systems. It’s just that he might not have been the primary playcaller in two of them.
What, to me, primarily speaks against McCoy is that the players on the Broncos offense last year supposedly did not understand his system. That might be because those players are simply not that good, which would fall on the shoulders of de facto general manager, John Elway, but I also understand that it was McCoy’s job to make those pieces work, and he did not. He is none the less known for his ability and willingness to adjust the schemes to fit his players.
This post is not about convincing anyone that Mike McCoy would be a fantastic hire. It is about getting some facts about him as a coach correct, and with that hopefully get a more nuanced perspective on him. I mean, it is completely up to Mr. Bidwill, Steve Keim and Steve Wilks who they want to hire to their coaching staff, and though I can only speak for myself, I know I will try my best to get excited about the hire whoever it might be.
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