Coaching Quick Hits

[JohnnyLV]

I know it is early, and only preseason but I am really impressed with the level of coaching I am seeing so far this season especially compared to what has to be one of the worst coaching staffs in the NFL when Rex was here.

Offense We still really have not seen Gailey's offense, but one thing struck me tonight. I was thinking how balanced we seemed on offense yet at that point we had run 28 times and passed 18. Gailey's system looks super flexible and we can run or pass out of every formation. Only the 2 TE look seems to tip run but that may be a preseason thing. I love the way Gailey uses alignments and "flow" to create space, especially in the run game. Such a simple scheme and our OK seems to really be taking to it. Love how the options we have with formations prevents stacking the box, and we saw a middle screen tonight. Offense has improved every week

QB All of the QBs looked prepared and in control. David Lee was simply the worst. I could have effectively coached Romo. "That's great Tony. Just keep doing that"

WR On a bottom 5 staff, Lal was among the worst. It is almost sickeningly obvious how much better the WR coaching is. Crisp. accurate routes. players coming back to the ball to make it easy on QBs, and WRs getting open in space. It makes me almost giddy watching it.

OL Part scheme, but the OL is looking really really well coached. They seem to really be taking to the simple man scheme and pass blocking technique is dramatically better across the board

RBs All of them look to be on the same page and trusting the system and all 4 have looked really good.

DL : Have not really seen enough to make a judgement.I think they will be good either way and Dunbar was the one excellent coach we had

Linebackers: Maybe a little off so far, but I think that may be getting used to 1 gapping and penetrating. Backup guys like Jones and Mays and Latttimore all looked good

CB/S: Improving each week. Much better focus on the ball and scheme allows them to play fast. Safeties seem to be getting coached especially well compared to last season

Defense: Still developing but shows promise. Won;t really know how it will be called till regular season

Bowles: Way too early but what I like is that he has not made any glaring in game mistakes, and team overall gets better each week. Beinh better than Rex in this areas is not a high bar though.

So I am optimistic that we have the coaching base to really develop this year. Rex was a bottom 5 head coach with a truly miserable staff, and it is showing with the marked improvement in fundamentals and weekly improvement we are seeing so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[win4ever]

The whole team on offense looks so much better.   

Sanjay Lal is probably one of the worst guys I've seen as a coach, can't think of one guy that actually improved under his watch to be honest.  He somehow parlayed years of failure in Oakland, into years of failure with the Jets.  I sure hope Sammy Watkins sticks to him like a father figure and heeds his every word.  

The second aspect is really that the spread concept is a necessity now unless you have a super star QB.  It's much harder to defend one on one when you are spread out, so teams can't rely on our lack of burst and spacing to help them out.  One thing Maycock kept pointing out I believe was the CB going too deep on routes, and letting separation exist between WRs.  I think Owusu too advantage of this a few times.  That's a classic example of the team being spread out and afraid of speed, and the guy trying to stay step for step with him.  If that's Nelson, Holmes, Kerley out there, I bet the CB is told to play the underneath route, so when the guy makes his curl back, the CB is right there to step in front.  They don't have to worry about any of them running away from them, so the QB has to make a tougher throw to execute a pass.  Because they have to respect speed and because it's harder to get safety help over the top with 4 WRs running around, the guy is told to stay step for step with him, causing them to be more susceptible to the curl and comeback routes.   This forces CBs to guess rather than react sometimes, which can help set up big plays if they guess wrong.  That's probably the biggest reason I loved the Devin Smith pick, nightmare scenario for the slot CB in that situation.    

Whole system seems to have a plan, and backups within the play.  I thought one of the most interesting aspects of the game was the goal line call.  In the previous years, it was run on first and goal.  Run on second and goal by bringing in the FB, an extra fat guy TE, and the everyone on the coaching staff pointing to the RB telling him not to let them down, and then act surprised when the defense keys in on him and stops him.  A fade throw on 3rd down, that we're happy isn't intercepted.  I thought the screen call was genius there, because the screen wasn't the first option.  It was a secondary option, that timed it out so the QB can see the first option at the same time the pass rusher is getting to the RB.  Thus when the pass rusher passes the RB, you already have one option done, and are moving to the second option as a backup.  That is something that you see a lot in Air Raid or spread systems, where the RB screen is the default secondary option instead of a primary call.   

 

[detectivekimble]

I'm not sure why Sanjay Lal gets so much hate.  The WR groups he had were some of the worst I've ever seen.  You can't turn chicken sh*t into chicken salad.  I mean, if those guys had gone on and done something somewhere else, then okay.  The guy didn't even have NFL WRs to coach.  His top three receivers -- Holmes (a shell of himself after his foot exploded), Hill, Clyde Gates -- aren't even on NFL rosters.  I'm not blaming the coach for the sh*t WRs.  Just like I won't blame the secondary coach for the sh*tty play of the secondary last year.  There's a reason the Jets traded for a hall of fame WR, drafted an excellent WR prospect, and signed four starting secondary players.

[artemusclyde]

I'm not sure why Sanjay Lal gets so much hate.  The WR groups he had were some of the worst I've ever seen.  You can't turn chicken sh*t into chicken salad.  I mean, if those guys had gone on and done something somewhere else, then okay.  The guy didn't even have NFL WRs to coach.  His top three receivers -- Holmes (a shell of himself after his foot exploded), Hill, Clyde Gates -- aren't even on NFL rosters.  I'm not blaming the coach for the sh*t WRs.  Just like I won't blame the secondary coach for the sh*tty play of the secondary last year.  There's a reason the Jets traded for a hall of fame WR, drafted an excellent WR prospect, and signed four starting secondary players.

I've been hard on the guy to, but looking at how Hill has basically done nothing with a wr coach in Carolina that is getting a lot of praise and Gates whose been a floater in this league tells me that the guy hasn't had a lot to work with. It's not like he had all pro talent in oakland either. We'll see how the Bills wr's do this year. Way to much talent for him to have excuses for that wr group sucking.

[win4ever]

I'm not sure why Sanjay Lal gets so much hate.  The WR groups he had were some of the worst I've ever seen.  You can't turn chicken sh*t into chicken salad.  I mean, if those guys had gone on and done something somewhere else, then okay.  The guy didn't even have NFL WRs to coach.  His top three receivers -- Holmes (a shell of himself after his foot exploded), Hill, Clyde Gates -- aren't even on NFL rosters.  I'm not blaming the coach for the sh*t WRs.  Just like I won't blame the secondary coach for the sh*tty play of the secondary last year.  There's a reason the Jets traded for a hall of fame WR, drafted an excellent WR prospect, and signed four starting secondary players.

It's because our WR group as whole does not possess fundamental skills that can be taught.  Not one player actually improved while he was here, and the proof is in all the stuff that we see on a consistent basis.  We rarely see WRs working back to the ball, high pointing the ball, blocking off defenders with their body, etc.  I made the case for hiring Kippy Brown about a year or so ago, because they have one of the most fundamental group of WRs in the game, but the video I used to break it down got deleted off Youtube.  In essence, you see guys setting up catches before the ball arrives.  Numerous occasions where a WR was dragging their feet before the ball was in their hands.  Many times, using their body to shield the defender away from the ball so only they have a shot at it.   How many times did we see someone like Hill or Sudfeld or anyone else back pedal for the ball turned around or make jump catches where they could've just caught it with their hands and run?  

I do agree that you can't turn chicken sh*t in to salad, but if you consistently turn chicken sh*t into chicken sh*t, what's your purpose?  I can't think of one guy he's actually developed.  

[Jetster]

I have to say it....watching last night reminded me of when Parcells came here. Bowles is a quiet no nonsense guy that is respected. All the players say it, "he played the game". Granted, not all coaches that played the game are good, but you can tell Bowles took it all in coaching under guys like Parcells & recently Ariens (coach of the year folks).

He has Gailey, an unflappable OC who is incredibly well respected throughout the league as innovative & most importantly with using schemes that match the talent he has on the roster to that scheme.

Finally, he acts like a leader! You need to have some success to get everyone on board. The days of our coach making bold statements about "showing up" are over. Bowles is about being prepared & quietly getting it done and getting better every day, every play. The dude is very short on praise & long on execution. These are professional football players and Bowles EXPECTS them to do what it takes to play well and get better. I am optimistic, and just watching Fitz & Flynn play real QBs reaffirms how freaking horrible our QB play has been. We've moved up with either of those guys from 32- middle of the pack at least.

 

[detectivekimble]

It's because our WR group as whole does not possess fundamental skills that can be taught.  Not one player actually improved while he was here, and the proof is in all the stuff that we see on a consistent basis.  We rarely see WRs working back to the ball, high pointing the ball, blocking off defenders with their body, etc.  I made the case for hiring Kippy Brown about a year or so ago, because they have one of the most fundamental group of WRs in the game, but the video I used to break it down got deleted off Youtube.  In essence, you see guys setting up catches before the ball arrives.  Numerous occasions where a WR was dragging their feet before the ball was in their hands.  Many times, using their body to shield the defender away from the ball so only they have a shot at it.   How many times did we see someone like Hill or Sudfeld or anyone else back pedal for the ball turned around or make jump catches where they could've just caught it with their hands and run?  

I do agree that you can't turn chicken sh*t in to salad, but if you consistently turn chicken sh*t into chicken sh*t, what's your purpose?  I can't think of one guy he's actually developed.  

Those guys still stink.  I mean, they're so bad that no coach can fix them.  Hill will never play another down in the NFL.

[Beerfish]

I've always said that as big of a problem that Rex was as a head coach his roster of assistants were at least as bad and probably the worst crop over all in the league.  Was very happy when he took almost all of his buddies with him to buffalo.

[sourceworx]

I've always said that as big of a problem that Rex was as a head coach his roster of assistants were at least as bad and probably the worst crop over all in the league.  Was very happy when he took almost all of his buddies with him to buffalo.

Two words: Jeff Weeks

Other than being Rex's favorite drinking buddy, he has no business being an NFL assistant coach.

[#27TheDominator]

I would hate Sanjay Lal much more if Ellard had not been just as bad or worse.