Loophole Allows Browns Future Coach to Work With Mariota

[AFJF]

Maybe they are willing to go QB in rd. 1 again.

 

 

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/11/marcus-mariota-being-tutored-by-coach-the-browns-are-hiring/

 

As part of the latest collective bargaining agreement, strict limits were placed on the amount of and type of work NFL coaches could do with players in the offseason.

Of course, if they aren’t exactly NFL coaches or NFL players yet, it seems there’s a loophole.

According Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, quarterback prospect Marcus Mariota is working with private quarterback tutor Kevin O’Connell.

O’Connell, who did the same thing for Johnny Manziel a year ago, is going to be hired by the Browns as quarterbacks coach. But that move hasn’t been announced by the team yet, allowing him access to Mariota he might not otherwise have.

Mariota has been working out with O’Connell in San Diego, preparing for next week’s Scouting Combine. Another noted quarterback tutor, George Whitfield, is also there working with Jameis Winston and Bryce Petty.

The Browns have used first-round picks on quarterbacks in two of the last three drafts. But Brandon Weeden’s in Dallas now and Manziel’s in rehab, so the idea that they might want to make a move for Mariota makes some degree of sense, at least in a Browns sort of way.

They currently own the 12th and 19th picks in the NFL Draft, which would give them enough ammunition to move up to the top four or five picks in the order.

The Browns clearly need to upgrade the position in some fashion, whether by free agency or the draft, so the idea that they might be thinking of making a move for Mariota has to be considered.

Although dragging their feet to announce the hiring of his personal tutor might also be the coaching equivalent of text messages from the press box, something that others might take a dim view of, in the interest of competitive balance.

[32EBoozer]

They obviously are developing their organizational M.O. from the "King of Cheaters" the NE Patriots.

 

*Texting to the sidelines

*Delaying a key hire to have the future coach get inside information on players

*Suspend a player in season so he does not get another year of FA eligibility(Gordon)

*Screwing customers out of rebates to the tune of ten's of millions of $

[Maxman]

Why would they hir e O'Connell? that's the only real question here.

[#27TheDominator]

Why would they hir e O'Connell? that's the only real question here.

 

I remember when he was here there were articles talking about him having a coaches mentality.  At one point there was something saying that he considered quitting to coach and someone else (Brunell?) talked him out of it.  He was with the Jets at the same time as Pettine too.

[Ohio State NY Jets fan]

short leash on Manziel but can't argue with the focus to find a QB 

[#27TheDominator]

Here is some nonsense about him being a "quasi-coach."  Sorry for the format.  Prolific Athletes is a pretty high level operation.  Are they the ones that had the reality show?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/sports/football/kevin-oconnell-third-string-quarterback-aids-jets-on-sideline.html?_r=0

 

O’Connell, Third-String Quarterback, First-String Adviser By MARK VIERA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez cannot throw a touchdown pass or an interception, visit a nightclub, pose for a magazine or even snack on a hot dog without seeming to stir the passion of New Yorkers.

 

Enlarge This Image

 

 

 

 

 

Rick Havner/Associated Press

Kevin O'Connell, playing in the preseason, has not thrown a regular-season pass for the Jets, but teammates and coaches praise his work as a sideline consultant.

 

But there is a quiet, unassuming and behind-the-scenes presence supporting Sanchez almost every step of the way from an on-field perspective: Kevin O’Connell, the Jets’ third-string quarterback.

Even a die-hard Jets fan could be forgiven for not knowing about O’Connell. He has not dressed for a game this season, and his daily responsibility includes serving as the scout-team quarterback, helping to prepare the defense to face the likes of Rex Grossman and the Washington Redskins, who host the Jets on Sunday.

O’Connell, however, is much more than a bit player. Coaches and players describe him as a quasi coach, sticking close to Sanchez during games and consulting with Coach Rex Ryan’s assistants. O’Connell has an uncanny knack for reading a game, recognizing defensive coverages and contributing insights like helping to explain how cornerbacks defended receivers.

“He’s a coach with a lot of football talent,” said the rookie quarterback Greg McElroy, who is on injured reserve. “That’s really what it is. He has a great mind for it, a great eye for it. He has a tremendous feel on game days. He can see the entire field from the sideline. He can see the game vertically, as if watching film, from the sidelines.”

O’Connell has played in only two regular-season games, both with the New England Patriots in 2008, when he served as the backup to Matt Cassel during the year Tom Brady sustained a season-ending knee injury in the first game.

O’Connell’s N.F.L. statistics are limited to a minuscule sample size: 4 for 6, 23 yards passing. He has not thrown a touchdown pass or an interception. He was sacked once. He has a 73.6 passer rating.

And that is pretty much it. But O’Connell’s contribution this season manifests itself in Sanchez’s production, even if it does not affect his own numbers.

“We’re talking constantly about what you’re seeing,” Sanchez said of O’Connell. “ ‘Talk to me about this.’ ‘How did you know that?’ He’s been in three, four different offenses, and he understands not just necessarily what we’re trying to do, but football in general.”

O’Connell arrived in the N.F.L. after an accomplished career at San Diego State, where he was a four-year captain. As a senior, he threw for 3,063 yards and 15 touchdowns, completing 58.5 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 408 yards and 11 touchdowns.

In 2008, the Patriots drafted the 6-foot-5 O’Connell in the third round. His career in New England was limited: the Patriots surprisingly released him a year later while trimming their preseason roster. O’Connell had been a candidate to back up Brady.

O’Connell, 26, spent the past two years with the Jets, though he was placed on injured reserve last season after tearing the labrum in his throwing shoulder during a preseason game. The Jets released him July 29, and the Miami Dolphins signed him Aug. 5. The Dolphins released him Sept. 3, and the Jets reacquired him Sept. 4.

“He’s a young guy,” said Matt Cavanaugh, the Jets’ quarterbacks coach. “He hasn’t had a chance to go on the field, make some mistakes and learn from them and keep playing.”

But O’Connell seems to have found a niche with the Jets. That he has spent some time around the league, and made stops in New England and Miami, is a benefit to the Jets’ defensive preparation. He points out how the defense might attack protection schemes.

But O’Connell may be most valuable for what he brings as a sort of consultant for the Jets’ offense. The offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said that he and the Jets’ players referred to O’Connell as “Coach O’Connell.”

“He’s great on game day,” Schottenheimer said. “He has a clipboard. He’s charting coverages and things like that. He really gets the game. He really gets the game and I think, obviously, when he’s done playing, he’ll be a great coach.”

O’Connell honed his football intelligence through intensive film study. In college, he kept a journal that logged each game, recording plays that confused him, coverages that tested him and his handling of situations.

This season, O’Connell estimated, he has already compiled four notebooks’ worth of information from studying game film. Like the other quarterbacks, he is at the Jets’ facility every day, and for 12 hours on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

During the week, the other quarterbacks aid Sanchez. McElroy charts the game film. O’Connell is responsible for breaking down situational tape: third downs, red-zone situations, two-minute drills.

On Sundays, even though he is not in uniform, O’Connell tries to affect the game by helping Sanchez. In other words, he functions as a coach. But the prospect of formally making such a transition is not on O’Connell’s mind, at least not at this point.

“If I start thinking about that too soon, that transition might come a lot sooner than I hoped,” O’Connell said. “If I was lucky enough to have that chance, I’d work hard as hard as I could to do a lot of the same things I do now: to help Mark on Sundays.”

 

 

 

Sorry for the format.  Just goes to show you.  Kid was big, had a fairly big arm and I think he was the fastest QB coming out.  Understands football and reading defenses.  Still, he sucked.

[HessStation]

They obviously are developing their organizational M.O. from the "King of Cheaters" the NE Patriots.

 

*Texting to the sidelines

*Delaying a key hire to have the future coach get inside information on players

*Suspend a player in season so he does not get another year of FA eligibility(Gordon)

*Screwing customers out of rebates to the tune of ten's of millions of $

 

 

Good thing I have a new team if the Jets are out of it by November again. 

[T0mShane]

Didn't O'Connell make an absurd $4 mil one year here?

[#27TheDominator]

Didn't O'Connell make an absurd $4 mil one year here?

 

I don't think so.  He was on his Patriots rookie deal and he was a 2008 3rd rounder.  The Pats cut him, the Lions signed him off waivers and the Jets traded a conditional for him.  I am not sure if they ever sent a pick.  I think it was a 7th used on Lydon Murtha, but I can't be sure.  That was peak Trader Mike era and the Jets actually traded with the Lions to move up for Greene.  PIcks were flying back and forth.  They had the Vilma and Kendall picks, but lost the Favre pick and also traded up for Sanchez and Greene.  2008 was before the salary slotting, but I can't imagine O'Connell made that much.  They cut him injured at one point and I think he sued, but they signed him back to a 2 year deal which I think was only worth about $1M total.