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Saleh’s staff (so far).


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3 hours ago, football guy said:

Greg Knapp is a quality hire. He also thought Sam was the best QB prospect since Luck. Pretty clear this coaching staff is full of guys who believe in Sam... 

As far as the other hires, Benton is a quality one. Would be ecstatic if they can lure Paul Posluszny... he has what it takes to be a HC in the NFL if he's committed to coaching. 

If Raheem Morris takes the JAX job, I would expect Jeff Ulbrich to get the nod. They're also discussing having co-defensive coordinators.

Long article. I pasted the Knapp part. 
 

Many around the NFL admit quarterbacks coach is an overlooked position in the grand scheme. However, quarterbacks coaches are by no means neglected by those working close to them. Just ask Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden, a renowned quarterback guru.

"I think quarterback coaches are very important because fundamentals erode as the season wears on," Gruden said. "Sometimes, you have to have a guy who stays on top of those things, even if it's a six- to eight-minute individual period that you have; a guy who is great in the footwork, the timing, the precision of the passing game, the nuances you have to have; a guy who is translating things from the quarterback to the coordinator. The coordinator can't always be with the quarterback.

"Also, quarterbacks need a guy they can trust who they can vent with like, 'That Gruden, he's a pain in the ass. I don't like this.' Sometimes that's really important, too."

Enhancing a veteran

Matt Ryan constantly searches for ways to elevate his game. That's why the 2016 NFL MVP is thrilled about one specific offseason addition.

Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn hired Greg Knapp, 55, as the team's new quarterbacks coach after Bush Hamdan left to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Washington. Knapp previously was an offensive coordinator for the Raiders, Seahawks, 49ers and Falcons.

"I think he can bring new ideas to Matt Ryan, because Greg's been around," said Elway, who is now vice president of the Broncos and saw Knapp coach Denver's quarterbacks for three seasons (2013-16). "Greg's really good at what he does."

Knapp is Ryan's sixth different quarterbacks coach since Ryan was drafted third overall in 2008.

"Those guys teach you so much," Ryan said. "They help you so much during the week in terms of getting prepared for games and having to break down stuff. They make your job a lot easier. They're a very good set of eyes on the field if they're down low. I've been fortunate to have some really good QB coaches."

Judging by Knapp's on-field interaction with Ryan during the offseason, the marriage between the two should benefit the Falcons, particularly as Ryan moves into Year 2 under offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

"I think Greg is great," Ryan said. "He's smart. He's on top of it. He's got familiarity with our system, having been in Houston, which is similar to what we do. [Backup] Matt Schaub speaks very highly of him, having worked with him, and Shaubby's a guy that I trust on a lot of things. I think Greg will be a good addition to our staff."

Said Knapp: "In my experiences, it's only as good as the 'want' of the quarterback is. Does that quarterback really want to be coached, and how hard does he want to be coached? And a guy like Matt, he loves being challenged on footwork, on reads, on defensive recognition.

"Quarterback is the most important position maybe in all sports. There's got to be a set of eyes on the most important position player on the field."

https://www.espn.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/32512/nfl-quarterbacks-coaches-play-crucial-role-just-ask-matt-ryan

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6 hours ago, rex-n-effect said:

I don't know the actual reason but if I was a DC promoted to HC I would race to get the best offensive coaches lined up knowing I'd need to rely upon their expertise a lot more than the defensive staff. He probably also knows as a recent DC he has a lot more pull to get somebody from a team still in the playoffs from the defensive side than the offensive side. 

Good point, I actually wasn't thinking about it like that.

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15 minutes ago, Marshmello said:

 

I love that Saleh has balanced coaching veterans with young assistants. Many times coaches will surround a first time coordinator with all veteran guys, but here we see a balance of both. Calabrese and Embree are highly thought of, and although I don't know enough about Miles Austin the coach to opine, I like that there is an emphasis on young former players as well. Allows the coaches to relate to the players, and also gives Saleh the opportunity to groom guys in case LaFleur leaves for a HC job. 

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1 minute ago, football guy said:

I love that Saleh has balanced coaching veterans with young assistants. Many times coaches will surround a first time coordinator with all veteran guys, but here we see a balance of both. Calabrese and Embree are highly thought of, and although I don't know enough about Miles Austin the coach to opine, I like that there is an emphasis on young former players as well. Allows the coaches to relate to the players, and also gives Saleh the opportunity to groom guys in case LaFleur leaves for a HC job. 

If, and it is a BIG IF, Darnold has even an average year for an NFL QB, Owners will be throwing their checkbooks and first born daughters at LaFleur to become their HC.

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12 minutes ago, football guy said:

It amazes me how people on the last coaching staff "couldn't explain" Sam's inconsistent mechanics. I wonder why. 

It's also starting to look like that with the GM, HC and basically every offensive coach we've hired so far believing in Sam that you and I have a better chance of winning Powerball than the Jets do of even thinking of trading for Watson.

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On 1/18/2021 at 4:38 PM, Smashmouth said:

Well when you punt 1 million times the average is bound to go down 

And Special teams is about punt and kick coverage and the return game

Also if you drop punts inside the 20 or better yet the 10, your average is affected.  Looking at yardage is a dumb way to judge a punter.  The kid was fine, certainly not terrible

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59 minutes ago, morny said:

I will never not be astonished that we gave up a lot of draft capital to draft this kid, proclaimed him our future then never bothered to give him a dedicated QB coach to help fix his (well documented) technical issues. 

It's just a disgraceful dereliction of duty on our behalf. 

Gase had this odd idea that only he should be guiding Darnold -- that other voices might conflict and contradict what he was teaching him.  How'd that work out for you, Adam?

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1 hour ago, Sonny Werblin said:

If, and it is a BIG IF, Darnold has even an average year for an NFL QB, Owners will be throwing their checkbooks and first born daughters at LaFleur to become their HC.

Have to admit if it plays out this way it would be the last thing I complain about.

We'll simply fall in love with whichever offensive assistant, like Knapp is promoted to OC and the teams offense will have been fixed

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10 minutes ago, Bruce Harper said:

Gase had this odd idea that only he should be guiding Darnold -- that other voices might conflict and contradict what he was teaching him.  How'd that work out for you, Adam?

Again , I not saying Gase did a bang up job or am I defending him, but does anyone here really know what Gase and Darnold's interactions were.  

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After coaching together in 2011 on Pete Carroll's staff in Seattle, Jeff Ulbrich and Robert Saleh have familiarity with one another. As Saleh, who was hired by the New York Jets on Jan. 14 fills out his staff, appears to be looking at Ulbrich as someone to add to his staff, according to one report by Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

Ulbrich has spent the last six seasons as the linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Ahead of the 2020 season, Ulbrich was promoted to assistant head coach/linebackers coach. When Dan Quinn was fired after an 0-5 start and Raheem Morris took over as interim head coach, Ulbrich was named defensive coordinator.

Under Ulbrich's leadership, some of Atlanta's best defenders over the last five years have come from his position room. Deion Jones, De'Vondre Campbell and Foye Oluokun are a few that come to mind. Jones, selected as a second-round pick in 2016, has already been to a Pro Bowl. Oluokun, a sixth-round pick in 2018, was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week and will likely make the Pro Bowl following this season. Campbell, a fourth-round pick in Jones' draft class, went on to sign a significant one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals this offseason after becoming a starter and leading the Falcons in tackles in the 2018-19 seasons.

 

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Mike LaFleur Named Jets' Offensive Coordinator 

Head Coach Robert Saleh Adds 9 Other Assistants on Offense Including Former Cowboys WR Miles Austin 

Mike LaFleur, who served on the same coaching staff as Jets head coach Robert Saleh in San Francisco, has been named the Green & White's offensive coordinator. In addition to LaFleur, the Jets announced nine other offensive staff assignments.

LaFleur spent the past three seasons as the 49ers' passing-game coordinator. San Francisco had 13 players with at least one touchdown reception in 2019, which tied an NFL record. During that '19 campaign, TE George Kittle was named an Associated Press First-Team All-Pro and led the team with 85 catches and 1,053 yards and tied for first with 5 TDs. Kittle became the first tight end and fifth player in franchise history to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons, joining Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, Anquan Boldin and John Taylor. Also in 2019, rookie WR Deebo Samuel's 57 receptions and 802 receiving yards each ranked second among all rookies in franchise history.

"It all starts with the run game for us, which sets up the pass," LaFleur said of San Francisco's offensive philosophy in a 49ers.com article published last August. "But the big thing we like to say with our offense is they need to marry up with each other, they need to look the same. The way our offensive line comes off the ball in the run game is really no different than how they come off in the passing game, particularly on first and second downs. That's everything for us and our philosophy in terms of marrying it up and making a defense not really know if it's run or pass."

Before his San Francisco stint, LaFleur was an offensive assistant with the Falcons from 2015-16. He began his coaching career in 2009 at Elmhurst College, his alma mater, in 2009 as an offensive assistant. LaFleur then worked for Saint Joseph's College (2010-12) and Davidson (2013) before becoming an offensive intern (OL) with the Browns in 2014 where he helped Cleveland rank No. 4 in the NFL with 17 rushing TDs.

In Atlanta, LaFleur worked with the wide receivers as Julio Jones finished second in the NFL with 1,409 receiving yards in 2016 and Mohamed Sanu set a career high with receptions 59. LaFleur first worked with the Falcons tight ends in 2015 and Jacob Tamme had a career-high 657 yards.

LaFleur, the younger brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, grew up in Mount Pleasant, MI, played QB and S at Elmhurst College and graduated with a degree in physical education.

Quarterbacks Coach - Rob Calabrese
Calabrese, who is from East Islip, NY, spent the past two seasons with the Broncos as their offensive quality control coach. He played quarterback at Central Florida from 2008-12 and was a graduate assistant for the Knights from 2014-15 before coaching at Wagner from 2016-18.

Offensive Line - John Benton
Benton, who has 33 years of coaching experience, spent the past four seasons as the 49ers' offensive line coach. In 2019, San Francisco's rush offense finished No. 2 in the NFL and the Niners' 144.1 yards/game were the fourth-most by the team since 1990. The offense also had three players rush for at least 500 yards for the second time in franchise history and the first since 1954.

Running Backs Coach - Jon "Taylor" Embree
Embree spent the 2020 season as the tight ends coach at the University of Colorado. Before CU, he spent four seasons in the NFL working for the Chiefs in 2016 as a defensive assistant and for the 49ers from 2017-19 as an offensive quality control coach.

Tight Ends Coach - Ron Middleton
Middleton, who played 10 seasons in the NFL with five teams, was most recently the Jaguars' tight ends/assistant special teams coach from 2013-20. He helped TE James O'Shaughnessy set career highs in 2018 in receptions and receiving yards. In 2017, Middleton's group was critical in helping the Jags lead the league in rushing (141.4 Yds/G). Prior to Jacksonville, Middletown was Duke's associate head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

Wide Receivers - Miles Austin
Austin was with the 49ers as an offensive quality control coach for the 2019 season but left the role after their Super Bowl loss. Austin, who grew up in Summit, NJ and went to Monmouth University, played for the Cowboys from 2006-13 and led the NFC in receiving yards in 2009. He appeared in two Pro Bowls and later worked as a scout with the Dallas Cowboys in 2017-18.

Passing-Game Specialist - Greg Knapp
Knapp has coached in the NFL for 25 seasons and spent the last three as the Falcons' QBs coach. QB Matt Ryan threw for 4,466 yards in 2019 and had 11 300-yard games, a new franchise record, and tied for the third-most games in a single season in NFL history. Knapp has coached six 4,000-yard passers and 13 players that have played in at least one Pro Bowl.

Offensive Assistant - Todd Washington
Washington has been an offensive assistant with the Jets since 2019. He's coached eight seasons in the NFL after eight seasons as a player. As a coach, he's spent time in three other professional leagues: the XFL, the AAF and the UFL.

Offensive Assistant - Billy VandeMerkt
VandeMerkt spent the 2020 season as Lenoir-Rhyne's quarterbacks coach. Prior to LR, he spent two seasons at Western Michigan, where he began as a special teams quality control assistant. VandeMerkt also coached running backs at West Florida and Southwest Minnesota State.

Offensive Assistant - Mack Brown
Brown spent the past two seasons with the Jets as a defensive assistant working with the team's inside linebackers. Prior to joining the Jets, he spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Missouri State.

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Jeff Ulbrich Named Jets' Defensive Coordinator

Head Coach Robert Saleh Adds 5 Other Assistants on Defense 

After having served as the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator the past four seasons, Robert Saleh is quickly making the transition to his head-coaching post with the New York Jets. Saleh selected Jeff Ulbrich to coordinate his defense and also announced the additions of five defensive assistants.

Ulbrich, who started last season as Atlanta's assistant head coach and linebackers coach, was promoted to defensive coordinator when Raheem Morris took over head-coaching duties in October and the unit played significantly better down the stretch. In six seasons as Atlanta's linebackers coach, Ulbrich mentored the likes of Deion Joens, De'Vondre Campbell and Foye Oluokun.

"You talk about the ultimate juice in your football team," said Morris said of Ulbrich in an AtlantaFalcons.comarticle published in December. "You talk about authentic energy; you're talking about a guy that can absolutely light up a room when he comes in it. He is a former player that knows what it's like to be in the trenches, so he's sensitive to his guys in that way. He can also give them a type of compassion and a type of learning and a type of development that you can't get unless you play this game."

After attending junior college, Ulbrich, a linebacker, was a two-year starter at Hawaii. He set a school record with 169 tackles in 1999 and was a third-round selection of the 49ers in the 2000 NFL Draft. He played his entire career in San Francisco, tallying 488 tackles, 6 forced fumbles, 5.5 sacks and two 2 INTs from 2000-09.

After retiring, Ulbrich was hired by the Seahawks as a special teams assistant on Jan. 29, 2010. Saleh and Ulbrich coached together in 2011 under Pete Carroll. Then Ulbrich moved to the college ranks with UCLA in 2012, filling roles as linebackers and special teams coach, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. At UCLA, he was named 2013 FootballScoop Special Teams Coordinator of the Year and helped Anthony Barr, Myles Jack and Erik Kendricks grow on their paths to the NFL.

Defensive Line Coach - Aaron Whitecotton
Whitecotton spent the 2020 season as the 49ers' assistant defensive line coach, his first with the team. He was the Bills' assistant D-line coach from 2018-19. In 2019, the Bills defense finished No. 3 overall, allowing 298.3 Yds/G. Buffalo's defensive line had multiple players with career highs in sacks including Jordan Phillips (9.5) and Shaq Lawson (6.5). Before joining the Bills, Whitecotton spent four seasons with the Jaguars as an assistant DL coach (2016) and defensive assistant (2013-15) where he overlapped with Saleh.

Assistant Defensive Line - Nate Ollie
Ollie spent the past two seasons with the Eagles after serving as the defensive line coach at Eastern Kentucky in 2018. In 2019, Ollie helped Fletcher Cox earn his fifth career Pro Bowl as Philadelphia's defense ranked No. 3 against the run (90.4 Yds/G). In '19, Brandon Graham's 8.5 sacks were the second most of his career and both Derek Barnett (6.5) and Josh Sweat (5.0) had career highs in sacks.

Defensive Assistant - Chip Vaughn
Vaughn's first season with the Jets was the 2020. Prior to the Green & White, he worked with defensive backs at Air Force, Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State. He was selected to the 2020 American Football Coaches Association 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute. A Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship coach with New Orleans during training camp in 2018, Vaughn was also one of 15 coaches selected to participate in the 2018 NFL-NCAA Coaches Academy.

Defensive Assistant - Ricky Manning Jr.
A third-round pick of the Panthers in 2003, Manning Jr. six seasons in the NFL at cornerback and one season in the UFL. He had 268 tackles, 4 sacks, 5 fumble recoveries, 14 INTs and 3 TDs.

Defensive Assistant - Hayes Pullard
Pullard spent the 2020 season at USC, his alma mater, as a quality control analyst. A former seventh-round pick in 2015, he played five seasons with five teams in the NFL at LB and had 114 tackles, 1 INT and 1 fumble recovery. Pullard played under Saleh in Jacksonville from 2015-16.

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