I'm not entirely upset at this decision, I just think its a bit weird. It seems like BOB has been demoted to the OC job and Crennel has been promoted to head coach and Vrabel to DC. Yet, BOB will still continue to be the figurehead of our coaching staff? This whole thing smells of dysfunction. I do hope it works out, though.
I am going to hold all judgement until I see how the offense is doing next year. I want to see Bill's playbook of complicated offensive plays, and not run, run, pass 5 yards. I want to see him open up that playbook and show us something to get excited about. I want to see Bill draft wisely, and with a little Irish Luck, draft a quarterback who will be able to lead and succeed. I say put a 4-leaf clover in your pocket Bill when you go to the draft, and good luck! Go Texans!
With Jack Del Rio's extension, had me thinking. What's up with all these head coaches whose teams underperform where the HC specializes? JDR, BOB, even Dan Quinn. It seems like the most important decision they have to make is who they hire as coordinators.
Or maybe their previous teams performed at a high level for other reasons. JDR - Denver's defense was special, as evidenced by last year's run. BOB - Tom Brady. Josh McDainel and Charlie Weiss also failed away from Tom. Dan Quinn - Defense was pretty damn good under Gus Bradley too, who failed at making Jacksonville's defense better. Maybe Pete Carroll was the main factor. I'm also a pretty strong believer that once a coordinator is elevated to a HC... the area he once oversaw isn't automatically a lock to get better. Whether its the thousand additional responsibilities that they now have due to being a HC, having coordinators who weren't as good at coordinating as they once were, or simply having worse talent (and no longer having a masterful head coach to cover their errors), its very hard to be both a great coordinator AND a great head coach at the same time. Kyle Shanahan is probably more valuable as an OC than he will end up being as a HC. Obviously you can't fault him for wanting the main gig... and the following statement will never ever happen... but if teams are hiring him to fix their offense, why not simply make him the coordinator?
So in the case of the BOB, JDR, and Quinn; the specialists weren't that special after-all. I'm all for promoting coordinators to head coaches but I don't see why you don't hire a coordinator if the new HC isn't cutting it. Kyle's a little different because he has been a good OC at multiple spots. But even him could use some offensive help. You know what would make Kyle Shanahan more successful? The next Kyle Shanahan. Regardless of who your head coach is and his specialty; if he's not cutting it in his area get him some help. All the really good head coaches aren't scared to hire specialists in all areas of the game. Not being stubborn and keep trying the same thing over and over again.
