I posted this in the other Billy thread but it's worth noting that the last time they were hired they interviewed: -the hottest name in the college ranks (O'Brien) -the interim head coach from the previous season (Wade Phillips) -an NFL head coach that might or might not have been interviewed to satisfy an NFL policy (Lovie Smith) To me, that's not doing great consulting work. That's basically saying "we got you the hottest name in college so why bother interviewing other candidates?"
Good news is that he hasn't signed an extension with the Steelers yet. McNair should back up the Brinks truck for him.
From what I could find, it’s pretty hit or miss. But probably not that far off from other coaching hires percentages. Seattle - Pete Carrol and John Schneider Texans - BoB Bucs - Bruce Arians Jags - Gus Bradley Falcons - Dan Quinn Michigan - John Harbaugh Texas - Charlie Strong and Shaka Smart SEC Commissioner - Greg Sankey BIG 10 Commissioner - Kevin Warren Here’s an interview on his approach to finding GMs from 2015. https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/11/07/mmqb-talking-football-coaches-fired-jed-hughes-nfl-headhunter
Falcon's Thomas Dimitroff is available and think he'd be a good candidate. He'd be able to start right away although guessing they'd want to wait and interview candidates not available as of yet. Worth an interview at the very least.
This kind of feels like retroactively blaming a GM for a high(ish) draft pick not working out. Maybe there were warning signs they should've seen - or maybe it was the right pick but a variety of other circumstances sunk it. Pete Carroll was a great hire. Pete Carroll has also been the benefactor of a terrific front office that has made one great decision after another to give him a wealth of not just talent, but cheap, middle round talent, including a 3rd round franchise QB. Would he have been as successful with a knucklehead GM like William O'Brien? I don't *love* using the search firm because it indicates McNair might not have his finger on the pulse of the league, you know? I mean, does he really need to pay somebody six figures to float Dabo or Bienemy or....? At the same time, do we want the guy who thought handing BOB the GM position to be left to his own devices?...
Its okay to be realistic with your own abilities. Cal might not be a great "football" man. I also think its smart to hedge with a hiring firm because you always have a convenient out.
Right but he also found John Schneider (Seahawks GM) so was 2 for 2 there. Nice short article on Jed Hughes but below are the most important aspects to me. He's definitely going to have more contacts and people willing to help him vs. Easterby/Cal or whoever from the Texans brass that would've led a search. Hell maybe he's able to have some "conversations" that the Texans cannot have at this time. Also the NFL is a copy cat league so think it's easy for an owner to say we want to be like the Chiefs, Seahawks, Patriots, etc...so let's just poach someone from them. But we know it almost never works out that way. At the end, I'd much rather have a 3rd party doing in the process than justCal and Easterby, even if the former has mixed results at best.
Good stuff; thanks. Yeah, O'Brien was widely considered a big get for the Texans. I think it's unfair to retroactively blame the search group for not knowing he was a controlling egomaniac who didn't know his way around a rapidly evolving NFL. And, I think people forget how much better a coach O'Brien was initially. Those '14 & '15 teams were kind of fun. I mean, he made JJ Watt a tight end, and got solid production out of Fitzpatrick and (sometimes) Hoyer. He designed a gameplan for Keenum on the fly that won us a few games. His de-evolution still puzzles me.
Here's someone who I'd like to look at for GM............Colts assistant GM Ed Dobbs. He was in Seattle (senior personnel executive) when they drafted all those "Legion of Boom" players and Russell Wilson. Then he joined Chris Ballard in Indy and they have been hitting big-time on a lot of their picks lately. My main trait our new GM has to excel at: talent evaluation. Non-negotiable! He received permission for but turned down an offer to interview with Cleveland for their gm job previously but hopefully our situation may be more appealing to him. (non-meddling owner + Deshaun + great fan base) Here are some links in case you've never heard of him: https://bloggingdirty.com/2020/10/15/general-manager-atlanta-falcons/3/ https://www.stampedeblue.com/2019/5...-candidate-so-how-long-can-the-colts-keep-him https://www.indystar.com/story/spor...s-down-interview-cleveland-browns/4453916002/
Nice find. Went to Texas A&M-Kingsville. Here's an interview... https://www.colts.com/video/one-on-...esident-of-player-personnel-ed-dodds-20406581