Mike
01-06-2013, 07:22 AM
The NFL thrives on innovation! Innovative coaches leave their mark on the game and dramatically change it for the better. They are the reason football is football. Most importantly they are very rare. If there is even one major innovation in a decade it's a good decade and such coaches build dynasties. Winning big in the NFL is all about being ahead of the pack, bring more forward think, and permanently putting your mark on the game. Here are a few examples:
1. Sid Gillman – Gillman is considered the “Father of the Modern Passing Game” as he first coached the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams teams in the 1950s, then expanded his legend as an offensive genius as head coach of the high-powered Los Angeles / San Diego Chargers in the American Football League.
2. Paul Brown – Brown is one of the biggest innovators of all time in the NFL, and is responsible for not only coaching but founding two different franchises – the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. He is credited with bringing many innovations to the game, including employing a year-round coaching staff, classroom training for players, creating playbooks, inventing the facemask and the draw play.
3. Tom Landry – He coached the ‘Boys to 20 consecutive winning seasons, and as a defensive mastermind invented the 4-3 defensive alignment, utilizing a middle linebacker, which is commonly used today. His “flex” defense in Dallas was a variation of the 4-3 that gave players the freedom to flow to the ball, a tactic meant to counter Vince Lombardi’s “run to daylight” offensive philosophy. Landry also introduced the tactic of using “keys” to read what offenses were doing. Offensively, he popularized the use of shifts and motion to disguise plays, and brought the “shotgun” formation out of mothballs to help the quarterback read the defense on passing plays, another innovation widely used today. He was among the first coaches to employ strength and conditioning and quality control coaches.
4. Hank Stram – Stram, like Gillman, made his mark in the AFL, and introduced many innovations to the game, including using the I – formation and double tight end offenses, both of which are common in today’s game.
5. Bill Walsh – a disciple of both Gillman and Paul Brown, Walsh made his own mark on pro football as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, where he developed and perfected the “West Coast” offense that is popular in the game today.
As you can see each of these men made their mark on the game by introducing a completely new way of thinking about football. In the current NFL spread offenses with mobile QBs are becoming all the rage and the expert in this field is Chip Kelly. Out of all of the HC prospects is thus by far the most intriguing. If he chooses the right team and personnel one of three things will happen: 1) he conforms to standard offense 2) He employs his current offense and it fails or 3) His current offense changes the game of football. Unlike any of the other candidates, Kelly can actually change the game of football! He has historic dynasty potential. In the end winning big comes down to coaches who think and do out of the box and this Boom or Bust potential is what makes Kelly most intriguing and definitely worth the gamble.
1. Sid Gillman – Gillman is considered the “Father of the Modern Passing Game” as he first coached the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams teams in the 1950s, then expanded his legend as an offensive genius as head coach of the high-powered Los Angeles / San Diego Chargers in the American Football League.
2. Paul Brown – Brown is one of the biggest innovators of all time in the NFL, and is responsible for not only coaching but founding two different franchises – the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. He is credited with bringing many innovations to the game, including employing a year-round coaching staff, classroom training for players, creating playbooks, inventing the facemask and the draw play.
3. Tom Landry – He coached the ‘Boys to 20 consecutive winning seasons, and as a defensive mastermind invented the 4-3 defensive alignment, utilizing a middle linebacker, which is commonly used today. His “flex” defense in Dallas was a variation of the 4-3 that gave players the freedom to flow to the ball, a tactic meant to counter Vince Lombardi’s “run to daylight” offensive philosophy. Landry also introduced the tactic of using “keys” to read what offenses were doing. Offensively, he popularized the use of shifts and motion to disguise plays, and brought the “shotgun” formation out of mothballs to help the quarterback read the defense on passing plays, another innovation widely used today. He was among the first coaches to employ strength and conditioning and quality control coaches.
4. Hank Stram – Stram, like Gillman, made his mark in the AFL, and introduced many innovations to the game, including using the I – formation and double tight end offenses, both of which are common in today’s game.
5. Bill Walsh – a disciple of both Gillman and Paul Brown, Walsh made his own mark on pro football as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, where he developed and perfected the “West Coast” offense that is popular in the game today.
As you can see each of these men made their mark on the game by introducing a completely new way of thinking about football. In the current NFL spread offenses with mobile QBs are becoming all the rage and the expert in this field is Chip Kelly. Out of all of the HC prospects is thus by far the most intriguing. If he chooses the right team and personnel one of three things will happen: 1) he conforms to standard offense 2) He employs his current offense and it fails or 3) His current offense changes the game of football. Unlike any of the other candidates, Kelly can actually change the game of football! He has historic dynasty potential. In the end winning big comes down to coaches who think and do out of the box and this Boom or Bust potential is what makes Kelly most intriguing and definitely worth the gamble.