Bills hire former Detroit Lion QB Coach Todd Downing

[swiper]

The Bills also hired Jim Schwartz's QB coach to tutor EJ Manuel. He also knows Thad Lewis well.


Marrone also turned to Schwartz's former staff to address another need by agreeing to hire Todd Downing to coach the young crop of quarterbacks, led by last year's rookie first-round pick, EJ Manuel.

http://news.yahoo.com/bills-hire-ex-lions-coach-schwartz-run-defense-024338234--spt.html

[swiper]

More....


Downing's addition filled Marrone's desire to add a quarterbacks coach to his staff after offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett doubled at the position last year. Marrone had expressed an intention to ease Hackett's burden entering his second season.

Lack of experience and injuries didn't help the position. Manuel missed six games because of knee injuries. Undrafted journeyman Thad Lewis went 2-3 in five starts, while undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel struggled in a 23-13 loss to Kansas City.


Downing has 11 years of NFL coaching experience, and spent the past three seasons at the same position in Detroit, where he mentored Lions starter Matthew Stafford.


The 33-year-old Downing is familiar with Lewis, who spent last off-season in Detroit before the Bills acquired him in a trade in August. And he also coached Manuel at last year's Senior Bowl.


"Todd Downing is a bright and energetic coach," Marrone said. "He played a pivotal role in the development of Detroit's quarterbacks during his tenure: most notably Matthew Stafford, the franchise's all-time

[pmoon6]

Never heard of him, so thanks for the info, Swiper.

[Don't Panic]

I like the fact that he has seen up close (for multiple seasons) what a QB with elite skills can do. Just having that understanding will help him see where he can help EJ and where he can't (as EJ is not Stafford's equal in raw talent). I'm sure there are little habits that he'll be able to apply day one to help EJ.

He's really young. That should help in making a connection with the players but I'm sure there's still quite a bit he has to learn. He has been coaching for a while though. I noticed in his Lions bio that he did work with the St. Louis DBs and Special Teams between 06 and 08. Jack of all trades type?

[X-Era]

I like the fact that he has seen up close (for multiple seasons) what a QB with elite skills can do. Just having that understanding will help him see where he can help EJ and where he can't (as EJ is not Stafford's equal in raw talent). I'm sure there are little habits that he'll be able to apply day one to help EJ.

He's really young. That should help in making a connection with the players but I'm sure there's still quite a bit he has to learn. He has been coaching for a while though. I noticed in his Lions bio that he did work with the St. Louis DBs and Special Teams between 06 and 08. Jack of all trades type?
All true. Add in that he was a factor in developing Thad Lewis as well.

[Meathead]

seems obvious to me they dont want to risk overshadowing hackett which might be a big mistake. hire a kid to take direction from a kid on how to develop a first round qb. they already lost a year of dedicated qb tutoring due to their coaching arrogance, now they hire a glorified intern to be molded by the brilliant kid oc who made that ill fated qb coach decision in the first place. there had to be better options so this tells me they want hackett to be unthreatened, which is almost always a bad move. this needs to work and at first blush this looks like a doubling down on an already shaky oc strategy

[better days]

seems obvious to me they dont want to risk overshadowing hackett which might be a big mistake. hire a kid to take direction from a kid on how to develop a first round qb. they already lost a year of dedicated qb tutoring due to their coaching arrogance, now they hire a glorified intern to be molded by the brilliant kid oc who made that ill fated qb coach decision in the first place. there had to be better options so this tells me they want hackett to be unthreatened, which is almost always a bad move. this needs to work and at first blush this looks like a doubling down on an already shaky oc strategy

Well, at least Downing has some experience in the NFL, unlike Hackett.

3 years as Lions QB Coach.

[swiper]

Hopefully this will further allow Hackett to focus on fine-tuning his play-calling skills, etc.

IDK this guy, but OBD seems to be making small moves in the right direction.

[Mouldsie]

lolololol Stafford is known for having some of the worst mechanics and footwork issues in the NFL that's why they wanted Jim Caldewell, to help him develop those things.

[better days]

lolololol Stafford is known for having some of the worst mechanics and footwork issues in the NFL that's why they wanted Jim Caldewell, to help him develop those things.

Well, everyone says Tebow can't develop better mechanics.

If that is the case, I don't see why Stafford can.

[Don't Panic]

lolololol Stafford is known for having some of the worst mechanics and footwork issues in the NFL that's why they wanted Jim Caldewell, to help him develop those things.

I'll tell you what... if he can get the same kind of numbers out of Manuel, then I wouldn't give two ****s about mechanics. Fair enough?

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

I'll tell you what... if he can get the same kind of numbers out of Manuel, then I wouldn't give two ****s about mechanics. Fair enough?

i don't disagree with that principle but megatron ain't coming to buffalo..

[swiper]

We were all like "wtf" when they traded for Thad Lewis too. He turned out to be better than we expected. Maybe this guy will be too.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/Spazzmatazz/Stern/My%20Animations/beetgrin.gif

[pmoon6]

Well, Bernie Kosar had some weird mechanics. The knock on Phillip Rivers coming out of college was that he threw slightly side arm. Watching Rivers this year, he has changed somewhat, but still has the ability to deliver the ball when a sidey pass is required.

[stuckincincy]

Well, Bernie Kosar had some weird mechanics. The knock on Phillip Rivers coming out of college was that he threw slightly side arm. Watching Rivers this year, he has changed somewhat, but still has the ability to deliver the ball when a sidey pass is required.

Potential draftee qb Bridgewater seems to have the same motion. I've seen a lot of his play - Louisville is regional football for me.

He's a decent player - smart youngster. I don't consider him top 5. But who knows? Next year, knocking down a qb behind the LOS might be a personal foul. :soap:

[Mouldsie]

We were all like "wtf" when they traded for Thad Lewis too. He turned out to be better than we expected. Maybe this guy will be too.






Who is we?

I never thought Thad was that great but before he even played a game with us I said he was better than Tuel and possibly Manuel. Let's hope to God I'm wrong on that last one.

Anyway, I just don't see great credentials with this guy. We'll see.

[Goobylal]

I like the fact that he has seen up close (for multiple seasons) what a QB with elite skills can do. Just having that understanding will help him see where he can help EJ and where he can't (as EJ is not Stafford's equal in raw talent). I'm sure there are little habits that he'll be able to apply day one to help EJ.

He's really young. That should help in making a connection with the players but I'm sure there's still quite a bit he has to learn. He has been coaching for a while though. I noticed in his Lions bio that he did work with the St. Louis DBs and Special Teams between 06 and 08. Jack of all trades type?
Stafford may have a stronger arm than EJ, but EJ has more raw talent and a willingness to be taught, which Stafford seemingly doesn't.

seems obvious to me they dont want to risk overshadowing hackett which might be a big mistake. hire a kid to take direction from a kid on how to develop a first round qb. they already lost a year of dedicated qb tutoring due to their coaching arrogance, now they hire a glorified intern to be molded by the brilliant kid oc who made that ill fated qb coach decision in the first place. there had to be better options so this tells me they want hackett to be unthreatened, which is almost always a bad move. this needs to work and at first blush this looks like a doubling down on an already shaky oc strategy
Huh? They added a QB coach because they realized that they made a mistake not having a dedicated one last year, which is a mistake in and of itself, and was only compounded by Hackett being a rookie OC and also by EJ being a rookie QB. They got Downing because they want to go young on the coaching staff and Downing has previously worked with EJ and Thad, not because he's non-threatening.

[Meathead]

what advantage does going young on a coaching staff have in this instance? unless marrone and hackett have some magic they arent showing us they could have hired an established specialist. the only reason to go young would be to mentor that hire to your approach but that seems kinda arrogant to me. hire a career qb coach specialist and youll still be able to delegate enough to get what you want at a higher quality of coaching professionalism. that unit needed some veteran offensive coaching presence and got close to none of that by adding todd 'who?' downing

[kishoph]

seems obvious to me they dont want to risk overshadowing hackett which might be a big mistake. hire a kid to take direction from a kid on how to develop a first round qb. they already lost a year of dedicated qb tutoring due to their coaching arrogance, now they hire a glorified intern to be molded by the brilliant kid oc who made that ill fated qb coach decision in the first place. there had to be better options so this tells me they want hackett to be unthreatened, which is almost always a bad move. this needs to work and at first blush this looks like a doubling down on an already shaky oc strategy

Having 11 years of NFL coaching experience, the last 3 as a QB coach, hardly adds up to a "glorified intern". I also believe that the Bills are not worrying about hiring someone that will threaten a current member of the staffs position. If that was the case, they certainly wouldn't of brought in someone that has NFL head coaching experience to work under Marrone.

[Meathead]

marrone hired schwartz to be the ceo of the defense, that was his call and hes obviously not intimiated with the prospect of someone like that reporting to him. thats good

the most likely scenario on offense was that marrone let hackett make that call and he chose downing. thus the two hires arent related in that aspect - marrone might be mature enough to not be threatened by schwartz but hackett certainly might not have that attitude

its entirely possible downing might turn out to be good but that has nothing to do with my criticism of hackett. hes demonstrated immaturity at many stages so far, i think it would have been far better to fill the qb coaching job with someone that can hold hacketts hand a little too. seems obvious to me he doesnt want that, and i think that immaturity might end up getting him fired next season