WIDE LEFT Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I am always shocked that NFL teams do not employ a coach whose game day responsibilities are limited to just game management decisions. A coach/advisor who is in the booth completely divorced from the action whose job is strictly game management/strategy, ie timeouts, 2 point conversions, punt or field goal etc. It is obvious to anyone who watches NFL games that the head coaches get too caught up in the action and emotion of the game and routinely mismanage situational game management. It's especially bad when the head coach has collateral duties, like calling plays. I mean, Jason Garrett in Dallas has been a disaster as a game day strategy manager, and Chan Gailey struggled with this as well. There are a ton of examples, many from Bills history, but one that comes to mind is Ravens coach John Harbaugh in the 2011 playoffs. Last play of game, rushes his field goal team out there, kicker rushes it and misses - all this and he had a timeout he never used. When asked about it after game, it was clear that it just never occurred to him - he just got caught up in the emotion of the moment, and did not have a "strategy" coach to help him out. And Harbaugh is a great coach. BTW, Greg Williams, when head coach of Bills, was a disaster as a game manager, and could have really, really used a strategy coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Why not. They already have a coach for every possible position. Why not a head coach - coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 (edited) best answer i have - who do you put in that role? if its someone that gets football, game flow, and game management well enough to outdo the head coach, odds are they are already a coordinator. those arent decisions that you defer to a low level employee, and high level ones are involved in the games. also the staff certainly has a few people that have the coaches ear though to try and help in those spots. certainly a factor-- football guys dont tend to like numbers guys. Edited June 13, 2013 by NoSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionallyUnstable Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 There is a reason the head coach makes all these decisions .No one knows better what they need, when they need it. Coordinators handle monitoring these decisions. I would be surprised if they aren't on a direct line discussing these scenarios. I see your point. But as a head coach, are you really going to put these game-changing decisions in another coaches hands? I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIDE LEFT Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 There is a reason the head coach makes all these decisions .No one knows better what they need, when they need it. Coordinators handle monitoring these decisions. I would be surprised if they aren't on a direct line discussing these scenarios. I see your point. But as a head coach, are you really going to put these game-changing decisions in another coaches hands? I doubt it. Of course the head coach makes the final decision - he has to live with it. A "strategy" coach would only be an adviser, separated from the on field action. So in the Harbaugh scenario described in my OP, a strategy coach would simply be reminding the coach he still has a timeout and he should use it. Just advice - not the decision maker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Strategry is a very important part of all facets of life and sports. Maybe Brandon can add that strategy coach, after he fulfills his "analytics" dept. pipe dream with the team.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 This is something that an analytics department could get involved in. Have one of the analytics people available for consulting on decisions where down and distance, time remaining in quarter/game, score, and other variables are factored into some sort of decision-making algorithm. The coach doesn't have to abide by it but at least he'd have some dispassionate, coldly rational data to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leelee Phoenix Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 I absolutely agree. It's unbelievable how poor most coaches are with game management. If I were an owner, I'd force my coach to have someone like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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