Well, let's get to work. While its always disappointing as a fan to have a season (or seasons) in which the end result is a HC getting fired, there is something about it that many fans enjoy. Maybe its the idea of a clean slate. Not just the fact that we are all 0-0 again...but truly a clean slate where coaches are fired and the staff is built back up again from ground zero. For some reason, I have always loved this process. The first new coach that I saw installed as a Miami fan was Jimmy Johnson. Few years later, again with Dave Wannstedt. Then Nick and Cam and Tony. Ok, it has gotten a little out of hand. Now Joe!
Ok, Joe, here we go. As I said, I love to begin looking through the archives and finding what connections he has and who may make be his assistant coaches.
So, for now I will mention two coaches that have already been mentioned through the media.
1. Kevin Coyle. Coyle has been a DB coach for 11 years with the Bengals. This means he has been working under DC Mike Zimmer and HC Marvin Lewis. Coyle has been well respected around the league. Of course, last season Philadelphia wanted to interview him for their DC position but were denied. While Coyle has been with Zimmer and Lewis (which are good sound defensive coaches), I am more intrigued by the fact that he was first hired into the NFL on Dick Lebeau's staff when he was named HC for Cincy. Obviously, Lebeau is as good as it gets (when it comes to defense) and the fact that he would hire Coyle as his db coach speaks volumes. Coyle came to Cincy from Fresno State. Fresno was always known for excellent pass defense. Belichick has spoken often of Fresno State's dbs and in fact has drafted and acquired some of their alumni. Remember for many of those years Fresno's coach was Pat Hill - who coached with BB in Cleveland. So, as you can see - when we mention Coyle we are mentioning names like Dick Lebeau and Belichick. This is good news! The fact that Coyle has been given permission to talk to Philbin and the fact that this is the first guy Philbin is interviewing and trying to acquire speaks volumes in my book.
2. The other name that has been mentioned tonight is Mark Duffner. You may remember that Duffner was the HC for the University of Maryland in the mid 90's. While he wasnt real successful in that post, he was extremely successful before that at Holy Cross. As the Head Coach at Holy Cross for six seasons, his teams record was 60-5-1. After coaching at Maryland, he came to the NFL as an assistant with the Bengals. He moved his way up to Defensive Coordinator also under Dick Lebeau. While they didnt have much success in those 2 seasons, any man that earns DC post under Lebeau must be a heck of a defensive coach. As you can see, both Coyle and Duffner were together in Cincy. Which is a connection that began long before this. Coyle was also an assistant coach at Holy Cross under Duffner and later came to Maryland to be Duffner's DC. Duffner became G.B's linebacker coach in 2003 and was on the same staff with Philbin under Mike Sherman for 3 seasons. Duffner currently is the linebacker coach in Jacksonville.
Obviously, Sherman is another name that I assume we have all been hearing already. It seems that if he doesnt get the HC position with T.B, it would be a slam-dunk that he comes to join Phibin. Sherman, Coyle and Duffner were all on staff together at Holy Cross and hopefully will be again.
As I stated earlier, it seems to me that Philbin is looking for intelligent, well respected coaches that are hungry and still looking to make their "stamp" on a team. I'm excited to see these kinds of coaches coming our directions instead of retreads who dont necessarily have the same hunger as these coaches do!
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