DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Whipple signed as QB coach- No OC

Ytown, your no hater. I'm posting this story below, because it is interesting to reaqd about where Haskell stood last year. Seems that he was acting as a coach even though he was listed otherwise. I got a feeling that he will be very involved with building the offense, and the weekly gameplan.

After reading this, I'm just wondering if they are sort of grooming Whipple to be moved to OC in the future. Knowing that Haskell, Shurmur and Whipple will all be involved with the offense, eases my mind somewhat as far as the no OC is concerned. I really believe Haskell will be the key. He can free up Shurmur when needed elsewhere during the week.


"........Haskell was more a coach than an administrator last year when the Browns were practicing; he was often on the field with a play chart in his hands."




By The Sports Xchange

Posted Feb 4, 2011


Whipple's past successes with QBs - namely Roethlisberger - will now be applied to Colt McCoy

4 Comments

Mark Whipple was a first-year NFL quarterbacks coach in 2004 under Bill Cowher when Ben Roethlisberger was a Steelers rookie. Roethlisberger won his first 13 NFL starts and in 2005 won a Super Bowl in just his second season.

Whipple is the Browns' new quarterbacks coach. New head coach Pat Shurmur would be very happy if Whipple can help Colt McCoy the way he helped Roethlisberger.

Of course, there are major differences in Roethlisberger's and McCoy's histories.

Roethlisberger was the 11th draft pick in 2004. The Steelers were an uncharacteristic 6-10 in 2003, but they were 13-3 in 2001 and 10-5-1 in 2002.

McCoy was the 85th overall pick in 2010. He plays for a Browns team that lost at least 10 games seven of the last eight years. They were 14-34 the last three seasons. McCoy was 2-6 as a rookie starter in 2010.

The Browns also added three position coaches to Shurmur's staff. Dwaine Board will coach the defensive line, Billy Davis the linebackers and Mike Wilson the wide receivers.

Whipple, 53, has spent most of his coaching career in college. He was head coach at the University of Massachusetts from 1998-2003 before Cowher hired him.

Cowher retired after the 2006 season. Mike Tomlin, Cowher's replacement in Pittsburgh, did not retain Whipple.

Whipple was hired as an offensive assistant by Eagles coach Andy Reid one day after being fired by Tomlin. Shurmur was the Eagles' quarterback coach at the time. Shurmur and Whipple worked together for two years in Philadelphia.

Whipple was the offensive coordinator at the University of Miami the last two years. He was fired after the 2010 season.

The Browns are not expected to give a coach the title of offensive coordinator because Shurmur plans to call his own plays.

Going without an offensive coordinator is unusual, especially for a first-year coach, but the Browns still have enough chefs in the kitchen to cook up an offensive game plan week to week; Shurmur was offensive coordinator in St. Louis the last two seasons and Gil Haskell, Senior Advisor to Browns president Mike Holmgren, was Holmgren's offensive coordinator from 2000-08 when Holmgren coached the Seahawks. Haskell was more a coach than an administrator last year when the Browns were practicing; he was often on the field with a play chart in his hands.

Board, a 10-year NFL veteran playing on the defensive line, broke into coaching as an assistant defensive line coach in 1990. He was the defensive line coach in Seattle under Holmgren from 2003-08. He coached the Raiders' defensive line in 2009.

Davis was the defensive quality control coach for the Browns in 1999. He most recently was the Cardinals' defensive coordinator the last two years. He coached the Arizona linebackers in 2007 and '08.

Wilson played wide receiver on four Super Bowl championship teams with the 49ers during a 10-year career starting in 1981. He most recently was the wide receivers coach of the Las Vegas Locomotives in the UFL. He coached the Arizona Cardinals wide receivers in 2005 and '06.

Quote:

---

Haskell was more a coach than an administrator last year when the Browns were practicing; he was often on the field with a play chart in his hands.

---

well, now what excuse do we have for our 'O' being terrible last year?

Again though, I worry about a guy "acting" as a coach without actually being a coach.

It seems to me that NFL teams have specific jobs that carry specific responsibilities, and when you start confusing the issues with undefined jobs and unspecified responsibilities, and people "helping out" here and there, but "not really" on the coaching staff ..... that this is the kind of situation that causes problems .... and that causes problems to explode into major problems.

If they want to have Haskell, for example, coaching the coaches, then that's fine. However, you run into problems if Haskell, for example, comes down to the field on Monday and tells a player to do things one way .... then another coach tells that same player to do that same thing a different way .... but Haskell is off attending to other duties that day, so the player gets confused .... and confused players are never effective players.

If they want Haskell to be a coach, then he should be a coach, and be placed under the authority of the head coach. If he is a pseudo coach, then you have both him and Holmgren who are over the head coach ..... but "helping" ...... and man that just seems like a potentially bad situation to me.

I know that people think that I am overreacting to this stuff, but the NFL is a business. I have a great deal of experience in business, and business needs a chain of command, with one person ultimately responsible at each level. In the NFL we will often see the "interfering owner" trying to coach the team or a player, and winding up undermining his coach, and I feel that the same could happen with this situation. There needs to be a clear chain of command, and the head coach needs to be in command of, and responsible for everything that happens on the field. I just see a lot of "yeah buts" here, where Haskell and Holmgren aren't "really" coaching ..... but kind of are ...... and Shurmur is in charge ..... but what if Haskell or Holmgren says something that disagrees with something Shurmur says ......

I simply think that a firm structure is better than this loosely structured pseudo coaching staff we seem to be building to "help" the actual coaches, and to fill in holes in the actual coaching staff.

I doubt highly that last year he had much say so, but being on the field is important since he was up close with the players.

I also believe that Daboll was said to not use his input much. I have to wonder if Holmgren asked Mangini if Haskell could be on the field, and if maybe that had something to do with keeping Daboll in the first place. Just speculation.

My point with Haskell is not so much what he did last year, but that he was even on the practice field makes me believe that this year he will have a lot of input, and responsibility. I believe this is the reason the coaching set up is the way it is, at least for now.

I see this as Holmgren's way to assist Shurmur, and take some pressure off the first time HC. Holmgren is making sure that the system is what he wants, and has the guys in place to be sure of that. I also like that Shurmur and Whipple have worked together in the past.

OC by committee somewhat. It's different, for sure, but I can understand the set up better now that I see where Haskell stands in all of this.

well said

Quote:

---

There needs to be a clear chain of command, and the head coach needs to be in command of, and responsible for everything that happens on the field.

---

Her's where you need to use a wait and see attitude. You have no idea of the chain of command. Maybe there is a structure in place. Maybe because Shurmur will run the offense, an OC isn't named just for the reasons you stated. I doubt Haskell is going to put Shurmur in a position where the team losses respect for him. Remember he was probably part of the decision to hire Shurmur. I can't see why you have to feel like some sort of conspiracy is afoot.



I really think you are reaching for anything to dismiss this front office. Do you actually believe Holmgren, with all of his experience. All the respect he has EARNED in the league, is actually dumb enough to create such a situation that the players don't know who to listen to? That is what I get from you. Do you actually believe that Haskell would try to undermine Whipple? Or Whipple try to undermine Shurmur. Or Holmgren would try to undermine any of the coaches? That would not be in anybodies good interests. Coaches work like a team, to think these guys can't IMO, is nonsense.

The offense has Oline coaches, RB coaches, WR coaches, and a coordinator on top of that. Not to mention coaching assistants. You act as if the players can only listen to one coach to be successful. I also think you are overlooking the fact that these guys at some point have all worked together. They also all believe in the same system.

I have seen experienced and well meaning people damn near blow up businesses by not knowing when to step aside and "manage the managers".

I have no choice but to wait and see ..... but that doesn't mean that I simply have to stand by as people tell me what a great and glorious setup this is, and will be. Where others see a glorious union of front office and coaches working seamlessly on the sidelines, I see a worrisome conglomeration that I cannot recall ever working.

You are welcome to your opinion, and I hope that I will be welcome to mine in return.

Quote:

---

Haskell was more a coach than an administrator last year when the Browns were practicing; he was often on the field with a play chart in his hands.

Quote:

---

well, now what excuse do we have for our 'O' being terrible last year?

---

---

He didn't have his play chart in his hands. He had someone else's play chart.

Quote:

---

The Browns are not expected to give a coach the title of offensive coordinator because Shurmur plans to call his own plays.

---

Oh come on, Then why did the Browns interview people to be OC. They just think Fans are stupid.

Then why did the Browns interview people to be OC

Geezz havent you heard? Holmgren is the antichrist and Shurmur is his puppet. They are out to spread their doom across the nfl and no one will even interview with the Browns anymore.

I mean if one person speculates the browns might not hire an OC and it gets repeated 40 times, it then becomes truth.