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Mr. Scot

By Mr. Scot,
in Carolina Panthers

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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31 minutes ago, Biscuit said:

I can't believe a guy I had as a desperation TE bye week replacement in my fantasy football league is going to coach my beloved Panthers.  Time marches on.

Alex Marvez wrote a really good profile of Campbell a while back after he'd been interviewed for the Colts job that went to Frank Reich.

Here are some edited excerpts from that article (full article here). There's a lot to read, but it's worth it.

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It still feels like a whirlwind akin to his 12 games as the Dolphins’ interim head coach in 2015, the stint that first put Campbell on the NFL radar as having the potential to run his own team.

Campbell said the focus of his meeting with Ballard and Colts owner Jim Irsay was "more about what I wanted to do from a management standpoint, schematics, what I was looking to build, how I wanted everything to run. That’s what I focused on."

Although he has earned praise for his work as a position coach, the 42-year-old Campbell has never displayed his Xs-and-Os acumen as a coordinator. Campbell’s ascent through the ranks is based on other strengths, like having a big-picture vision (an essential component for head coaches to succeed that few possess) and an ability to inspire players based on knowledge gleaned through 11 NFL seasons as a journeyman tight end.

Being a Bill Parcells protégé hasn’t hurt, either.

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During his playing days as a Texas A&M tight end in the late 1990s, Campbell took a class on leadership while pursing his undergraduate degree. The focus of one project paper was Parcells, who Campbell said shared many of the same beliefs as then-Aggies head coach R.C. Slocum.

Something else stood out about Parcells that Campbell has tried to emulate: the ability to connect with players from a myriad of different backgrounds.

"One player had to be pushed differently than this one,” Campbell said. “He always talked about Lawrence Taylor needing a different message than Phil Simms, Jim Burt and Harry Carson did.

"I was always fascinated by that. And then once you go to play for the guy, you understand exactly what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. It’s so simple, it’s brilliant.”

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The 6-5, 265-pound Campbell remained primarily a blocking tight end during three seasons under Parcells. At the same time, Campbell was focused just as much on studying Parcells himself as mastering the Cowboys playbook.

One lesson learned was the value of outside-the-box thinking when it comes to game-planning, especially when facing a superior opponent. Campbell vividly remembers how Parcells laid the groundwork for a 31-28 upset over Kansas City during the 2005 season.

"They were No. 1 in the league in points per game, and we were not that type of team, although we had a good defense," Campbell said. "Parcells said, ‘Look, we’re gonna be aggressive. We’re gonna throw the ball down the field. On fourth down, we’re gonna go for it.’

"It was totally opposite than the nature of how he had taught us to play. But we won the game because we outscored them."

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By that point in Dallas, Cowboys players had grown to drink whatever flavor Kool-Aid that Parcells was serving them.

"You talk about a guy who can piss you off to the point where you just want to explode and choke him," Campbell said with a laugh. “And then you step back and you go out there and you’re playing lights out.

"You’re like, ‘You know what? That sucker knows exactly what he’s doing. He wanted to get under my skin. He did, and now I’m giving him my best.'"

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Campbell said that type of connection wouldn't be possible without Parcells having the ability to “see through B.S.” like no other coach he ever had before.

"Some guys can talk their way out of stuff, or say, ‘I am a leader. I really push it to the max. I’m really a team guy,’ when they’re not," Campbell said. "It’s all coming out of their mouth, but there are all these little hints behind the scenes where that’s not going on.

"Bill could sniff that stuff out a mile away. That’s important because that’s how you weed out the cancers."

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During his time in Dallas, Campbell made a positive enough impression on Tony Sparano — another Parcells protégé who had since become Miami’s head coach — to earn a 2010 coaching internship.

"He was always a tough, smart player,” said Sparano, who is now Minnesota’s offensive line coach. “He also was demanding on himself. I thought that would carry over into being demanding on the players.”

Campbell was hired as Miami’s tight ends coach the following year, and in order to look more professional on the job, he cut the long hair that remained from his playing days. Joe Philbin was impressed enough by Campbell and his work that he was kept on the staff when Philbin replaced Sparano as Dolphins head coach in 2012.

Campbell proceeded to help in the development of two tight ends (Charles Clay and Dion Sims) who would eventually land lucrative free-agent contracts elsewhere after their rookie contracts expired. But it wasn’t until Philbin was fired four games into the 2015 season that Campbell would enter the mainstream coaching spotlight.

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The Dolphins weren’t just an on-field mess after an uninspiring 1-3 start. There was friction behind the scenes between assistant coaches and key players. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had angered members of the scout team with belittling comments following a practice. It had become obvious Philbin lacked the gravitas needed as a head coach to fix the issues.

Even though he would become the NFL’s youngest head coach at the time, the 39-year-old Campbell had that kind of presence. Miami’s football czar Mike Tannenbaum recognized it.

Tannenbaum cited Campbell’s “leadership, toughness and energy” when promoting him to try and clean up the mess Philbin had created.

"I did know that it was dysfunctional when I took it over,” Campbell said. “There were issues going on, particularly on (defense), and a lot of different things that were in play that I had no idea about.

"I felt like I spent the first couple of weeks just trying to sort through that and get the right chemistry."

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Campbell began doing that immediately by firing defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle and making other staff tweaks (offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was axed later in the season). He changed the arrangement of player lockers to better promote camaraderie. He emphasized the importance of competition through such motivational tactics as a tug-of-war, a full-contact Oklahoma drill and practices that pitted front-line offensive and defensive players against each other rather than the scout team.

Campbell’s tactics paid quick dividends. Miami won its next two games, against Tennessee and Houston, by a combined 82-36 margin. The success inspired a series of classic internet memes that included the well-muscled Campbell riding an actual dolphin and comparisons to the PC Principal on South Park.

All kidding aside, the positive response from Dolphins players reflected how much Campbell had grown professionally since he entered the coaching ranks. As then-Dolphins tight end Jordan Cameron told me at the time, “Sometimes you can just get into a routine. It’s hard to explain. You’re not aware that you’re not competing. You’re just going through the daily motions.

"Dan opened our eyes a little more to the fact you’ve got to have that mindset you’re going to beat the guy across from you.”

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Said Campbell: “One of the hardest things for ex-players who are coaches is for them to really drive their players. They’ve been in their shoes. They know how hard it is and how bad some of this stuff sucks and the grind of it. And they somewhat feel sorry or empathy for those players they’re coaching.

"That’s the worst thing that you can do. It really is. I think that gets a lot of coaches who are not hard enough on them.”

Campbell said he was guilty of making that mistake at times with the Dolphins — and it won’t be one he makes again.

"I didn’t hold them accountable all the time like I should have,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It’s kind of like when you’re in that position, you’re trying to keep some life in this team and you’ve got to be careful, because if you go full bore the other way you’re not gonna get anything out of them. They’d already lost a coach and you’re already in dire straits. So you’ve gotta try to keep upbeat and positive.

"But if I had it my way and I was going in fresh, I’d have been a little bit harder. Just call things out for what they were more than I did."

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Campbell’s button-pressing could only take the Dolphins so far. Miami stuck around in playoff contention until a Week 13 loss to the Giants dashed those faint hopes.

At that point, Campbell began using younger players more to “start trying to build to the future." Campbell, though, had a good idea that Miami’s future wouldn't be involving him. In a move widely anticipated in league circles, the Dolphins hired offensive whiz kid Adam Gase as their new head coach shortly after Miami completed a 6-10 season.

Campbell admits he was disappointed about not getting to build on the foundation he had tried to create. But he did receive the type of education that can’t be gained without first-hand experience.

"I’m a lot more prepared now because when you take over, you don’t realize all the little things that come along with it,” Campbell said of the head-coaching job. “You sit down, you’re getting ready to watch tape and it’s like, ‘Hey, you gotta do this interview. You gotta go meet with player programs. We need to go talk about this guy’s contract. The Jets are wanting to get rid of this guy and I think we may be able to claim him (on waivers) — do we want him? Who do we want to put in first class (for a road game) this week?’

"You’re like, ‘Golly man, I haven’t gotten to football yet.’ You have to make the most of your time and be as efficient as you can. You really have to be a master multi-tasker to really be good at that job."

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Campbell’s next step in his coaching evolution is gleaning even more from someone who fits that bill.

Just like with Sparano, Campbell made such a positive impression while playing on offenses run by New Orleans coach Sean Payton that a Saints coaching offer was tendered once the Gase hire became official.

“There’s a presence about him and realness to him when he coaches,” Payton told Sporting News during a telephone interview. “It’s the same way when he deals with anyone in the building from a fellow staff member or someone down the hall in marketing.

“I don’t want to say he’s old school in that way, but he’s very much of a worker. He’s someone I consider a real talented coach and heck of a good person.”

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As assistant head coach, Campbell is entrusted with a slew of different tasks like addressing the team to start the day if Payton is occupied with other responsibilities. Campbell, like other Saints assistants, also is expected to offer input into game plans. Payton likes a collaborative process.

The effectiveness of such an approach is reflected by New Orleans fielding a top-four unit in yards and scoring in the two seasons since Campbell’s arrival.

“We all have ideas and Sean puts the final touch on it,” Campbell said. “I feel like that’s why we’re so good and efficient and effective — because we all work together.

Payton believes the exposure Campbell has received working under and with a myriad of different coaches already is serving him well.

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“Offensively, he’s got some very good thoughts,” said Payton, who was a Giants assistant when the club made Campbell a 1999 third-round draft pick. “Often times, former players who become coaches will value some of the same strengths that that they had.

“Dan was a tremendous blocker and functional in the passing game. Yet in his evaluation of college players or pro free agents, he still puts a high value on (tight ends) who can run and get open. He has a really open mind to what we’re looking for and ways to do things.”

Payton acknowledges Campbell might not be with the Saints much longer, as the latter is set to enter the 2019 offseason as one of the NFL’s top head coaching candidates. Someone else who would offer a strong endorsement is Ballard, who described the decision to hire Reich instead of Campbell as a “tough choice.”

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“Most tight ends who play in this league are very smart,” Ballard told me on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “They’ve got to know both the passing and running game. When we interviewed Dan, you see that in him.

"He’s been mentored and trained playing under Bill Parcells and coaching under Sean Payton. He’s got a great vision of what he wants (his team) to be. I think he’s going to be an outstanding head coach. It’s not a matter of if, but when."

 

 

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hepcat Grand Master

hepcat

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2 minutes ago, Harbingers said:

No. College coaches never succeed with consistency in the nfl. 

Some of the greatest head coaches in nfl history were college head coaches first. Bill Walsh, Tom Coughlin, Jimmy Johnson, Dick Vermiel. Recent busts have soured that trend but you can’t discount at least interviewing a few college coaches. The Panthers basically run a college offense anyway. 

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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8 minutes ago, Harbingers said:

@Mr. Scot I really didn’t want to do that to your post bud. But it’s all offense and all worse then Rivera...

and a majority of them come from the same coaching tree as him.

It being all offense is not an accident.

That said, if you read the articles I linked, you'll find the vast majority of the candidates listed are from the offensive side of the ball.

As to them being worse than Rivera...no.

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MVPccaffrey Collaborator

MVPccaffrey

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1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Alex Marvez wrote a really good profile of Campbell a while back after he'd been interviewed for the Colts job that went to Frank Reich.

Here are some edited excerpts from that article (full article here)

Although he has earned praise for his work as a position coach, the 42-year-old Campbell has never displayed his Xs-and-Os acumen as a coordinator. Campbell’s ascent through the ranks is based on other strengths, like having a big-picture vision (an essential component for head coaches to succeed that few possess) and an ability to inspire players based on knowledge gleaned through 11 NFL seasons as a journeyman tight end.

 

 

Sorry, but hard pass on him just reading that excerpt alone.  Don't think a rah-rah HC can win in the modern NFL.  Give me the wonk who can institute the Xs and Os from week to week and let the team captains worry about hyping up the players.

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Harbingers Grand Master

Harbingers

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7 minutes ago, hepcat said:

Some of the greatest head coaches in nfl history were college head coaches first. Bill Walsh, Tom Coughlin, Jimmy Johnson, Dick Vermiel. Recent busts have soured that trend but you can’t discount at least interviewing a few college coaches. The Panthers basically run a college offense anyway. 

That was before west coast became the mainstream and was countered. 

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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2 minutes ago, Camvp said:

Sorry, but hard pass on him just reading that excerpt alone.  Don't think a rah-rah HC can win in the modern NFL.  Give me the wonk who can institute the Xs and Os from week to week and let the team captains worry about hyping up the players.

He's an assistant head coach for the team that's putting up ridiculous points on a regular basis.

1 minute ago, Camvp said:

Honestly @Mr. Scot that list looks incredibly underwhelming.  If that's the best this offseason can offer, i'd rather see Ron back on the sidelines with the team having another year to absorb Norv's system and a DC that isn't drawing up plays in crayon.  

There was a time when Sean Payton was just some guy who got fired by the Giants, Bill Belichick was a failed Browns coach and Sean McVay wasn't ready for the job because he was too young.

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