Inexperienced Coaches

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SamTheRam28
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Inexperienced Coaches

Post by SamTheRam28 »

The XFL undoubtedly went young and inexperienced for many of their head coaches. Half the league is first time head coaches, and some have very little assistant coaching experience even. Hines Ward has 2 years as an assistant with the Jets, and 1 as a WR coach at FAU. Rod Woodson has been a CB coach with the Raiders for 2 years. Anthony Becht was a TE coach for the San Diego Fleet.

Most people on this board and elsewhere seem to be positive and excited about this, yet I remember that wasn't the case back in 2020. In 2018 and 2019, when all of us were speculating on who would be coaching in the XFL, Isaac Bruce was a name that was brought up frequently to potentially coach the BattleHawks. The response here was largely negative as he had very little experience, only working as a high school WR coach.

Why the change in reaction to inexperienced HCs? Is is just optimism and wanting anything the league does to succeed? Is it because of how certain coaches performed in the AAF & XFL? Is it something else?
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by herns »

SamTheRam28 wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 5:01 pm The XFL undoubtedly went young and inexperienced for many of their head coaches. Half the league is first time head coaches, and some have very little assistant coaching experience even. Hines Ward has 2 years as an assistant with the Jets, and 1 as a WR coach at FAU. Rod Woodson has been a CB coach with the Raiders for 2 years. Anthony Becht was a TE coach for the San Diego Fleet.

Most people on this board and elsewhere seem to be positive and excited about this, yet I remember that wasn't the case back in 2020. In 2018 and 2019, when all of us were speculating on who would be coaching in the XFL, Isaac Bruce was a name that was brought up frequently to potentially coach the BattleHawks. The response here was largely negative as he had very little experience, only working as a high school WR coach.

Why the change in reaction to inexperienced HCs? Is is just optimism and wanting anything the league does to succeed? Is it because of how certain coaches performed in the AAF & XFL? Is it something else?
I would say New is always exciting, there is a worry of what if they can’t coach but if they surround the new coaches with former head coaches I think it’ll be good
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by GDAWG »

It would have to be coaches that they know with decades of experience. With Ward, the coaches he has played for include David Culley, Mike Mularkey and Ken Whisenhunt. He also coached on the Jets with Gregg Williams and sigh.....Adam Gase. With Becht, he played for Whisenhunt but also coached on the Fleet with Mike Martz, whom he also played for. With Woodson, he coached alongside Chuck Bresnahan, who has 40 years of experience as a coach. Woodson also played for Marvin Lewis and Brian Billick, although I am not sure that they want to leave Arizona State.
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by 4th&long »

SamTheRam28 wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 5:01 pm The XFL undoubtedly went young and inexperienced for many of their head coaches. Half the league is first time head coaches, and some have very little assistant coaching experience even. Hines Ward has 2 years as an assistant with the Jets, and 1 as a WR coach at FAU. Rod Woodson has been a CB coach with the Raiders for 2 years. Anthony Becht was a TE coach for the San Diego Fleet.

Most people on this board and elsewhere seem to be positive and excited about this, yet I remember that wasn't the case back in 2020. In 2018 and 2019, when all of us were speculating on who would be coaching in the XFL, Isaac Bruce was a name that was brought up frequently to potentially coach the BattleHawks. The response here was largely negative as he had very little experience, only working as a high school WR coach.

Why the change in reaction to inexperienced HCs? Is is just optimism and wanting anything the league does to succeed? Is it because of how certain coaches performed in the AAF & XFL? Is it something else?
These were "splash" hire for attention getting. Hopefully they backfill the staff to make it work.
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by Tank55 »

SamTheRam28 wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 5:01 pm In 2018 and 2019, when all of us were speculating on who would be coaching in the XFL, Isaac Bruce was a name that was brought up frequently to potentially coach the BattleHawks. The response here was largely negative as he had very little experience, only working as a high school WR coach.
That’s totally valid to bring up. I was strongly against Bruce being considered as a candidate.

I think for me, the biggest thing is that XFL 2.0 had to work incredibly hard to distance itself from XFL 1.0 and the (unfair, imo) perception that it was a clown show. Ultra conservative coaching choices helped communicate that this was a serious, professional endeavor.

XFL 3.0 is in a slightly different position, as XFL 2.0 largely did its job in shifting the narrative. The XFL now is in a better position to make some outside the box hires. Deion’s success at Jackson State also helped signal that there is value to be found outside of the box.

And I will say, even the least experienced XFL hire (Becht) still has at least some professional experience, which Bruce did not.
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by GregParks »

SamTheRam28 wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 5:01 pm
Why the change in reaction to inexperienced HCs? Is is just optimism and wanting anything the league does to succeed? Is it because of how certain coaches performed in the AAF & XFL? Is it something else?
I'll start by saying I agree with a lot of the replies in this thread so far. I was one who was critical of the hires at first, but as I was writing my column on it (https://xflboard.com/news/xfl-pushes-ba ... ach-hires/) (sorry, cheap plug), I began to come around a little. I'm still not as gung-ho on some of the hires as others, but as many have said, the assistant coaches will tell the tale.

I'll also add that the reasons I quoted from Sam's post above are also valid: I think, more so on social media than here on this board necessarily, there are those that know this is the last chance for the XFL and are going to be optimistic or positive about every move they make in an effort to somehow will this league to success.

If you look at the most experienced coaches in the XFL from a head coach POV, they didn't really impress in the admittedly small sample size we got: Bob Stoops was 2-3, Jim Zorn and Marc Trestman, two former NFL head coaches, were 1-4 and at the bottom of their divisions. So I think the idea that experience = success has not always borne out in these secondary leagues.
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by Gopher123 »

To me, Bruce as an HC in St Louis seemed like such a desperate attempt to create interest. I think there were some other former players with no pro coaching experience that were suggested as coaches in other cities as well. I do like to see some former coaching experience on former players resumes so it looks like the league is taking it seriously.

I was mostly underwhelmed with the Moss, Hamilton, Hayes hires at the time. I preferred more established names for head coaches. As GP pointed out, those three performed better than most bigger name ex-NFLers. I think Moss and LA were really going to take off. So I’m more open this time.

I also like coaches that bring a lot of energy to the sidelines. If they coach like they played then especially Ward and Buckley should be fun to see coach. Unlike a couple coaches from XFL 2.0 who seemed confused and stationary during their time on the sideline. I’m sure you can figure out who I mean.
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by Tank55 »

Checking my notes...

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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by Gopher123 »

Tank55 wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 9:07 am Checking my notes...

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Bingo! :lol:
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johnnyangryfuzzball
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Re: Inexperienced Coaches

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

I think it's largely because there is a vision here in what Garcia and Johnson are trying to do. With so much attention going on with the Rooney Rule and the Brian Flores lawsuit, plus Deion Sanders and his success at the HBCU level, they want to provide opportunities for "minority" candidates with playing backgrounds to prove themselves at a pro level. I don't object to that.

The original XFL's vision was to find guys who had already proven themselves at the NFL, CFL or major college levels. The exception was Hayes, and all of us scratched our head at that hiring because it didn't fit what McMahon was trying to do—but often the less experienced coaches do quite well, just as Hayes had done.

I mean, if we were talking about guys who had washed out of the college ranks, I'd be less impressed.
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