Coaching staff changes are about staying ahead of the curve
Whether it is from Tom Coughlin or any number of business experts and motivational speakers, “if you are on time, you are five minutes late” is a concept that many believe in. In the NFL, if you are doing what made teams successful the last couple of seasons, you are probably behind the curve of what will work the next couple of seasons.
This offseason, Cleveland Browns HC Kevin Stefanski made a number of changes to his coaching staff with a strong influx of new coaches with college experience with an eye on looking ahead.
Starting out, new OC Tommy Rees is just one year removed from his time as the offensive coordinator at Alabama (after a stint in the same role at Notre Dame). The next big hire this offseason brought in Mike Bloomgren to take over the team’s offensive line. Bloomgren’s experience isn’t limited to the college level but a majority of it is:
While the bulk of his coaching career has been at the collegiate level, he began as a graduate assistant at the University of Alabama in 1999 and had stops at Catawba College, Delta State, and Stanford along the way, this will not be Bloomgren’s first taste of coaching at the NFL level.
He spent four seasons with the New York Jets beginning in 2007, first as an offensive quality control coach for two years under Brian Schottenheimer and Bill Callahan. When the Jets hired Rex Ryan as head coach in 2009, Bloomgren served as an offensive assistant that season and then moved to assistant offensive coordinator in 2010, a season that saw the Jets finish 11-5 and advance to their second consecutive AFC Championship Game appearance.
When Stefanski finalized his new staff, it was notable that Sanders Davis, Kyle Hoke and Adam Morris were also added from the collegiate ranks.
Speaking at the NFL combine, I asked Stefanski if we could read into bringing in that many college coaches recently. His answer, as hinted at in the opening lines of this article, was about getting and staying ahead of the curve:
Stefanski later noted how things have already changed around the league especially at the quarterback position:
While there is a sentiment around Browns fans that Stefanski’s offense is either too predictable or tries to be too creative, it seems Cleveland will continue to try to innovate and change with the times. Adding college coaches, which is where most new NFL schemes tend to come from, is a way to stay ahead of the curve.