How many coaches does it take to have too many?

[Patler]

The average number of coaches on a team has been steadily increasing, it seems that 24 is now the most on a team. I expect other teams will soon find the "need" for that, or more.
How soon before each player has a personal coach? ;-)

This from NFP:



*The Bucs’ coaching staff is up to 24 members, which is believed to be the largest in the NFL and probably is the largest in NFL history. Rick Stroud details it here. The 24 coaches give the Bucs one more than the Eagles, Seahawks and Vikings. The staff is so big, in fact, that the team is reconfiguring office space at One Buc Place to accommodate two additions. Among the Bucs’ coaches are three strength coaches, an assistant defensive coordinator and a pass rush specialist. - See more at: http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFP-Sunday-Blitz-1729.html#sthash.B9qiy0aK.dpuf

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFP-Sunday-Blitz-1729.html


http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/bucs-have-coaching-staff-of-24/1276887

[MJZiggy]

When the waterboys have a coach, then you've probably crossed a line somewhere.

[Joemailman]

The league has put a salary cap on players, but not on coaches. With teams needing to release established players due to the salary cap, perhaps they feel the need to devote more time and resources to individual player development.

[Patler]

When the waterboys have a coach, then you've probably crossed a line somewhere.

So an "Assistant Teams Coach - Long Snapping" is a worthwhile investment? :lol:

[Patler]

How many different positions does a team really have? Is RG really different from LG? With 24 coaches they are approaching one per position.

What is the maximum?

22 starters (How many coaches? 1 for guards or 2? How about for tackles?)
snapper
punter
kicker (or is this two, FG specialist and KO specialist coaches?)
third down back on O
nickel back on D
dime back
punt returner
KO returner

What else do we need?
More coaches than players, since some players play multiple positions needing coaching?

[hoosier]

How many adults do you need to take care of a baby? Oops, sorry, wrong thread!

[Patler]

How many adults do you need to take care of a baby? Oops, sorry, wrong thread!

All I know is we never had enough! Of course, my wife and I were very quickly outnumbered when we started our herd. :)

[MJZiggy]

All I know is we never had enough! Of course, my wife and I were very quickly outnumbered when we started our herd. :)

I always went by the philosophy of never having more kids than arms to hold them. I wound up with one. Of course, now I get lonely when he's away, but such is life. Back on topic, I think if your long snapping sucks, then maybe you need a long snapping coach! :lol: (or perhaps a better long snapper...)

[Patler]

Back on topic, I think if your long snapping sucks, then maybe you need a long snapping coach! :lol: (or perhaps a better long snapper...)

..or FIRE SLOCUM ..... er ..... your ST coach!

[pbmax]

Buffalo has hired an advanced analytics department. Chip Kelly has hired a Sports Science guy to work not on advanced analytics, but on physical conditioning and rehab for the players. That's in addition to the Strength and Conditioning staff. There is no limit.

[Patler]

Buffalo has hired an advanced analytics department. Chip Kelly has hired a Sports Science guy to work not on advanced analytics, but on physical conditioning and rehab for the players. That's in addition to the Strength and Conditioning staff. There is no limit.

Reminds me of an article I read a while back. It was an interview with a long time assistant coach who was retiring, thinking about retiring, or something. Could have been Tom Moore, Dick LeBeau, or someone like that. Anyway, one remark that hit me was that he said when he started coaching you naturally became close to everyone on the staff, because you spent so much time with each one everyday. Now, with staffs so large and so specialized you hardly even interact with some members. A coach can be there for a year or two and you might know very little about him, or have hardly interacted with him at all.

[MJZiggy]

Reminds me of an article I read a while back. It was an interview with a long time assistant coach who was retiring, thinking about retiring, or something. Could have been Tom Moore, Dick LeBeau, or someone like that. Anyway, one remark that hit me was that he said when he started coaching you naturally became close to everyone on the staff, because you spent so much time with each one everyday. Now, with staffs so large and so specialized you hardly even interact with some members. A coach can be there for a year or two and you might know very little about him, or have hardly interacted with him at all.
That seems a little sad. Not to mention detrimental to the concept of team...:|

[Fritz]

That seems a little sad. Not to mention detrimental to the concept of team...:|

It's interesting to me how often sports - increasingly in the form of the NFL - is a gauge of our culture. Thirty-five years or forty years ago it was teh hullabaloo over Jimmy-the-Greek's comments on blacks and athleticism; now it's that SF cornerback talking about gays in the lockerroom. These events reflect the groups that are battling for equality.

The NFL, also, is more and more and more about brand and marketing, and less about teh game itself. Many is the time I've compained in these pages about the announcers' lack of knowledge and concern for the game, as they focus on the storyline they've concocted. It's not about why play X blew up, it's about whether Colin Kaepernick is a "new breed" of quarterback, or whether RGII should have been pulled but wasn't because of his special relationship to his coach. Or whatever.

Another aspect of that mirror is the focus on specializing and minutae. More and more coaches for the same number of players. That's kind of like the field I'm in - more and more adminstrators, fewer and fewer experts in the actual field.

The whole NFL is an amazing mirror of our culture.

[MJZiggy]

It's interesting to me how often sports - increasingly in the form of the NFL - is a gauge of our culture. Thirty-five years or forty years ago it was teh hullabaloo over Jimmy-the-Greek's comments on blacks and athleticism; now it's that SF cornerback talking about gays in the lockerroom. These events reflect the groups that are battling for equality.

The NFL, also, is more and more and more about brand and marketing, and less about teh game itself. Many is the time I've compained in these pages about the announcers' lack of knowledge and concern for the game, as they focus on the storyline they've concocted. It's not about why play X blew up, it's about whether Colin Kaepernick is a "new breed" of quarterback, or whether RGII should have been pulled but wasn't because of his special relationship to his coach. Or whatever.

Another aspect of that mirror is the focus on specializing and minutae. More and more coaches for the same number of players. That's kind of like the field I'm in - more and more adminstrators, fewer and fewer experts in the actual field.

The whole NFL is an amazing mirror of our culture.

I agree with most of this (except that women have been fighting for equality this whole time and the NFL is as much of a boys club as it always has been. Women might not be as physically strong, but we can strategize just as well as men). But you're right. The mirror is there. I also think the branding is a very simple reflection of the gross amounts of money tossed around in the game. It used to be you could afford to go to the game, but scalpers found out how much money there was to be made and that ended that. Concessionaires discovered they have a captive customer base and suddenly a 20 cent hot dog costs $4. While the NFL doesn't invite women into the game, it sure invites us into the stands and that is where your annoying stories come from. They think (wrongly) that women don't care what is going on on the field, so they have to invent a lot of cute stories about the players in order to keep us interested and that the hard core people will just appreciate the backstory. They could do that a lot better than how they do it. It doesn't help that half the time they are wrong about what the rules say (don't get me started on the rules).

[Patler]

I agree with most of this (except that women have been fighting for equality this whole time and the NFL is as much of a boys club as it always has been. Women might not be as physically strong, but we can strategize just as well as men). But you're right. The mirror is there..

Or kick:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Female-kicker-to-try-out-at-regional-combine.html

[MJZiggy]

Or kick:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Female-kicker-to-try-out-at-regional-combine.html

Link at the bottom says she aggravated a quadriceps injury on her first kick.

[hoosier]

I always went by the philosophy of never having more kids than arms to hold them. I wound up with one. Of course, now I get lonely when he's away, but such is life. Back on topic, I think if your long snapping sucks, then maybe you need a long snapping coach! :lol: (or perhaps a better long snapper...)

Why limit your horizons? Patler's situation (which is also mine) is what zone defense was invented for.

The original article reporting on Tampa's situation suggests the coaching staff boom is a product of transition and uncertainty about which coach is going to end up where, and not necessarily a current trend:
Certainly, the hires give Schiano flexi*bility. If he decides to make a change with offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan or defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan after 2013, their replacements likely are already on the staff in McNulty and Wannstedt.

So why such a large coaching staff in Year 2?

"I think it's always a fluid situation," Schiano said. "Do you always need to have a staff as large as we do? Maybe not down the road. But the people we have in place right now are all people that I trust and believe in.

"And they all have a function or a role. And as those roles change, then our staff will change. But right now, I feel very good about our staff."

[Iron Mike]

When the waterboys have a coach, then you've probably crossed a line somewhere.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD1BbMAn_aw

[Fritz]

You're right about the part about women, Zig. They've been invited into the game - as long as they have large boobs, long legs, and wear very little.

[swede]

You're right about the part about women, Zig. They've been invited into the game - as long as they have large boobs, long legs, and wear very little.

Fritz, Fritz, Fritz... you have permanently inoculated yourself against Mad Cow disease with that post, pigs being immune and all.

Good work.

[Fritz]

Damn. You caught me.