Mar 03 2009
So, You Want To Be An NFL Head Coach?
For any Coach at any level of Football, this article is devoted to you and any possibilities of moving up the ranks to the NFL. There is a lot more than just “X’s and O’s” in the NFL as plenty of Head Coaches have found out when they get to the top post in an organization.
Let us assume that you are this bright, young, assistant coach with a team and that you have turned either the offense or defense into one of the best around. You are still working with a Head Coach that is looking over your every move and he also still has the ultimate “veto” power over your ideas.
The Denver Broncos are one the best franchises in the NFL, they are heavily marketable and are the top franchise in Colorado. This season marks the turning of a new leaf as they fired long-time Head Coach Mike Shanahan at the end of last season and began a search for his replacement.
When the search was over, the Broncos hired 32-year old Josh McDaniels who was the Offensive Coordinator with the New England Patriots for the past two years. A bit young McDaniels is, but he is a smart individual with great knowledge of the game.
As I said before, being the Head Coach in the NFL is a lot more than “X’s and O’s” and McDaniels is finding that out the hard way. McDaniels first mistake has been dangling franchise QB Jay Cutler in trade talks to try and acquire Patriots back-up QB Matt Cassel.
The mistake wasn’t trying to trade for Cassel, it was letting the information leak out that you were trying to trade your franchise QB and were unsuccessful. Now Cutler is refusing to communicate with the teams officials and will likely have to be traded.
Maybe McDaniels counted his chickens before they hatched, or maybe he just isn’t to knowledgable about the way the NFL works with front-office sources. One thing is for sure, he will learn from his mistake as this one may have caused him the faith of his franchise QB.
J.M.Saucedo
