When he was with the Lions
Naked drive-thru order got Lions' assistant nabbed
Id say no to him, he would be partying with Isiah Wilson too much
I would be afraid if he ever heard us call a naked bootleg he’d jump on the field.
I do wonder how much tunnel vision affects Vrabel’s choices. I like him, but he has very strong opinions about things. That’s not necessarily bad, but may limit open-mindedness to other valid options.
Called it. Disappointed Vrabel didn't bring him back mid season last year. I wonder if Pees' "retirement" wasn't more of a "mutual" decision more so on Vrabel's part.
Hubris is his biggest weakness.
Nothing to prove that either way. I think folks read way too much into things. Because he already retired once when not working for Vrabel, it’s clearly something on his mind. We also do not know what role he may be interested in at Atlanta. Perhaps a consulting or advising role which is not what we need. We need a bad dude play caller. Pees is the only coordinator who left us who wasn’t promoted to head coach, so there is no evidence coaches can’t get along with him.
I think it's more likely that Pees' retirement plans went up in smoke thanks to COVID and his desire to return to coaching in some capacity is fueled because of that. Vrabel did coax Pees out of retirement to come to the Titans, so I do not believe that there would be friction. Bowen and Vrabel were still running a modified version of Pees scheme.
I think it is highly likely COVID played a role. Especially given Pees’s age. I think people are jumping to conclusions speculating issues between Vrabel and Pees as there is no evidence of that. Blaming Vrabel for Pees taking a different job is silly unless some new evidence comes to light - which I doubt.
Yea, we'll never know, but given his track record and based on some of the things he says during interviews, it's not that farfetched to think Vrabel wanted a shot to call his own number. Clearly it didn't work out. I wrote at one point last year that given our 5-0 start, Vrabel should be able to convince Pees to unretire even as a "consultant" to give him another shot at a Super Bowl. Shorty after that, news came out that Pees in fact said he wanted to coach again. Again, we won't know, but the fact that we didn't bring him back right then and there, it probably speaks more to Vrabel than to Pees. Now if he goes to Atlanta, again, another missed opportunity and it would seem it is because of Vrabel. It's not necessarily a crazy conspiracy.
And I agree with you, we need a full DC, we don't know yet if that's what Pees will be in Atlanta, but we probably could of had him as a DC or a consultant last year.
Another DC candidate potentially off the market
Report: Rams focused on Raheem Morris as next defensive coordinator - ProFootballTalk
Report: Rams focused on Raheem Morris as next defensive coordinator - ProFootballTalk
I don't like how quiet it's been for the Titans.
If we do go internal again for OC, I think Todd Downing would be/should be the guy:
Downing went to the Detroit Lions with Scott Linehan as an offensive quality control coach in 2009.[4] He was the assistant quarterback coach in 2010 and was promoted to the quarterbacks coach role from 2011–2013.[4] While he was coaching quarterbacks in Detroit, Matthew Stafford averaged 4,885 yards, thirty touchdowns, and seventeen interceptions from 2011–2013.[5]
Downing was the Buffalo Bills' quarterback coach in 2014, and took the same job for the Oakland Raiders in 2015.[4] He is credited for helping Derek Carr become the first Raiders quarterback to be selected to a Pro Bowl since 2002.[4] On January 20, 2015, Downing was named by Pro Football Focus as Quarterbacks Coach of the Year.[6] After coaching Raiders quarterbacks for two years, he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2017, after the Raiders decided not to renew Bill Musgrave's contract.[4] When he coached Carr from 2015–2016, he threw for 7,924 yards, sixty touchdowns, and nineteen interceptions with two Pro Bowl appearances.[7]
Downing was fired on January 1, 2018, along with head coach Jack Del Rio and the rest of Del Rio's staff after dropping from 12–4 to 6–10 due to a major regression of the offense.
From Wikipedia: Todd Downing - Wikipedia
I'll add, following in Art's foot steps, Todd has gotten good production out of relative no-name players. I think our TE blocking improved tremendously the last two years. How much of that credit should go to Art vs Todd... who knows?... But I'll have more optimism with him calling the O than anyone else on the staff. His work with Stafford and Derek Carr isn't too shabby.
Downing went to the Detroit Lions with Scott Linehan as an offensive quality control coach in 2009.[4] He was the assistant quarterback coach in 2010 and was promoted to the quarterbacks coach role from 2011–2013.[4] While he was coaching quarterbacks in Detroit, Matthew Stafford averaged 4,885 yards, thirty touchdowns, and seventeen interceptions from 2011–2013.[5]
Downing was the Buffalo Bills' quarterback coach in 2014, and took the same job for the Oakland Raiders in 2015.[4] He is credited for helping Derek Carr become the first Raiders quarterback to be selected to a Pro Bowl since 2002.[4] On January 20, 2015, Downing was named by Pro Football Focus as Quarterbacks Coach of the Year.[6] After coaching Raiders quarterbacks for two years, he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2017, after the Raiders decided not to renew Bill Musgrave's contract.[4] When he coached Carr from 2015–2016, he threw for 7,924 yards, sixty touchdowns, and nineteen interceptions with two Pro Bowl appearances.[7]
Downing was fired on January 1, 2018, along with head coach Jack Del Rio and the rest of Del Rio's staff after dropping from 12–4 to 6–10 due to a major regression of the offense.
From Wikipedia: Todd Downing - Wikipedia
I'll add, following in Art's foot steps, Todd has gotten good production out of relative no-name players. I think our TE blocking improved tremendously the last two years. How much of that credit should go to Art vs Todd... who knows?... But I'll have more optimism with him calling the O than anyone else on the staff. His work with Stafford and Derek Carr isn't too shabby.
There’s consistency and then there’s failure to innovate. I fear if we elevate one of our internal candidates we will just retread what we’ve done and that doesn’t work in the NFL. Smith was a good hire though few of us thought so at the time. But one tremendous reason he was hired was because Mariotta had a different OC every year and they were trying to stabilize things. I have much more confidence that Tannehill can handle a new coach. Keep the basics, but we need innovation and creativity against the better defenses - as we saw in the play offs.
I don't think our offense needs to be reinvented, just evolve. A guy like Downing could do that.
I'd like to see us add WR screens on 2nd and long instead of run plays, more inventive use of motion, and finding ways to get Henry in space (run out of the spread gun, pistol, etc).
The offense as a whole isn't broken, but there's always room for improvement. I'd be afraid that bringing in an outside OC could set Tannehill up for failure if they swing the pendulum too far the other way.
I feel the same, seems we have the same openings to fill but everyone else is addressing them quicker
Tells me its either an in-house hire or someone from the college ranks? Maybe a lesser known positional coach elsewhere?
Why do you think Downing could improve our offense? His track record isn’t terribly strong. I also don’t think our offense needs a total overhaul, but it does need more inventiveness for late season success.
His track record isn't bad actually. It's probably on par with some of the other experienced names floating around. That said, we don't know what he's learned in the last couple years and how involved he was in schemes and game plan. I'm open to brining in an outsider, but my point was, if it's going to be in-house I think he's the better choice over Pat O'hara or the other position guys.
Could be a coach from a team still playing.
A playoff team coach? Wouldn't that be nice...
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