Does a head coach need to be a "Football" player?

[alancac98]

I was in a discussion with a buddy of mine and floated the idea that an NFL coach needs to be more of a "Manager" of the team and not necessarily a brilliant football mind who can run the O or D. I feel that you could take an intellectual guy with a fair amount of knowledge of the game and he could be a great HC for a football team. A smart "manager" would know his limitations and hire the best personnel to do the job. I figured that if you hire great coordinators and assistant coaches, they would be the teachers of the game and leave the HC to oversee and manage the team/situations and concentrate on game day "strategy". I feel that you couldn't do that in hockey, bball, baseball and a few other sports, but you could do it in football just for the pure number of specialized coaches a team employs. I mean **** - most NFL GM's aren't ex pro football players - hell I doubt most even played college ball. Just a thought that popped into my mind - maybe it's something that should be explored by teams.

 

[BLITZ]

I dont know his history but Sean Mcvay probably never played pro football. he is a damn good coach

 

[jitter77]

I dont think you need to be a player to be a coach. Alot of modern football is about concepts and creating mismatches. I think a non-player could definitely develop great offensive and defensive schemes. The struggles for a non-player would be in the finer physical techniques like hand placement, stance, QB form, etc etc.....This is where position coaches would come into play.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

You don't have to have played the game to be a head coach. But it sure helps. It will be much harder to gain the respect of your team if you never played. When i say played, I mean played at least some level of college football. Even if you were a backup. There are very few coaches who never played. The 2 that come to mind are Todd Haley and Charlie Weiss.

 

[FordFairLane]

This is my belief. You don't have to be a player and in fact typically a great football player makes a bad coach. A below average to average athlete who makes it to the NFL usually makes a very good coach. If Barry Sanders tried to teach me to play football it probably wouldn't help. Because he can do things almost no one can. Bill Cowher who had an ounce of talent and a passion for football had to understand technique and film to get every little advantage over his opponent. But then you have guys with no talent but have spent their life studying the game. That is the new trend of coach. Guys that are maximizing their knowledge and strategizing over every little detail and make multiple in game adaptions and adjustments. I guess in short we are way behind the 8-ball. We make no adjustments and are so predictable that we are easily outmatched in the coaching department. I just don't think Tomlin ever has had a great grasp on the nuances of football. In my opinion we are a better team than our win loss record indicates.

 

[bkwheat28]

No. You need to be a leader and a delegator. But spewing cute cliches doesn’t cut it either. Ford nailed it, guys like Sanders probably would struggle because they’re so genuinely talented. Look no further than our opponents coach this week. Played but like Cowher wasn’t an all star. Just a grinder and student of the game.

 

[MT~Forged]

The “below average” players ALWAYS make the best Coaches. They had to work 5x as hard, study more and watch even more. Great players just do it, but can’t really tell you why.

Just like my son growing up, he was a math whiz. The teachers were always giving him **** for not showing his work. He just knew the answers, and didn’t need all the steps they expected.

 

[Steel Reign]

Knowledge is knowledge. Instincts are instincts. Etc. You have the intangibles or you don't. Coaching is taking a firm understanding of the game and having the additional intangibles that allow you to be a great coach.

You dont need to play to have any of the foregoing. Having been a player could provide valuable insight but that can also be a detriment.

 

[xjx]

Winning is all that matters.

 

[bermudasteel]

Did Coach hack this thread???

 

[slashsteel]

I dont know his history but Sean Mcvay probably never played pro football. he is a damn good coach

He played for Miami of Ohio. I believe Big Ben's school.

 

[SteelerSask2]

To me the best HC has access to the best positional coaches and coordinators. Which is HCMT biggest issue. He neither has the true football chops to teach his way out of a problem nor us he connected to any great positional/ coordinator coaches. This is why he had huge initial success with Lebeau and Arians. When the Cowher train left nothing but mediocre play.

 

[xjx]

Nobody wants to work under Tomlin.

 

[BLITZ]

who is the last successful HC that was a hall of fame player? Ditka?

 

[SteelerSask2]

Best players don't really make best coaches. They usually don't have inate understanding of how someone could struggle. At the same time there us a military type component to this game and to use a military phrase if you have never been in the ****.......

 

[MT~Forged]

To me the best HC has access to the best positional coaches and coordinators. Which is HCMT biggest issue. He neither has the true football chops to teach his way out of a problem nor us he connected to any great positional/ coordinator coaches. This is why he had huge initial success with Lebeau and Arians. When the Cowher train left nothing but mediocre play.

You have to wonder, does he have problems getting good young coaches, because no one wants to work for him, or does he not want to take a chance someone shows him up?

 

[SteelerSask2]

You have to wonder, does he have problems getting good young coaches, because no one wants to work for him, or does he not want to take a chance someone shows him up?

As I've aged I just stopped wondering the whys. It's irrelevant. He had two good coaches fall into his lap with Munch and Flo. Though I'm not really sure what Flo does or if he has any effect. Other than that no one. Who cares why?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Mike Tomlin has a lab.

 

[stuntmanmike]

To be a professional anything and be great at you have had to loved something from a young age. players love to play… coaches love to coach a lot of players actual dream of coaching some just fall into it but so I don’t think you have to have been a pro player to be a coach but regardless you need to be good. Not like Canada Iol I just don’t get tomlin in hiring him. The Steelers are reminding me of Marvin Lewis‘s bengals at the end of his career. A patchwork of players and coaches trying to get one last shot at playoffs. I think our dcoord was there got fired 5 games in lol geez history repeating itself? The cooaches and the front office are just mailing it in. we need to hire new blood like the 9ers decoord… he has a group of hounds that get after the ball from every angle. We suk coach tomlin can’t fix it he waited too long played too much golf was too nice to guys he liked lost his edge you name it.

 

[Confluence]

Maybe Ted Lasso is available

 

[Troglodyte]

Marshawn Lynch was a hell of a football player, I don’t think I’d want him as a head coach though.

 

[Stewey]

As far as a position coach, I would think having played the game would be a mega requirement for that job.

Which begs the question...are there not any head coaches at one time been position coaches early in their careers?