Coaching Series Part 2: What to look for in the next great coordinator.

Any coach has a lot of responsibilities (topic coming on this) and that is why it is so hard to have high performance in all aspects.

Types of Coaches on the Market
1. The proven coordinator (maybe former failed HC). Wade Philips was an awesome first pickup for McVay an unproven. These guys are expensive and you can hope to catch these guys after a failed HC job or coaching transition. As a proven/former HC they are likely to want things their way and may be difficult to "control".

2. The castaway. Find a coordinator from a losing team that maybe outperformed. Someone that has it in them but needs the rest of the locker room and GM to be right. Bonnemego was kind of this for ST (though outperform is debatable). These guys are likely to last the longest as they have seen a crappy culture and will be content to be in a good one.

3. The college star. Ready to embark on the next level, until the last ~8 years you saw a lot of college HCs becoming coordinators (Jeff Tedford). Now days they want to go straight to HC a la Urban Meyer, Saban, Kelly, Harbaugh, etc. Carroll was one of the early ones but he had previous HC experience.

4. The rising position coach. A guy that makes the entire room better and takes increasing responsibility head on. Natural leader and able to cite the important metrics for their next position and beyond. This is McVay, Staley, Taylor, LaFleur etc. The problem with this type is they want to climb and may not stay too long. Rams have been primarily getting these types of coaches but the turnover has been very high.

Based on Staley and all these guys going through the rams organization, it's clear that Snead and team (maybe it was Holmes) spend a ton of time watching all position coaches and coordinators much like they watch players. They are looking for high-value coaches to snatch off other teams as if they were on a practice squad and undervalued.

McVay doesn't seem to like unpredictable coaches as evidenced by letting go of Bones. I'd love to know what went into that decision.

Someone reported that the rams are looking at the Atlanta Falcons DC for their new DC. That would fit in the mold of #2 the cast away.

What the rams look for:
McVay clearly has a type and they look a lot like him. He wants high-energy and opinions. He wants football junkies. He wants teachers. He wants those that can adapt to the opponent. They want a metrics focus as evidenced by hiring the PFT guys.

I would love to know how much of the selection process is done by Sean specifically. Is Snead scouting like he does for players? Is he providing a menu of final candidates for Sean to make final decision on? Overall it looks like they've done very well in hiring.
Bonnemego looks like the weakest hire in the last 4 years but he is also not likely to leave after this season unless Sean replaces him.


What type do you want for the next DC? Someone more proven that is a lower risk and should field a top 15 defense or an up-an-comer that could build the #1 defense or blowit and have a bottom 25 defense?