David Blough and the Offensive Staffing Thread

[RWJ]

Just a thought. Dwayne Ledford replaces Bobby Johnson as our new OL coach and we retain David Blough as new OC before he gets a chance to interview with Detroit for their OC opening. Nah! Silly thought.

 

[Commander PK]

SkinsNumberOne you could be right. A minimum of four years with DQ at this point makes sense. He had two years with the first two choices for coordinator, with mixed results on offense and a pretty bad defense both years. I think it’s reasonable to think he would get two years with his next two coordinators as well.

If things improve next season even if we finish under .500 he probably gets one more. If we don’t have a great season in 2027 he is probably finished here.

 

[heisenberg]

I don't think they will be in a rush to move on from AP.

My biggest fear with AP is that he doesn't seem to be a very authoritative figure, he lacks a commanding presence in my opinion.

Watching that press conference the other day it was hard to tell who was the boss and who was the employee, Quinn displays much more confidence and command.
After 2 years on the job I had hoped he'd start displaying a little more confidence but he still comes off as a little shy and reserved.

Is that a deal breaker for a gm, not sure but I'd feel better if he did and much more confident that he'd be able to make the tough decisions when it comes down to it.

It's one of the reasons I'm not sure how much I like the bromance him and Quinn immediately developed, on one hand obviously you want cohesion but there needs to be a clear chain of command and that seems kind of blurry to me right now between him and Quinn.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

My biggest fear with AP is that he doesn't seem to be a very authoritative figure, he lacks a commanding presence in my opinion.

Watching that press conference the other day it was hard to tell who was the boss and who was the employee, Quinn displays much more confidence and command.
After 2 years on the job I had hoped he'd start displaying a little more confidence but he still comes off as a little shy and reserved.

Is that a deal breaker for a gm, not sure but I'd feel better if he did and much more confident that he'd be able to make the tough decisions when it comes down to it.

It's one of the reasons I'm not sure how much I like the bromance him and Quinn immediately developed, on one hand obviously you want cohesion but there needs to be a clear chain of command and that seems kind of blurry to me right now between him and Quinn.

Ha, yes, I was thinking this exact same thing. I am glad someone else is noticing the same.
Almost verbatim, you are writing the thoughts from my head. I couldn't tell who the boss was and that made me uncomfortable, Quinn looked more confident, I'm just rewriting what you wrote so I'll stop now.

Ditto on the bromance part.

Look, I think overall it could be very bad for AP. I believe (and of course, this is conjecture) that AP resonated with DQ on the organizational structure being like, AP takes care of this side, DQ takes care of the other, and they kind of lead these two sides and make sure they collaborate. One thing I have been wondering is, how did the SF structure work? Denver? I think AP is leveraging a lot of his experience in other orgs, but you know what I notice?

I think (correct me if I'm wrong, anyone) that those orgs had a stronger President above GM in the org chart. So, I think AP is taking the "GM" title as kind of, well, what he is doing - I think he is looking at it like he is way more collaborative and peer than he should. AP hired DQ - that should matter - but the body language, the messaging, none of it is really selling the idea of a chain of command there. With a stronger President, THAT is the guy who would have clear authority over GM *and* HC. Without a "President," or with at least a weaker one who has the title but not as much authority, the GM usually leads the HC.

I don't think it's a problem at all if that's the image he wants to put out, but I am seeing way too little signs of authority from AP. I share your concern (and have read others here do as well for sure).

 

[Commander PK]

My biggest fear with AP is that he doesn't seem to be a very authoritative figure, he lacks a commanding presence in my opinion.

Watching that press conference the other day it was hard to tell who was the boss and who was the employee, Quinn displays much more confidence and command.
After 2 years on the job I had hoped he'd start displaying a little more confidence but he still comes off as a little shy and reserved.

Is that a deal breaker for a gm, not sure but I'd feel better if he did and much more confident that he'd be able to make the tough decisions when it comes down to it.

It's one of the reasons I'm not sure how much I like the bromance him and Quinn immediately developed, on one hand obviously you want cohesion but there needs to be a clear chain of command and that seems kind of blurry to me right now between him and Quinn.

I think the public face is one thing, but as long as they can level with each other privately that is another.

I think one of the most telling aspects of their working relationship so far is the Terry situation. I’m sure Dan wanted Terry back ASAP, the only reason he was late is because Adam held back on resigning him until it was shit or get off the pot time. If Dan had more power than Adam…I would imagine we would have seen Terry back before we did.

 

[DWinzit]

I think the public face is one thing, but as long as they can level with each other privately that is another.

I think one of the most telling aspects of their working relationship so far is the Terry situation. I’m sure Dan wanted Terry back ASAP, the only reason he was late is because Adam held back on resigning him until it was shit or get off the pot time. If Dan had more power than Adam…I would imagine we would have seen Terry back before we did.

AP and DQ have made some mistakes, I sure as heck hope they have learned from all of them. AP has really hitched his future job wagon to DQ so for his sake, things had best workout

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

AP has really hitched his future job wagon to DQ so for his sake, things had best workout

I don't think I completely finished my thought in that other post, but this would be the concern I have with at least how it looks right now. Yes I agree.

So it is interesting - keep DQ around, give him full authority to pick coordinators.

If it blows up, do you lose your job? At this point, if it blows up next year (end of 2027)... possibly. I would say, possibly I can't see it clearly, it would probably depend on how AP could sell it to Harris, Harris seems like a really sharp guy in terms of management, I would imagine he would evaluate the process so as long as there was some good reasoning, AP could survive.

So maybe it's fine.

 

[DWinzit]

I don't think I completely finished my thought in that other post, but this would be the concern I have with at least how it looks right now. Yes I agree.

So it is interesting - keep DQ around, give him full authority to pick coordinators.

If it blows up, do you lose your job? At this point, if it blows up next year (end of 2027)... possibly. I would say, possibly I can't see it clearly, it would probably depend on how AP could sell it to Harris, Harris seems like a really sharp guy in terms of management, I would imagine he would evaluate the process so as long as there was some good reasoning, AP could survive.

So maybe it's fine.

What ever comes from these coordinator moves, DQ's head is no the chopping block if they don't show significant improvement. Is that also the same for AP? it definitely should if they do not have a winning season

 

[heisenberg]

Harris seems like a really sharp guy in terms of management, I would imagine he would evaluate the process so as long as there was some good reasoning, AP could survive.

Harris actually comes off a little shy too but I'm not worried about him so much, you dont become a self made billionaire in finance by being a candy ass so I'm quite sure behind the curtain he knows how to kick a little ass.

 

[SkinsLife]

SkinsNumberOne you could be right. A minimum of four years with DQ at this point makes sense. He had two years with the first two choices for coordinator, with mixed results on offense and a pretty bad defense both years. I think it’s reasonable to think he would get two years with his next two coordinators as well.

If things improve next season even if we finish under .500 he probably gets one more. If we don’t have a great season in 2027 he is probably finished here.

yeah why not... 2 more years of ineptitude .. and next year Quinn can find another set of new Coordinators. Its like NFL brady bunch 🤦‍♂️

 

[Conn]

Ozzie Newsome was a great GM because he had a firm handshake and his daughter’s boyfriend was afraid of him.

🤣

AP is relaxed because he’s the apex predator in the building and he majors in emotional intelligence and communication skills. Half the league chased him for years before he hand-picked this job, he has the self-assuredness of someone who knows he’s a commodity. For now…he needs to improve. I actually agree that he’s TOO collaborative with his coaching staff and have been posting about it for a year. And he’s very respectful of Quinn’s role and autonomy.

But there’s no question who leads the organization imo. It’s just not a dynamic that is useful in public. AP has to negotiate with weasels and the mega wealthy every day, his demeanor has to be more disarming, especially as a big dude. He’s almost 6’5” and hangs around with rich midgets every day. Remember the report that some billionaires didn’t hire Vrabel to run their teams when he was available because he made them uncomfortable. Too “alpha” in his interviews. These guys at the top of organizations dealing with owners and agents, they have a different skillset and a different set of priorities. But the behind the scenes Combine clips and such show he’s very comfortable and confident mingling with anyone and everyone across the league.

Quinn’s entire job is projecting strength and leadership ability to a room full of 50+ young men who have been the best everywhere they’ve ever been until the NFL. Of course he comes across more performatively assertive at the mic.

What AP needs to do is leverage his famous eye for talent into some strong drafts, and spend money on studs in FA, and build his damn roster. He doesn’t need to big-dog his HC in pressers so fans feel he’s got authority.

 

[Commander PK]

yeah why not... 2 more years of ineptitude .. and next year Quinn can find another set of new Coordinators. Its like NFL brady bunch 🤦‍♂️

If they finish 7-10 next year and the team decides to give him another year with his new coordinators you would consider that ineptitude?

 

[burgold]

The good news (maybe) is that it's clear the organization isn't accepting the excuse of injuries to stay the course. Really, they could have. They could have said, "2025 was a mirage. We've never seen injuries like this and it's not fair to judge our coaches and our team because we were so undermanned.) Next year, we'll be back.

Instead, Quinn and Peters decided injuries or no injuries what they saw was unacceptible on both sides of the ball. They fired both the OC and DC. That doesn't sound like a bromance and AP being weakwilled. People are underselling what this move says about them.

 

[peanut0862]

Do we want someone who will keep Jayden safe or someone who will use all his skills and see if he can hold up?

 

[Conn]

Do we want someone who will keep Jayden safe or someone who will use all his skills and see if he can hold up?

I don’t think we need to compromise. He isn’t a video game character with an HP bar being chipped away strategically. Smart process is all you can ask for, and he’ll learn how to better protect himself as he gets older or he won’t. He’s not a china doll, you just need to not ram him into the defensive front-7 needlessly 5-7 times per game. Most QB’s in the NFL aren’t doing that, it’s really not that strange to let him use his legs freely as a scrambler but not treat him as a fancy RB.

 

[SkinsLife]

If they finish 7-10 next year and the team decides to give him another year with his new coordinators you would consider that ineptitude?

is that a joke? Ill take it a step further... if they finish next year without a winning record i would consider it idiocy if he is not replaced.

 

[Commander PK]

is that a joke? Ill take it a step further... if they finish next year without a winning record i would consider it idiocy if he is not replaced.

No joke…in fact I would consider that a real possibility. The team isn’t suddenly going to fill all its holes. I will grant you that how they go 7-10 would be just as important. If they start strong and fizzle out that may give them reason to look elsewhere for a HC but I would be surprised if he doesn’t get at least two more years. 2026 would have to be a catastrophe for him not to get a 4th year.

 

[RWJ]

I'd really like for us to sign Dwayne Ledford as our new OL coach now that Bobby Johnson is gone. Strange for them to terminate their OL coach when the OC normally has some say or say over that.

 

[method man]

Harris actually comes off a little shy too but I'm not worried about him so much, you dont become a self made billionaire in finance by being a candy ass so I'm quite sure behind the curtain he knows how to kick a little ass.

I have a friend who used to work at Apollo. He said Harris was super intense.

When Harris was leaving Apollo, he had a huge public fight with Leon Black, his cofounder and boss. Harris was a college wrestler and that wrestler intensity comes through in what he has done in the business world

 

[burgold]

I'd really like for us to sign Dwayne Ledford as our new OL coach now that Bobby Johnson is gone. Strange for them to terminate their OL coach when the OC normally has some say or say over that.

Maybe. But even when we were lauding the coaching staff Quinn put together in 2024, Bob Johnson was the one name we all questioned as his work with the Giants seemed subpar. OTOH, it could suggest they've already had some whisper talks with a candidate who mentioned a few names they want to bring along with them. 🤷