David Blough and the Offensive Staffing Thread

How do you feel about the Blough hire?

  • Excited we are going with a young future star

    Votes: 30 26.5%

  • Disappointed we did not find a proven experienced OC

    Votes: 14 12.4%

  • I'm in full 'wait and see' mode. No idea if this is a good hire.

    Votes: 69 61.1%
  • Total voters
    113
Nice short interview with JP. I watched Bloughs interview that I posted on here after his presser. I didn't watch the presser yet but I came away thinking that I liked him and felt like he came across well to me. I don't need a super rah rah guy. Just detailed and about business. I can tell he has fun with the guys also.

 
Conn said:
I think Blough was indeed not just on their radar, but highly thought of, as a guy being groomed to be a future OC.

But you can’t seriously believe it was Plan A that he be promoted so soon. Meaning, the jump straight from Assistant QB Coach to OC wasn’t the planned route to take. In an ideal world he would’ve kept cooking for another year or two, maybe gotten experience with another position group like McVay or at least spent a year or two as the full QB Coach.

Clearly, we don’t live in that ideal world and things went downhill with Kliff after a tough season and outside interest in Blough (for an actual promotion we couldn’t deny) was greater than expected. So we jumped with him early.

But clearly no franchise would PLAN for their OC succession to run through the Assistant QB Coach position. He only technically got a little experience as the full QB Coach because Pritchard bailed a little early for a college job. Otherwise, promoted straight from Asst QB Coach. Clearly that wasn’t their ideal path for him, but it’s what happened.
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At the same time, Id suggest no competent franchise just sticks with their plan. Plans are for guidance, not a hard set of rules. If a guy shows hes excelling you should probably change your plan. Almost every young successful coach started under a more experience coach, in a junior role. In order for them to get to where they are now, they had to unexpectedly exceed that junior role and get promoted beyond the "rule" or "plan" for them. I dont know if Blough is going to be any good, but I think its more dependent upon his actual ability than any plan, and that is what we will remember about this. If the plan is good and the guy isnt a good coordinator no one is going to praise the FO, and if the guy is excellent no one will care about anything else.

I also expect he will go through some tough growing pains in his first season, and people will write him off for any mistakes, just like they did McVay and Shannahan when they were here.
 
Assuming most OC's know fundamental football/defensive schemes..what makes a GOOD OC? Ability to use deception/scheme to get into the right play? Motivate players to play above their heads (ie) players more willing to risk their body? Ability to teach develop Young Players quickly? Killer instinct to keep the pedal down and not go preventive?

At this level they all know football.... What does Blough bring to the table above basic knowledge???
 
Chris_Hanbuger_the Hangman said:
Assuming most OC's know fundamental football/defensive schemes..what makes a GOOD OC? Ability to use deception/scheme to get into the right play? Motivate players to play above their heads (ie) players more willing to risk their body? Ability to teach develop Young Players quickly? Killer instinct to keep the pedal down and not go preventive?

At this level they all know football.... What does Blough bring to the table above basic knowledge???
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Scheme, play-design and play-calling IMO... teaching is more of a position coach responsibility, no?
 
CapsCommies said:
Scheme, play-design and play-calling IMO... teaching is more of a position coach responsibility, no?
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Last year the "Scheme" has been predictable and down right stupid sometimes...he can't do worse I guess. We need someone to think up some "Tush Push" kind of rule bending approaches. Can he be that guy? I hope so...
 
Chris_Hanbuger_the Hangman said:
Last year the "Scheme" has been predictable and down right stupid sometimes...he can't do worse I guess. We need someone to think up some "Tush Push" kind of rule bending approaches. Can he be that guy? I hope so...
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My novice perception is that play-calling is more impactful on the offensive side than the defensive side. That is to say, being a great play-designer and play-caller is more important than other traits for an OC. So the nerdy, softer-spoken personality doesn't mean much to me.

On the defensive side, my perception is that scheme is a little bit less important than a culture of sound technique, good communication, and playing free / not over-thinking. We've had issues with all three over the years. So it's more important for a DC to instill those traits in their unit than to be some mad scientist play-caller

TBD on both our coordinators of course, but I don't read into press conferences one way or the other. Gotta see it on the football field in September
 
CapsCommies said:
My novice perception is that play-calling is more impactful on the offensive side than the defensive side. That is to say, being a great play-designer and play-caller is more important than other traits for an OC. So the nerdy, softer-spoken personality doesn't mean much to me.

On the defensive side, my perception is that scheme is a little bit less important than a culture of sound technique, good communication, and playing free / not over-thinking. We've had issues with all three over the years. So it's more important for a DC to instill those traits in their unit than to be some mad scientist play-caller

TBD on both our coordinators of course, but I don't read into press conferences one way or the other. Gotta see it on the football field in September
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Defense needs to be a well oiled machine to be successful; that means in a given scheme, players need to know their roles and responsibilities and execute them.

I see what you mean but I also think what you are describing may be more about the choice of defensive philosophy: some defenses are highly reactive and others tend to try to dictate. The dictating ones tend to do so with pressure. The reactive ones tend to have better coverage schemes. It does not mean either is 100% - but I think if your scheme tends to be reactive than your description sounds more correct.

If a defense wants to dictate more though, see- there may be some DCs who give technique tips and try to let individuals play to their strengths, but you look at some successful defenses like philly and denver, you see a lot of scheme where this particular player is designed to get pressure. Others are taking blocks, he is delayed, or he is lined up in a certain spot that is overloaded. I feel like I see that a fair amount on good defenses. There can be some fancy design at times; like a CB who blitzes and another player (S or LB) who rotates into coverage, all so the QB hesitates just that moment to lead to either a pick or a sack.
 
A passing thought on David Blough. I will not be surprised if Blough has a good first season and our offense is top 10 in 2026. I think it could happen for a couple of reasons:

1. Jayden is a really good QB. If we can keep him on the field, I think it would've been highly likely the offense would be top 10 in 2026 even if we'd made no coaching or personnel changes.
2. I think Peters is going to go hard to get JD more weapons, especially at TE and WR, maybe RB too. That should help.
3. There is no tape on a Blough offense. While I recognize there will be a huge learning curve with an OC who has never designed his own playbook or even called plays, NFL teams will not know what to expect for awhile. That will give us a big advantage - for a bit.

I think the real 'tale' when it comes to just how good an OC David Blough can be won't be told until seasons 2 and 3 of his tenure (if he makes it that far). Teams will have tape, they will gameplan their defenses accordingly, and Blough will have to continue to adapt and grow his offense to counter more focused defenses.

It will be fun to see what he can in 2026, but even more so, beyond that....
 
I still would like them to bring in a senior offensive assistant.
 
Blough might fail, but man this list in really uninspiring for the most part. I'd rather have a swing for the fences like Blough than a lot of these names.

 
Ron Rivera thought that Scott Turner was a much better pick as an offensive mind and tactician for the role than Kevin O'Connell.

Sometimes with younger coaches you have to look at the intangibles he brings, worth ethic, creativity, feel for the game that you see behind the scenes and go from there.

O'Connell had a lot of the intangibles but he had never PROVEN in an NFL offense running the show that he could do it week in and week out.

But in the end we saw that he COULD in fact do it quite well.

McVay had one of the most meteoric rises to Head Coach in recent NFL history and despite the speed of his advance, he has turned out not to be overwhelmed and in fact be one of the best coaches in the NFL.

Sometimes teams get too caught up in 'has he done it before' and then when you look at HOW the particular coach has built his experience you look at older coaches that have mostly FAILED at their previous spots which is why they are available and looking for their next prime gig.

One of the things I thought Shanahan did very well during his time as coach in the NFL was not be afraid to advance younger talents and give them a chance.

See Jerry Jones in that regard - he won't hire a defensive coordinator who doesn't have UBER experience in the role but Mike Zimmer at 67 and Matt Eberflus didn't turn out to be great hires.
 
Bulldog said:
See Jerry Jones in that regard - he won't hire a defensive coordinator who doesn't have UBER experience in the role but Mike Zimmer at 67 and Matt Eberflus didn't turn out to be great hires.
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That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
 
I wonder if he followed Kliff or if it's a coincidence. Very late in the game for this move...
 
Riggo44 said:
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That feels like a huge demotion. Not really surprised he left. When he was hired I think he believed he was the succession plan. Still, Riggo44 is right. This feels like a late move especially for what sounds like a step down.
 
Did Kliff have the title Assistant Head Coach with us? What does that role mean if you aren't tied to the offense or defense?
 
Lots to digest. We’ve been told no one wanted Kliff and that’s why he didn’t have a job - now he is the assistant HC for the Rams.

We heard that Brian Johnson and Anthony Lynn were staying on staff for a plethora of reasons - now Johnson is gone. Our experience is exiting stage left.

Hope we have a plan to help Blough.

I’m guessing if Lynn gets a chance elsewhere he leaves, too, based on his demotion.
 
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