David Blough and the Offensive Staffing Thread

[Anselmheifer]

Well, with Mike McDaniel taking an OC position, if Quinn tanks this year, we could always bring McD in as head coach.

 

[CapsCommies]

Well, with Mike McDaniel taking an OC position, if Quinn tanks this year, we could always bring McD in as head coach.

Tomlin and McDermott also sitting out this year. We will have options if we want to make a change.

 

[RWJ]

 

[KDawg]

Works for me. We’re almost better off without a guy that thinks (maybe even deserves…) he should be an OC helping out a young guy.

 

[HTTR]

Ravens to hire Bears' Declan Doyle as OC, sources say

The Ravens are hiring the Bears' Declan Doyle as their offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Doyle, 29, will be the youngest offensive playcaller in the NFL.

www.espn.com

29?? So now we see both the Eagles and Ravens, two of the most respected organizations in football, willing to hire very young untested OCs. Perhaps AP and DQ hiring up and comer Blough isn’t so crazy after all.

Now that the hiring process has pretty much played out, I wonder if people are feeling a lot better about our hire. I know I do. Other than McDaniel, who we weren’t getting anyway, I don’t think any of the other hires are anything special.

Perhaps it’s all just a result of the enormous amount of openings, and not enough quality candidates to fill them. But it seems to me like a lot of fans were really quick to criticize the hire, and moreso the process of the hire. And I think a lot of the criticism was exaggerated and unfair.

 

[Boone]

Ravens to hire Bears' Declan Doyle as OC, sources say

The Ravens are hiring the Bears' Declan Doyle as their offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Doyle, 29, will be the youngest offensive playcaller in the NFL.

www.espn.com

29?? So now we see both the Eagles and Ravens, two of the most respected organizations in football, willing to hire very young untested OCs. Perhaps AP and DQ hiring up and comer Blough isn’t so crazy after all.

Now that the hiring process has pretty much played out, I wonder if people are feeling a lot better about our hire. I know I do. Other than McDaniel, who we weren’t getting anyway, I don’t think any of the other hires are anything special.

Perhaps it’s all just a result of the enormous amount of openings, and not enough quality candidates to fill them. But it seems to me like a lot of fans were really quick to criticize the hire, and moreso the process of the hire. And I think a lot of the criticism was exaggerated and unfair.

I get your argument. But the key words there are 'I don't think any of the other hires are anything special'. Some of the hires may well turn out to be special. We just don't know which - including whether either of the inexperienced guys we have handed coordinator jobs too will be special (or for that matter, above average).

We'll see.

 

[HTTR]

I get your argument. But the key words there are 'I don't think any of the other hires are anything special'. Some of the hires may well turn out to be special. We just don't know which - including whether either of the inexperienced guys we have handed coordinator jobs too will be special (or for that matter, above average).

We'll see.

Well, yeah, it doesn’t matter what I think about them. But the thing was there was so much criticism about the process, but nobody wanted to name names of who it was we should’ve been going hard after instead. You’re right that we all will have to wait and see how it works out.
You wanted someone with experience, so I just wonder which retread you would have preferred? Maybe you would have preferred to just keep KK? Doesn’t exactly seem like his phone is ringing off the hook. Ravens preferred a 29 yo.

 

[Boone]

I think it was foolish to not attempt to keep KK - yes. And the fact that Quinn could not successfully collaborate with a guy as talented as Kliff diminishes him in my eyes.

And the fact that there was no realistic chance of ‘upgrading’ at OC with a proven guy is why you figure out how to make it work with KK.

 

[UK Skins]

But unless I've missed something, KK hasn't been hired as a HC or even an OC. Which makes me lean heavily to we were right to ditch him. As HTTR says, other teams (not just us) are preferring people with little to no experience to him. Hardly a ringing endorsement.

 

[Boone]

My position is based on what KK was able to do HERE, with limited offensive talent, not on 'conventional wisdom'. Conventional NFL wisdom said Sam Darnold was a bad QB. Kingsbury's offenses were very good to good (even in the disaster of a 2025 season where we were playing scrubs for most of the season). We didn't NEED a new OC. We had a highly competent one. Maybe it works out, but if Blough doesn't validate all the confidence in him, it's going to result in a complete blow up and do-over as Quinn will be let go.

And again - people want to blame Kliff, but it's our 'great communicator and collaborator' of a Head Coach who wasn't able to convince Kingsbury he needed to alter his approach.

 

[Boone]

I guess one of the assumptions made by folks who are good with letting KK walk is that Kingsbury SHOULD have listened to Quinn's input. I guess as a subordinate coordinator hired to work FOR Dan Quinn, there is some truth there. But in terms of being an offensive coordinator, Kingsbury has shown he can put together highly effective NFL offenses. I know all of the quibbles - his offenses 'faded down the stretch' among many others - but the bottom line is, the guy knows how to build an offense that can score enough to win NFL games.

So in that context, why would Kingsbury be inclined to make major changes to his offense because his defense-oriented HC wants him too?

The stock answer here will be that Jayden wouldn't be able to stay on the field the way that Kingsbury was utilizing him and the way he built the offense. That may be true, I don't know, although I question whether that's really because of Kingsbury's stubborness to use JD as a runner, or if has more been a result of a lack of weapons on offense and/or JD's own failure to protect himself.

It's all pointless debate at this point. I'm just saying, I trust Dan Quinn on the offense even less than I do Dan Quinn on defense.

 

[burgold]

I agree and I the jury's out on whether Quinn was right. On the anti-Kingsbury side, Daniels was running way too much and there were too many planned runs especially after he got hurt. On the pro-Kingsbury side, the fact that Kingsbury got as much out of the offense as he did despite the injuries was pretty impressive.

I don't know that we should expect a better offensive or better offensive output. I do hope it is one designed not to put Jayden at such risk. On the other hand, also don't know how many of the QB runs were Jayden's fault? How many of times did he take off in the RPO when he should have handed the ball off? How many times did he audible to his own number? So, it is possible that Jayden shares much of the fault for him running so much.

 

[HTTR]

I guess one of the assumptions made by folks who are good with letting KK walk is that Kingsbury SHOULD have listened to Quinn's input. I guess as a subordinate coordinator hired to work FOR Dan Quinn, there is some truth there. But in terms of being an offensive coordinator, Kingsbury has shown he can put together highly effective NFL offenses. I know all of the quibbles - his offenses 'faded down the stretch' among many others - but the bottom line is, the guy knows how to build an offense that can score enough to win NFL games.

So in that context, why would Kingsbury be inclined to make major changes to his offense because his defense-oriented HC wants him too?

The stock answer here will be that Jayden wouldn't be able to stay on the field the way that Kingsbury was utilizing him and the way he built the offense. That may be true, I don't know, although I question whether that's really because of Kingsbury's stubborness to use JD as a runner, or if has more been a result of a lack of weapons on offense and/or JD's own failure to protect himself.

It's all pointless debate at this point. I'm just saying, I trust Dan Quinn on the offense even less than I do Dan Quinn on defense.

You definitely think more of KK than I did. To me he is good, but not great. He seems to be stuck in the past a bit while the rest of the league has been moving toward more motion, and under center play action. This has all been thoroughly discussed on here. I suppose it would’ve been the safe play to keep him around, assuming he even wanted to stay around, but at the same time I don’t mind them, shooting for more upside, and moving to a scheme that doesn’t seem so stale. Things change quick in the NFL, and KK’s history says he’s not great at adjusting.

And yes, he has really had to put Jayden at risk to make it work. Call it a stock answer if you want, but it’s the truth. And I think we all want to move away from that.

Anyway, I know we’ve already beaten this to death. My only point here is that based on what we’ve now seen, the league doesn’t seem to be agreeing with you based on the lack of KK getting a job elsewhere.

 

[KDawg]

You definitely think more of KK than I did. To me he is good, but not great. He seems to be stuck in the past a bit while the rest of the league has been moving toward more motion, and under center play action. This has all been thoroughly discussed on here. I suppose it would’ve been the safe play to keep him around, assuming he even wanted to stay around, but at the same time I don’t mind them, shooting for more upside, and moving to a scheme that doesn’t seem so stale. Things change quick in the NFL, and KK’s history says he’s not great at adjusting.

And yes, he has really had to put Jayden at risk to make it work. Call it a stock answer if you want, but it’s the truth. And I think we all want to move away from that.

Anyway, I know we’ve already beaten this to death. My only point here is that based on what we’ve now seen, the league doesn’t seem to be agreeing with you based on the lack of KK getting a job elsewhere.

Kingsbury not getting a job anywhere else has zero impact on whether he should be here or not.

I think there is a very big disconnect in what those negative on the process and those positive on the Blough hire. Notice the wording.

No one is against Blough. I haven’t seen a single person say, “man fuck this guy!”

Most people understand there is very likely to be a learning curve. And the process in which brought him to the the OC is what people are against - not Blough himself.

Quinn had to hire a new DC, and then couldn’t make the other coordinator and his relationship work. So he needed to get a new OC. Instead of doing an extensive search, he hired the first guy he saw… who has incredibly low experience. Which is going to mean he’s got a learning curve. And that’s okay - except Quinn may not have time for a learning curve.

Daronte Jones we semi lucked into. He was the last interview we did.

We got a good one, I think. I think the OC will be good as well with time.

It’s also important to note Doyle’s experience:

OC with Chicago under Johnson last year.

Started with Payton in 2019 and stayed in NO until he left for Denver and was their TE coach for a year.

Blough has been an assistant QB coach for 1.75 years and a QB coach for .25.

Doesn’t mean Blough won’t be good. But it means we didn’t even explore other young options. We just went for the guy on staff. No search. Why? Because another team wanted him.

We may have gotten the right guy, but that doesn’t change the process flaw that got us there.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Kingsbury not getting a job anywhere else has zero impact on whether he should be here or not.

I think there is a very big disconnect in what those negative on the process and those positive on the Blough hire. Notice the wording.

No one is against Blough. I haven’t seen a single person say, “man fuck this guy!”

Most people understand there is very likely to be a learning curve. And the process in which brought him to the the OC is what people are against - not Blough himself.

Quinn had to hire a new DC, and then couldn’t make the other coordinator and his relationship work. So he needed to get a new OC. Instead of doing an extensive search, he hired the first guy he saw… who has incredibly low experience. Which is going to mean he’s got a learning curve. And that’s okay - except Quinn may not have time for a learning curve.

Daronte Jones we semi lucked into. He was the last interview we did.

We got a good one, I think. I think the OC will be good as well with time.

It’s also important to note Doyle’s experience:

OC with Chicago under Johnson last year.

Started with Payton in 2019 and stayed in NO until he left for Denver and was their TE coach for a year.

Blough has been an assistant QB coach for 1.75 years and a QB coach for .25.

Doesn’t mean Blough won’t be good. But it means we didn’t even explore other young options. We just went for the guy on staff. No search. Why? Because another team wanted him.

We may have gotten the right guy, but that doesn’t change the process flaw that got us there.

The only quibble i will touch on is that the motive may not be as basic as you're suggesting. I don't know that Blough was 'the first guy he saw'. I'm starting to wonder more if Blough was the guy from the beginning of it all because they didn't want to let him leave. If it's got more to do with the fact that Quinn isn't feeling as pressured as a lot of the fanbase believes he is, or should be, and he knew Kliff was possibly going to be on the way out this off season, but at a minimum he would be gone after 2026, and Quinn wanted Blough to be the successor. If his hand was forced and he made the move now to make sure he kept his guy and he may have even done it a year earlier than he may have wanted, but it was either do it now, or possibly lose both Blough and Kingsbury, and be starting over completely next off season.

 

[KDawg]

The only quibble i will touch on is that the motive may not be as basic as you're suggesting. I don't know that Blough was 'the first guy he saw'. I'm starting to wonder more if Blough was the guy from the beginning of it all because they didn't want to let him leave. If it's got more to do with the fact that Quinn isn't feeling as pressured as a lot of the fanbase believes he is, or should be, and he knew Kliff was possibly going to be on the way out this off season, but at a minimum he would be gone after 2026, and Quinn wanted Blough to be the successor. If his hand was forced and he made the move now to make sure he kept his guy and he may have even done it a year earlier than he may have wanted, but it was either do it now, or possibly lose both Blough and Kingsbury, and be starting over completely next off season.

So this could be the case and this is where the criticism of AP is coming from. Why keep Quinn in this scenario? Everything went to shit in less than a year. Why? Injuries were a big part and is a real reason. But it seems communication fell apart, our personnel decisions were not great across the board.

 

[Primus Porcus]

So this could be the case and this is where the criticism of AP is coming from. Why keep Quinn in this scenario? Everything went to shit in less than a year. Why? Injuries were a big part and is a real reason. But it seems communication fell apart, our personnel decisions were not great across the board.

Because I don't think AP is veiwing Quinn the same way the fanbase is. Quinn is his guy for now, and he hasn't lost confidence in him... right or wrong is up to everyone's opinion. A lot has been said about Quinn and being on the hot seat this year, and I'm not sure its the case outside of a catastrophic collapse. I don't think AP is living year to year, he's living projections on whats going to be going on for the next 10 years, and he's planning like Quinn is going to be the HC... as he should. No planning works if you're making decisions based on something that hasn't happened yet.

 

[KDawg]

Because I don't think AP is veiwing Quinn the same way the fanbase is. Quinn is his guy for now, and he hasn't lost confidence in him... right or wrong is up to everyone's opinion. A lot has been said about Quinn and being on the hot seat this year, and I'm not sure its the case outside of a catastrophic collapse. I don't think AP is living year to year, he's living projections on whats going to be going on for the next 10 years, and he's planning like Quinn is going to be the HC... as he should. No planning works if you're making decisions based on something that hasn't happened yet.

And therein lies the criticism. Of course AP is planning on Quinn being the guy. That’s where many of us have worry. This situation this year, once Kingsbury was gone, was HC replacement territory.

Of course, making that change when a third of the league was changing wouldn’t be prudent.

But if AP isn’t looking at the possibility that this is it for Quinn (and didn’t think about it prior) then he’s not doing his job.

His job is to prepare for all angles. Not the one that is most comfortable.

 

[Primus Porcus]

And therein lies the criticism. Of course AP is planning on Quinn being the guy. That’s where many of us have worry. This situation this year, once Kingsbury was gone, was HC replacement territory.

Of course, making that change when a third of the league was changing wouldn’t be prudent.

But if AP isn’t looking at the possibility that this is it for Quinn (and didn’t think about it prior) then he’s not doing his job.

His job is to prepare for all angles. Not the one that is most comfortable.

Fair, and again i'm not saying right, wrong or indifferent, just that this could be the reason why things are happening the way they are...

and to your last point, i think he can prepare for all angles, but Quinns the coach today, so he's gotta draft, plan, and scheme to align with Quinn's direction... doing something other than that is just creating difficulty. I think Quinn likely was a big advocate for the Blough move, and Peters accepted it with the confidence that Quinn knows what he's doing. If it blows up in his face, you pivot then, but right now Peters needs to be building the best roster he can for Quinn and his staff.

I do get the concern also, but Peters was in that building, he got a front row seat to what happened this year, and I tend to think he's not looking at it like the disaster that fans were. This is a league full of parody, and teams go from worst to first a lot. We did it with a whole new coaching staff, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl with a QB that couldn't sniff Jayden's playoff numbers. He knows the state of the talent on this roster, so I'm sure he's looking at Quinn with justification.... I just wonder if we're not entering into stability at the GM position, something we've lacked for decades, who doesn't make any decision based on small sample sizes, both good or bad. Peters probably feels like he hasn't even seen what he wants from the 2024 draft, across the entire roster / coaching staff / everything is going to be built in steps.

 

[KDawg]

Fair, and again i'm not saying right, wrong or indifferent, just that this could be the reason why things are happening the way they are...

and to your last point, i think he can prepare for all angles, but Quinns the coach today, so he's gotta draft, plan, and scheme to align with Quinn's direction... doing something other than that is just creating difficulty. I think Quinn likely was a big advocate for the Blough move, and Peters accepted it with the confidence that Quinn knows what he's doing. If it blows up in his face, you pivot then, but right now Peters needs to be building the best roster he can for Quinn and his staff.

I do get the concern also, but Peters was in that building, he got a front row seat to what happened this year, and I tend to think he's not looking at it like the disaster that fans were. This is a league full of parody, and teams go from worst to first a lot. We did it with a whole new coaching staff, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl with a QB that couldn't sniff Jayden's playoff numbers. He knows the state of the talent on this roster, so I'm sure he's looking at Quinn with justification.... I just wonder if we're not entering into stability at the GM position, something we've lacked for decades, who doesn't make any decision based on small sample sizes, both good or bad. Peters probably feels like he hasn't even seen what he wants from the 2024 draft, across the entire roster / coaching staff / everything is going to be built in steps.

The conversation we’re having shows we’re both on the same page here as far as understanding what is happening.

It’s what did or didn’t that is the issue - which is fine. People disagree on that.

But you and I have a fundamental understanding of each other’s position.

Many that are joining this debate think it all boils down to “lol Blough bad cuz young”.

That is a false narrative that has been spun.

It’s the totality of the situation that has some worried. If people think the process is right, that’s fine. But the process is in question, not Blough himself.