I think that’s what throws me and makes me question the whole structure. All this group talks about is collaboration in the operation. Quinn is a smart defensive guy. Whitt was a DB guy. Peters presumably talked with them a lot. Sinnott not fitting Kliff is another example. How the hell did this happen and persist for two years? There’s a disconnect somewhere that speaks to a muddled philosophy or muddled communications. If they didn’t get that figured out (way too late) this offseason then they’re all going to get fired. Gotta row in the same direction.
Well, frankly, I think there were disconnects specifically with Kliff / AP / DQ, where AP and DQ kind of saw things one way, and Kliff saw it another way.
- Pressers showed the disconnect between Kliff and DQ. Multiple pressers showed that DQ wanted more running, even 1-2 ypc runs, and Kliff when asked the exact same question said he was fine. This came up multiple times.
- Here is the less clear one, but I would say it has some real potential to be true. I just don't think AP agreed with how things were called this past year. I think you had positions of strength in OL and RB who were less injured, and you still saw a scheme that was heavily into WR. You had injuries on D, and you had injuries at WR, and you were leaning into philosophies that wouldn't mask those issues at all. Leaning into your strengths is a basic tenet in successful teams in general; Kliff did some shifting - definitely - but a lot of the basic tenets from the previous year were still there, in spite of having a very different reality. Starkly different. So, there was little adaptation, and there were clear signs he was being encouraged to adapt.
Sinnott: I think that 2024 draft maybe occurred kind of soon, kind of early when the working relationship wasn't as tried and true. Maybe their focus was, perhaps rightly, heavily skewed on picking the right QB because #2 was not so cut and dry.
Also, I think DQ had this idea that he would have Kliff be his OC when he was named HC. I don't think he thought that through completely, I think it was a bit rushed and he had this idea already in his head. I think as we went through the two years, obviously he has figured out perhaps that he is more opinionated than he originally thought- he clearly wants something a bit more specific. Or at least, he and AP want something a bit more specific. So - they may be thinking there is a potential for the personnel to perform fairly differently under those circumstances.