Bill Belichick's coaching tree

[upstater1]

OK, we all know that he has no current head coaches in that coaching tree in the NFL -- though of course someone might mention that Mike Vrabel learned a lot from him as did probably the greatest college football coach of all time, Nick Saban.

Belichick is getting ripped in the media for not producing HCs in his tree after the firing of both Flores and Judge.

What strikes me as telling in the national discussion about Bill's failed tree is that he's compared to the supposed best coaching tree of all, Andy Reid's.

I took a look at Andy Reid's tree this morning and, well, I saw a bunch of fired coaches.

But let's break it down:

1. John Harbaugh: yes, Reid gets big credit for this one. Harbaugh was his special teams coach for 7 years at the Eagles. Oddly though, Harbaugh was actually with the Eagles prior to Reid's hiring. That doesn't take anything away from Reid as Harbaugh was with him for many years. Harbaugh was Reid's Joe Judge, except Harbaugh has proven to be a very good--if incredibly whiny and excuse-making--coach.

2. Sean McDermott: he's in his 4th year and has done very very well in a very difficult place to coach. Maybe you can compare him to Bill O'Brien but McDermott is showing signs of becoming much more successful than O'Brien. McDermott was a position coach for 4 years under Reid until he left to become the Carolina DC in 2011. So I do give Reid credit for the beginnings of McDermott's career, but it's not like the meat of McDermott's career occurred under Reid. It didn't. One wonders what would happen if, for instance, Brian Daboll got a HC job. Does Bill Belichick get credit for that? Why would he? Daboll did not depart New England on good terms. Do you give McDermott credit if Daboll lands a job? McDermott doesn't even like Daboll. He has the same problems with him that Belichick did. (I would consider Mike Vrabel much more of a Belichick guy than Brian Daboll).

3. Ron Rivera: in terms of longevity he's like O'Brien. He did have Cam Newton in a Super Bowl though. A lot of losing years and .500 records other than that. If he's fired in the next year or so, he'd be a little like O'Brien, maybe better.

4-10. The next 7 guys in the Andy Reid rankings were all fired in their first 2-4 years as head coaches. So--they were very much like Belichick's disciples.

Any way--it seems to come down to Reid having Harbaugh, Rivera and McDermott, while Belichick has Saban and Vrabel.

 

[archstanton543]

Shouldn't this thread be called the Reid Coaching Tree?

 

[Brotherblues]

I've always thought Kingsbury began learning coaching from BB.

 

[upstater1]

I've always thought Kingsbury began learning coaching from BB.

What I remember about Kingsbury is something like, he didn't prepare for a game (didn't bother learning the gameplan) and when he went in, he didn't know what he was doing.

Anyone remember that?

 

[jmt57]

What I remember about Kingsbury is something like, he didn't prepare for a game (didn't bother learning the gameplan) and when he went in, he didn't know what he was doing.

Anyone remember that?

I thought that was Billy Joe Hobert for Buffalo.

 

[RobertWeathers]

What I remember about Kingsbury is something like, he didn't prepare for a game (didn't bother learning the gameplan) and when he went in, he didn't know what he was doing.

Anyone remember that?

Nope

 

[amfootball]

OK, we all know that he has no current head coaches in that coaching tree in the NFL -- though of course someone might mention that Mike Vrabel learned a lot from him as did probably the greatest college football coach of all time, Nick Saban.

Belichick is getting ripped in the media for not producing HCs in his tree after the firing of both Flores and Judge.

What strikes me as telling in the national discussion about Bill's failed tree is that he's compared to the supposed best coaching tree of all, Andy Reid's.

I took a look at Andy Reid's tree this morning and, well, I saw a bunch of fired coaches.

But let's break it down:

1. John Harbaugh: yes, Reid gets big credit for this one. Harbaugh was his special teams coach for 7 years at the Eagles. Oddly though, Harbaugh was actually with the Eagles prior to Reid's hiring. That doesn't take anything away from Reid as Harbaugh was with him for many years. Harbaugh was Reid's Joe Judge, except Harbaugh has proven to be a very good--if incredibly whiny and excuse-making--coach.

2. Sean McDermott: he's in his 4th year and has done very very well in a very difficult place to coach. Maybe you can compare him to Bill O'Brien but McDermott is showing signs of becoming much more successful than O'Brien. McDermott was a position coach for 4 years under Reid until he left to become the Carolina DC in 2011. So I do give Reid credit for the beginnings of McDermott's career, but it's not like the meat of McDermott's career occurred under Reid. It didn't. One wonders what would happen if, for instance, Brian Daboll got a HC job. Does Bill Belichick get credit for that? Why would he? Daboll did not depart New England on good terms. Do you give McDermott credit if Daboll lands a job? McDermott doesn't even like Daboll. He has the same problems with him that Belichick did. (I would consider Mike Vrabel much more of a Belichick guy than Brian Daboll).

3. Ron Rivera: in terms of longevity he's like O'Brien. He did have Cam Newton in a Super Bowl though. A lot of losing years and .500 records other than that. If he's fired in the next year or so, he'd be a little like O'Brien, maybe better.

4-10. The next 7 guys in the Andy Reid rankings were all fired in their first 2-4 years as head coaches. So--they were very much like Belichick's disciples.

Any way--it seems to come down to Reid having Harbaugh, Rivera and McDermott, while Belichick has Saban and Vrabel.

Vrable is not part of Bill's coaching tree.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I've always thought Kingsbury began learning coaching from BB.

Kilffy was a coach under Kubiak in HOU. Then he jumped to TT

 

[Brotherblues]

Kilffy was a coach under Kubiak in HOU. Then he jumped to TT

Yeah he was never actually a coach in NE, but it was in NE with BB & staff where he was first exposed to real professional coaching. I have a hard time believing that spending all year as a rookie QB with the '03 Patriots didn't lay part of the foundation for his future coaching career.

 

[slam]

I wish the rest of the league would take the hint and stop hiring away our assistants.

 

[Vindicate]

What's interesting is Bill's GM/scouting tree:






A parting comment from Flores was his high regard for Belichick's messaging consistency, and we know Belichick is HUGE on messaging, as indicated by his praise of coaches he has worked under who he felt were incredible at it. This is in lockstep with creating a culture.

So while Bill might not be super effective at passing on coaching prowess, he certainly seems to impart knowledge on the organizational side of things.

 

[borg]

What's interesting is Bill's GM/scouting tree:

N'Keal Harry loves their work

 

[upstater1]

Vrable is not part of Bill's coaching tree.

Where did Vrabel learn how to coach?

8 years playing under Belichick, 4 years coaching at Houston under Bill O'Brien. And Romeo Crennel was the assistant head coach of all people.

You tell me.

He's more of a Belichick disciple than McDermott is a Andy Reid guy.

Look at the people he learned from: Belichick, Crennel, O'Brien.

 

[upstater1]

I thought that was Billy Joe Hobert for Buffalo.

There was some controversy with him. I forget what it was.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

BB is the goat of all time, but he's not great at this. And frankly it's fine. The way his system works is he's in the middle of a wheel and he just needs guys who work hard and focus on just their assignment/role.

No guy who left has been awesome. O'Brien won 4 division titles, Vrabel isn't one of his but doing ok. Flores was ok but never even had the DC title after 15 years.

Even on the GM / front office side, sure many guys got jobs due to the aura, again nobody was awesome for that organization after leaving.

 

[stinkypete]

Where did Vrabel learn how to coach?

8 years playing under Belichick, 4 years coaching at Houston under Bill O'Brien. And Romeo Crennel was the assistant head coach of all people.

You tell me.

He's more of a Belichick disciple than McDermott is a Andy Reid guy.

Look at the people he learned from: Belichick, Crennel, O'Brien.

Vrabel absolutely counts. Daboll is a Belichick guy too.

Kervin O'Connell and Jerrod Mayo are both being looked at as in-demand coaching candidates as well.

 

[SouthernPatriot]

I know they are talking about NFL coaches, but damn, Nick Saban is the best coach to ever coach in college football is part of the Bill Belichick tree! And all of Saban's tree, that includes NFL coaches, are also part of the BB tree.
And yes, most of us Alabama Alumni believe that Saban is a better coach than Bear was, no disrespect for Bear at all, he was the GOAT of his time, but Saban is the all time GOAT.

People just love to drag winners name in the mud. BB is by far the best coach the NFL has seen in decades, get over it!

 

[amfootball]

Where did Vrabel learn how to coach?

8 years playing under Belichick, 4 years coaching at Houston under Bill O'Brien. And Romeo Crennel was the assistant head coach of all people.

You tell me.

He's more of a Belichick disciple than McDermott is a Andy Reid guy.

Look at the people he learned from: Belichick, Crennel, O'Brien.

He coached at Ohio State first for a few years. I would put his coaching tree from back there if we are being serious about how a tree is actually assembled.

 

[Pape]

Kilffy was a coach under Kubiak in HOU. Then he jumped to TT

After Kingsbury was hurt / put on IR in 2003 BB put him to work as an offensive quality control coach... So BB literally did start his coaching career

 

[amfootball]

I know they are talking about NFL coaches, but damn, Nick Saban is the best coach to ever coach in college football is part of the Bill Belichick tree! And all of Saban's tree, that includes NFL coaches, are also part of the BB tree.
And yes, most of us Alabama Alumni believe that Saban is a better coach than Bear was, no disrespect for Bear at all, he was the GOAT of his time, but Saban is the all time GOAT.

People just love to drag winners name in the mud. BB is by far the best coach the NFL has seen in decades, get over it!

Not hard to be a great coach when you get the top recruits every year. I remember Saban in the NFL, it wasn't pretty when he had to coach with a level playing field.