Stefanski, amazing play caller

[Guest]

This article is a must-read. Defense is still Top 5, but didn't I read that the pass defense is the lowest it's been in several years? Scoring Defense and Run Defense looking good.  Gotta shore up the Secondary. 

[Guest]

I think it’s a little too early to call Stefanski “the next
great offensive coach”.  I think this
offense looks a lot like Kubiak’s offenses of the past, and I’m not sure how
easy it would be to try and separate each coach’s contributions to the end
result we’re seeing.  I do really like
the playcalling we’re seeing and I think that can be mostly put on Stefanski.  When I think of great coaches at the
coordinator or head coach level, I think of guys who are controlling everything,
from the scheme to how players practice. 
They’re making sure the players have the correct techniques down, that
they know the plays and how to improvise within the plays, that the QB knows
when to audible and how to make a bad play good within the system.  I think there’s a lot of things that can only
be learned from experience.


I think that JDF struggled here because he maybe lacked the
experience we needed and when the defenses figured us out and the OLine wasn’t
what we hoped it’d be, he didn’t have the experience to pivot us back on
course.  I do know that when we have challenges
on offense, there’s a much more experienced team that Stefanski can draw wisdom
from now.


I think Stefanski is going to have some trouble showcasing
his skills in the short term as it’s hard to separate him from Kubiak, but I
think after 2-3  years of OC experience,
someone will snap him up.

[Guest]

@medaille said:
I think it’s a little too early to call Stefanski “the next
great offensive coach”.  I think this
offense looks a lot like Kubiak’s offenses of the past, and I’m not sure how
easy it would be to try and separate each coach’s contributions to the end
result we’re seeing.  I do really like
the playcalling we’re seeing and I think that can be mostly put on Stefanski.  When I think of great coaches at the
coordinator or head coach level, I think of guys who are controlling everything,
from the scheme to how players practice. 
They’re making sure the players have the correct techniques down, that
they know the plays and how to improvise within the plays, that the QB knows
when to audible and how to make a bad play good within the system.  I think there’s a lot of things that can only
be learned from experience.


I think that JDF struggled here because he maybe lacked the
experience we needed and when the defenses figured us out and the OLine wasn’t
what we hoped it’d be, he didn’t have the experience to pivot us back on
course.  I do know that when we have challenges
on offense, there’s a much more experienced team that Stefanski can draw wisdom
from now.


I think Stefanski is going to have some trouble showcasing
his skills in the short term as it’s hard to separate him from Kubiak, but I
think after 2-3  years of OC experience,
someone will snap him up.

I agree that he is somewhat tied to Kubiak and hopefully that will keep him here for a few years.  But JDF struggled because he didn't have an identity.  Listening to some of the o-line, Spielman, Zimmer and others, Flip tried to be a jack of all trades and mastered none.  This article points that out.  You have to be good at something.  Flip wanted unpredictability, but couldn't get the offense moving forward to using that unpredictability.   The O-Line have mentioned that several times.  They didn't have an identity.  They weren't good at anything.

Stef has this offense moving.  They do one thing really well, run the outside zone.  And teams need to try and stop that.  So adding a wrinkle off that play fools the D.  Now at the halfway point, we have several wrinkles off that play and they all look the same.  Watch that eagles video of the bomb to Diggs.  The LBs all were running forward towards Cook and all had to pivot around 180 to play coverage.  The safety bit up and then had to cover the TE as the LBs were all way out of position.  That is why the CB was expecting help that never came because the LBs bit.
Wrinkles from a play that looks the same are so much more dangerous than 2 completely opposite plays. 

Now I agree, it is a bit early.  We are on a roll.  It is easy to call plays (relatively speaking) when you are winning.  When the run works, the play action is deadly.  But like we saw in Chicago, there will be times the run doesn't work.  What will Stef call then?  That will be the test to see how much he has grown.  Hopefully that loss in Chicago was a valuable lesson. 

But the upside is how he works the timing.  It may be Kubiak's design, but the timing of the calls are the art.  Anyone can design plays, but knowing when to call them in a game, setting them up, that is what makes a good coordinator.

[Guest]

I think we should keep this a secret.  Nothing burger, move along, nothing you wanna see here.  

[Guest]

@greediron said:

@medaille said:
I think it’s a little too early to call Stefanski “the next
great offensive coach”.  I think this
offense looks a lot like Kubiak’s offenses of the past, and I’m not sure how
easy it would be to try and separate each coach’s contributions to the end
result we’re seeing.  I do really like
the playcalling we’re seeing and I think that can be mostly put on Stefanski.  When I think of great coaches at the
coordinator or head coach level, I think of guys who are controlling everything,
from the scheme to how players practice. 
They’re making sure the players have the correct techniques down, that
they know the plays and how to improvise within the plays, that the QB knows
when to audible and how to make a bad play good within the system.  I think there’s a lot of things that can only
be learned from experience.


I think that JDF struggled here because he maybe lacked the
experience we needed and when the defenses figured us out and the OLine wasn’t
what we hoped it’d be, he didn’t have the experience to pivot us back on
course.  I do know that when we have challenges
on offense, there’s a much more experienced team that Stefanski can draw wisdom
from now.


I think Stefanski is going to have some trouble showcasing
his skills in the short term as it’s hard to separate him from Kubiak, but I
think after 2-3  years of OC experience,
someone will snap him up.

I agree that he is somewhat tied to Kubiak and hopefully that will keep him here for a few years.  But JDF struggled because he didn't have an identity.  Listening to some of the o-line, Spielman, Zimmer and others, Flip tried to be a jack of all trades and mastered none.  This article points that out.  You have to be good at something.  Flip wanted unpredictability, but couldn't get the offense moving forward to using that unpredictability.   The O-Line have mentioned that several times.  They didn't have an identity.  They weren't good at anything.

Stef has this offense moving.  They do one thing really well, run the outside zone.  And teams need to try and stop that.  So adding a wrinkle off that play fools the D.  Now at the halfway point, we have several wrinkles off that play and they all look the same.  Watch that eagles video of the bomb to Diggs.  The LBs all were running forward towards Cook and all had to pivot around 180 to play coverage.  The safety bit up and then had to cover the TE as the LBs were all way out of position.  That is why the CB was expecting help that never came because the LBs bit.
Wrinkles from a play that looks the same are so much more dangerous than 2 completely opposite plays. 

Now I agree, it is a bit early.  We are on a roll.  It is easy to call plays (relatively speaking) when you are winning.  When the run works, the play action is deadly.  But like we saw in Chicago, there will be times the run doesn't work.  What will Stef call then?  That will be the test to see how much he has grown.  Hopefully that loss in Chicago was a valuable lesson. 

But the upside is how he works the timing.  It may be Kubiak's design, but the timing of the calls are the art.  Anyone can design plays, but knowing when to call them in a game, setting them up, that is what makes a good coordinator.

And let us always remember that a great coordinator does not always translate to a great HC. While Stef may turn out to be one of the top OC's in the league, he could crash and burn if he becomes a HC. A man needs to know his limitations, and I have no idea if Stef's personal dream and his internal make-up is destined to be a HC. With all that said, I personally feel (so far) that he will be a HC someday, and that he does have the makings of being a good to very good HC. He's been like the young draft QB that has lots of promise and benefited by watching from the sidelines and learning from everyone around. Stef has seen a TON of coaches, coaching styles etc. to have learned from since he started working with the Vikings coaching staff 14 years ago as young man doing basic administrative duties and special projects etc. and then moved into being a position coach for various positions. Basically he has seen and worked with all areas concerning coaching a team.

I will say this, I hope he stays our OC for years (at least if he stays on top of his game) and perhaps becomes the guy to take over when Zimmer departs someday.

[Guest]

If the Vikings hit it big this year, some team will offer him a big bag of money to be their HC next year.