How much of the potential improvement comes from...

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@pattersaur said:

@FSUVike said:

@pattersaur said:

Stefanski had some duds but I'm not sure he's the walking garbage can some of you are implying.
It's not like he got run out of the league because he was so bad... he got promoted! Time will tell if you guys are right about him but I don't think it's 100% certain you are. Also if you think he was so bad, then why did the Vikings hire him in the first place? And why do we change OCs every year? Why doesn't the head coach of the football team take ownership of the offense?

Placing most of the blame for the Vikings bad losses last season on Stefanski is easy to do because he's gone, but I'm not sure if that's fair. Like I said, time will tell.
The obvious answer to the question is A. The POTENTIAL improvement gained by Kirk becoming a cool under pressure, fleet of foot, big armed beast at QB is that we win multiple Super Bowls.
But since that's not happening, I'll answer B. Shore up the lines.

Did he make in-game adjustments before the 4th Quarter in any game besides Denver?

I mean... probably? If you definitively believe he made zero in game adjustments than my point is that's also partly on the Head Coach, the Kubiaks, and everyone around him too. Like I said you might be right, but to lay the bulk of the offensive struggles at Stef's feet when it was his FIRST SEASON, seems overly harsh. He would 100% still be our OC had he not been promoted by the Browns, and I think expecting some improvement from him year over year is reasonable too.
If Cleveland stinks on ice then we'll know you are right. But until then I'm personally not ready to trash the guy yet.

He called the plays. Not Mike. Not Gary. Not Klint. They all may have contributed to some degree or other to the overall plan, but Kevin was calling the plays. Cousins very specifically said it was Kevin's decision to go Hurry Up in the 2nd Half of the Denver game. Not Mike's decision. Not Gary's. His. It worked.

But he waited too long to mix things up against Seattle and in the 2nd Packers game. And found no answers against Chicago or San Francisco. 

People bitch about Zimmer wanting a run-first Offense, but can anyone point to a single instance where he went to his OC during the game and told him to run more? He's hands-off on that side of the ball during the game. Frankly, if he was that involved in the Offenses playcalling during the game I doubt Gary would even be in Minnesota. 

Do I think Kevin will improve and would have if he had stayed? Of course. Would he have improved to the level Gary is already at? Hell no. Playcalling is an art form. It takes experience to predict what the opposing DC is trying to do. Experience to recognize certain wrinkles the other team has installed just for you. Experience to know when something you forecasted to be successful isn't working and just how soon given the situation in the game you should look to try something different versus continuing to stick to the original plan.

Kevin is gaining that experience. Gary already has it. And he isn't advising someone who is still learning, he's implementing that experience. During the game. Just like Shurmer did.

As for getting hired by Cleveland, not sure that's something most folks would consider as an accomplishment versus a quick ticket to being unemployed.