Offensive coordinator candidates around the NFL

I need to vent, this is my way of doing it, so don't heckle me. I'm so dismayed at the playcalling that I've seen from this offense against high quality teams, starting to hope more and more as each week passes that this is the final season for some of the current coaches on the offensive side. As much as there seems to be some outstanding coaches on defense such as Fangio, Tomsula, Donatell, Greg Jackson and Leavitt, on offense, I feel like they leave much to be desired, particularly Roman and Morton. Here's a list of some potential OC candidates I've compiled, just offering this up to start up discussion on various candidates, likely nothing will change but I like to hope there's a light at the end of the tunnel somehow.



Ken Zampese-QB Coach-Bengals Son of Ernie, has been a QB coach with the Bengals for many years, has been an offensive assistant with the Packers and the Eagles as well, well schooled in the West Coast Offense. Jon Kitna and Carson Palmer both spoke very highly of him when they were with the Bengals. He worked with Marty Morhinweg on the coaching staff at NAU, worked under Ray Rhodes, worked with Mike McCarthy, worked directly under Mike Martz and has worked under Marvin Lewis and Jay Gruden with the Bengals. His father of course was a long time coach in both the college and pro ranks.


Hue Jackson-RB Coach-Bengals Former Raiders head coach, very well regarded offensive assistant, has been coaching for almost 30 years, very experienced, did well as OC with the Raiders in his lone season as OC there before he got promoted to HC.

Randy Fichtner-QB Coach-Steelers Cut his teeth in the Steelers organization, joined in 2007, was highly regarded as a WR's coach before becoming the QB coach. Big Ben heavily lobbied for him to be the Steelers OC before Haley was hired.

Greg Knapp-QB Coach-Broncos This name will be familiar to 49ers fans, he already has extensive experience being an OC, including with the 49ers, he's very well versed in the WCO and helped to develop Matt Schaub while in Houston.

Frank Reich-QB Coach-Chargers Longtime backup NFL QB has been coaching with the Colts and Chargers as an offensive assistant, receivers coach and QB coach. Football is in his DNA, his father and his brothers are all coaches at various levels.

Matt Cavanaugh-QB Coach/Assistant HC-Bears A former NFL QB, Cavanaugh has past experience with the 49ers as an offensive coach that overlapped with Trestman's tenure in SF, he's been an OC for multiple teams in the NFL and was OC for the Ravens for 5 seasons including their first Superbowl winning season.

Ben McAdoo-QB Coach-Packers Well-traveled coach has worked under Mike McCarthy multiple times and is well versed in his offense. Has served as an offensive assistant, offensive quality control coach, tight ends coach and is currently the QB coach in Green Bay.

Edgar Bennett-WR Coach-Packers Has been coaching with Green Bay for a long time, very well-regarded coach, has been brought up as a potential OC multiple times, he started out as a RB's coach and is now the WR's coach for the Packers since 2011.

Bill Lazor-QB Coach Eagles Experienced coaching assistant, has coached underDan Reeves, Mike Holmgren and Joe Gibbs. Experienced QB coach and a former college QB.

Sean Ryan-QB Coach-Giants Has been with NY since 2007, steadily moving up the ranks, started as a quality control coach, moved to wide receivers coach and has been the QB coach since 2012. Ivy league educated, bright guy who has drawn rave reviews from Giant's WR's who he worked with, as well as Eli Manning.

Chad O'Shea-WR Coach-Patriots This is one of the guys I'm most excited about, he's a very experienced, VERY WELL regarded assistant coach who has been a wide receivers coach for the Patriots that has earned regular recognition and praise for his work with their less than stellar WR's over the past few years. He is a collegiate QB who has been coaching in the NFL since 2003.

"WR coach Chad O'Shea's work ethic helping young wideouts: 'That was something that I always admired about Chad, all the extra meetings he would have with younger guys"-Current Penn State coach and former New England Patriots OC Bill O'Brien was the team's wide receivers coach in 2008 before he was promoted to offensive coordinator and fully appreciates the job current WR coach Chad O'Shea is doing with the young Patriots receivers





Out of all these guys, my favorites are as follows:


1. Ken Zampese-Bengals-WCO experience as well as experience developing and working with multiple young QB's. Jon Kitna had his best season with him as QB coach and has spoken very highly of him. He worked with and helped develop both Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton, is knowledgeable in both the WCO and the digits system ran by his father and Mike Martz.

2. Chad O'Shea-Patriots-Bright, hard-working energetic coach who has worked wonders with New England's WR's.

3. Matt Cavanaugh-Bears-Experienced, has been around, has called run heavy offenses while still being capable of opening things up with the passing game.

I've had my eye on Zampese for a long time. At least since '07 when we were going through OCs like cheap hookers. This dude had good success working with Palmer, and has done a tremendous job with Dalton. His QBs understand timing, anticipation, and working through progressions.

why would bill obrien take an OC job?

Originally posted by ads_2006:
why would bill obrien take an OC job?

Where did you see me list Bill O'Brien as a candidate?

What happened to the creative run plays we seen from Roman in 2011? If we were still doing those I'd say keep him as run coordinator and find a better pass coordinator. I really dont know if Roman is doing the pass game and is he calling the pass plays? Right now I'd say the weak links on a very good coaching staff are Roman, Morton, Solari and Mangini (is he really helping?). Very happy with all the defensive guys: Fangio, Tomsula, Donatell, Leavitt, Jackson, etc. Side note: I'm a little disappointed in Harbaugh as well. Glad to have him and he's one of the best coaches in the NFL but he's too good of a coach to be making some of the decision and mistakes he has made. I expected more out of the QB spot as well. I think his loyalty gets him at times, been a few times I wish he would get on the players more and put his foot down and be bold. Maybe I'm off hard to tell when we don't have inside access.

Anyways, anyone think we could promote Geep Chryst or Tom Rathman? Maybe Harbaugh takes over play calling full time. Either way tired of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde Roman. I don't get it one game he looks like one of best OC's in the league and a genius the next looks like Mike Singletary is calling plays. Our pass game is so unimaginative and red zone play calling is a bad as well. Our run game was creative in 2011 and some what 2012 but even that seems to be losing the creativity. Also, wish we would have traded for Gordon. We have a hard time drafting and developing WR's so would be easier to just get proven guys. We haven't had a consistent WR since TO. (not counting VD at TE) Crabtree has been good these past few years but he's had multiple injuries. Don't get me wrong Baalke is one of the best GMs in the league and I love the way he runs things and I get him being safe but just seems like we should have been more bold at times. WR has killed us 3 years in a row and could have cost us 2 championships already. We haven't put enough emphasis on it. I know injuries but seems the last 3 years we haven't been as stocked as we should have been at WR. Maybe it's the coaches and play calling as well. Not many have stepped up.

Originally posted by Gore_21:
What happened to the creative run plays we seen from Roman in 2011? If we were still doing those I'd say keep him as run coordinator and find a better pass coordinator. I really dont know if Roman is doing the pass game and is he calling the pass plays? Right now I'd say the weak links on a very good coaching staff are Roman, Morton, Solari and Mangini (is he really helping?). Very happy with all the defensive guys: Fangio, Tomsula, Donatell, Leavitt, Jackson, etc. Side note: I'm a little disappointed in Harbaugh as well. Glad to have him and he's one of the best coaches in the NFL but he's too good of a coach to be making some of the decision and mistakes he has made. I expected more out of the QB spot as well. I think his loyalty gets him at times, been a few times I wish he would get on the players more and put his foot down and be bold. Maybe I'm off hard to tell when we don't have inside access.

Anyways, anyone think we could promote Geep Chryst or Tom Rathman? Maybe Harbaugh takes over play calling full time. Either way tired of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde Roman. I don't get it one game he looks like one of best OC's in the league and a genius the next looks like Mike Singletary is calling plays. Our pass game is so unimaginative and red zone play calling is a bad as well. Our run game was creative in 2011 and some what 2012 but even that seems to be losing the creativity. Also, wish we would have traded for Gordon. We have a hard time drafting and developing WR's so would be easier to just get proven guys. We haven't had a consistent WR since TO. (not counting VD at TE) Crabtree has been good these past few years but he's had multiple injuries. Don't get me wrong Baalke is one of the best GMs in the league and I love the way he runs things and I get him being safe but just seems like we should have been more bold at times. WR has killed us 3 years in a row and could have cost us 2 championships already. We haven't put enough emphasis on it. I know injuries but seems the last 3 years we haven't been as stocked as we should have been at WR. Maybe it's the coaches and play calling as well. Not many have stepped up.

Geep Chryst

Rather see them roll with a first-time OC like Zampese or O'Shea....or a veteran, successful play-caller like Cavanaugh rather than Chryst who was almost Jim Hostler bad during his 2 seasons as OC with San Diego. If Chryst really has been developing the passing offense gameplans for this putrid offense, do you really want him stepping up to call the actual plays?

Originally posted by Gore_21:
What happened to the creative run plays we seen from Roman in 2011? If we were still doing those I'd say keep him as run coordinator and find a better pass coordinator. I really dont know if Roman is doing the pass game and is he calling the pass plays? Right now I'd say the weak links on a very good coaching staff are Roman, Morton, Solari and Mangini (is he really helping?). Very happy with all the defensive guys: Fangio, Tomsula, Donatell, Leavitt, Jackson, etc. Side note: I'm a little disappointed in Harbaugh as well. Glad to have him and he's one of the best coaches in the NFL but he's too good of a coach to be making some of the decision and mistakes he has made. I expected more out of the QB spot as well. I think his loyalty gets him at times, been a few times I wish he would get on the players more and put his foot down and be bold. Maybe I'm off hard to tell when we don't have inside access.

Anyways, anyone think we could promote Geep Chryst or Tom Rathman? Maybe Harbaugh takes over play calling full time. Either way tired of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde Roman. I don't get it one game he looks like one of best OC's in the league and a genius the next looks like Mike Singletary is calling plays. Our pass game is so unimaginative and red zone play calling is a bad as well. Our run game was creative in 2011 and some what 2012 but even that seems to be losing the creativity. Also, wish we would have traded for Gordon. We have a hard time drafting and developing WR's so would be easier to just get proven guys. We haven't had a consistent WR since TO. (not counting VD at TE) Crabtree has been good these past few years but he's had multiple injuries.

The current run game has been watered down by all the Pistol zone-read stuff. Roman spent the 2012 off-season touring college campuses trying to learn the Pistol zone-read. He's obviously very intrigued by it. I wish he would scrap it and get back to the dizzying array of power formations we used in 2011. That is real NFL football. The pistol zone-reads are getting blown up in the backfield. I think you can catch teams off guard with it as a gadget play, but to base your running game around it is absurd. They take too long to develop, and any defender who has prepared for it in film session will know how to make the right read and blow the play up.

Originally posted by SofaKing:
The current run game has been watered down by all the Pistol zone-read stuff. Roman spent the 2012 off-season touring college campuses trying to learn the Pistol zone-read. He's obviously very intrigued by it. I wish he would scrap it and get back to the dizzying array of power formations we used in 2011. That is real NFL football. The pistol zone-reads are getting blown up in the backfield. I think you can catch teams off guard with it as a gadget play, but to base your running game around it is absurd. They take too long to develop, and any defender who has prepared for it in film session will know how to make the right read and blow the play up.

Thanks, good point and I agree that pistol is throwing off timing and hinders the offense. Need more traditional formations and play action. Should get back to what we did in 2011 but with a better passing game using more slants, screens, quick throws... west coast stuff. At least we stopped faking handoffs every play out of the pistol. Love how it's 3rd and 20 and we are faking a handoff usually when Gore isn't even there. We still do it too much but not every play. I don't know Roman is probably too smart for his own good. Wish this team would get out of it's own way.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Geep Chryst

Rather see them roll with a first-time OC like Zampese or O'Shea....or a veteran, successful play-caller like Cavanaugh rather than Chryst who was almost Jim Hostler bad during his 2 seasons as OC with San Diego. If Chryst really has been developing the passing offense gameplans for this putrid offense, do you really want him stepping up to call the actual plays?

If he has been developing the pass plays and calling some of them then yeah I would agree he shouldn't be the OC. I really don't know who has a hand in it if it's Roman, Chryst, Harbaugh or all of the above but the pass game is very unimaginative. Part of me would rather have someone who is experienced at play calling because wouldn't want a 1st year guy who is in over his head and holds this team back because it's too good all around to be experimenting. On the other hand do retread coaches ever work out for the better? Same old recycled coordinators, might be nice to get a new guy.

Also, thanks for the list I'll look into these guys. With O'shea wouldn't it be nice to finally get a guy who can develop WRs? Haven't had one in about 10+ years. Anybody know anything about Joe Lombardi QB coach for the Saints. Offensive assistant since 2007-08 and QB coach since 09. Problem is in that offense who knows if he knows how to stay balanced and use our run game which is our best asset and what our OL does best as well. Side note though kind of funny how we had McCarthy. What else is new... Packers have been poaching and making a living off our franchise since the 90s. Props to them for hiring him after a horrible season though. Also, wonder how things would have changed if Turner stayed. Probably worked out for the better wouldnt have had who we have now. Offense would have been better in the 07-10 ish years but then Nolan is probably still coaching and we get nowhere.

Do what the Ravens did last year midseason and bring in Cam Cameron...

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:
Do what the Ravens did last year midseason and bring in Cam Cameron...

You mean fire Cam Cameron?

Good idea lets change coordinators so Kap has to learn a new offense instead of getting better receivers. Btw do you know that Harbaugh can veto any play before it is sent to Kap. When you see him with his glasses on and pen and play book he's calling plays. But by all means the zoners who know everything about everything need to fire and hire someone to fulfill their fantasy

take the junk food away

You guys need to chill....

If anyone deserves to loose their job its WR coach John Morton.

Originally posted by Frisco69ers:
You guys need to chill....

If anyone deserves to loose their job its WR coach John Morton.

You nailed it! We haven't been able to groom receivers since the 90s... We need to get back to our roots and use a more traditional west coast offense to help the quarterback and receivers, with quick slants, boot legs, and some bubble screens, all of which are a part of the Bill Walsh system, but for some reason are seldom utilized in Roman's offense.