Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Originally posted by Willisfn4life:
Tomsula hadn't had the experience working in the NFL that Toub has. Toub has been an under the radar head coaching candidate for a couple of years now.
Tomsula was a great Dline coach but when did he ever coordinate anything in the NFL?
Good comments from Arians on why special teams guys get overlooked.
Unfortunately for today's special-teams coordinators, it's team owners who are afraid to hire them as head coaches.
"When you look at John's success, that should definitely have put a flag up for owners to at least give us a look with interviews," said DeCamillis, who was a candidate with the Chicago Bears in 2013 for the job that Marc Trestman eventually secured. "I'm sure some of us could have the same success."
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is convinced of the same. He is well aware of the daunting challenges that special-teams coaches face on a weekly basis in trying to mix and match personnel for coverage and return units when injuries and roster moves made to address more pressing offensive and defensive needs dictate the players at their disposal.
"When you talk about the special-teams guy, he's in front of the entire team," Arians said. "He's not like a quarterback coach or coordinator who only has half the team. He's got the entire team and in a very big setting as far as classroom work.
"They're probably as adept at addressing a football team as anybody."
Considering how well those aforementioned predecessors fared after being given the chance, more franchises would tap into the special-teams ranks when vacancies opened if the NFL was truly a copy-cat league as the cliche goes.
Why aren't they?
Arians succinctly expressed the main reason given by eight current and former NFL coaches and executives interviewed by FOXSports.com about the topic.
"I think owners are looking for sexy (names)," Arians said.
Arians would know better than anybody. As a longtime NFL assistant regularly passed up for head-coaching opportunities that went to less experienced candidates, Arians himself was an outside-the-box hire by the Cardinals in 2013 at an age (60) that had scared off other teams.
Some great reads no doubt that you've posted. Something else that goes overlooked. Special teams coaches have to make their money on units made up of guys mostly that largely aren't good enough to start on the team at their respective positions. Some of them not even good enough to be the primary back up.
Speaks volumes that Toub's units have routinely been top five in rankings.
[ Edited by Willisfn4life on Jan 1, 2017 at 7:01 PM ]