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by DAVE CAMPBELL and JOSH DUBOW AP
Pro Football Writers
Friday, November 13th 2020
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert
(10) gets instruction from quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton during an NFL
football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in
Inglewood, Calif. The most recognizable trend in hiring NFL head coaches has
been to target young, innovative offensive teachers with a track record of
developing quarterbacks. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)
The
scouting report on Justin Herbert when he entered the draft out of Oregon was
he had the tools to succeed as an NFL quarterback but would need some time to
become more refined with the intricacies of the position.
Thrust into the starting role far
earlier than expected because of an injury to Los Angeles Chargers starter
Tyrod Taylor, Herbert is
on pace for the most prolific season ever for a rookie.
One
of the coaches most responsible for that transformation also could help the NFL
in its quest to develop more minority coaches. Pep Hamilton joined the Chargers
as one of the league's two Black quarterback coaches this past offseason and
could one day become a candidate for a much more consequential job.
"I
have no doubt that Pep Hamilton can be a head coach in this league. He's had a
tremendous impact on Justin. That's why I brought him here," said the
Chargers' Anthony Lynn, one of four minority head coaches in the NFL.
"He's a guy that can relate to people. He's a good communicator, very
intelligent. I'm very happy that he's on staff, and I was fortunate to get
him."
The
most recognizable and recent trend in hiring NFL head coaches has been to
target young, innovative offensive teachers with a track record of development
for the most vital position on the team. This has made the quarterbacks coach
one of the most natural and reliable stepping stones for aspiring head coaches
in the league.
With minorities making up fewer than 10%
of quarterbacks coaches in the past decade in the NFL, that pipeline has played
a role in a lack of minority head coaches despite a desire from the league for
more diversity.
In the past five offseasons, nearly
three-quarters (73%) of new head coaches have come from an offensive
background, with two-thirds of them (16 out of 24) having served as
quarterbacks coaches in the NFL earlier in their careers.
Only two of those 24 offensive-minded
head coaches — Hue Jackson and Lynn — were minorities.
With no signs of a reduced interest in
offensive-minded head coaches, the key for more diversity might be getting more
minorities into that stepping-stone job of QB coach.
"You deal with the quarterback
every day and you get them ready to play, and you know how to call games
according to their strengths and what they see," said Minnesota Vikings
offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, whose first coaching job in the NFL was as
quarterbacks coach for the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers in the
1994-95 season. He wound up working 10 years as a head coach for two teams, a
tenure shortened by health concerns.
"I think dealing with those
quarterbacks every day is a big, big plus," Kubiak said. "I look at
some of these guys who have worked for me in the past, and they have all come
along that path. I think it's extremely important coming up as an offensive
guy."
Kubiak served as an offensive adviser
for the Vikings last season, with Kevin Stefanski directing his scheme as the
offensive coordinator. Now the 38-year-old Stefanski is in charge of the
Cleveland Browns, one of 13 current head coaches in the league who were once a
quarterbacks coach. That doesn't include Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinals)
and Matt Rhule (Carolina Panthers), who previously held that particular
position for college teams.
Eight of them were hired within the last
five years: Stefanski, Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals), Matt LaFleur (Green Bay
Packers), Frank Reich (Indianapolis Colts), Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears), Kyle
Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers) and Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles). So many
of these coaches picked to supervise quarterbacks once played the position at a
major college or for an NFL team themselves, with Pederson and Reich to name
two.
The trajectory of a franchise is staked
so close to the success of the starting quarterback that this movement is
hardly a surprise. Here's where the trend gets tricky for a league that's still
lagging behind — as its leaders have acknowledged frequently — in consistently
creating advancement opportunity for minority-race coaches. The quest to hire
more head coaches of color becomes hindered when so few of them are offensive
coordinators and quarterbacks coaches.
Since
the start of the 2010 season, there have been 109 different quarterbacks
coaches across the 32-team league, several of them holding the same job for
multiple teams over that span. Only 10 of those individuals are minorities.
That includes Hamilton, who was the quarterbacks coach at Stanford, tutoring
Andrew Luck, and later the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts
when Luck was starring there.
Eighty-four of those 109 quarterbacks
coaches had not been an offensive coordinator or a head coach prior to being
hired for the post. Ten of those 84 coaches went on to become head coaches, and
33 of them made the next step up to offensive coordinator or head coach.
Getting more minority coaches into the
quarterbacks coach pipeline could play a key role in the future. With more and
more Black quarterbacks playing in the NFL, the options down the road should be
more plentiful.
The NFL is also trying to incentivize
teams to hire more minority assistants in stepping-stone jobs by offering
rewards to franchises that develop minority head coaches and execs.
The league approved a proposal this week
that will award teams compensatory third-round draft picks for two years if a
minority assistant or executive is hired to a head coach position or primary
football executive role with another club.
"We all recognize that we must do
more to support development opportunities for minority coaches and all
personnel," commissioner Roger Goodell said. "This is an important
initiative for the NFL."
