And that was one thing I was very worried about back in 2014, though of course he was the slam dunk at the time.
His 49ers run, for instance, is a scary thing to look at. His OC was Greg Roman. Roman, currently the architect of the Lamar Jackson show in Baltimore, has proven to be one of the most inventive and successful coordinators in the NFL. Clearly, at least from what we’ve seen in Baltimore, he was the driving force behind the change to Kap and the read option offense installed afterwards. JH has never been able to utilize the read option properly since, and has had an obsession with recruiting QBs that aren’t quite fast enough to be true runners, but aren’t classic pocket passers, either. The offense has had absolutely no identity save for a few games under Fisch, while Roman has literally revolutionized the nfl with a QB many said could never be successful at that level.
Next, defense. I don’t think anyone would argue with you strongly for stating Vic Fangio is the best DC in the nfl. He’s currently the head coach of the broncos, a bit of a mess due to the horrific roster management of John Elway and Drew Lock being a constantly hurt disaster. Fangio is the only DC in NFL history to field a top 10 defense in 10 or more seasons. During his tenure with the saints, over a 7 season period the saints ranked in the top 10 defensively every season, the top 5 5 times, and top 3 4 times, for instance. Jim Leavitt was also the LB coach.
So, is it possible that our guy was basically just the steward of two incredibly elite football minds and a burgeoning roster? A “right place, right time” beneficiary? At Stanford, with a similarly elite staff (Shaw as OC, Fangio DC last two years) JH never won a conference title, was under .500 prior to the Andrew Luck era, and lost 5 games in Luck’s debut season.
Our coach had the best QB prospect in a decade, at least. The #1 pick. And won nothing. Our coach had the two best coordinators in football in San Francisco. I understand he’s “not the same guy” today that he was, but was he maybe never really all that great?
His 49ers run, for instance, is a scary thing to look at. His OC was Greg Roman. Roman, currently the architect of the Lamar Jackson show in Baltimore, has proven to be one of the most inventive and successful coordinators in the NFL. Clearly, at least from what we’ve seen in Baltimore, he was the driving force behind the change to Kap and the read option offense installed afterwards. JH has never been able to utilize the read option properly since, and has had an obsession with recruiting QBs that aren’t quite fast enough to be true runners, but aren’t classic pocket passers, either. The offense has had absolutely no identity save for a few games under Fisch, while Roman has literally revolutionized the nfl with a QB many said could never be successful at that level.
Next, defense. I don’t think anyone would argue with you strongly for stating Vic Fangio is the best DC in the nfl. He’s currently the head coach of the broncos, a bit of a mess due to the horrific roster management of John Elway and Drew Lock being a constantly hurt disaster. Fangio is the only DC in NFL history to field a top 10 defense in 10 or more seasons. During his tenure with the saints, over a 7 season period the saints ranked in the top 10 defensively every season, the top 5 5 times, and top 3 4 times, for instance. Jim Leavitt was also the LB coach.
So, is it possible that our guy was basically just the steward of two incredibly elite football minds and a burgeoning roster? A “right place, right time” beneficiary? At Stanford, with a similarly elite staff (Shaw as OC, Fangio DC last two years) JH never won a conference title, was under .500 prior to the Andrew Luck era, and lost 5 games in Luck’s debut season.
Our coach had the best QB prospect in a decade, at least. The #1 pick. And won nothing. Our coach had the two best coordinators in football in San Francisco. I understand he’s “not the same guy” today that he was, but was he maybe never really all that great?
