Matt Nagy isn’t ready to relinquish the Chicago Bears head coaching job yet. His emphatic 36-7 beatdown of the Houston Texans last Sunday proves it. He still has a hold on that locker room and plans to fight all the way to the end. Perhaps he may yet save himself. Making the playoffs would certainly do that. On the other hand, it may be too little, too late. So if the team does plan to move on next month, who could replace him? One name gaining a ton of momentum on the circuit is Brian Daboll.
He is the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. What has really drawn attention is the work he’s done with young quarterback Josh Allen. A lot of people weren’t sure the Wyoming product could ever learn to play the position like a professional. He had too much gunslinger in him. It took some time, but the young man is in the midst of a career year with 3,641 yards, 28 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in 13 games this season.
Daboll deserves a ton of credit for that maturation.
The 45-year old certainly had a unique path to where he is now. Born in Canada, he found his way to the NFL through the lower college ranks of Rochester and William & Mary. His work was soon noticed by the head coach at Michigan State. A man named Nick Saban. Two years later, he was hired by the New England Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick to become a defensive assistant.
He would go on to help the Patriots win their first three Super Bowls. Eventually, in 2009, he became an offensive coordinator for the first time in Cleveland. Most would call that stint a massive failure. It finished 32nd and 29th respectively. That said, he did establish a pattern that would continue to emerge in later years. One of problem-solving in bad situations.
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Brian Daboll never feared a challenge
Despite his difficult Cleveland stint, the Miami Dolphins made him their offensive coordinator in 2011. Though the team had a down year at 6-10, the offense actually improved. It went from 30th in scoring in 2010 to 20th under Daboll while also going from 21st in rushing to 11th. This with guys like Matt Moore and Chad Henne as his quarterbacks.
Again he was fired and again he was quickly scooped up for another coordinator job. This time in Kansas City. As before, he inherited a rough QB situation with Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn. Yet made the most of it, producing the 5th-ranked rushing attack. Sadly it didn’t help as the team bottomed out in scoring at 32nd.
After that, Daboll returned to New England.
He became an offensive assistant and eventually tight ends coach. They ended up winning two more Super Bowls in 2014 and 2016 with him in the fold. Then an old friend came calling. Saban, now the head coach at Alabama, made Daboll his new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The Crimson Tide finished a respectable 15th in total offense that year, went 13-1, and won the national championship. That is what led him to his current job in Buffalo.
Brian Daboll certainly checks the boxes. He’s had coordinating experience at both the college and pro levels. He’s successfully developed a young quarterback into a budding star. Last but not least he got an education from two of the best head coaches in the history of the sport in Saban and Belichick.
The Bears could certainly do a lot worse.
