The hot topic in Miami right now concerning the Dolphins is obviously the hiring of former Browns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for the same position with the Dolphins. I do think that yesterday's post sparked some good debate amongst us Dolphins fans regarding the team's new offensive coordinator. But I felt it was important to also get some thoughts from a different perspective - from the point of view of a Cleveland Browns fan.
Daboll spent two seasons in Cleveland as their offensive coordinator. So I figured I'd be crazy not to get some thoughts on the move from Chris Pokorny, the main man at Dawgs By Nature - SBN's Browns blog.
Below is what Chris had to say about his team's former offensive coordinator:
Brian Daboll was the Browns' offensive coordinator for two seasons, each of which were slightly different. In the first year, Daboll seemed lost, although who wouldn't when you have Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn under center. Neither quarterback could complete a pass, so then for the final four games of the season, Daboll deployed a new strategy: basically forget the passing game, and do nothing but run the football and use Joshua Cribbs in the Wildcat. Cleveland won their final four games of 2009 after a 1-11 start.
In 2010, even though the thought of Jake Delhomme doesn't exactly spell"upgrade at quarterback," that is what Daboll treated him as. It was clear the Browns did not have the receivers to support an aerial attack though, and to begin the season, Cleveland failed to run the football very much, costing the team several games. Mid-way through the season, the commitment to the run under Peyton Hillis became a little bit better and fans were warming up to Daboll a little bit.
What happened next cost Daboll dearly: teams began loading the box and run blitzing Hillis right off the line. No adjustments were made. The playcalls would run Hillis right up the gut even if the entire defense was there. If we weren't going to run it, we would line our quarterback up in Shotgun, making it too predictable that we weren't going to run. On top of that, there was a stretch where the routes on a 3rd-and-5 were always designed to go between 1-3 yards. The Browns would not take many shots down the field until they were behind by two possessions late in the game.
Daboll's strength is that he seemed very good at scripting the first offensive series or two of the game. His weakness is that he didn't utilize the team's personnel very well, and after the first two possessions, particularly in the second half of games, there seemed to be 'no method to his madness' in terms of playcalling.
I was surprised to see him get another offensive coordinator job right away. He might have been at a disadvantage in Cleveland though, where he had to work with five different quarterbacks over two seasons and some of the worst starting receivers in the league. Best of luck to the Dolphins - hopefully you don't end up as frustrated as we did with Daboll.
Thanks to Chris for his take on Daboll.
Thoughts?