As everyone knows by now, Hafley will be calling the defense for the Dolphins.
Back in the day, head coaches ran the team like an executive, and did not call plays. Now, it is the norm and about 60%-70% of coaches do call plays. I do not like it. Not a new concept from me either, I was on record prior to the Hafley hire saying I wanted a CEO head coach that was not calling plays.
I want the head coach to be the CEO, and focus on the bigger picture aspects of the game during the week of preparation for the game, and during the game itself. Under McDaniel, during the game, we butchered things left and right for four years straight. I cannot help but think McDaniel having his face buried in the play sheet was part of the problem. Plays coming in late, bad replay review decisions, lack of in game adjustments, poor game management decisions (clock management, etc), bad tactical decisions (go or punt), and bad play calling. It is hard to do all things well.
I cannot prove it, but Sean Payton has a ton of experience, but he is such a control freak, he still wants the playsheet in his face. He made the dumb decision to go for it on 4th and 1 instead of kicking the field goal early in the AFC Championship game. On top of it, he called a stupid play. I wonder if the fact that he was the play caller distracted him from making the correct big picture decision? At the same time, Vrabel, who was not calling plays, had his game management totally dialed in. How about the play at the end of the first half when Drake Maye slid down, and Vrabel instantly called the time out to preserve the 1 second on the clock, so they could try the field goal. He was right on top of the situation, probably before the play even went off. Because he was focused on game management and not the play calling, he was easily able to think about what to do next.
Further, I feel like the inability to turn over defensive play calling to a DC shows a lack of ability to delegate responsibility. Defensive play calling is probably less value added than offensive play calling, and if a coach cannot let go of that, I just worry about their ability to manage and delegate. Is it really that critical to call defensive plays relative to the time and focus it takes away from the other things that are important with regard to being the CEO of the team?
Also, have the Dolphins even hired the genius assistant head coach guy that sits in the booth and helps the HC with all the game management decisions? Belichick for example, who wasn't calling plays, still had Ernie Adams up in the booth helping him figure this stuff out. Vrabel has a guy named John Streicher doing the same thing:
https://archive.is/hopLI.
Hafley needs a guy like this, does he have one? I am concerned by some of the coaching staff hires so far (this is what happens when you don't have a lot of experience and relationships), and since Hafley will be calling plays we should have someone like this on staff.
Here is an interesting bit of trivia - there has not been a single head coach calling the defense to ever win a Super Bowl. Of course, that could change this weekend. Even if Seattle loses, there is no shame going to the Super Bowl. There are exceptions to every rule. Just because Mike Macdonald has managed to make it work, does not mean it is the best decision, or that it will work for every team.
Caveat to the voting - the teams record is not the sole determinant of whether or not Hafley calling plays is good or bad. We will probably stink regardless. But you can look past the teams record to form a view as to whether or not the game management side of things seems dialed in, or it feels like a mess. The same for Hafley's defensive play calling. You should be able to tell if it seems differentially good or something a competent DC should be able to do.
