Former Players That May Get into Coaching Later....

WMack4Bama

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Nov 7, 2008
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Great points.

I really, really hope Singletary gets another shot. I love that guy.
Seems to me that he'd be a hell of an assistant coach. Could you imagine him coaching LB at UA? I'm perfectly happy with our coaching staff, don't get me wrong, but he'd probably be a hell of a coach if his job was to teach what he knew about defense. I actually think he's the exception to WMack's list - an ultrahard worker with relatively good talent. I think the problem was deeper than simply him expecting too much from his players. It's a lot different to be a great team-manager and person-manager than to teach a craft. Saban's craft is DB, but clearly he has amazing skills with regards to teaching discipline and motivation.
The issue with Coach Sing was that he jumped straight from position coach to head coach. Completely skipped the coordinator part. There's a different level of organization and decision making that goes with each step up. He simply wasn't prepared for the job. His good friend and former teammate, Leslie Frazier, hired him as an assistant with the Vikings.What's happening in San Francisco right now...his contribution is not lost on me. He instilled that toughness in them. That defensive toughness was before he left. And as a life long 49er fan, I REALLY appreciate his contribution.
 

DocCrimson

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The issue with Coach Sing was that he jumped straight from position coach to head coach. Completely skipped the coordinator part. There's a different level of organization and decision making that goes with each step up. He simply wasn't prepared for the job. His good friend and former teammate, Leslie Frazier, hired him as an assistant with the Vikings.What's happening in San Francisco right now...his contribution is not lost on me. He instilled that toughness in them. That defensive toughness was before he left. And as a life long 49er fan, I REALLY appreciate his contribution.
I'm DocCrimson and I approve this message... I absolutely agree, the disagreement was based on his style of play. I don't believe he was extremely talented. He was definitely talented, but not like a Ray Lewis or even a Brian Urlacher. But Singletary knew exactly what he was doing on every play, and exactly what his teammates were supposed to do. That doesn't always translate into a great HC, but I still think he's probably a heck of a coach in a mentoring situation. HC's can't be true mentors to most players, often even at their position of expertise. Too many demands.
 

Sabine Free Sta

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Jul 3, 2012
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McElroy may have his sights set a little higher, like Senator, Governor, or Fortune 500 CEO. Wouldn't be surprised to see him do all three and coach.
 

RedStar

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The issue with Coach Sing was that he jumped straight from position coach to head coach. Completely skipped the coordinator part. There's a different level of organization and decision making that goes with each step up. He simply wasn't prepared for the job. His good friend and former teammate, Leslie Frazier, hired him as an assistant with the Vikings.What's happening in San Francisco right now...his contribution is not lost on me. He instilled that toughness in them. That defensive toughness was before he left. And as a life long 49er fan, I REALLY appreciate his contribution.
I also don't think he was the greatest fit for the NFL. But then again, I didn't think Harbaugh would be a great NFL fit either. Both are too discipline oriented for most NFL guys. And I do think Harbaugh is benefiting from what Singletary brought to the organization. It was kind of the perfect storm for the 49ers. With his discipline, drive and toughness, I think Singletary would be a heck of a college coach and I really hope to see him get another shot.
 

Alajambama

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It seems that most of time great players do not make great coaches. There are acceptions of course, but try to name more than a handful of great current coaches that were standout athletes. Although most good coaches played the sports they coach, many were second or third string guys that watched, listened, and learned.
 

GreatDanish

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Nov 22, 2005
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Just looking at some current coaches:
Bill Belicheck played Center/Tight End
Tony Dungy played defensive back
Sean Payton played QB
Jim Harbaugh played QB
Mike Tomlin played Tight End/WR
Mike McCarthy played Tight End
Nick Saban played defensive back
Urban Meyer played defensive back
Brian Kelly played linebacker
Chris Petersen played safety and QB
Kevin Sumlin played linebacker

These were just the first names I thought of when I thought of the best coaches out there... Looks like virtually all of them were DBs, LBs, TEs, or QBs. I know several coaches were OL or DL, but it seems like the best ones weren't. Maybe just coincidence.
 

DocCrimson

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Just looking at some current coaches:
Bill Belicheck played Center/Tight End
Tony Dungy played defensive back
Sean Payton played QB
Jim Harbaugh played QB
Mike Tomlin played Tight End/WR
Mike McCarthy played Tight End
Nick Saban played defensive back
Urban Meyer played defensive back
Brian Kelly played linebacker
Chris Petersen played safety and QB
Kevin Sumlin played linebacker

These were just the first names I thought of when I thought of the best coaches out there... Looks like virtually all of them were DBs, LBs, TEs, or QBs. I know several coaches were OL or DL, but it seems like the best ones weren't. Maybe just coincidence.
All I can say is.... DIT-KA! ;-)
 

GreatDanish

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Nov 22, 2005
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I think what he was getting at, but for some reason quoted that post, was that Ditka was a really good TE in the NFL and at the same time a pretty good coach.
Well, Ditka being a TE actually goes along with my post, recognizing the better coaches seem to have been TEs, DBs, LBs, or QBs.
Bill Walsh - QB
Bill Snyder - DB
Bob Stoops - DB
Gary Patterson - DB, LB
Pete Carroll - DB
Will Muschamp - DB
Looking at the next few that came to my head, no TEs... Oh well.

Mike Munchak - OL
Ed Orgeron - DL
Phil Fulmer - OL
Sylvester Croom - OL
 

bamachile

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I thought earlier in the season about a thread pertaining to which position turned out the best coaches. We'll get it in the off-season, but for now I'll add John Madden and Les Miles as former OL.

Back to the OP, it's hard to nail this sort of thing down. Some of the lesser known players can be great football minds. Vince Lombardi was hardly HOF material as a player.
 

GreatDanish

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Nov 22, 2005
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I thought earlier in the season about a thread pertaining to which position turned out the best coaches. We'll get it in the off-season, but for now I'll add John Madden and Les Miles as former OL.

Back to the OP, it's hard to nail this sort of thing down. Some of the lesser known players can be great football minds. Vince Lombardi was hardly HOF material as a player.
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but the whole position thing is starting to interest me. I think the difficult thing to do is to compile a list of all coaches from the past, say, 5 years, and record all of their positions. Then, there's the issue of older coaches vs. younger coaches - someone who played TE 40 years ago might not have the same experience that might lead to coaching as a player who played TE 10 years ago... Anyway.
I'd imagine that DBs are simply more likely to become head coaches, thus why so many successful head coaches were DBs. You probably also have a lot of failed head coaches who were DBs. But, if we are looking at which of our players are most likely to get into coaching, looking at old DBs might be a good place to start.

In that regard and trying to get back to the point of the thread, some of our recently graduated DBs:
Ramzee Robinson, Charlie Peprah, Roman Harper, Simeon Castille, Justin Woodall, Marquis Johnson, Javier Arenas, Mark Barron, Kareem Jackson, Tyrone King, Wes Neighbors, Cory Reamer, Rashad Johnson, ...
 

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