Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. -- The Washington Redskins announced on Tuesday that passing game coordinator Kevin O’Connell has been promoted to offensive coordinator. O’Connell has spent the past two seasons as the quarterbacks coach in 2017 and the passing game coordinator in 2018 for the Redskins.

[url]https://www.redskins.com/news/redskins-promote-kevin-o-connell-to-oc-matt-cavanaugh-asst[/url]



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Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Also, Jim Tomsula is back per JP Finlay


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Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

The Redskins are great with giving people important titles.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Dammit. Just when i'm in full on "I HATE THIS EFFING TEAM FOR CONSTANTLY SCREWING EVERYTHING UP AND MAKING BAD DECISIONS"-mode, they go and make two moves that I really, really like.

Also, last week, either Sheehan or JP mentioned that keeping Manusky was critical to having any hope of resigning Tomsula, as Tomsula was very loyal to Manusky. Tomsula evidently wanted to go elsewhere and had offers. I think Tomsula is hands down our best position coach, so I have to say if this is true, it definitely explains why the team was not quick to just fire him.


Regarding O'Connell, this is fantastic news. By all accounts, he's the closest thing we have to a Sean McVay on the staff, so keeping (and promoting) him was crucial. This definitely changes my attitude to some degree on how high we draft a QB this year. Knowing how highly Snyder values O'Connell, and that he might very well be promoted to HC if/when Jay gets fired, would ensure some consistency in our offensive scheme and make an easier transition for a rookie QB going into his second year.


Also, given the historic dysfunction of this franchise under Snyder, its highly unlikely we will EVER be able to attract the bright, rising, coaching talent to the team as a potential HC. Our best, long term, option might be to groom talent on our own staff and ensure that they don't walk out the door for opportunities elsewhere. A sense of loyalty/familiarity with the organization might be our only hope.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Good for O'Connell getting promoted but what exactly is a senior offensive assistant and how do you get promoted to that from offensive coordinator?

Who's calling plays? And how does the pecking order of HC - Senior Offensive Assistant - Offensive Coordinator work?

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

I like the moves, I bet they are drafting a QB for sure now. Young OC and young QB together

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Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Jay offense needed a pick me up and some spark...hopefully o’connell can deliver.

Tomsula is great news as well.

Good day.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Good deal.. I was convinced that we'd be looking at O'Connell as OC somewhere else in 2020 after someone other than the Redskins appreciated his talents. Good coach, possibly a bit early for him but should be the right move long term in keeping him around. Curious about the structure for him and Cavanaugh but we've seen this before with Al Saunders under Gibbs. Overall a positive move which comes as a shock..

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Redskins chasing the ghost of Sean McVay with this move.
Terrible move, I wish they would blow this up already.

Wait, he is a Carlsbad/San Diego guy... OK he might not be so bad.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Don't underestimate McConnell, he just might be the next McVay. I like the move a lot, going with the young creative former player.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

I mean, he did run the 28th best passing offense in the NFL. Really well deserved promotion!

Maybe he's a smart guy, but our passing offense was pathetic and predictable. If I never see another screen pass in DC I'll be happy.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

I hear all the good words, and accept them on their face.

My question though is if he was the qb coach what can he show as his effect. AS certainly didn't seem to benefit from him, nor did Sanchez. Seems like the Skins want to sell him as their next McVay but what can we as fans look at on the field to see it?

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;1218113]I hear all the good words, and accept them on their face.

My question though is if he was the qb coach what can he show as his effect. AS certainly didn't seem to benefit from him, nor did Sanchez. Seems like the Skins want to sell him as their next McVay but what can we as fans look at on the field to see it?[/quote]

We don't we wait and see what he can do with guys not named Sanchez.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

There was a discussion on twitter earlier that I agree with 100% and I"m going to extrapolate from what Cooley said a month or two ago before he was muzzled.

One of the most important consequences of this move may be a better meshing of the pass game with the run game.

Cooley blasted the offense on his podcast in the not so distant past because the running plays don't look anything like the passing plays so it is just stupid to try to run a play action offense off such disjointedness.

Callahan was the run game coordinator, and OC was the pass game coordinator.

The conversation on twitter (from folks I didn't recognize and don't really feel comfortable linking, I don't know if they have any cred, but I agree with them) was that OC as the offensive boss now will have the final call on the game plan and simplify the running game.

Cooley been a constant critic of how many different blocking schemes they use in the run game, and has suggest doing fewer well than many bad.

I'm really curious if he has any type of relationship with OC.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=DYoungJelly;1218115]There was a discussion on twitter earlier that I agree with 100% and I"m going to extrapolate from what Cooley said a month or two ago before he was muzzled.

One of the most important consequences of this move may be a better meshing of the pass game with the run game.

Cooley blasted the offense on his podcast in the not so distant past because the running plays don't look anything like the passing plays so it is just stupid to try to run a play action offense off such disjointedness.

Callahan was the run game coordinator, and OC was the pass game coordinator.

The conversation on twitter (from folks I didn't recognize and don't really feel comfortable linking, I don't know if they have any cred, but I agree with them) was that OC as the offensive boss now will have the final OC's game plan.

Cooley been a constant critic of how many different blocking schemes they use in the run game, and has suggest doing fewer well than many bad.

I'm really curious if he has any type of relationship with OC.[/quote]

We just need to blow this entire staff outta here. We need new leadership. We are not going anywhere with Gruden and Manusky.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=skinsfan69;1218116]We just need to blow this entire staff outta here. We need new leadership. We are not going anywhere with Gruden and Manusky.[/quote]

A little off topic for this thread but I have heard more discussion about what a great relationship Dan and Gregg Williams have in the past 3 weeks than the past 9 years.

That info was making its way to the media somehow for some reason.

Total speculation but I wonder if Gregg is a realistic HC candidate here after the Jay era.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Lipstick on a pig.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Funny how the vibe by some on O’Connell reminds me of what people thought of McVay early on, heck even when he left plenty didn’t care or think it was significant.

Maybe we are chasing his ghost, or maybe it’s the fact you don’t make that mistake twice.

It’s damn near impossible to attract a talented HC candidate from the outside right now, best bet is to bring one up from within. Maybe we can luck into O’Connell being that guy.



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Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

This is awesome. Hopefully he stays here for a long time. Wish he would have Alex next year. San Diego coach coaching San Diego QB.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

I just hope O'Connell can bring real balance to the offense...the offense can been missing real coordination since McVay departed.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

O'Connell is already facing a barrier - no quarterback (that is unless we draft a first round QB). It will be good opportunity for O'Connell to show what he can do with bad situations.

I'm really happy Tomsula is coming back, he obviously made positive impact on our Dline players. I'm hoping this is not one year deal?

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

I think if we're truly being honest with ourselves, the offensive scheme was not the major problem last year. I do think there's something to what Cooley was saying; that the runs and the passes don't look alike so fooling defenses on playactions is tricky.

But the main reasons we didn't click were:

- Alex doesn't make anticipation throws. He waits for guys to come open, then he throws it. It results in low turnover numbers but guys would get open and then the window would close before he threw it. His injury hurts, but the reality is we were going to be saddled with disappointing QB play whether he was playing or not. He gave us only one way to win: play dominant defense and hope to eke out a one-score win like we did against Dallas at home.

- When Richardson, Crowder, and Quinn were all hurt we had NOBODY who could gain separation. So even if you schemed the runs and passes to look alike I don't think they would have been open anyway.

I hope O'Connell can scheme up some good stuff and that Jay listens on making the runs and passes look alike. But I don't think we're improving our offensive performance unless we get a QB in there who's willing to let it rip and make some plays, and some WR play that can separate from DBs.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

I know we probably won't get this answer truthfully, but I'd like to know did this come from Jay? Did he like what he's seen from O'Connell and his coaching/scheming that he wanted more from him? Or is this Bruce/Dan going "hey they say this O'Connell kid is the next McVay...let's make him the OC in case we want to promote him to head coach next season. Hey Jay, O'Connell is your new OC...make it work!"

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=Redskins247;1218143]I know we probably won't get this answer truthfully, but I'd like to know did this come from Jay? Did he like what he's seen from O'Connell and his coaching/scheming that he wanted more from him? Or is this Bruce/Dan going "hey they say this O'Connell kid is the next McVay...let's make him the OC in case we want to promote him to head coach next season. Hey Jay, O'Connell is your new OC...make it work!"[/quote]

I have the exact same question, and it's a very important one to understanding whether Redskins Park has actually taken any steps towards competency.

Judging by the reports that the Bowles and Gregg Williams interviews were being arranged by Snyder, I think we have our answer.

Though I don't know what's worse - Snyder stepping in on the defensive coordinator decisions, or Jay going to bat for Manusky.

Hell, if Jay went to bat for Manusky, if I were Snyder I'd probably stick my nose in too. Except I'd do it the right way - I'd fire Gruden and insist on a new Head Coach who's willing to recruit the best coach available, regardless of whether he has a previous working relationship.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=Schneed10;1218141]I think if we're truly being honest with ourselves, the offensive scheme was not the major problem last year. I do think there's something to what Cooley was saying; that the runs and the passes don't look alike so fooling defenses on playactions is tricky.

But the main reasons we didn't click were:

- Alex doesn't make anticipation throws. He waits for guys to come open, then he throws it. It results in low turnover numbers but guys would get open and then the window would close before he threw it. His injury hurts, but the reality is we were going to be saddled with disappointing QB play whether he was playing or not. He gave us only one way to win: play dominant defense and hope to eke out a one-score win like we did against Dallas at home.

- When Richardson, Crowder, and Quinn were all hurt we had NOBODY who could gain separation. So even if you schemed the runs and passes to look alike I don't think they would have been open anyway.

I hope O'Connell can scheme up some good stuff and that Jay listens on making the runs and passes look alike. But I don't think we're improving our offensive performance unless we get a QB in there who's willing to let it rip and make some plays, and some WR play that can separate from DBs.[/quote]

Talent > scheme all day long

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

Other teams were inquiring about Kevin O

[url]https://twitter.com/john_keim/status/1090389646180343809?s=21[/url]

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=Schneed10;1218141]

I hope O'Connell can scheme up some good stuff and that Jay listens on making the runs and passes look alike. But I don't think we're improving our offensive performance unless we get a QB in there who's willing to let it rip and make some plays, and some WR play that can separate from DBs.[/quote]

I have some doubt that Jay will really give O'Connell the authority to have a significant impact. Jay's lame duck status kind of puts him in a lose-lose situation:[LIST][*]If O'Connell has more input / call plays and the team still does poorly, Jay gets fired[*]If O'Connell has more input / calls plays and the team gets significantly better, then O'Connell gets the credit. Other teams may pursue O'Connell for a HC job. By all reports, the Skins are not going to let O'Connell leave as they did with McVay. So, the end result is that, to keep him around, you've got to make him the HC, so Jay gets fired.[/LIST]
Given these two scenarios, Jay may decide to limit O'Connell's input. He's already consistently demonstrated his insecurity by failing to every bring anyone on staff that could be a threat to him. It would seem to be in his nature to keep control as much as possible.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;1218151]I have some doubt that Jay will really give O'Connell the authority to have a significant impact. Jay's lame duck status kind of puts him in a lose-lose situation:[LIST][*]If O'Connell has more input / call plays and the team still does poorly, Jay gets fired[*]If O'Connell has more input / calls plays and the team gets significantly better, then O'Connell gets the credit. Other teams may pursue O'Connell for a HC job. By all reports, the Skins are not going to let O'Connell leave as they did with McVay. So, the end result is that, to keep him around, you've got to make him the HC, so Jay gets fired.[/LIST]
Given these two scenarios, Jay may decide to limit O'Connell's input. He's already consistently demonstrated his insecurity by failing to every bring anyone on staff that could be a threat to him. It would seem to be in his nature to keep control as much as possible.[/quote]

Pretty excellent breakdown of the power dynamic.

This is why you hold your head coach accountable for their hires and don't get involved. You either like their hires and you keep the staff, or you don't and you fire the head coach.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

A big reason Snyder wants to keep Gruden around is he has soured on paying coaches to go away.

But that has to be a cost of doing business if you're going to maintain a healthy power structure.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=Schneed10;1218155]A big reason Snyder wants to keep Gruden around is he has soured on paying coaches to go away.

But that has to be a cost of doing business if you're going to maintain a healthy power structure.[/quote]

If Snyder is about anything, its about keeping the power structure as diseased as possible. The bold move would have been to fire Jay and promote O'Connell to HC.

Is Jay still calling plays? If so, Kevin is already being undermined. Not calling plays is chopping the knees from an OC.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

The power struggles and front office structures inside Ashburn has been an embarrassment since day 1 of Dan Snyder's ownership...its no surprised these same issues have trickled down to the Coaching staffs.

Dan Snyder, regardless of false narrative, has never stopped meddling within every facet of the org and team.

Kevin Sheehan was rehashing some Snyder drama with his personal choice of Jeff George...Marty Shottenheimer power struggle....we see history repeat itself over and over, Snyder's arrogance and ignorance has never changed. He hasn't learned a fucking thing. Zero culture, conflict, power struggles, etc...

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=Chico23231;1218158]The power struggles and front office structures inside Ashburn has been an embarrassment since day 1 of Dan Snyder's ownership...its no surprised these same issues have trickled down to the Coaching staffs.

Dan Snyder, regardless of false narrative, has never stopped meddling within every facet of the org and team.

Kevin Sheehan was rehashing some Snyder drama with his personal choice of Jeff George...Marty Shottenheimer power struggle....we see history repeat itself over and over, Snyder's arrogance and ignorance has never changed. He hasn't learned a fucking thing. Zero culture, conflict, power struggles, etc...[/quote]

The thing I find most frustrating is there's an easy fix to all of this nonsense. Hire a true football guy as GM and get the fuck out of the way. Give that person total autonomy over football operations for 5 years and see what fucking happens. It can't be any worse than the last 20 years.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=MTK;1218146]Talent > scheme all day long[/quote]

tell that to Bill Bellicheck (or just ya know, have Tom Brady lol)

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=MTK;1218161]The thing I find most frustrating is there's an easy fix to all of this nonsense. Hire a true football guy as GM and get the fuck out of the way. Give that person total autonomy over football operations for 5 years and see what fucking happens. It can't be any worse than the last 20 years.[/quote]

i am wondering if this will ever happen under dan

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=MTK;1218161]The thing I find most frustrating is there's an easy fix to all of this nonsense. Hire a true football guy as GM and get the fuck out of the way. Give that person total autonomy over football operations for 5 years and see what fucking happens. It can't be any worse than the last 20 years.[/quote]

exactly...the key to Snyders ability to meddle is keeping a Vinny or Bruce within arms reach...when Marty for the single year was able to stop it, Dan couldn't handle it.

There is a ton of talent of GMs "in waiting" right now throughout the league...Seattle, KC, New England, Philly, and Vikings all have guys who are extremely talented waiting for the opportunity. Its really ashame...and a sham to the fans with Bruce in the building.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[QUOTE=Meks;1218163]tell that to Bill Bellicheck (or just ya know, have Tom Brady lol)[/QUOTE]



They always have more talent than people give them credit for.


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Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=MTK;1218167]They always have more talent than people give them credit for.


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i agree, guys get overlooked and underrated over there all the time and I swear half the talking heads do it on purpose lol

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=MTK;1218161]The thing I find most frustrating is there's an easy fix to all of this nonsense. Hire a true football guy as GM and get the fuck out of the way. Give that person total autonomy over football operations for 5 years and see what fucking happens. It can't be any worse than the last 20 years.[/quote]


Totally agree! I thought they were doing this with McScot, but that turned out to not be the case.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=MTK;1218161]The thing I find most frustrating is there's an easy fix to all of this nonsense. Hire a true football guy as GM and get the fuck out of the way. Give that person total autonomy over football operations for 5 years and see what fucking happens. It can't be any worse than the last 20 years.[/quote]

Matty that's the most fustrating thing these past 20 years .. hire the football people and sit back get out of the way.. .damn you synder.

Re: Redskins Promote Kevin O'Connell To Offensive Coordinator; Matt Cavanaugh Moves To Senior Offensive Assistant
 

[quote=gibbsrcnfan;1218172]Matty that's the most fustrating thing these past 20 years .. hire the football people and sit back get out of the way.. .damn you synder.[/quote]

It seems like a simple idea to implement. But then again I'm not a narcissistic asshole. Maybe an asshole but not narcissistic. How can you be a loser for so long and not make and personal changes?