Sep 18, 2022; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich looks on against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the fourth quarter at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports
Long-term investment in offensive “diversity”
CHARLOTTE — It would have been simple for Frank Reich to hire a group of his old buddies, people who already knew him and spoke his language.
Instead, he constructed his first staff in a different manner.
The outcomes have been Tower of Babel-like for the first four weeks of the season, with many ideas but fewer distinct themes.
They ran for 154 yards in the opening in Atlanta. The following week, they gained 66 yards on non-Bryce Young scrambles. The following week, only 14 attempts were made, followed by 31 efforts, only a couple of which were successful against the Vikings.
Similarly, the passing game has been spotty and devoid of deep attempts (save for the week backup Andy Dalton took over for an injured Young).
It’s raised a lot of concerns, and the arguments that have ensued hint to what Reich hoped to achieve when he hired a slew of coaches with divergent ideas in the hopes of creating something new around a new quarterback. Because the teams Reich worked for, the Eagles and Colts, operated differently than the Rams, whose offensive coordinator Thomas Brown comes from, which ran differently than the Panthers did last year. As a result, bringing those perspectives together has taken time.
“There’s no doubt we’ve grown closer,” Reich remarked this week. “You know, you’re 0-4, and you’re disgusted by it, and it’s pretty painful.” However, there is a lot of excitement and juice, such as in our game-planning sessions, and it’s growing because I believe we all feel it. This is how the team is coming together. More shaping of what we want to do and who we want to be. And it’s a gradual process.
The drawback of having that diversity of thinking is that it may take some time to build the chemistry and process so that everyone is genuinely in the groove. But, once you’re in the groove, I believe the benefits and returns of having that diversity of thought will begin to appear.”
They are obviously not there yet.
Brown was asked directly this week what the identity of their offense was.
“That’s a great question,” he said.
Brown wasn’t being seditious or even snarky. The Panthers are still working through that as they strive to build a personality ahead of Sunday’s game at Detroit.
Brown spent a lot of time this week talking about deeds rather than words, pointing out particular mistakes they’ve made along the way. But, like Reich, he believes they are moving closer to a decision on what to do.
Last season, the Panthers rushed for a franchise-record 320 yards and amassed a franchise-record 570 yards against the Lions. But that was a totally different offense, a stripped-down-to-basics power run game supported by a solid and strong offensive line. What they’re doing now is unique, and they’re doing it without starting guards Brady Christensen (on injured reserve with a season-ending torn biceps) and Austin Corbett (a few weeks away from returning from a torn ACL suffered in January). They’re also employing a different offensive philosophy, with more zone runs than the straight-downhill style that worked so well last year. When asked about the linemen’s differences, Brown labeled it “a convenient excuse” and said they’d be able to run with this group.
We’ve had some terrific conversations when we first arrived in March about who we want to be identity-wise and how we’re going to create things offensively,” Brown said. “But we still haven’t brought it to life, right?” So words are cheap. The overall challenge is still ongoing.
“When it comes to our physicality, our execution, eliminating some of those mistakes playing the physical down-in and down-out, and putting this one game together at a time,” said the coach. So I’m hoping that begins this week.”
To that end, their discussions this week were oriented toward identifying their strengths, and in such a setting, having a range of opinions can be beneficial.
“I think every week is always solution-oriented,” Brown said, “and obviously the desire is to get the results, but it’s never, ever results over the process.”
“I believe in the process of going through what we’re trying to build together, but it’s always a constant dialogue about areas we can improve on.” First and foremost, we must challenge ourselves to be better communicators in order to provide greater clarity and frame things differently. But maybe, that will rub off on our players.”
Some of this is natural, the result of evolution rather than instant gratification. Adam Thielen, a veteran wide receiver, recognizes it. He said it wasn’t uncommon for the offense to take a month or more to gel, and when coordinators or coaching staffs changed, the pick-up time took weeks into the regular season.
“I believe we’ve made it our own; it’s its own little distinct system of terminology and play calls.” And now it’s just like any other offense, right?” Thielen explained. “You’re figuring out how you can now pair your players with the best players, and it always takes a few weeks to figure out who’s good at what and what your offense is really good at.”
“And then you kind of see that take off, maybe after Week 5, Week 6 is when you start to see major progression, especially with a new offense, new system, new coaches, new players.”
Thielen explained that the differences could be as drastic as learning entirely new concepts, or as subtle as running a route you’re used to running under one name under another, or working for a coach who places a different emphasis on fine points like footwork or has different landmarks for breaking in and out of familiar routes.
“Initially, when you’re going through OTAs and training camp, you know the play, but you don’t know the intricacies, and so you kind of have to have repetition and then go to the film and be OK here, we’re really looking for you to hit this landmark right here against this look,” he said. “So all you need are those experiences.” You can’t just talk about something and then go out and execute it.”
There’s also a distinction between doing it in OTAs against your own defense and doing it against opponents who are game-planning to stop you.
“Yeah, there were things that came up in practice yesterday,” Thielen replied when asked if he was starting to notice. “Like we’d run this play 100 times before, but it just wasn’t the perfect detail that they were looking for as a coaching staff.”
“Even though I’ve run that play 100 times in the past with a different offense, the way they want to run it is different.” So it’s simply a matter of getting on the same page.”
In a nutshell, it’s a gradual process. But at 0-4 on the season, Reich has seen enough to know that patience is running out.
“It’s a new staff that’s coming together,” Reich explained. “So once you get into the game-planning process now, Week 5, kind of getting into the rhythm of the game-planning process and continuing to refine that and how we work together as a new staff.”
