With Steve Sarkisian becoming the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator on Tuesday, the team’s quarterbacks coach, Matt LaFleur, is expected to become the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator, according to sources.
In Los Angeles, LaFleur would reunite with new head coach Sean McVay. The two worked together in the past for the Washington Redskins.
McVay views LaFleur as a man capable of helping him implement his offense and teaching former No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff how to shine in the NFL game.
Goff had a rocky rookie season, completing just 54.6 percent of his passes. He finished with 1,089 yards, five touchdown passes and seven interceptions in eight games (seven starts).
LaFleur, 37, just completed his second season as the Falcons’ quarterbacks coach.
Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008
Bill Belichick couldn’t help himself. A day after his New England Patriots won Super Bowl LI, the head coach bemoaned the work ahead.
“We are five weeks behind the rest of the NFL for the 2017 season,” Belichick said.
Indeed, the offseason is well underway throughout the league. Teams are preparing for free agency and the draft, and the NFL office is setting its own agenda.
What follows is an attempt to identify some of the key leaguewide issues the NFL will address before we see competitive football back on our televisions. It accepts as a given some of the existential and ongoing agenda items the league will always face, including concussions and domestic violence, and focuses instead on some of the more incremental challenges.
A few of the items covered in the 2016 edition of this post remain on the virtual docket, including improving replay review and repairing the Pro Bowl.
Ratings for the NFL’s 2016 regular season were down 8 percent overall from 2015. Shizuo Kambayashi/AP Photo
The decline was much more pronounced prior to the U.S. presidential election (14 percent) than it was afterward (1 percent). But the NFL can’t simply attribute it to the election and move on; the second-half improvement was due in part to the Dallas Cowboys’ outsized viewership numbers during the run-up to the playoffs. A much deeper examination is necessary, from advertising structure to kickoff times to game pace to scheduling.
It would be unrealistic to expect indefinite ratings growth, but at its core, the NFL is a television content producer. That is its product. The league must determine whether this drop was a function of larger issues within the broadcast industry or if it reflects a true decrease in interest.
2. Improve pace of game
Independent of its conclusions on ratings, the NFL could use a shake-up in its game administration and presentation. An anecdotal Vox.com study revealed that game action occurred on roughly 8 percent of an average game broadcast. The Wall Street Journal once estimated it at 11 minutes of a three-plus-hour game. The rest is consumed by commercials, between-play huddles, replays and the like.
(In 2016, the average time of game was 3:08, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was 3:09 in 2015, 3:06 in 2014 and 3:08 in 2013.)
The NFL is well aware of this challenge. At his annual Super Bowl news conference, commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned a number of possibilities for cutting time, including reducing commercial breaks from five to four per quarter, setting a “play clock” to cap the time between an extra point and the ensuing kickoff and using Microsoft Surface Pro tablets for replay reviews. Presumably, the NFL would exchange fewer commercials for higher prices.
Those changes might shave a few minutes from the overall time of game, if that. But most fans and viewers would agree — I hope — that less dead time is better.
3. Circle back on the kickoff rule
Owners must decide whether to discard, alter or make permanent the rule change that moved touchbacks from the 20- to the 25-yard line. The impact of the adjustment, designed to reduce injuries by incentivizing fewer returns, was mild at best.
Kickoff returns fell by 1.8 percentage points, from 41.1 percent of all kickoffs in 2015 to 39.3 in 2016. The touchback rate rose only slightly, from 56 percent to 57.6 percent, as many coaches sought to eliminate the incentive by kicking short of the end zone. Concussions on returns dropped by 15 percent, from 20 to 17, according to the NFL. Overall, however, there were more total injuries on kickoff returns in 2016 (39) than 2015 (35). The total accounts for ACL tears, MCL tears, concussions and hamstring strains.
Given that modest impact, and in light of the pace-of-game issue, the NFL might hesitate to continue with a play that brings action less than half the time. Look for the competition committee to consider a proposal from special-teams coordinators that would make the kickoff more like a punt, with most of the return team up on the line to minimize full-speed collisions.
The “My Cause, My Cleats” program, a campaign in which players wore specially designed cleats to promote their charities of choice in Week 13, should return during the 2017 season. NFL
4. Expand ‘My Cause, My Cleats’ initiative
In Week 13, the NFL gave players permission to wear custom cleats to raise money for the charity of their choice. More than 500 participated in what was a roundly applauded project that, for one week, allowed players to circumvent the league’s strict equipment and uniform code.
We know the NFL isn’t going to go bananas and allow players to choose their cleat color/style every week. But must “My Cause, My Cleats” be limited to one week? Money was raised by auctioning off the game-worn cleats at an NFL Auction. More weeks, and more cleats, would seem to be better than the alternative.
Expect the NFL to look into the possibilities. Business and licensing agreements are no doubt a consideration, but the goodwill — both in public and with players — would seem to be worth at least some revenue, if it comes to that.
The dream, of course, is to use technology — rather than a 10-yard chain and an official’s subjective eye — to spot balls more accurately.
As we noted earlier this season, chips alone can’t tell officials where to mark the ball. A critical piece of data would still be missing. The chip can tell you where the ball is, but the official would still need to determine when the player was down — a task that would depend on eyeballs unless RFID chips were placed on the knees and elbows of every player.
But the chips, if reliable and durable, could still be useful, perhaps in replays to determine whether the ball crossed the goal line.
6. Adjust the Thursday night game schedule
Regardless of whether we want them or whether players like them, Thursday night games are here to stay. They will generate nearly $1 billion in revenue over the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and the NFL’s data — it’s what the league uses, whether you accept it or not — indicates that injury rates are no higher on Thursdays than they are on Sundays or Mondays.
“Thursday Night Football is something that we are very committed to,” Goodell said at Super Bowl LI.
That doesn’t make it impossible to change, and the NFL appears to realize that. Goodell indicated that the league might back away from its current mandate that all teams make at least one appearance per season. That would reduce the number of small-market matchups in prime time. As much as we love the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars, their annual Thursday night matchups don’t appeal to everyone.
7. Address celebration penalties
In at least some corners of the NFL, there was agreement that rules designed to prevent fights and promote sportsmanship have gone too far. The results were 30 demonstration penalties, including some for seemingly harmless acts such as pantomiming a basketball jump shot and pretending to shoot a bow and arrow. They were a small part of the more than 40,000 plays during the season, but they presented an outsized impression of a league focused on frivolous discipline.
Goodell said he will “look at” the resulting criticism in the offseason to see if there is a way to find a better balance between sportsmanship and “trying to allow players the ability to express themselves in an exuberant way.” Establishing a higher standard for taunting would be a reasonable and effective start.
The Chargers will play in the league’s smallest venue the next two seasons, until the stadium they’ll share with the Rams opens. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
8. Assess the California situation
The NFL appears to have reached the saturation point of its stadium-leverage game, at two franchises short of completion. Currently, no one wants the Chargers or the Raiders — at least not in the way the league is accustomed to.
San Diego ultimately refused the demands of Chargers owner Dean Spanos. Las Vegas isn’t offering the Raiders as sweet of a deal to relocate as it once appeared. As a result, the mighty NFL has the Chargers playing in a 30,000-seat soccer stadium for two years before they become tenants in the Rams’ privately built stadium. The Raiders are stuck in Oakland’s decrepit, multisport Oakland-Alameda County Stadium.
Is this situation unique to California, a state long opposed to public subsidies for new football stadiums? Or will it impact the next round of stadium requests — in, say, Buffalo, Kansas City or Washington, D.C. — in a way that will permanently discourage public funds? That will be a focal point in this offseason and beyond.
But the rhetoric has increased in recent months, and Goodell said the league is “actively considering it” at the moment.
Some coaches would prefer bigger practice squads for developmental purposes, rather than turning over young players to another set of coaches. That’s understandable and helps explain the paralysis on this issue. The league might well decide that expanded rosters are a more efficient way to start, but they’ll also need to figure out how to get those players meaningful work on the field. Those discussions should occur this offseason.
The NFL will be studying the impact of the CFL’s video official to see if there is anything to glean from it. Mike Pereira, the NFL’s former vice president of officiating, believes the league has already taken on an unwritten version of this approach. Pereira said in December that some referees rely on illicit advice over their wireless headsets from their replay officials, who are perched in the press box, to fix mistakes.
The next step should be to codify this practice so there is no question or rumor-mongering about what might be happening out of plain sight.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Titans tight end Frank Wycheck told ESPN that he fears a scenario that has played out for other football concussion victims.
“I worry about, I’m scared about the time if I actually get to that point where these guys [who have committed suicide] have snapped,” he said. “What has made them snap? And that is what I am scared of, that there is something that is going to come over me that is going to make me snap.
“I don’t think I am going to do it, but those guys you would never think in a million years would. And that’s the scary part about it. There is no one that can tell you really anything. It’s just, the damage is done.”
Wycheck, who threw the lateral on the Music City Miracle play in a wild-card game during the 1999 postseason, said in a television interview on Fox-WZTV in Nashville, which he taped at least 10 days ago, that he’s certain he has CTE.
He expanded on that in an extended conversation with ESPN.com.
Wycheck is due to have another round of testing done with the concussion lawsuit settled, but said that he hasn’t opened up much about his daily life in great detail regarding his condition and his fears because, “It’s kind of creepy.”
“People don’t want to hear about morbid stuff like that,” he said.
Wycheck plans to donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation for study after he dies.
A linebacker and running back as a kid, he played running back in college at Maryland and fullback in the NFL for Washington before he settled in as a tight end with the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans. He estimates he was part of 297,000 collisions from the start of his football life at 5 until he retired at 33 and that he suffered 25 concussions.
Despite migraines that he’s sure are a result of concussions and blows to the head and issues with anxiety and depression — for which he takes medication — he said he would not change his life in football. He would have liked more information but would have played even if commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his medical advisor, Elliot Pellman, “didn’t lie.”
“I don’t want this to be a pity party, ‘Oh poor Frank,'” he said. “I wouldn’t change anything in the world. I’ve had a blessed life, great opportunities to meet great people, raise my family and be able to take care of my family the way I could. I couldn’t do that without football. And it was the thing I had as a goal since I was 5 years old.”
Divorced, Wycheck has two grown daughters. He said if he had a son, he wouldn’t have allowed him to play contact football before he was 12.
“I played at 5,” he said. “I remember dings and flashes and stuff like that. That couldn’t have been healthy. But no one knew about it yet.”
He currently serves as a co-host of “The Wake Up Zone” on 104.5 The Zone in Nashville as well as the color commentator for Titans Radio, but he has missed work, including the Titans’ game at San Diego this season, because of his symptoms.
Currently, he is in Pebble Beach for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s not playing in the tournament, but Wycheck said he managed to finish a round of 87 there Monday. His neck and back issues frequently keep him from completing a round. Those problems are similar to plenty of guys who had careers in the NFL, he said.
His unwillingness to leave his home in the suburbs south of Nashville is not so common.
“My family and close friends congratulated me for getting on the plane,” he said of his current trip. “… I’ve made commitments over the last five years that at the last minute I’ve cancelled; it’s just like some type of psychological thing for me. It’s hurt, and I’ve lost friendships over that. And that bothers me and makes me feel terrible and leads to another form of depression …
“It’s almost like there is a brick wall before you go out the door.”
Wycheck ranks third all time in Titans franchise history in receptions with 482 and seventh in receiving yards with 4,958.
He was a sixth-round draft pick by Washington out of Maryland in 1993, and the Oilers claimed him off waivers for $100 in 1995.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It required time and patience, but the San Francisco 49ers finally got their man.
The Niners announced Monday that they have officially hired Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to be their head coach. The deal is expected to run for six years, matching the contract the 49ers gave new general manager John Lynch. Shanahan becomes the team’s fourth coach in as many years, replacing Chip Kelly, who followed Jim Tomsula and Jim Harbaugh.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan struggled to put a finger on exactly what went wrong Sunday in a 34-28 OT loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI, in which Atlanta let a 28-3 lead slip away.
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For Shanahan, becoming a head coach is the realization of a dream.
“As a young man, I had the unique benefit of being exposed to the storied history of the San Francisco 49ers firsthand,” Shanahan said in a statement. “From that exposure, I developed great respect for those who created a world-class, championship standard. As this team begins the task of re-establishing that standard, I could not ask for a better partner than John Lynch. He is a man who certainly has personal knowledge of what championship organizations look like. John and I look forward to establishing a strong culture that will serve as our foundation for constructing this team.”
In the process, the Niners became the last of the six teams with head-coach openings to make a hire. It was a deal 36 days in the making.
The 49ers fired Kelly on Jan. 1 and first interviewed Shanahan on Jan. 6 while the Falcons were enjoying a bye week for the wild-card round. The Niners interviewed him again during the bye week before the Super Bowl, also talking to Lynch and two other general manager candidates in the process.
But the Niners couldn’t hire Shanahan until his season ended. That happened Sunday when the Falcons lost in devastating fashion to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Atlanta blew a 25-point second-half lead, with Shanahan’s playcalling late in the game coming under scrutiny.
Kyle Shanahan and the Falcons jumped out to a big lead but couldn’t close out New England in Super Bowl LI. Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports
“It’s not really the run-pass ratio that I look at,” Shanahan told reporters of his decision to keep throwing after getting into field goal range late in the fourth quarter. “It’s you stay on the field and you run your offense. We went three-and-out two times, which was huge. I think we had second-and-1 on both of those. To not convert on second-and-1 and then third, it was tough. That’s why we let them get back into the game.”
San Francisco moved swiftly after Atlanta lost to meet with Shanahan and finalize a contract that had been expected since New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels removed himself from consideration on Jan. 16.
“As an offensive mind, I think he stands alone in the National Football League, as evidenced by the explosive and record-setting offense in Atlanta,” Lynch said. “Though he grew up around coaching, what has most impressed me about Kyle is that he’s become his own man in the profession. Our philosophies on football and our visions for leading the 49ers back to being a championship team align in every way. I am thrilled to have Kyle Shanahan on board.”
Shanahan was one of the most coveted coaching candidates in the league this offseason, interviewing with Denver and Jacksonville and having a meeting with the Rams postponed because of weather. All three teams hired coaches before Shanahan was eligible to agree to a deal.
At 37, Shanahan becomes the second-youngest coach in the NFL; only the 31-year old McVay is younger. But Shanahan’s experience belies his youth.
Shanahan was the youngest position coach in the NFL in 2006 when he coached receivers for the Houston Texans, and two years later he was promoted to become the youngest offensive coordinator in the league.
In the time since, Shanahan has spent nine years as a coordinator, with stops in Houston, Cleveland, Washington and Atlanta. In six of those nine seasons, Shanahan has called plays for an offense that finished in the top nine in the league in yards per game.
Shanahan’s finest work came this season when Atlanta led the league in points scored (540) and yards per play (6.7) and was second in yards per game (415.8). That performance earned Shanahan the Pro Football Writers of America’s Assistant Coach of the Year award, and quarterback Matt Ryan won the league MVP award.
While Shanahan has never coached in San Francisco, he’s no stranger to the organization. His father Mike was the offensive coordinator for the Niners from 1992 to 1994, pressing the buttons of an offense that led the franchise to its most recent Super Bowl triumph in 1994 before becoming the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
Speaking to NFL Network before Saturday’s NFL honors show, 49ers CEO Jed York couldn’t name Shanahan because of league tampering rules, but York said he was rooting for the Falcons and made it clear what he expects of Shanahan and Lynch in their new roles.
“I hate the term rebuilding because it gives people a built-in excuse,” York said. “What we’re trying to do is re-establish our culture, and we want to be at a championship level. John Lynch brings that. You can certainly guess as to who the new head coach is going to be, but we certainly believe that the new head coach will bring a legacy of the 49ers, a legacy of great football knowledge, and those two should be able to work together in a way that we should have a long run of success. That, to me, is the biggest thing. I don’t care about going from 2-14 to whatever the record is this year. I care about 20 years from now when we look back, what did we do together, what did we accomplish over that period of time.”
