re: Alabama Hires Patriots' TE Brian Daboll as Offensive Coordinator

What Brian Daboll, others have said about new Alabama offensive coordinator's style | AL.com

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Brian Daboll remains a mysterious figure as Alabama's new offensive coordinator. His hiring, confirmed Friday evening, still has not been officially announced by the school.

Even when he is, there won't be a news conference or any kind of interview to pick his brain on the new gig. That'll keep his offensive philosophy under wraps a little longer.

Among the only means of deciphering his views required a search of his past. The New England Patriots tight ends coach of the past three seasons was also an NFL offensive coordinator with three different teams.

Though he wasn't front and center in those jobs with Cleveland, Miami and Kansas City respectively, Daboll spoke to his coaching methods at each stop. Here's a quick collection of his thoughts after digging into the archives of news outlets that covered his teams.

Introduced as Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator: Jan. 19, 2011

"What we are going to try to do is attack the weaknesses of the defense and we are going to try and maximize our strengths," said Daboll, who was officially hired and introduced as the Dolphins' new offensive coordinator Wednesday. "Whether that is spread it open, 'let's go' [getting] in a no-huddle [offense, or] whether that is tighten down, we are going to do that."

-- Daboll, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel

"We're going to do whatever we need to do to give us a chance," he said. "We're going to attack the weaknesses of the defense and maximize our strengths. Whether that's spread-it-out, let's-go, no-huddle or tighten-it-down, we're going to do it."

-- Daboll, according to the AP

"We are going to try to use formations, some different motions and different shifts to try to create mismatches within players in this division," Daboll said. "You have some good players here on the perimeter, particularly in Brandon [Marshall]. [Davone] Bess does an excellent job for you. We will try to create some mismatches, put them on some spots where maybe you haven't seen them before."

-- Daboll, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel

Early-season news conference in Miami: Sept. 8, 2011

"At the end of the day, you have to adapt to your players. If you have a running back that can do some things that maybe some other running backs can't, you have to adapt to it. ... It's your challenge as a coach to adapt the system to the players."

-- Daboll, according to news conference video

Introduced as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator: Feb. 7, 2012

"The first word I want to use is 'attack. When you're an offensive football coach, you want to try to really set precedent on the defense and attack the defense."

"I'm a high-energy, up-tempo guy. I expect perfection. I know that's not possible all the time but I think we need to all hold ourselves to a high standard, to really setting the tone and expecting the highest detail and highest execution from ourselves." -- Daboll, according to the Associated Press

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel on Daboll: Jan. 28, 2015

"Every day he's got his hands in the game-planning process, the preparation, the scouting report. He's a guy that I lean on significantly in my role. Brian's involved in every meeting we have, whether it's red-zone, third-down, goal-line, short-yardage. His tight ends are going to be right in the middle of that anyway. His expertise, his knowledge and the experience he brings is tremendous."

--McDaniel, according to the Buffalo News

Former Cleveland QB Bernie Kosar on Daboll's time as Browns offensive coordinator

-- "(Cleveland) had a real shortage of talent. It was not a systemic or play-calling thing, though he got a lot of flak for that. The issue was a lack of players. This past year, (Cleveland) was just devoid of playmakers on the team. I'm not really sure it matters if Einstein or Bill Walsh in his prime was calling plays. We had (Peyton) Hillis and that was about it. I really liked what Brian was trying to do. He's got good thoughts and smart ways of doing things. He just needed some players to do it."

--Kosar in 2011, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel

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Finebaum always says something like this to pull Bama fans back into his show in the offseason. Not worried about what he thinks about Daboll. If Saban thinks he's good enough, I'm happy with the hire.

I don't often agree with him, but I agree with parts of what he said. I won't say it's a step backwards but I will say it's lackluster.

I'm basically hoping for the best. A-Day won't show us anything, so I guess we just have to see how we look against FSU.

I actually liked the Mac hire. For as many lackluster hires that "worked", you can name that many plus that haven't. As a fan, I have to hope that he works out, but I'm free to have individual thought about what I think f the hire. I hope he's the best hire since Homer Smith. We will jus take have to wait and see.

Me too. I thought we were toast in 2015 after Ole Miss. I thought it was all over.

Brian Daboll Named Alabama Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach | RollTide.com

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University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban announced the hiring of Brian Daboll on Monday as the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

"We are certainly happy to add a coach the caliber of Brian Daboll to our staff," Saban said. "I have known Brian since he worked for us as a GA at Michigan State and he has a fantastic reputation in the coaching profession. He brings a tremendous work ethic to the job and has a wealth of football knowledge. Brian is a great teacher of the game, and someone who can relate well to our players. We are excited to welcome Brian, his wife Beth and their family to Tuscaloosa."

Daboll comes to Tuscaloosa after spending 17 years in the NFL and the past three seasons with the New England Patriots, fresh off of a Super Bowl victory. He coached tight ends for two seasons and offensive line for one in his second stint with the Patriots. He spent a total of 10 seasons in New England and helped the team to five Super Bowl titles (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX and LI).

"I am honored to have the chance to return to the college game and work for Coach Saban at Alabama," Daboll said. "He basically gave me my start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Michigan State in the late 1990s and has always been a very important influence on my coaching career. It is a tremendous opportunity to work at an institution such as Alabama with its rich tradition and history of sustained success, and I'm very excited to get started."

Daboll coached Rob Gronkowski to unanimous Associated Press first team All-Pro honors following the 2015 season and tutored Martellus Bennett (55 rec., 701 yards, 7 TDs) and Gronkowski (25 rec., 540 yards, 3 TDs) in 2016. He returned to the Patriots for the 2014 season after serving as the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012.

Daboll joined Kansas City after spending the 2011 season as the offensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins. During his season with the Dolphins, Miami produced a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver for the first time in franchise history.

He served as Cleveland's offensive coordinator during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The Browns offense saw dramatic improvement in the second half of the 2009 season, scoring 11.1 more points per game, preforming 20.8 percent better in the red zone and averaging 1.9 fewer turnovers per game during that span.

Daboll coached quarterbacks during his two seasons (2007-08) with the New York Jets, helping Brett Favre pick up the Jets offense after coming out of retirement. In his one season under Daboll, Favre captured a Pro Bowl berth for the AFC squad and had the second-highest completion percentage of his career (65.7).

Prior to entering the NFL ranks, Daboll spent one year (1997) as a volunteer assistant at the College of William & Mary before serving two seasons (1998-99) as a graduate assistant for Saban at Michigan State.

A 1997 graduate of the University of Rochester, Daboll was a two-year starter for the YellowJackets at safety. He and his wife Beth have five children, Marky, Christian, Aiden, Haven and Avery.

All such employment contracts are subject to approval by The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.

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but I will say it's lackluster.

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Meh, people only think this because the last 1 1/2 hires were Kiffin and Sark. And because people were discussing Chip Kelly.

It's not normal to hire those kinds of guys as OC's. I'm perfectly happy with the McElwain's of the world. Daboll could be a flop, but we won't know until he is. I assume if Saban and Belichick like him, he's a smart guy.

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I won't say it's a step backwards but I will say it's lackluster.

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Time will tell...but I don't know who he could've hired that would not have been to some extent (Chip Kelly was never coming here as OC). Our OC position suddenly being open in February was not the ideal time to be searching for a coordinator...

1. He’s a graduate of the Saban-Belichick coaching tree

Of the many interesting things Lane Kiffin said on his way out the door as Alabama’s OC, his comments about how he might not have been the best fit personality-wise with Saban were interesting. It was an admission that, yes, Kiffin and Saban butted heads from time to time. And watching them from afar, it was easy to see that in their three years together, they never quite figured out how to deal with one another.

But that learning curve shouldn’t be such an issue with Daboll. The fact is that he and Saban are cut from the same cloth.

Daboll got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant in 1998 at Michigan State, where Saban was the head coach, and credits him as an important career influence. Daboll spent the 1998 and 1999 seasons in East Lansing before Saban left to become the head coach at LSU. But in the process of moving on, Saban helped get Daboll a job with Patriots coach Bill Belichick, one of Saban's closest friends in coaching.

Belichick and Saban had worked together with the Cleveland Browns, and Belichick hired Daboll as a defensive assistant coach in 2000 and later promoted him to wide receivers coach in 2002. He spent a total of 11 seasons in two stints in New England before accepting the job at Alabama...[/quote]