Lonn Phillips Sullivan
Jul 2, 20205 min
Updated: Jul 14, 2020
If you dig this, try 217 pages of every coach, every player and every game of the upcoming 2020 season dissected and analyzed:
@LonnPhillips
PASSING GAME COORDINATOR
Scott Linehan
NFL:
-Coached & Developed WRs Dez Bryant, Nate Burleson, Calvin Johnson & Randy Moss
MINNESOTA VIKINGS:
-2004: Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper amassed MVP-level statistics, throwing for 4,717 passing yards (leading the NFL), 39 passing touchdowns (a franchise record) and 5,123 total yards (an NFL record).
-TOTAL: Under Linehan's offensive structure, Culpepper tossed 82 total touchdowns and 12,049 yards, eclipsing 3,479+ yards every season, while Randy Moss caught 37 touchdowns, including 17 in 2003 (his second highest career TD haul).
DETROIT LIONS:
-His tenure in Detroit saw Linehan's offense boost QB Matthew Stafford to rare playoff appearances, MVP Nominations, Pro Bowl selections & nearly winning Offensive Player of The Year. Stafford's best buddy out wide, Mr. Megatron, also celebrated the best years of his Hall of Fame career when Linehan ran their offense.
TOTAL: In 4 1/2 years within Linehan's offense, Stafford chucked 21, 714 yards and 131 touchdowns, while Megatron caught 8,614 yards for 58 touchdowns, both perennial Pro Bowlers.
There was a lot of debate and speculation as to who would take Joe Brady's vacant passing game coordinator role; we knew Orgeron had hookups, we're aware of his ability to call upon a variety of connections throughout the football world....
...and just as he found the perfect guy to replace Dave Aranda in Bo Pelini, Ed Orgeron hired the right guy to take over from Joe Brady:
Scott Linehan, a former NFL head coach and coordinator, will now take the reigns of our passing game.
During his NFL coaching tenure, Linehan led multiple teams to the playoffs and improved three Pro Bowl QBs from three different teams under his impressive, pedal to the metal Ringling Bros stewardship.
When speaking about the hire on Off The Bench, Coach Orgeron proclaimed "he was everything we were looking for..."
After some consideration, trepidation, and finally, mentally-damaged reflection, the ringing endorsement from Coach O was all I needed to hear.
When the news came out that Linehan would be Orgeron's guy for the gig, many immediately dismissed him and highlighted his horrendous results in St. Louis and mixed bag as part of Jerry Jones's Dallas Cowboys.
However, we're talking about two franchises languishing around the bottom of the barrel as far as mental capacity:
St. Louis' post-Warner organization grew desperate for the move to L.A and became a despicable failure until finally landing in the West Coast.
And then there's the Dallas Cowboys...an institution of dysfunction that'll never be stable...Linehan, just like Zeke or Dak, never had a chance there.
It wasn't Linehan's time in Dallas that caught my eye anyway, what attracted me most was his years spent in the NFC North jettisoning aggressive passing teams.
Linehan's work in Detroit and Minnesota had to be the blueprint for his LSU hire and future Baton Rouge success:
...and you all thought Joe Brady supplied the aggression LSU were missing?
No....this is an Ensminger tradition since mid-November 2018, just embroidered by Brady's Joe Moorhead / Sean Payton-influenced playbook throughout 2019....but if you thought the team of Ensminger / Brady were aggressive, just wait for Scott Linehan:
The numbers and performances prove Scott Linehan is the most intensive, obsessive pass-first coordinator you could find in the NFL or among the college ranks...any worries about a passing game drop-off due to Linehan's presence greatly misrepresents his track record and offensive philosophy:
From 2002-2004, Linehan was the offensive coordinator as well as the quarterbacks and receivers coach for the elite "post-Chris Carter" Minnesota Vikings unit, led by Daunte Culpepper's rocket arm and the G.O.A.T receiving majesty of Randy Moss.
Later, Linehan did even better for his own resume in Detroit:
The former St. Louis Rams head coach guided a young, injury-ravaged Matthew Stafford towards the light, becoming the most entertaining passer in the NFL (during the era of Brady-Manning-Brees-Big Ben and Aaron), all while buoying the luckless Lions into a winning position they hadn't experienced since Barry Sanders retired.
This Stafford-led Lions squad stormed into the playoffs twice under Linehan (Stafford attempting an NFL record 727 throws in 2012).
Since his departure, Detroit only made the playoffs once, and it was mostly due to the system he left behind.
During that run, Linehan's aggressive offense vaulted Matthew Stafford from bonafide bust labels to Offensive Player of the Year nominations, escalating to unanimous MVP candidacy. Around the same time, the former UGA QB became the only NFL QB to ever pass for 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns in a 4 game span.
So...what can Linehan offer Myles that Joe Brady couldn't?
Under Linehan we'll have just as much attention to detail, and if guys like Ja'Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall responded to Brady's youthful exuberance and inexperience by posting record years, then they'll absolutely love working with a seasoned NFL vet who can swap Randy Moss and Megatron's secrets.
In fact, when we originally thought of that idea, there hadn't been any news of whether Linehan had shown the WRs those tapes of Mega or Moss...but in fact, during his first day on campus, he did unveil the tapes to the assembled receivers.
Linehan has already been earmarked as a fantastic offensive craftsman for Gilbert to play for, Orgeron highlighting how Scott has already compared Arik to Megatron, has already developed an entire 5 sheets full of plays designed directly for Gilbert and is 100% uniquely qualified to maximize Gilbert and Marshall's ravenous potential (or find new ways to free Chase from double coverage), let alone what he could do to help McMath, Kirklin, Palmer and Boutte fly high.
Appearing to be the perfect Ensminger collaborator, what makes this an exciting marriage:
Ensminger is the QB Whisperer, he's responsible for the pre-snap movement, the trickery at the line of scrimmage, the complex protection schemes, the choice / stick routes...meanwhile, Linehan develops the routes, coordinates with Mickey Joseph regarding personnel and / or formations, but most of all:
Scott Linehan is a genius at finding favorable match-ups....he's hellbent on getting the best from this group of supernaut wideouts...and when you have Ja'Marr Chase, Terrace Marshall, Racey McMath, Trey Palmer, Kayshon Boutte, Arik Gilbert and Koy Moore within your WR Room, any match-up can be exploited....
Linehan is perfect for LSU....we don't need an offensive revolution, we already did that the previous two seasons...what we need???
As many experienced, knowledgeable and successful minds as we can possibly find, which is why welcoming new analysts Carter Sheridan (won a Super Bowl during his 11 years coaching the WRs for the Saints) and Russ Callaway (2 titles with Alabama) made perfect sense.
It's not as if Joe Brady could only be replaced by four different minds, this is purely about quality control at all costs, aiming for the consistent orgasmic fever dream standard we set last year....and if we're ever going to touch 2019's exploits again, we must expand the offense.
In Linehan, Coach Orgeron hired the best man for the job....the possibilities are endless...boundless...no ceilings...