Green Bay: The Cradle of Quarterback Coaches

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who will take part in the Super Bowl on Sunday, looks to become a head coach in the NFL in the near future.

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell—Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports.

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell—Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports.

PHOENIX—When the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, quarterback Russell Wilson will receive a lot of attention and television face time, and deservedly so. Having already won one Super Bowl and looking for his second in just his third year in the NFL, Wilson is one of the best young quarterbacks in professional football.

But the man that deserves a lot of credit for Wilson's development is Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.

“Darrell means the world to me," said Wilson. "He’s done a tremendous job of getting us ready, getting us prepared every week and teaching us and keeping us going every week. He’s a phenomenal coach. I think he’s one of the best coaches in the National Football League, and to have Coach Bevell as my offensive coordinator, I don’t want him to ever leave. I’m selfish in that manner."

Bevell is a former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach, one in a long line that have gone on to have high degree of success at football's highest level.

From the time Mike Holmgren arrived in Green Bay in 1992, four consecutive assistants that have held the title of quarterbacks coach have gone on to become head coaches in the NFL from Steve Mariucci to Marty Mornhinweg to Andy Reid to Mike McCarthy.

"It's remarkable," said former Packers quarterback and current ESPN analyst Mark Brunell. "They had a really good group come through there. Of course, I was fortunate to be with Marty and Andy and started out with Steve Mariucci. First of all, good men, bright football minds, good leaders, good coaches. It certainly was a help to me as a  young quarterback, being surrounded by guys that really knew the game and knew how to coach quarterbacks."

What's perhaps even more remarkable is that there's even more former Packers quarterbacks coaches just waiting to become the next to assume the mantle, starting with Bevell.

"It's pretty good, but it hasn't finished yet, right?" said Bevell this week as his team prepared to defend their league championship.

 

Darrell Bevell, A Case Study

For Bevell, an Arizona native, his life in football has come full circle this week, in a sense.

After graduating from high school in Scottsdale, Ariz. and spending one year at Northern Arizona under then-offfensive coordinator Brad Childress, Bevell went on a two-year LDS mission.

At that point, Bevell's ties to the state of Wisconsin begin, enrolling at Madison and becoming the quarterback for Barry Alvarez's football program.

Bevell helped resuscitate a program that had been irrelevant for decades, directing them to a 10-1-1 record and a Rose Bowl victory in 1994 and following that up with a victory in the Hall of Fame Bowl the ensuing season, winning back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history.

After graduating from college, Bevell got into coaching almost immediately and broke into the NFL for the first time in 2000, joining the staff of Mike Sherman as an offensive assistant.

By 2003, Bevell was promoted to quarterbacks coach, where he mentored Brett Favre until 2005 until leaving to reunite with Childress and become offensive coordinator of the division rival Minnesota Vikings starting in 2006.

When Childress was fired in 2010, Bevell then joined Pete Caroll out in Seattle, where the Seahawks have enjoyed unprecedented success. Despite winning a Lombardi Trophy last season, the high-water mark of Bevell's career as a play caller may have come in this season's NFC Championship game, the dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Packers.

"I was so impressed with his patience and poise in the championship game," said former NFL MVP Rich Gannon, currently a broadcaster for SiriusXM. "The quarterback throws four interceptions, things aren't going well. A lot of coordinators press the panic button and start throwing the ball and start getting away from who they are. He did not do that. I think that speaks volumes about his maturity, his decision making, his patience and poise in a critical situation."

With that win, Bevell and the Seahawks have qualified for their second consecutive Super Bowl, this time out in Arizona where it all began.

In Green Bay Bevell worked with a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Favre and now out in Seattle, he's developing an up-and-comer in Russell Wilson. One might argue that it's elite athletes making a coach look good, but Bevell knows the time he's invested into these players.

"I think any coaches that do well have successful players," said Bevell. "You got to have great players and really solid players to do well. It kind of goes hand in hand. You can talk to Brett, I'm sure he'll tell you there were definitely things we were able to help him with. I've had a great experience to be able to work with Russell and kind of bring him along here early in his career, and his numbers speak for himself."

Thanks to all his triumps, Bevell has become one of the hottest names in coaching circles, even if it's been a Catch-22 of sorts. By advancing so far into the postseason, most NFL teams with open positions at head coach aren't willing to wait until after the Super Bowl to hire one.

"It's something I want to do," said Bevell. "It's something that I look forward to. But the situation we're in, it's not something I'd want to change. I know it makes it a little bit harder. But a lot of great coaches have not been able to have the opportunity to be in a Super Bowl and be able to be here for a second time. I'm not willing to exchange that."

Bevell did take advantage of the Seahawks bye in the wildcard round of the playoffs to interview for positions with the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills, but he's still waiting for his first chance to lead his own team.

"He will be a head coach eventually, and I don't think it will be very long before that happens," said Mark Brunell.

 

The Bigger Picture in Green Bay

Steve Mariucci, the man that began the streak of four straight quarterbacks coaches to be named head coaches, credits the culture in Green Bay.

The current NFL Network analyst compares the coaching tree to the general manager manager tree, drawing parallels to former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, who helped spawn a line of executives in his mold such as Ted Thompson, John Schneider, Reggie McKenzie, John Dorsey and Scot McCloughan.

Putting on his NFL owner hat, Marriucci explains how guys get hired in the NFL.

"I want somebody that has learned from Ron Wolf's system of drafting and evaluating and that kind of organizing, so you go all those guys," said Mariucci. "You got six or eight of those general managers that came from that system. So a lot of it has to do with, we came from a successful system with a successful quarterback. We're all very lucky to have that opportunity."

Although this lineage of quarterback coaches began under Mike Holmgren, what's astounding is that it continues to this day.

Even if the Ray Rhodes era lasted just one season in Green Bay, he at least had an eye for talent when he hired Mike McCarthy. Sherman then hired Bevell. And McCarthy, now directing his own program, has shown a knack for developing his own assistants.

McCarthy's first quarterbacks coach Tom Clements has been promoted to offensive coordinator. Taking over for Clements was Ben McAdoo, who has since joined the New York Giants as their offensive coordinator. And succeeding McAdoo is Alex Van Pelt, who already was an offensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills in 2009 and might soon be once again.

The Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars all reportedly requested to interview Van Pelt for their vacant positions.

"You look at Mike McCarthy, they've got a lot of really good coaches on that staff," said Rich Gannon. "Alex Van Pelt's going to be the next great one. I really believe that. I know Alex was a player at the University of Pittsburgh, a player in the NFL, worked with Mike back at Pitt and not only that but Alex's ability to coach different positions, two years ago working with the running backs. But I think Alex is a great fit for what they have there and Aaron (Rodgers), and Mike is really good at developing coaches."

Of course, the same argument with Darrell Bevell and his connections to Brett Fave and Russell Wilson can be applied to McCarthy's quarterbacks coaches, all getting to work with an MVP caliber player like Rodgers.

It's getting to the point, however, where the accomplishments of this litany of quarbacks coaches is no mere coincidence.

"Of course, you're a pretty good coach when you coach a good player," said Mark Brunell. "But I think Brett would tell you a lot of his success had everything to do with those guys. But these gentlemen have gone on to coach some very good players. Andy (Reid), of course, with Donovan (McNabb). What Darrell's doing right now with Russell, these type of coaches, they make the players that they have much better. A lot of the credit goes to them, because they do a good job preparing the quarterbacks and getting the best out of them."

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (3)

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egbertsouse's picture

February 02, 2015 at 02:20 pm

Yep, what a genius!

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Point-Packer's picture

February 02, 2015 at 09:34 pm

Yep, future head coach. I mean, soon to be fired offensive coordinator. No way he survives this. Seattle needs a scalp and its likely to be Darrell's.

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Packer_Pete's picture

February 03, 2015 at 08:46 pm

I hope Bevell get's a HC shot. Preferably in the NFC North. I'd love to see the Packers play against a Bevell directed O, especially after seeing how "great" he was as OC for the Vikings. Maybe he can hire Chilly as OC then. Coaching dream team right there.

Let's face it, the Seattle O doesn't exactly strike fear in opponents eyes. They are constantly put into great situations by their D, have a mobile QB, a tough RB, a decent OL yet don't do that much in the big scheme of things. Had not every bounce gone their way in the last 4 mins of the NFCCG game then we wouldn't even discuss their O or Bevell at all. Had Bostick caught the ball, or the desperation heave for the 2 pt conversion gone wrong, then what we would be discussing is how the average at best Packers D dominated the Seattle O. Plain and simple as that.

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