FanPost

Bills should target Dirk Koetter if they fire Hackett

I've been 50/50 on if Hackett should be fired, I do believe few offensive coordinators could have done more with the QBs here.

I believe why Hackett was brought in was because Marrone identified him as a bright young offensive mind at Syracuse who can someday be a Head Coaching candidate. This still may be true someday.

Whats more bothersome is the regression of the running game. In Hackett's first year, the Bills were second in the NFL in rushing offense. In year 2 they regressed to 25th, however there could be reasons for that. One of those reasons could be because the injury to CJ Spiller. Yes, C.J was up down to start the year, but maybe he could have got better as the season carried on. CJ going down left this team with what? A 34 year old Fred, a plodder in Boobie Dixon, and Bryce Brown. CJ Spiller was half of this teams running game.

Another reason is because in year 2 of Marrone and Hackett, it became very apparent the teams simply figured the Bills out and tried to take out their run game. The Bills tried to have an identity of running and defense so far and teams have emphasized stopping the running backs. I mean do really think teams fear EJ Manuel? Kyle Orton?

Lastly, they simply asked more of Fred Jackson when he came off of injury in the ground game. After Spiller went down.

With Spiller in the lineup, the touches and carries were pretty much close between the two. When CJ went down after a 53 yd in Minnesota, Fred came back week 10 and the Bills asked more of him. His total touches went up from an average of 13 in weeks 1-7 to 20-21 in the final 6 weeks. They specifically asked more of Fred in the ground game as well as an increased load in the pass game. On the ground he saw close to 18-25 touches per game.

In the pass game, Fred is still a highly effective receiver out the backfield and an effective tandem back, but he needs his carries limited. I'm not saying Fred sucks, Jackson is a fine back, but I believe if you're asking Fred Jackson to touch the ball 20-25 times at this stage in his career, and at his age, you're asking for trouble. CJ was a significant part of this offense and ground game, and I do believe it was tough for Hackett to compensate for his loss.

Question is: are the ground game woes due to Hackett and his schemes, and the line coach, or is it backs? I conclude it to be a combination of the injuries to the backs, relying more on Fred to shoulder more the load, and teams focusing more on stopping the run game because of inconsistent QB play, not to mention a line that struggled at times. All of that is a recipe for disaster with any offense.

The one obvious thing about the Bills coordinator job is this is not an easy job to take, and I do think Hackett has done the best he could possibly do with no QB, a struggling line, and backfield injuries.

But, With a offensive coordinator as green as Hackett who's only called plays for 2 seasons in the NFL, the Bills may need to bring someone in with more experience in the NFL, because this offense could use a more experienced offensive coordinator that's had tough jobs before in the NFL, as the Bills offensive coordinator job will continue to be tough with no quarterback.

You don't even have to fire him, you can just reassign him to a different role (I.e Assistant Head Coach)

If the Bills choose to fire Hackett or relieve him of his duties and reassign him, then look no further than Dirk Koetter, offensive coordinator from Atlanta.

In Atlanta, with Matt Ryan at the helm, that might be an offensive coordinators dream, and led Atlanta to one of the most potent pass attacks in the NFL. You might be able to give him some credit for developing Matt Ryan and getting the most out of his weapons. Atlanta's problem was definitely not offense.

In Jacksonville, Koetter had a tougher job. He still designed an effective offense around players like David Garrard, Maurice-jones Drew, Marcedes Lewis, Mike Sims-Walker. His Jacksonville offenses were top 10 in yards and touchdowns 3 times of his 5 seasons.

Other options to replace Hackett include:

Greg Roman: offensive coordinator, 49ers. I'd scratch him off the list, but if a new coach doesn't retain him, he could be available. kaepernick has failed to progress as a passer in his 4 seasons.

Clyde Christensen, QB coach indianapolis: He was OC for Tampa Bay during their Super Bowl run. He moved on to Indy to be OC under Jim Caldwell's Colts. He was retained but reassigned to Quarterbacks coach by Chuck Pagano.

Pete Carmichael, offensive coordinator, New Orleans Saints: Marrone's rumored target in 2013, but he choose to stay with the Saints. Tough to pry loose.

Marc Trestman, unemployed: The QB guru has had success an an OC, although you can say he's the Wade Phillips of offense, as his teams regress in year 2, and 3. I'd pass on Trestman as anything more than a QB coach personally, but someone will take him for sure.

Glenn Thomas: QB Coach, Atlanta Falcons: Koetter or Mike Smith may end up bringing Thomas with him for whatever job they takes, if he doesn't get a coordinator job first. he's a hot name for his work with Matt Ryan. He's young like Hackett , but more experienced at the NFL level. Ready to be a coordinator.

Brian Schottenheimer: phenomenal offensive mind, great offenses wherever he's gone .....ok I'm kidding with that one lol

Alex Van Pelt: QB coach, Green Bay Packers. Did some good things with Josh Freeman in his only good season in the NFL. He was put into a bad position in Buffalo as OC when Turk Schonert was canned.

Randy Fichtner: QB coach Pittsburgh Steelers: With Whaley here at least for now, I'm sure he will mention a Pittsburgh name for the job in fichtner. He would be a first time NFL offensive coordinator, and was Actually Roethlisburger's favorite for their vacated OC spot that Bruce Arians left. As WR coach, he was instrumental in developing Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, and Santonio Holmes. He has been offensive coordinator of record setting offenses at: Arkansas State and Memphis before coming to Pittsburgh.

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.