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Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre’s opinion on who the LA Rams should hire to be their next head coach is meaningless, but it would be untrue to say that people wouldn’t listen. Or that it’s an invalid opinion. In fact, I think a lot of Seattle Seahawks fans would support an endorsement made by Favre on Wednesday about the job, even if it was only because they’d be happy to say goodbye to Darrell Bevell.
Darrell Bevell "is a heckuva football coach."--Brett Favre on #Rams HC vacancy on NFL Radio.
— QC (@QuantCoach) December 14, 2016
Bevell was on the Green Bay Packers coaching staff with the QB unit from 2000-2005, so the two are obviously quite close. They reunited with the Minnesota Vikings in 2009 when Bevell was the offensive coordinator there, and Favre had the best season of his career despite being 40-years-old at that point. Favre then had the worst season of his career in 2010 and head coach Brad Childress was fired during the year. Bevell went to Seattle to be Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator in 2011, and they finished 28th in yards and 23rd in points with quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.
After adding Russell Wilson in 2012, the Seahawks jumped to 17th in yards and ninth in scoring. Last season, Seattle was fourth in points and yards. This season, they’ve taken a huge step back and are 22nd in scoring with Wilson really struggling for the first time since the beginning of his rookie year.
That being said, Bevell is a rare coach to have been a coordinator for the last 11 seasons straight, giving him an extraordinary amount of important experience for a 46-year-old, but on that same note, a bad sign that teams may not trust him because of inconsistency and getting aid from incredible players like Favre, Wilson, and Marshawn Lynch. Would he be a good fit for the Rams?
Many believe that LA should go after an offensive-minded coach and one who is able to develop 2016 top overall pick Jared Goff; in addition to working alongside Favre for so long and developing Wilson, Bevell was also the QB coach in Green Bay during the rookie season of Aaron Rodgers, though Rodgers of course only participated in practices back then. There’s definitely something to be said about his offensive experience and NFC West experience that could be quite attractive to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
However, it’s also likely that Kroenke will choose someone who has a lot of head coaching experience, as well as experience running a full show. That’s why someone like Carroll has been talked about as the ideal candidate, and getting one of his sidekicks may not fit the bill.
A lot of fans would like to see him go (though taking his secrets to a division rival with Aaron Donald may give at least a percentage of those people stop and think twice about it) but I believe Bevell is quite valuable to Seattle. I also think he deserves a head coaching opportunity and replacing him won’t be as easy as it seems, or that fans will like who replaces him; after all, isn’t Tom Cable a candidate to replace Bevell if he leaves?
I don’t think that anyone will care what Favre has to say, but given some of the success he had with Bevell, along with Wilson and getting a year with Rodgers, what he did under Bevell might speak volumes.
Just not to the Rams, I don’t think.