Ben Johnson seems to be the favorite, and is a lock according to Boomer Esiason, to be the Commanders’ next head coach, and most people seem to believe the choice if it’s not Johnson will be another offensive mind.
But not Brian Mitchell, who says the Commanders should look no further than an hour up the road for the man who has stifled some of the top offensive minds this year.
“I walked in for our show planning meeting and Brian looked at me dead in the eyes asked if I read Jeff Zrebiec’s Mike MacDonald article, so we looked it up,” JP said. “I think Mike and Ben Johnson are probably 1 and 1A in terms of hottest coordinators.”
“You know how Sean McVay can just recant stuff and he knows what's happening? After reading the article, I was like, this dude is the defensive Sean McVay,” BMitch said. “I keep saying I’m cool with whoever Peters hires, and he said he doesn't really care if it's offensive defense, he wants a leader of men. This dude was a running back and a linebacker as a player, and what he began to do as a young man was try to figure out what people were doing, because he wasn't very athletic. So, he wanted to know how he could have an advantage over them. So, he could tell you what the offense and the defense is going to do; he's a defensive coach, but he understands both sides.”
That’s B’s stump speech for MacDonald, although again, he has confidence in the braintrust to get the right man for the job.
“I feel confident in that, unlike some years before where no matter how great the applicants were, we knew we were gonna get the worst one of all, this time we’ll do it right,” Brian said.
But what does he say about people who say it’s the talent, not the coaching, that has the Ravens’ D in such a good place?
“Tell me who that really has clout says that?” Brian asked. “Most people sit here and they just jump on one side, but we sat and watched the Ravens for three days, and even their people were saying how they were looking for pass rush help,” Brian said. “They thought they weren’t gonna be that good this year defensively like they normally are, but I think MacDonald and his staff did something to get them better; we left there thinking that they weren't that good, and most people up there left there thinking they weren't that good, and now they're that good because they found their way to extract the best of the best out of the people.”
