Dexter McCluster Loves Brian Daboll
Dexter McCluster is in love.
The Chiefs’ utility man/offensive weapon went on the record yesterday about the team’s new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
“I love Coach (Brian) Daboll,” McCluster told KCChiefs.com. “He has a way of using the guys that he has to their strengths. I think now going into the third week, I’m really understanding the coverages, understanding the defenses and my responsibilities to get other players open as well. As a coach, he’s a great guy. He knows how to use his players, how to use their strengths or their weaknesses. I’m loving every moment of it.”
This news should come as a welcome relief to Chiefs fans, many of whom may have been feeling apprehensive about Daboll, who’s offenses in Cleveland and Miami did not do very well statistically. There were also unsettling reports about Daboll’s sideline and practice demeanor in a report from Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports. Here is a excerpt from that article:
"Another time, says the offensive player, “It was during a walkthrough, and they chose Colt to stand in at fullback, for whatever reason. I guess he kind of ran the wrong route; how the hell should he know what the fullback was supposed to run? Daboll flipped out. Colt was livid. He’d never had a coach talk to him like that.”Several Browns recalled a meeting early in the 2010 season in which Daboll told McCoy, “I just watched [tape of] your last college game, and you were terrible. What the hell were you throwing out there? That was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen. Why the [expletive] did we draft you?” (Daboll, through a Dolphins spokesman, said he did not recall ever having said those things to McCoy.)"
The fact that McCluster seems to think so well of Daboll is a good sign. Daboll may not have been the greatest communicator in Cleveland but it isn’t necessarily fair to label him as a maniac because of one article. The fact that KC players are beginning to praise Daboll is a good sign that perhaps he left his hot temper in Cleveland.
It makes sense that McCluster pointed out Daboll’s talent as using his players in a way to maximize their potential. There is perhaps no player on KC’s offense with more untapped potential than McCluster. Daboll has a history of using players better than other coach have. He has had particular success with running backs, getting career years out of Jerome Harrison, Peyton Hillis and Reggie Bush.
Daboll has never had as many weapons at his disposal as he does in KC. If he is able to continue to squeeze the most out of his players, more and more players might find themselves joining the “I Love Brian Daboll Fan Club.”