Brian Daboll is somehow able to find meaningful NFL work in 2018

Brian Daboll has already crashed and burned as offensive coordinator for three different NFL franchises, but that didn’t stop the Buffalo Bills from hiring him.

The National Football League is very good at recycling. Even Norv Turner was just hired for another coordinator role, his 54th such position, give or take a few. So it shouldn’t be surprising for Kansas City Chiefs fans that Brian Daboll was just hired by the Buffalo Bills to be their brand new offensive coordinator.

Except that it’s Brian Daboll.

Yes, on paper, the Bills just hired the offensive coordinator of the best team in college football, since Daboll captained the offense of the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2017. Yes, Daboll also coached with the New England Patriots for the four seasons before that, learning under Bill Belichick for another run as tight ends coach after having already worked with Belichick from 2002-06.

But the veneer stops there and any fan of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs or Miami Dolphins will tell you that hiring Daboll is a fool’s errand—that there’s zero proof that he’s been able to ever call the shots with any success whatsoever. He might make a fine coach, a decent consultant, a preferred voice at the table. All of those are well and good, but he’s been proven a poor coordinator time and time (and time) again.

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From 2009 to 2012, Daboll cycled through three teams as their offensive coordinator. He spent the first two years with the Browns and ranked 29th and 31st in total points. The Dolphins gave him a chance in 2011 to prove it was more an issue with the Browns and Daboll responded by finishing 20th in points scored (and 22nd in yards).

Then came his single season with the Chiefs, the year before Andy Reid and John Dorsey arrived to save the day. It was a miserable season for all involved, but the Chiefs finished dead last in the NFL in total offense that year—32nd overall in points scored.

If Bills fans want to look for a silver lining, it’s simply that Daboll has never had that much to work with at the quarterback position in any of his previous stints. In Cleveland, he had Jake Delhomme and Colt McCoy. With the Dolphins, he had Matt Moore and Chad Henne. In Kansas City, he had Matt Cassel. It’s hard to move the chains when you have some of the worst talents at the game’s most important position.

That said, Daboll performed as expected with the talent given him. He clearly didn’t elevate anyone at the time and it’s hard to imagine him succeeding with the limited offensive options in Buffalo. But here’s to the Bills and the likely short-lived fourth tenure for Daboll as offensive coordinator.

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