Coaching Profile: Mike McCoy

McCoy interviewed with the Bears last Sunday. Chicago was among the first teams to request an interview with one of the hottest coordinators in the league. That being said, reports from yesterday indicate that Arizona will look to lock him up as their next coach very soon this week and that San Diego and Philadelphia would like to meet with him as well.

McCoy started out as a quarterback himself, playing collegiately at Utah. After bouncing between NFL Europe, the CFL and the NFL for three years he turned to coaching.

McCoy's coaching career began in 2000 under George Seifert with the Carolina Panthers. He was an offensive assistant in 2000 and 2002, serving as receivers coach in 2001. He served as QB coach from '02-'08 and added "passing game coordinator" in '07 and '08.

He coached Jake Delhomme to his only Pro-Bowl selection in 2005 and has overseen six 3,000 yard passing seasons (Delhomme three times and Kyle Orton twice). His bio mentions he has coached four Pro-Bowlers; Ryan Clady (2009), Brandon Marshall (2009) and Brandon Lloyd (2010), in addition to Delhomme.

The first of two seasons he was passing game coordinator for the Panthers, the team finished 29th in passing yards. However, he managed to work with four different starting quarterbacks and get them to combine for a stat line as follows: 56.4% completion percentage, 2,941 yards, 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions and a total rating of 71.4. Those four QBs you ask? A 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde, Jake Delhomme, David Carr and rookie Matt Moore. Not too shabby!

His '08 passing game managed to get a healthy Delhomme for a full season and Delhomme completed 59.4% of his passes for 3,288 yards, 15 TDs, 12 INTs and an 84.7 rating.

Now for the offenses he has actually coordinated.

In 2009 his Broncos squad ranked 15th in yards, 20th in points and that broke down to 14th in rushing attempts and ninth in passing attempts. The '09 Broncos finished 18th in rushing yards and 13th in passing yards.

In 2010, the Broncos were 13th in offensive yards, 19th in points. The team finished 27th in rushing attempts, 26th in rushing yards and seventh in both passing attempts and yards.

In 2011, McCoy really made a name for himself when he turned the offense over from Orton to Tim Tebow. The offense finished poorly in the rankings; 23rd in yards and 25th in points. The passing game, McCoy's strong suit, was dead last in attempts and 31st in yardage. However, his rushing offense which saw Tebow doing all those things every NFL analyst said couldn't work in the NFL; the single wing, read-option stuff, that finished first in the league in both rushing attempts and yards.

Then for 2012, McCoy managed to once again turn around his offense to suit Mr. Peyton Manning. Manning led an offense which finished fourth in yards, second in points, ninth in rushing attempts and tenth in passing attempts. The Broncos had the fifth most passing yards and the 16th most rushing yards.

Even by Manning standards he had one of his best seasons. He led the league in completion percentage and was only .2% off his career high (68.6% on the year), he had his second highest passing yards (4,659, only 41 yards behind his 2010 season), second most TD passes (37, behind the then-NFL-record 49 he threw in '04) and the threw the third-fewest interceptions (11, his fewest since a career-low nine in '06 and 10 which he's thrown in three different seasons). Manning also had the third most attempts in his career and the second-most completions. Not bad for a guy who had four neck surgeries and hadn't played in a season!

So there is the deal on McCoy. He has overseen making some so-so QBs look good (Delhomme, Orton), a bad QB look serviceable (Tebow) and a great QB great (Manning). In addition, he and McDaniels got Brandon Lloyd to keep his head screwed on straight for a career year and got Brandon Marshall a then-career-high 10 TD catches.

How would McCoy do prowling the Chicago sideline with Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Matt Forte under his guidance?