Getting to know Bill Lazor

[Shake n Blake]

Lazor is our offensive coordinator (duh) and probably my top internal candidate to replace Mervin Lawis. But who is this guy? It seems many on here aren't familiar with his background and experience, so I figured it'd be a good idea help get everyone familiarized with him.

Age: 45 (same age Marvin was when the Bengals hired him)

Coaching History

Cornell: Assistant offensive coach from 1994-2000
Buffalo (college): Offensive Coordinator and QB coach from 2001-2002
Falcons: Offensive quality control in 2003 (under Dan Reeves)
Redskins: Offensive assistant from 2004-2005, promoted to QB coach from 2006-2007  (all under Joe Gibbs)
Seahawks: QB coach from 2008-2009 (under Mike Holgren and Jim Mora)
Virginia: Offensive Coordinator and QB coach from from 2010-2012
Eagles: QB coach in 2013, when Nick Foles had the 3rd best passer rating in NFL history
Dolphins: Offensive Coordinator from 2014-2015
Bengals: QB coach in 2016, promoted to Offensive Coordinator in 2017
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This article, published when Lazor was hired as Dolphins OC, goes into great detail on Lazor's history and influences:

http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/article-1/Dolphins-Hire-Bill-Lazor-As-New-Offensive-Coordinator/3c9f4f73-3adf-45a1-94c4-07691deebe3b

The best parts of this article, IMO:

Quote:Just nine days after creating a vacancy at their offensive coordinator position, the Miami Dolphins today hired former Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor as Mike Sherman’s successor.

One of three candidates interviewed for the job, Lazor brings with him an impressive background that includes having worked under the likes of Joe Gibbs, Mike Holmgren and Dan Reeves. He clearly left a strong impression on Head Coach Joe Philbin, who is entering his third year at the helm and came from a successful offensive system in Green Bay.

“Bill is an accomplished coach and will be a great addition to our coaching staff,” Philbin said. “Bill has been instrumental in helping players reach their full potential, as players and people, at both the college and professional level. He also has a proven track record of success working with a wide variety of offenses."

Thanks to his success with the Eagles and specifically with Foles, Lazor was highly sought after in recent weeks by other teams besides the Dolphins, but he chose to join Philbin’s staff. The 41-year-old former Cornell quarterback feels like this is the right fit for him at this time and credited Philbin with making it an easy sell.

Something else Lazor shared during his conference call with members of the South Florida and Philadelphia media was how much he learned not only from Kelly, but also from Gibbs, Holmgren and Reeves. That kind of experience is priceless, especially for a young up-and-comer.

“The number one thing that I think was common among all of those coaches was that they had a vision of how offensive football should look,” Lazor said. “They had a vision of what the football team was going to look like and every single day when we went out to practice, they made sure that what they saw on the field was heading towards that vision. And that’s the job of the coaches to keep pushing it in that direction. … As coaches what I’ve learned from them is when we sit down and we put together the offense and make our plans, there has got to be a vision that doesn’t change, that we’re all committed to. And then every single day that we’re with the players and have a chance to impact them, we keep driving in that same direction.”

“I’m a competitor. I compete. This is what I’ve done and this is what we enjoy,” Lazor said. “I always enjoyed football. When I got done playing at the college level it was time to pick the next thing and to me it was the greatest way to continue to compete. I love helping to build a team; I love having the chance to impact young men’s lives, but first and foremost I love the football and going out there on Sundays and having a chance to put it up against someone else’s best and competing to win. That’s what we’re going to do everyday. We’re going to compete in the meeting room, in the classroom, on the practice field and on Sundays.”

Lazor's time as Dolphins OC got off to a good start. In 2014, they finished 11th in scoring and 14th in yards. Ryan Tannehill had the best year of his career (before or since), with 4045 yards and completing 66.4% of his throws. 27 TD's to only 12 INTs and a 92.8 passer rating. Not only was their passing game much improved, they also finished 12th in rush yards and 2nd in the NFL in yards per carry.

This came despite the Dolphins having perhaps the worst pass blocking in the league. Tannehill was sacked an NFL high 58 times before Lazor arrived, and was sacked another 46 times in Lazor's first year.

This impressive start for Lazor came to an end in 2015. Lazor was scapegoated after a 38-20 loss to the Jets. A game the Dolphins trailed by as much as 28-7. Tannehill threw for 351 yards, 3 TDs and only 1 pick in the comeback attempt, but Lazor abandoned the run. Finishing with only 12 yards rushing, the Dolphins pinned the loss on Lazor and fired him for "not establishing the run".

Keep in mind that the Dolphins had already fired Kevin Coyle (their DC) earlier in the season and couldn't fire another one...even though the 38 points allowed were clearly the reason the Dolphins lost.

As it turns out, Lazor's firing could be viewed as another feather in his cap, as the Dolphins got worse in nearly every category after he left.

11 games under Lazor
20.5 points per game
335.9 yards per game
Tannehill averaged 272 yards and 1.82 TD's

5 games after Lazor's firing
17.0 points per game
322.4 yards per game
Tannehill averaged 243 yards and 0.8 TD's

Also the run game (the reason Lazor was supposedly fired) saw negligible improvement, going from 91.7 yards under Lazor to 97.4 yards after his firing.

All in all, Lazor saw a lot of success in his brief stint in Miami, but was fired when Miami ran out of scapegoats (Joe Philbin and Kevin Coyle had already been fired). 2015 was a mess in Miami, but Lazor showed promise. Especially in 2014. If you're still reading this, thanks. I put a lot of work and research into this one.