Getting to know Bill Lazor

[*Go Cards*]

(10-27-2017, 08:07 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: 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:


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.

Good stuff, thanks for posting