Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell has been dubbed as one of the up-and-coming offensive-minded coaching stars in the NFL. Interim coach Bill Callahan is a 63-year-old football lifer who has filled various coaching roles since 1980.
One has been compared to the likes of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, both of whom left Washington in the past decade and went to become formidable head coaches in the NFL. The other has implemented a clock-milking, run-heavy game plan that mitigates any risk-reward situation in Washington.
While O’Connell calls the plays for the Redskins, a recent article from The Athletic paints a picture of the difficulty the former QB has in gearing Washington’s offense towards his own line of thinking, though he hasn’t expressed frustration with the situation.
“It may not be my offense on a game day because the head coach has a way he wants to play the football game,” O’Connell said. “Try to play complementary football with the other two phases (defense and special teams).”
When asked about how much of the playcalling he actually does, O’Connell responded that it was hard to put a percentage on it, but he felt that he was still able to do his job well under Callahan.
While the Redskins ramp up their coaching search as the season enters the second half, it will be interesting to see if O’Connell is able to let it fly with Dwayne Haskins and the offense a bit more as he continues to throw his hat into the ring for the top job. Washington says that they have a future offensive mastermind in the building. It would be smart to let him start acting like it.
