INDIANAPOLIS — Brandon Beane knows Brian Daboll well. After all, the Bills general manager worked with the new Titans offensive coordinator for four years in Buffalo, where Daboll held the same title for the Bills. He played a prominent role in Josh Allen’s early development into a star quarterback.
It’s why Beane believes he’ll be a “great asset” for Cam Ward, last year’s No. 1 overall pick.
“I would tell [Ward] to make sure you have thick skin,” Beane said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “It’s all coming from a good place, but Brian is very smart.”
The 2024 NFL MVP, Allen began his NFL career as a project. The talent was there for the former No. 7 overall pick — his dual-threat ability, physical profile and arm strength made him an enticing prospect out of Wyoming — but he was an inconsistent and inaccurate quarterback through his first two NFL seasons. During that span, he completed just 56.3% of his passes for 184.4 yards per game and a 78.2 passer rating.
But in Year 3 with Daboll, Allen’s play skyrocketed. In 2020, he registered a 69.2% completion rate (a 10.4% jump from the previous season) for a career-high 4,544 yards and 45 total touchdowns (37 passing, eight rushing) against 16 turnovers with a 107.2 passer rating, finishing second in MVP voting in the process. Today, he’s on the shortlist of the best players in the NFL.
Brian Daboll and Josh Allen developed a strong relationship in Buffalo based on the OC’s tough love. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Allen clicked with Daboll, Beane said, because of the quarterback’s “thick skin.”
“We’ve seen Brian,” the Bills general manager explained. “He’s from Buffalo. He’s blue-collar. He’s going to let you know that he loves you, and he’s also going to let you know that you screwed up. I think that’s why Brian and Josh really connected and was a big part of Josh’s early ascension as a Bill to where he’s at. Their fond relationship continued even as Brian went to New York, and I’m sure that will continue now that Brian is in Tennessee.
“If Cam Ward will listen,” he added, “[Daboll] will develop him.”
Ward flashed as a rookie, completing 59.8% of his passes for 3,169 yards and 15 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also had two rushing scores and seven lost fumbles for the Titans, who went 3-14 for the second straight season.
New head coach Robert Saleh said Tuesday that Tennessee will be taking a “marathon approach” with the former No. 1 pick’s development. And at his introductory press conference last week, Daboll said Ward was a “big factor” in his decision to come to Nashville.
The former Giants head coach acknowledged that he can take a tough-love approach to coaching.
“I’d say the first thing is to build that relationship first,” he said last week, “to figure out everybody’s a little bit different. Everybody responds to different things. I think that’s important for a quarterback too, to know the 10 other people around him in the huddle and how they respond. Some people respond to tough love like my grandmother gave me growing up. Some people don’t respond to that. So that’s the challenge of a leadership position, both offensive coordinator and quarterback, to make sure we really know our guys, what makes them tick.
“I think it’s well documented that I get pretty heated at times,” he continued. “That’s who I am.”
Ward is apparently well-aware.
“I like that he is a fiery coach,” the quarterback told Titans.com. “He is going to get on my ass when he needs to, and he is going to hold me to a high standard. And that’s the standard I want to be held to.”
It appears that Ward is ready to listen to his new offensive coordinator.
