Given Matt Cavanaugh’s wealth of experience as an NFL quarterback, position coach and offensive coordinator, Terry Shea, the trusted quarterbacks guru of Robert Griffin III, believes Cavanaugh and Griffin will be a good fit heading into Washington’s 2015 season.
“Number one, Matt Cavanaugh has been an offensive coordinator,” Shea noted in a telephone interview. “He has been a quarterbacks coach. He has played the position at a very high level so he will have as much sensitivity to what it’s like, as quarterbacks coach, as the offensive coordinator sends his message.”
Cavanaugh joined Washington’s staff Wednesday as the first quarterbacks coach under Jay Gruden, a former college quarterback who went without a designated coach for the position during his first season as head coach.
Shea, who spent eight seasons in the NFL working with quarterbacks, said he’d never met Cavanaugh but referenced his impressive credentials and positive reputation around the league as key qualifications.
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While Shea said he firmly believed in the merits of NFL quarterbacks coaches, he raised two words of caution about the dynamic. One: An NFL quarterback needs a consistent message on matters of mechanics. And two: An NFL quarterback coach must bring an appropriate level of respect for his pupils.
“Over my years of coaching, and I’m sure Jay Gruden will confirm this — too many voices in the quarterback’s ear can be a negative, as well,” Shea said. “You have to be good about how you divide up the reps when you are working with a situation when you might have three very knowledgeable coaches, and the quarterback is receiving information from all three.
“All of the sudden you have the possibility of one voice conflicting with the other; not necessarily by intent, but just by a message that is conveyed in a different manner. You have to make sure the quarterback is receiving a consistent message. I’m sure the Redskins will take care of that.”
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Gruden was particularly critical of Griffin’s mechanics as the quarterback struggled during their first season together, citing his subpar footwork, improper drops and incorrect reads, among other shortcomings. Griffin won just one of his six complete games last season, which was interrupted by an ankle injury. Washington finished 4-12, once again at the bottom of the NFC East.
● Related: Griffin says he wasn’t healthy last year and ‘it sucked’
Asked what sort of match Cavanaugh might make for Griffin, Shea said: “You want to make sure that the quarterbacks coach carries a certain amount of respect going into the position, and you would hope that the personalities are a match.”
Based on everything he’d heard about Cavanaugh, Shea predicted he’d mesh well.
“He’ll bring that respect that I talked about into the quarterbacks room. I think for Robert, and for all the quarterbacks of the Redskins, it’s a good fit.”
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Cavanaugh, a former standout college quarterback at Pittsburgh, played 14 seasons in the NFL as a backup with New England, San Francisco and Philadelphia. He brings 22 years of coaching experience in the college and pro ranks that includes four stints as an NFL quarterbacks coach, at Arizona (1994-95), San Francisco (1996), the New York Jets (2009-12) and, most recently, Chicago (2013-14).
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