Reggie Bush knows a thing or two about winning football. The former Heisman Trophy winner won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints and also won two national championships as a member of the USC Trojans. He played with one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Drew Brees, and one of the best collegiate passers, Matt Leinart.
One of the troubling trends that Bush has noticed in today's NFL is the over-reliance on the passing game. The former running back says that with how offense-driven the game has become, more and more offensive coordinators have become head coaches. One of the key traits of those types of coaches is that they want to rely on the quarterback to set the tone, rather than having the running game do that. Bush says that has resulted in more injuries to quarterbacks, such as the case with the Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow.
“That's the thing I see with a lot of the coaching hires, they're trying to manufacture these guys into the head coaches that they want,” says Bush in a one-on-one interview. “That's why you see a lot of guys failing, even the coach out in Cincinnati right now. With all those years of great players, quarterback getting hurt and offensive line can't protect the quarterback, and you had a great run running back with Joe Mixon. They let him go and this is the issue: running backs have become disposable. Because coaches and GMs think that they can easily just replace them, anybody can get me these four yards.”
Joe Mixon was traded to the Houston Texans during the 2024 offseason and promptly was selected to his second Pro Bowl in his first season in Houston. The 29-year-old running back ran for over 1,000 yards and had 11 touchdowns during the 2024 season.
Meanwhile, the Bengals' rushing attack fell to 30th last season.
Outside of the devaluation of running backs, Bush says a lot of head coaches these days don't rely on the run game to set the tone anymore.
“It's about setting the tone in the run game,” says Bush. “We always utilize these terms in college and pros of there are certain guys that were tone setters for the game. I feel like Joe Mixon was a guy who was a tone setter and when you lose that, you lose a lot.”
Bush says it's a big reason why Burrow is hurt right now. The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback will be sidelined for at least three months due a turf toe injury. He also missed seven games during the 2023 season due to a torn ligament in his right wrist.
“It's the reason Joe Burrow's hurt right now,” says Bush. “I am saying that he needs more than just good receivers. Obviously, that's been the focus there in Cincinnati is how many yards is Joe Burrow throwing for? Meanwhile, he's getting his ass kicked and gets put on a shelf every year. They can't protect him because they're throwing the ball too much.
“Joe Burrow is great, he can throw for 5000 yards, but how is that helping you if he's constantly in the surgery room,” Bus continues. “That's where the coaching mindset has to also take that into account. It also has to take into account how healthy can I keep my quarterback? Do I have the right tackles to be able to even throw the ball this many times a game? It looks sexy on paper when he throws for five touchdowns, but we're not imposing our dominance in the run game, in between tackles, then the defense is just going to drop into coverage. These defensive ends are just going to freaking pin their ears back and just full speed. They're coming to get you because they know this is where he's going to be.”
Bush's main point is that because most of the head coaches now have an offensive background, there is a clear over-reliance on the passing game. It also results in quarterbacks not being coached properly.
“The quarterbacks need a lot more, and they need help,” says Bush. “We're seeing quarterbacks are not being coached properly all the time. We're seeing these same QBs who were looked at — some guys who are been looked at as washed up — now go to other teams. All of a sudden they flourish. (Because) They've finally gotten to a good system.”
