MY OPINION:
Strengths
1) Player Motivation/Unity.
At this moment, he seems to be failing at this. I think it's a blip. His teams have continuously had the right attitude and left it all on the field every game. He now finds himself in a bad situation with no experience using the necessary tools to resolve it. I'm confident he'll turn this around if he stays.
2) Staff Management.
He manages his coaches well. The only voluntary quit that I've seen, other than going to other teams for promotions, is Schotty. I believe they stay because, contrary to perception, he tends to give coaches the freedom to do things their way. Their careers are allowed to rise or fall based on their own merits. The downside of this is discussed below.
3) Protect the Team.
Yes, he has recently thrown a few players under the bus. But the team is currently in a bad place. I disagree with his method, but he's trying to save the winning culture. We bitch about his milquetoast answers, but he's doing this to protect the team and the brand. He has a long track record of being effective at keeping problems in house.
Weaknesses
1) Pathological Fear of a Bad Season.
Every year he finds that his cheap fixes to problem area have created a weakness somewhere. He then wildly overpays, in both draft capital and cap $ to try and fix the problem to maintain a near .500 record. Example: He made the trade for Adams to "fix" the non-existent pass rush. The problem is, there's never enough draft capital or $ to adequately fix the problems when next year rolls around, so the process starts again. And again. And again. He will not just take the bad season and sequester the picks/$ to make real improvements in the future. He also lets his young talent ride the bench, instead of developing them adequately, for this very reason.
2) Inability to Build Lines.
This mostly comes from misallocation of resources. He spends a fortune (picks/$) on WRs, RBs, Safeties, and LBs but very little on the lines. Especially the OL. When he does spend on the lines, his whiff rate is astounding. The results compared to investments in the D-line are horrific.
3) Inability to Develop Coaches/Players.
How often do we see actual progression? What % of personnel end up going elsewhere and finding success? How often do good personnel come here and elevate themselves instead of turning in substandard performances? These things happen, but it's extremely rare.
Strengths
1) Player Motivation/Unity.
At this moment, he seems to be failing at this. I think it's a blip. His teams have continuously had the right attitude and left it all on the field every game. He now finds himself in a bad situation with no experience using the necessary tools to resolve it. I'm confident he'll turn this around if he stays.
2) Staff Management.
He manages his coaches well. The only voluntary quit that I've seen, other than going to other teams for promotions, is Schotty. I believe they stay because, contrary to perception, he tends to give coaches the freedom to do things their way. Their careers are allowed to rise or fall based on their own merits. The downside of this is discussed below.
3) Protect the Team.
Yes, he has recently thrown a few players under the bus. But the team is currently in a bad place. I disagree with his method, but he's trying to save the winning culture. We bitch about his milquetoast answers, but he's doing this to protect the team and the brand. He has a long track record of being effective at keeping problems in house.
Weaknesses
1) Pathological Fear of a Bad Season.
Every year he finds that his cheap fixes to problem area have created a weakness somewhere. He then wildly overpays, in both draft capital and cap $ to try and fix the problem to maintain a near .500 record. Example: He made the trade for Adams to "fix" the non-existent pass rush. The problem is, there's never enough draft capital or $ to adequately fix the problems when next year rolls around, so the process starts again. And again. And again. He will not just take the bad season and sequester the picks/$ to make real improvements in the future. He also lets his young talent ride the bench, instead of developing them adequately, for this very reason.
2) Inability to Build Lines.
This mostly comes from misallocation of resources. He spends a fortune (picks/$) on WRs, RBs, Safeties, and LBs but very little on the lines. Especially the OL. When he does spend on the lines, his whiff rate is astounding. The results compared to investments in the D-line are horrific.
3) Inability to Develop Coaches/Players.
How often do we see actual progression? What % of personnel end up going elsewhere and finding success? How often do good personnel come here and elevate themselves instead of turning in substandard performances? These things happen, but it's extremely rare.
