IAnd to touch on the "fear factor" someone alluded to, somewhere. Gruden seems to be well liked by the players. But that's not in his job description. Just like parents trying to be their kids friends, instead of their parents. No one seems to fear his wrath. Not the players. Not the coaches.
I was listening to the Burgundy and Gold Hour this morning (The Rick Snider, Matt Cones podcast) and they touched upon this. He said when Jay blew up after the Arizona game that that was untypical of him and that to be honest players these days don't pay any attention to those those kinds of rants anyway.
I'm inclined to agree to be honest.
In an age where players get paid in the multi millions they're not going to care about being ranted at. In fact it would probably have the opposite effect in most cases. Coaches tirades are a relic of the past, when players didn't earn much, worked two jobs and felt lucky to even be IN the NFL. But I really don't believe it is much now. It's like kids these days. You start yelling at them and all they'll do is eventually tune you out. For most players it's worse because they'll just ignore it comfortable in the fact that they're getting paid, especially the highly paid players, the ones that you need to make an impact. They'll tune a coach out and go get their millions elsewhere, especially if it's a dysfunctional franchise that they're leaving behind.
I honestly don't think it's Belli's no-nonsense attitude that gets players playing at the Patriots. It's the fact it's the PATRIOTS. Plus if Belli does ream them out he's earnt that privilege by wearing 4 Superbowl Rings and multiple divisional championships.
Players have two primary motivations. The money and the ring. A coaches tirades are pretty low on the motivating front these days in my opinion.
Players go all out on the Patriots because that team is the one they want to stay on because they have a good chance at a ring there. Simple as. They'll play their guts out for that chance. Most of them could care less about playing heart and soul for the Redskins. If we want that to change we need to change the culture and be a team that competes every year and is a contender.
The other thing is that sports are way more Player led than Coach led these days. Not the way it should be, but unfortunately the truth, and the players know it. The Patriots are probably the only case in the League where the Coach would come over anyone else, but even that would be debatable if it came to a Brady or Belli choice.
Do the Packers blink at firing McCarthy if Rodgers wants him out? What if Eli and Beckham want a new coach? Go through the list of top players (especially QB's) in the League and think about what Management would do if the player said they wouldn't play for their coach.
You can get away with it if you're a Cleveland, or a team like the Bears where there is no established Franchise star, but in the modern NFL you've got to be a players coach on the whole and you pick your spots for the outbursts in order to get your players attention but not push them to the point they won't play for you.
Players know a desperate lame duck coach when they see it. Gruden hasn't EARNED the Belli level of respect in regards to his pedigree. That takes time and success.
Look at the way the 2013 team tuned Shanahan out. And he DID have Superbowl pedigree. No amount of wrath from him would have turned that team around that year, the players just weren't listening because he couldn't back it up and RGIII knew that Management had his back as the saviour of the Franchise. The equation was QB > HC.
I'm not being a Gruden fan guy here. God knows the man has his flaws as a head coach.
He's pass heavy, he pays lip service to the run (if the run game shows early success he'll generally stick with it, but the minute it's ineffective BOOM!) and he's too offense orientated.
But on the other hand I can't overlook the job he did turning the team around after the aforementioned 2013 disaster. That is possibly the worst Redskins team I've seen in my years as a fan. Not just the record being bad, but the general dysfunction of the team. This team was so toxic most established coaches wouldn't touch us with a barge pole.
But he came in and started cleaning it all up. Now with Scotty on board they've started to turn this organisation around.
It just seems to clear to me that this organisation is now heading in a direction we've prayed it would head in for 20+ years.
Snyder has backed off and stopped getting involved in player decisions day to day.
We have what seems to be a Franchise QB at last, that was groomed in house rather than overspending on has-been free agents.
We have a good GM carefully pursuing a long term rebuild plan rather than the random FA and draft of years gone by.
We have a cohesive locker room that has none of the toxicity of recent years.
We don't dominate newspaper column inches for all the wrong reasons.
We have a team that almost always plays hard and never gives up.
We have an offense that is bordering on elite, and given another year or two will hopefully BE elite.
We've improved our record every year. (Yes I know that this year even if we win out it'll only be by half a game, but our schedule was a tougher one this year, I take that into account.)
We're bordering on have a winning record 2 years in a row, for the first time in 20 years (discounting 8-8 seasons - 1996: 9-7 and 1997: 8-7-1)
Just think about what happens next if they get rid of Gruden this year... Not saying this will happen, but I could EASILY see it happening...
Is it Scotty or Snyder that make the choice? If Snyder then the newspapers are full of how he's meddling again.
If it's unclear, ditto.
If it's Scotty then he brings in his coach and a new system
New system means time to implement, which probably means that this offense takes a step back for at least year 1
Kirk, now unclear on the future direction of the Franchise refuses the long term deal and gets tagged again.
Worse still, the Giants and the Cowboys continue to make strides going forwards as we go backwards.
Worse if Kirk is a product of this system, because now we need a new QB too.
Scotty's plan gets pushed back a year or two as now he needs to fix the offense again as well as the defense.
Now the team starts to get toxic again.
Team posts a losing record.
Dead last in NFC East.
Team is now a destination free agents don't want to come to.
Our own free agents start to leave for greener pastures, to our disgust they go to our divisional rivals.
Meanwhile Gruden gets an OC or HC job somewhere else.
Kirk's been a disaster in whatever new system is in place and the Skins decide to start again at QB. Kirk leaves...
Follows Gruden to new team, plays in old system, puts up pro-bowl numbers again...
OK, so the last bit is a bit far. LOL, but the point is have you seen our record and witnessed this team for the past 25 years? This stuff HAPPENS to the Redskins because we've proved time and again that we're THAT Franchise. We're the Franchise that can draft a well regarded top QB and then break him irretrievably in one year.
You know what... I have way too free time on my hands at work as we near Christmas! Sorry for the long post. LOL
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