I don't think anyone is hailing Rivera as the 2nd coming of Lombardi. I think it only seems that way to you because you are incessantly negative.
That's not totally fair. I am leery of also being labeled incessantly negative, but the problem is, with honesty and respect, there is little to be positive about with the Skins. Lipstick on a pig doesn't excite when it's just another shade. I fell for it before, as many have said.
I do respect your analysis and approach, I'd call it rational positivity. There's nothing wrong with any of what you're saying, it's totally rational. The only thing is, we've seen where coaches brought guys they were comfortable with along for the ride. We've seen it fail multiple times. In this case, Rivera is doing it with a group that wasn't spectacular in Carolina (if they were spectacular, it would be a reason for excitement).
I will say, though, I'm excited for the defense. I think there is good potential there. I also think that with a good defense you can do a LOT. You can also start to address other problems when you get some solid play even in one dimension. So I think there IS reason for hope here, on the defensive side. The main red flag here is that it doesn't look like an attempt is being made to bring the best in.
I do have experience hiring people, and there is value in bringing proven winners aboard who you know. There is also value in bringing people whose strengths and weaknesses you are familiar with, if you have a good working relationship. You have to be able to balance all of that with what they have truly accomplished though, and make honest assessments. As you said, it's a largely naive viewpoint (I openly admit that), but I don't agree with how the calculus looks from here. I see some potential problems brewing in the offense and maybe even personnel. The one that concerns me the most is personnel.
By the way, I have FOR YEARS though it really funny that people hyped Redskins personnel guys while at the same time deriding Redskins draft and FA performance. So I'm not really concerned about losing people from that department, and I don't really care about reputations earned from reporters. What I do care about, is the replacement's rep, and what I view as what was used to evaluate them. That's the part that's concerning. I don't think Carolina's recent personnel moves have been all that awe inspiring either (which is why I enjoy seeing Gettleman get renewed with NYG; I see nothing to justify the confidence there, so it's good news to me, I think they are trying to run their organization "the right way" and have continuity, so I'll enjoy what I hope will be continued subpar performance).
As others have said, if there proves to be a reasonable hook, that's fine, but we'll lose at least a year figuring that out. So it goes. Hopefully it will just work out.
