Of course Gibbs', Tomlin's and Childress' desire/hunger/fire/passion are all statements based on retrospect. I did not see a single introductory conference for any of them. Please don't use the fact that I almost certainly did not see the Gibbs Press Conference in 1981 as support for the fact that you disagree with me. And yes, I am basing a majority of my view on what I saw in yesterday's introductory press conference.
I don't. Please give me a little more credit than that. I used the Gibbs reference to point out the fact that no one could possibly have gleaned anything about Gibbs' passion based on any press conference he ever gave. People have different public speaking styles, and different kinds of appearances require different kinds of approaches.
I just think reading a "lack of hunger" or passion based on yesterday's scripted, check-the-box presser is, with all due respect, more a case of superimposing your own concerns/beliefs on a televised scripted event than any reflection on Mike Shanahan's level of motivation.
Listen, I am not the football mind that many on this site are. I have admitted that in the past, but what I am good at is judging a man's character. I have been a fairly successful poker player for years, not because I am good at the game but because I can generally read the opposing players. Does that qualify me to read a man's passion? I don't know. All I can say is this is conjecture and you know this as well as I do.
This has nothing to do with "football mind," it has to do with reading "lack of hunger" or passion in Mike Shanahan based on a 20-minute scripted "Introducing Coach to Washington" circus. Had you sat across from Mike at a poker game, however, and looked into his eyes, and still came away convinced he has no passion, that would be different.
Actually ... it wouldn't. I'd still say it has almost zero direct correlation to how well he will perform his job as head coach of the Washington Redskins.
Like I said in my post, I see a distinguished, experienced, disciplined coach, a well spoken man. He trotted out on stage and delivered a well rehearsed line. It was not moving or powerful or filled with anything other than a basic, "Hi! My name is Mike and I am the new coach." There was no passion and that doesn't mean he needed to raise his voice or get animated or cry. It just means I saw a very vanilla press conference that didn't impress me other than his reputation may put some fear into some veterans who think they can just get a paycheck out of this organization.
The bolded part we agree on. The rest I respectfully submit is a reflection of your own well-stated reservations coming in about Mike Shanahan.
I see this move as a very similar move as Gibbs II. The difference is Bruce Allen and hopefully Shanahan will bring a better offense to town. I think we are in for a few 10 win seasons in the near future and perhaps a run at the NFC Championship game. I just don't see enough "hunger" in a former Super Bowl winning coach who seemed rather bland in his first news conference in DC as the New VP of Football Operations/Head Coach that will bring another SB to Washington. I see more mediocrity.
Am I right? Time will only tell, but I just don't see it with Shanahan.
There are a lot of differences between this and Gibbs II, as I know you know... the two most glaringly obvious and important being
1) Gibbs was gone 11 years; Shanahan's been gone 1.
2) Gibbs worked within the same Vinny Cerrato/Dan Snyder framework we knew going in was not functional. Shanahan's going to work with Bruce Allen, whoever else may be brought in to help with personnel, and to some unknown extent at this time, Dan Snyder. I don't think I need to stress how different those two landscapes are.
As to the "hunger" thing ... again, I respect your opinion, but I looked at the same exact televised scripted presser and walked away with an entirely different take. And I'm not a guy assuming this is all going to be sweetness, light and Lombardi Trophy's from here on out either. I'm approaching this with cautious optimism, yes, but I intend to formulate my opinions on Shanahan's degree of "hunger" or "passion" (to the extent they matter at this point) based on what I see over the next year or two, as reflected in deeds, not a few minutes on camera in January.