The Coaches are Conservatives

Apparently. It's an interesting read.

Mr. Holtz, who coached Notre Dame to its last national championship in 1988, draws a parallel between the standards and rules that most coaches set for their players and the Republican vision of how American society ought to operate.

"You aren't entitled to anything. You don't inherit anything. You get what you earn—your position on the team," Mr. Holtz said. "You're treated like everybody else. You're held accountable for your actions. You understand that your decisions affect other people on that team…There's winners, there's losers, and there's competitiveness."

Coaching and Consistency

Coaching and Consistency

When looking ahead to the upcoming 2009 NFL Season we have the Have’s and the Have Not’s.

While everyone is vying for the same goal (a Super Bowl win), only a few organizations can call themselves legitimate candidates.

There are many factors that play into an NFL season – offensive strategy, defensive schemes, strength of schedule, talent, chemistry, coaching, a little bit of luck, and management. Management. That’s right – ownership and management.

We all love the one-year wonders – the Hoosiers and Miracle on Ice stories, but realistically that doesn’t happen very often. Chances of that happening in the NFL are like Gene Chizik saying he is “firmly entrenched” in Ames. (Oh wait, he did say that)

Some owners, like the Broncos, have gotten rid of their best assets, using the phrase made famous by the epic Godfather film, “It’s not personal, just business.” There’s also the Redskins, who are acting as though they are playing a video game with their franchise, overpaying for talent, and not worrying about team chemistry.

And then there are the Raiders. You want to know how old their team owner/general manager/stickler Al Davis is? I was watching an ESPN Classic feature on Vince Lombardi the other day, and they had an interview with, guess who, the Raiders owner Al Davis. He was the owner of the Raiders when Lombardi was winning championships 40 years ago! Davis managed to name himself the general manager circa 1966, and is now an 80 year old sea monster driving the Raiders into the ground. Boy would I love to be in his league for a fantasy football draft.

Don’t forget, there are two more 100% dictatorships among NFL organizations. You can probably guess one, but probably not the other. The only other owners who can also call themselves GMs are the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones and Bengals’ Mike Brown. We all have seen problems with the Cowboys, as they think they can rebuild these troubled players, only to see them ruin team chemistry and leadership. It’s hard to win that way, and is therefore the Achilles heel to America’s Team.

Let’s talk about some more exciting facets for the upcoming season - The Wildcat Formation. It’s like drugs in the 1970s, everyone is doing it. The team that introduced it to the league (the Dolphins) displayed it against the Pats in Week 4 of last season, only to come back and try and pull the same trick in Week 12. Except this time there was a gameplan to stop it. Mark my words, the new Wildcat formation will not be as big as everyone thinks it will be. These coordinators will find a way to stop it.

Now onto coaching. Consistency is key in any profession or business. Coaching in today’s society is similar to a top 40 hit, you may be popular for awhile, but over time the fame and notoriety wears off. Too often organizations listen to their rowdy fans and once their coaches have one bad season his head is on the chopping block like Michael Vick at a PETA banquet.

It’s like working with a doctor, lawyer or insurance company, wouldn’t it make sense to keep the same person that knows you and your characteristics? Why do you think retirement accounts are set for when you retire? The key is consistency and reliability. The same goes for coaching.

Currently the longest tenured coaches in the NFL are: Bill Bellichick (9 years, 102 regular season wins), Tom Coughlin (5 years, 47 wins), Jack Del Rio (6 years, 50 wins), Jeff Fisher (15 years, 128 wins), John Fox (7 years, 63 wins), Marvin Lewis (6 years, 46 wins), Andy Reid (10 yrs, 97 wins), and Lovie Smith (5 years, 45 wins). That’s an average of 9 regular season wins per year and a combined 31 playoff appearances. Now here comes the best part. Of all these coaches, we have 4 super bowl wins and 9 super bowl appearances.

The same mantra of consistency goes for management and executive decision making. When I think of the Jenna Jamesons’ of NFL dictatorships I think of the Steelers, Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Titans and Colts. All of these teams have superb coaching, franchise quarterbacks (save Tennessee), all-pro defenses, and…. good management. They draft well, fill positions carefully and make sure they pay the right players the right amount of money.

The Pepsis to those Cokes include the Chargers, Ravens, Bears, and Vikings.

All of these teams are able to do one simple thing – balance talent with chemistry. A Terrell Owens wouldn’t last on any of these teams, either would a Pacman Jones or a disruptive Chad Ochocinco. Their first outburst and they are gone, no questions asked. If there is a player who holds out for more money, it is definitely negotiated or he is gone. They hold character high in the business and realize that by developing talent within their own system is much more important than picking it up every summer in the free agency market. Their goal is not just for this year, but for many years down the road.

So mark my words, while there are 32 teams in the NFL with one goal, only these 10 are the Have’s and are viable contenders to bring home the Vince Lombardi Trophy come January. Now if only Al Davis could resign….