Thank god. I like everything I'm hearing from Gus, Dave, and Wash about how they're planning on using Fowler. I was scared they were going to pigeon-hold him into just putting his hand in the ground most downs but it sounds like they realize his strengths and weaknesses. He will be the Michael Bennett or Jabaal Sheard of this team.
He also said he might be lined up in the position of the OTTO at times but he won't be called the OTTO.
Wash sounds tough. Doesn't sound as if he thought much of Babich's approach. Interesting.
I like the fact that he's admitting there was an issue with attention to detail across the board. Players took bad angles, didn't align properly, didn't understand their situational assignments. He said there's no gray area here. They're going to work with these players to make sure they understand their role. They will line up where they're supposed to, and they will execute with precision. Otherwise, they'll be held accountable. Sounds like if we see some of the boneheaded plays in 2016 that were a trademark for this defense in 2015, the hammer will come down quickly.
In other news, water is wet.
Quote:I like the fact that he's admitting there was an issue with attention to detail across the board. Players took bad angles, didn't align properly, didn't understand their situational assignments. He said there's no gray area here. They're going to work with these players to make sure they understand their role. They will line up where they're supposed to, and they will execute with precision. Otherwise, they'll be held accountable. Sounds like if we see some of the boneheaded plays in 2016 that were a trademark for this defense in 2015, the hammer will come down quickly.
I've said this quite a few times when people do the whole "well if its players, not plays then why fire Babich?".
Far too often, this defense looked confused out there and unsure of what they are supposed to be doing. A big responsibility of a DC is not just to call plays, but to make sure that everyone knows their roles and what they are supposed to be doing.
Quote:I've said this quite a few times when people do the whole "well if its players, not plays then why fire Babich?".
Far too often, this defense looked confused out there and unsure of what they are supposed to be doing. A big responsibility of a DC is not just to call plays, but to make sure that everyone knows their roles and what they are supposed to be doing.
And to hold players accountable when they don't.
Quote:I've said this quite a few times when people do the whole "well if its players, not plays then why fire Babich?".
Far too often, this defense looked confused out there and unsure of what they are supposed to be doing. A big responsibility of a DC is not just to call plays, but to make sure that everyone knows their roles and what they are supposed to be doing.
If this is on Babich and you and I can see this, then what does that say about our head coach for allowing that crap to continue? Then after the season is over, he makes the "tough" decision to move on from Babich.
This team is frustrating.
Quote:In other news, water is wet.
this, he will be used like Florida used him. He will rush the passer more than not though
Its easier said than done. Wash sounds great but we dont know. I do like his toughness approach.
If one thing can be said for Gus, he sure knows how to say the right things. He'd be great at peddling a MLM pyramid scheme.
Quote:If this is on Babich and you and I can see this, then what does that say about our head coach for allowing that crap to continue? Then after the season is over, he makes the "tough" decision to move in from Babich.
This team is frustrating.
Nobody knows what transpired behind the scenes during the season between Bradley and his coordinators.
What we do know is that Gus did have to make a tough decision based on the fact that he and Babich have a personal relationship that has actually been the portal through which Gus got into coaching, and rose through the ranks at the collegiate and professional levels. He trusted Babich, and probably let some things slide because of that, but in the end, he couldn't ignore it. He had no choice but to fire Babich based on what transpired with the defense, especially once they did their evaluations and looked at where the issues existed.
The team is frustrating, but I think there's still a possibility that despite the abysmal start we've seen to this rebuild, that things will turn around quickly now that some of the key pieces are in place. It'll be interesting to see if Wash is able to clean up the problems on defense. No doubt, he's going to get back a couple of critical pieces, and the team intends to invest heavily in new toys for him to work with, so if he can't turn it around, he'll be following Gus and the rest of the staff out the door at the end of the season. It's sink or swim for the entire lot of them.
Quote:Nobody knows what transpired behind the scenes during the season between Bradley and his coordinators.
What we do know is that Gus did have to make a tough decision based on the fact that he and Babich have a personal relationship that has actually been the portal through which Gus got into coaching, and rose through the ranks at the collegiate and professional levels. He trusted Babich, and probably let some things slide because of that, but in the end, he couldn't ignore it. He had no choice but to fire Babich based on what transpired with the defense, especially once they did their evaluations and looked at where the issues existed.
The team is frustrating, but I think there's still a possibility that despite the abysmal start we've seen to this rebuild, that things will turn around quickly now that some of the key pieces are in place. It'll be interesting to see if Wash is able to clean up the problems on defense. No doubt, he's going to get back a couple of critical pieces, and the team intends to invest heavily in new toys for him to work with, so if he can't turn it around, he'll be following Gus and the rest of the staff out the door at the end of the season. It's sink or swim for the entire lot of them.
I'm sorry but if your 2nd paragraph is the case, the NFL is not for Gus. You cannot hold your team development because you're friends with a guy. This is a business. I get having relationships with your coaches and being good friends but when it comes down to business you have to be able to make that decision and make it decisively.
Can Gus change that? I have my doubts because I get the impression that is part of who he is as a person.
You cannot have a "leader" that struggles mightily to make tough decisions.
Quote:I'm sorry but if your 2nd paragraph is the case, the NFL is not for Gus. You cannot hold your team development because you're friends with a guy. This is a business. I get having relationships with your coaches and being good friends but when it comes down to business you have to be able to make that decision and make it decisively.
Can Gus change that? I have my doubts because I get the impression that is part of who he is as a person.
You cannot have a "leader" that struggles mightily to make tough decisions.
I think all leaders are good in some areas and need work in other areas. You can have a super tough coach who gets rid of assitants with ease, but is a pain in the butt and players don't like him. I don't know that Gus having loyalty to his people is a bad thing. He ultimately did the task and moved on, so......
Good I fully expect him to start along with a Bosa or a pass rusher in FA, while Skuta will be the backup otta
Fowler stands up on 1st down and short yard situations and passing situations he puts his hands on the ground or moves around and blitz
Quote:I'm sorry but if your 2nd paragraph is the case, the NFL is not for Gus. You cannot hold your team development because you're friends with a guy. This is a business. I get having relationships with your coaches and being good friends but when it comes down to business you have to be able to make that decision and make it decisively.
Can Gus change that? I have my doubts because I get the impression that is part of who he is as a person.
You cannot have a "leader" that struggles mightily to make tough decisions.
Despite their rankings in 2014, the defense appeared to be headed in the right direction when that season ended. There was no way Babich was going to be fired after getting what he did from the defense despite a lack of legitimate pass rushers.
The step back this year on defense is what cost Babich his job. Gus had little reason to fire his DC based on how the 2014 season ended. The expectation was that the team would find pass rush help in the draft, and that things would continue to improve this year. Nobody expected to lose our best defensive lineman and the rookie who was supposed to be your pass rush guy. The issue this year was that no matter how they tried to scheme it, guys like Andre Branch didn't rise to the challenge similarly to what we saw in 2014. Clemons was a non-factor. Losing Marks was a pain point, but at least Roy Miller stepped up and did his job well.
The defense took a step back as a unit in 2015. Young players didn't really show the kind of improvement that should have been expected. Too often we saw guys completely out of position, taking themselves out of plays, taking bad angles, not tackling effectively. The end result was the coordinator getting the boot, and rightly so this year.
Gus has clearly shown he can set personal opinions aside and make the necessary business decisions to help the team. He fired Fisch last year and upgraded that spot. The hope is we see similar improvement with the coaching change this year. Remember, almost no one here cheered for the Olson hire last year. That worked out pretty well for the team. If Gus gets it right this time, the defense should show similar improvement. If that happens, this team will very quickly rise up and become relevant again.
Quote:I think all leaders are good in some areas and need work in other areas. You can have a super tough coach who gets rid of assitants with ease, but is a pain in the butt and players don't like him. I don't know that Gus having loyalty to his people is a bad thing. He ultimately did the task and moved on, so......
Exactly. The MB general managers have this sense that we need to fire someone in an instant. Babich was fired when it became evident he wasn't the solution to fixing what needed to be addressed. Gus has shown incredible loyalty, but he's also shown that he can make the decisions that are necessary, setting aside personal feelings, to make this team better.
Quote:Exactly. The MB general managers have this sense that we need to fire someone in an instant. Babich was fired when it became evident he wasn't the solution to fixing what needed to be addressed. Gus has shown incredible loyalty, but he's also shown that he can make the decisions that are necessary, setting aside personal feelings, to make this team better.
Loyalty is great.
It's not great when you show loyalty to consistently BAD personnel.
You can make all the excuses you want for Bradley keeping Babich. My eyes and history of Babich not being an effective DC tell me Gus was wrong in ever hiring him. Let alone letting him stick around for three years.
You can continue your typical message board GM and name calling.
Quote:Loyalty is great.
It's not great when you loyalty to consistently BAD personnel.
You can make all the excuses you want for Bradley keeping Babich. My eyes and history of Babich not being an effective DC tell me Gus was wrong in ever hiring him. Let alone letting him stick around for three years.
You can continue your typical message board GM and name calling.
Based on the improvements we saw with the defense in 2014 as the season progressed, there was nothing to indicate that would not continue in 2015. They somehow managed to manufacture a pass rush in 2014 with almost no legitimate pass rush guys on the roster. So, to say Babich was a "consistently BAD" coordinator is a load of crap. In fact, it's funny because many here were critical of Babich in 2014 because they had to scheme to get a pass rush,and they made significant improvements in that regard that season compared to 2013. Apparently, coaching to get to the QB by calling plays that worked to the strengths of his guys in 2014 was a bad thing. But, when they did the same thing this past season to try to get a pass rush, and it didn't net the same results in 2015, it was once again a bad thing, and a lack of decent coaching.
It's amazing how folks like you can pretty much play both sides of the fence to complain about coaches...or players...or front office personnel...or the owner...or the stadium....or anything else you complain about because you know better. Why is it that none of you are actually working for a team in the league with this overabundance of football brilliance? You should really consider compiling your body of work from this message board, crafting a resume, and sending it out to all 32 teams.
Quote:Based on the improvements we saw with the defense in 2014 as the season progressed, there was nothing to indicate that would not continue in 2015. They somehow managed to manufacture a pass rush in 2014 with almost no legitimate pass rush guys on the roster. So, to say Babich was a "consistently BAD" coordinator is a load of crap. In fact, it's funny because many here were critical of Babich in 2014 because they had to scheme to get a pass rush,and they made significant improvements in that regard that season compared to 2013. Apparently, coaching to get to the QB by calling plays that worked to the strengths of his guys in 2014 was a bad thing. But, when they did the same thing this past season to try to get a pass rush, and it didn't net the same results in 2015, it was once again a bad thing, and a lack of decent coaching.
It's amazing how folks like you can pretty much play both sides of the fence to complain about coaches...or players...or front office personnel...or the owner...or the stadium....or anything else you complain about because you know better. Why is it that none of you are actually working for a team in the league with this overabundance of football brilliance? You should really consider compiling your body of work from this message board, crafting a resume, and sending it out to all 32 teams.
You're a lost cause on this topic. Have a good day, sir.
Quote:Loyalty is great.
It's not great when you show loyalty to consistently BAD personnel.
You can make all the excuses you want for Bradley keeping Babich. My eyes and history of Babich not being an effective DC tell me Gus was wrong in ever hiring him. Let alone letting him stick around for three years.
You can continue your typical message board GM and name calling.
This ^