(03-29-2018, 08:04 PM)jaguarmvp Wrote:

(03-29-2018, 07:06 PM)Bullseye Wrote: How can ANYONE blame the first season or two on Caldwell?

Even if he hired a better coach than Bradley, no coach could have won those first 2-3 seasons with the talent on the roster during that time.

ANY GM faced with such a talent depleted roster would need more than one offseason to fix it, especially considering the disaster that was the 2013 draft.

As for TC, he did three key things since serving in his current capacity:

1.  He provided credibility to the FO.  While Caldwell had done a pretty good job drafting talent, he didn't have the results to back him up.  When TC came aboard, he had the reputation that gave the franchise credibility with vets like Campbell.

2.  He placed greater emphasis on special teams.  Caldwell, by his own admission, did not emphasize this part of the game enough.  Before TC got here, Special teams was a dumpster fire for the team.  Last year, with the exception of the Rams game, special teams was a positive factor in most of our games.

3.  He was an enforcer for Marrone.  Make no mistake, Marrone had established himself as a competent head coach before he came to Jacksonville.  However, the time and losing that elapsed since he was coaching Buffalo kind of put his accomplishments in that area on the back burner.  To the extent he needed FO support in case of any locker room issues, TC having his back was huge.  If any player has any sort of beef with Marrone, he likely won't be able to play clubhouse lawyer with TC.

If I had to add a 4th thing, drafting Fournette was key too.  I don't know that Caldwell wouldn't have drafted him absent TC's influence, but I firmly believe TC influenced that first pick.

Having said that, Caldwell assembled the bulk of this roster.

What are you arguing?  I already said Caldwell has the eye for talent and I give him credit for buidling most of the roster.  That being said, acquiring the talent is only part of building an organization. 

To me if Dave was the Top Dog before Coughlin and now Coughlin is the top dog that means Dave got demoted. 

I guess you forget under Dave and Gus it was like a college Dorm in the Jags locker room.  Ping pong, videogames, ice cream parties, you name it was going on. 

Tom came in here and instantly changed this culture. Tom came in cleaned house and put this franchise on the right track.  Dave Caldwell has not proven he can do the same.

Rarely do we hear about how the GM allows the locker room to be a certain way.
That nonsense falls on rah rah Bradley... not on Caldwell.
GMs manage rosters and salaries
How the coach uses and develops and in some cases coddles those rosters is out of the GMs hands outside of firing him

And Gus eventually got his axe.

Dave Caldwell didn't create the culture... you're seriously chasing your tail

Caldwell has an eye for talent (which ultimately is what his job boils down to.. acquiring and keeping the best talent for the coach to work with)
Guys being immature, playing ping pong, and all that sillyness was a coaching issue, not a GM issue.

Which everyone will say Bradley was a bad hire and Caldwell's first draft was trash.
Outside of that Caldwell has been damn near superb in HIS job. 

Coughlin was as much an overseer of the GM job as he is the HC job.
THAT is where the culture change happened, Tom and Doug are cut from the same cloth and together THEY changed Gus' ice cream special locker room.
Outside of that, it gives a familiar name for fans to fan about and for free agents who respect the man to flock toward.

---