Quote:What I'm saying is this feels an awful lot like the same old circles and the franchise is chasing it's own tail.  Traction has been difficult if not nearly impossible.

 

Lets see... let's go back to the beginning of the fall...

 

We suck and the roster is bad.  Let's fire the coach/GM.  Coughlin gone.

 

We're soon good again.  Roster improves in spite of high profile draft pick busts.  We slump after hitting the playoffs, so we fire only the GM.

 

Under new GM talent is depleted, losses pile.  Fire only the coach.  Del Rio gone.

 

Talent is an all time low.  Gets both GM and coach fired again.  Mularkey, Smith gone.

 

New regime.  Talent and wins improve, but both at a very trickling pace.  Team seems like it may be getting traction, but uncertain that it might actually slip back into the rut.

 

All this, during the current regime, has run through Caldwell.  The player and coach selections, all Caldwell.  Just as those who are placing responsibility on Gus for all under him, all that is under Caldwell.

 

An indictment of one, is an indictment of the other, is it not?  It may have not been that way in the past, but that was explicitly the way it was set up this time.  No "committee," no owner hand in the process... just Dave.  I'm not saying fire anyone.  I just think we need to take a breath and take a broader perspective on it all.  If there are internal issues, there's one guy at the top where the buck stops - and it's Dave.

 

Make no mistake, this is just as critical a year for Dave Caldwell as it is Gus Bradley.  If there aren't significant improvements across the board, it's arguable that's more on Caldwell than it is Gus.  His players, his coach.

 

This is a very reasonable take, and one I appreciate.  For the record, I don't believe there ARE internal issues.  I expect to see a very large jump in wins next year, and if we don't, chances are both Dave and Gus will be on their way out...and I'm not sure that I disagree with that.

 

We certainly have a lot of pieces in place, and it's time for that to bear results.  To be fair, after two years of blowouts every other week, to be in position to win every game expect 2 or 3 shows a great deal of improvement.  If we're not pulling down those close games as wins next year, it's time to move on from both.

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