I think it’s important to remember how young Dave was when he was given this job too. Not from a “oh, let him make mistakes, he’s young,” angle, but from a “If I plan on having this job for a decade or two, ideally, then first and foremost I have to work WITH the man employing me, not against or apart from him.”

Not that that necessarily turns out the best results from a football perspective, particularly early. But it’s a pretty understandable approach given the situation.

I’m not saying any of this to defend him, again, THE RESULTS HAVE NOT BEEN GOOD ENOUGH. Attempting to understand is separate from attempting to justify. I just want to allow room for growth.

I watched a documentary about the early Bucs (disaster) the other day and was struck by a comment from Ron Wolf (legendary builder of GB consistent rosters, though I certainly wouldn’t argue with the people in this thread who’ve said “it all comes down to QB, you find a QB, or luck into one, and 80% of your faults are forgiven, you don’t find a QB, and 80% of your moves don’t matter.”)

Anyway Wolf commented on how when he was brought in, he was a first time NFL GM, with a first time NFL head coach in McKay, and a brand new NFL owner. He said it was a poop show, but he learned so much so fast in those couple years. Sound familiar?

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