Hervoyel
BUENO!
I have been reading the posts about Bob and whether or not he wants to win (I'm sure he does), or whether or not he's willing to do what it takes to win (I think he is, in theory), or whether or not he even understands what it takes to win (not so sure) and I've come to some basic conclusions.
Now this is coming from a "Pink Soaper" and a very disappointed fan so take it with a grain of salt please.
I think that there are two kind of "ideal" coaching hires out there. There's the Jon Gruden/Sean Payton type of hire where you bring a coach in and he either delivers a Super Bowl 45 minutes after he enters the building or he takes your crappy 3-13 team and wins 10, 11, or 12 games with them right off the bat. That's the instant gratification head coach. 5 years later you may be firing him because he's not living up to expectations but he made you happy when he got there.
Then you have your "Holy Grail" of coaching where you hire a guy like Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Don Shula, or Bill Belichick (yes, I put him in that same category) who comes in, maybe doesn't win instantly (in Landry's case he didn't reach .500 until his 6th season) but once they start winning they just keep on doing it and they don't get burned out or tired of the job. They become icons who define your franchise and even years after they finally retire people still think of them and your team still benefits from being associated with them.
I think Bob McNair is an owner who wants to win and is willing to do what it takes to win but who doesn't understand entirely what that is. I think he's got a picture in his mind of a franchise very much like the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's a team that is consistently good to great and that builds from the draft with few expensive free agent moves along the way. I think he's got a desire to find that Landy/Noll type coach who will be here a long, long time and he's willing to spend years to find that guy. He doesn't want to be the Cleveland Browns who had Belichick and sent him packing . He doesn't want to be Dan Snyder or Jerry Jones. He wants to be like the Rooneys or the Maras. Behind the scenes mostly and letting good football people run his organization.
The problem is that Bob doesn't know good football people from lousy football people. What makes that already unfortunate situation worse is that Bob is dead set on pursuing the Holy Grail path to getting a head coach. He's going to pursue coordinators who he thinks might have what it takes to be great. That's the case with Kubiak right now. McNair is incredibly patient about this as well. Gary could probably pinch off a couple more 8-8 "sculptures" and Bob would hang right in there waiting for the masterpiece.
That's the negative side. He's going to stick with a head coach (or a GM, or a player he thinks highly of) for far too long and he'll always listen to his football people and unless they're just talking nonsense he'll probably go along with what they want to do. If they're lousy football people he'll let them screw things up pretty bad before he catches on.
The good side (the only one I can find) is that in the unlikely event that he ever does stumble upon some good football people and that "Holy Grail" of football coaches then he'll stay out of the way and never go all creepy egomaniacal owner on them the way Jerry Jones did on Jimmy Johnson. It may take us decades but McNair will never pull an Art Modell and fire Bill Belichick because of a down year or two.
Bud Adams fired Bum Phillips after three straight playoff appearances and back to back 11-5 seasons. Bob McNair will never do that. I guess that's worth something right?
Now this is coming from a "Pink Soaper" and a very disappointed fan so take it with a grain of salt please.
I think that there are two kind of "ideal" coaching hires out there. There's the Jon Gruden/Sean Payton type of hire where you bring a coach in and he either delivers a Super Bowl 45 minutes after he enters the building or he takes your crappy 3-13 team and wins 10, 11, or 12 games with them right off the bat. That's the instant gratification head coach. 5 years later you may be firing him because he's not living up to expectations but he made you happy when he got there.
Then you have your "Holy Grail" of coaching where you hire a guy like Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Don Shula, or Bill Belichick (yes, I put him in that same category) who comes in, maybe doesn't win instantly (in Landry's case he didn't reach .500 until his 6th season) but once they start winning they just keep on doing it and they don't get burned out or tired of the job. They become icons who define your franchise and even years after they finally retire people still think of them and your team still benefits from being associated with them.
I think Bob McNair is an owner who wants to win and is willing to do what it takes to win but who doesn't understand entirely what that is. I think he's got a picture in his mind of a franchise very much like the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's a team that is consistently good to great and that builds from the draft with few expensive free agent moves along the way. I think he's got a desire to find that Landy/Noll type coach who will be here a long, long time and he's willing to spend years to find that guy. He doesn't want to be the Cleveland Browns who had Belichick and sent him packing . He doesn't want to be Dan Snyder or Jerry Jones. He wants to be like the Rooneys or the Maras. Behind the scenes mostly and letting good football people run his organization.
The problem is that Bob doesn't know good football people from lousy football people. What makes that already unfortunate situation worse is that Bob is dead set on pursuing the Holy Grail path to getting a head coach. He's going to pursue coordinators who he thinks might have what it takes to be great. That's the case with Kubiak right now. McNair is incredibly patient about this as well. Gary could probably pinch off a couple more 8-8 "sculptures" and Bob would hang right in there waiting for the masterpiece.
That's the negative side. He's going to stick with a head coach (or a GM, or a player he thinks highly of) for far too long and he'll always listen to his football people and unless they're just talking nonsense he'll probably go along with what they want to do. If they're lousy football people he'll let them screw things up pretty bad before he catches on.
The good side (the only one I can find) is that in the unlikely event that he ever does stumble upon some good football people and that "Holy Grail" of football coaches then he'll stay out of the way and never go all creepy egomaniacal owner on them the way Jerry Jones did on Jimmy Johnson. It may take us decades but McNair will never pull an Art Modell and fire Bill Belichick because of a down year or two.
Bud Adams fired Bum Phillips after three straight playoff appearances and back to back 11-5 seasons. Bob McNair will never do that. I guess that's worth something right?
