Texian
Hall of Fame
It's depressing to think that O'Brien might be back next year just because McNair may feel he needs to justify his hiring, or actually believes there's sunnier days. If you've lost the locker room by your second year, you're in over your head. If Rex Ryan is laughing at how you're handling quarterbacks, you're in over your head. When your most consistent draft pick is a 6th round fullback, you're in over your head. I'll restrain myself there, but this list is dang near endless.
This should've been obvious (I'm trying really hard not to curse here) when hiring a New England coach who's experience is Tom Brady's towel boy, and declining college programs. Who really thought this was a good hire ... except maybe Robert Kraft, who after talking to McNair smirks as he walks away. The 35 year old Shanahan has more NFL experience.
There is a strong pattern and MO of Belichick assistants walking in the door and demanding respect before they've even earned it. This is usually very quickly followed up by some real bonehead amateur mistakes that make the team worse instead of better. It doesn't take long after that before Belichick assistants are losing respect instead of earning it. Players and staff get to a point where they can't take the Belichick assistant seriously and become disappointed and disillusioned. Which is about the time they're asked to leave and unceremoniously escorted out of the building.