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A little like Spags?
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-X-
Medium-sized Lebowski
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I don't remember Spags being disliked by the Organization, or by any of the players.
The equipment manager, sure. But even guys like Bernie and Balzer went to bat for Spags.
This:
Many Bills players didn’t like him, according to sources. That fact alone doesn’t mean much considering that disciplinarians often aren’t beloved by everyone in the locker room. However, Marrone’s lack of people skills rubbed many co-workers the wrong way. He took a coarse tack that wasn’t well-received in the building, according to sources.
Isn't a valid parallel, IMO.
The equipment manager, sure. But even guys like Bernie and Balzer went to bat for Spags.
This:
Many Bills players didn’t like him, according to sources. That fact alone doesn’t mean much considering that disciplinarians often aren’t beloved by everyone in the locker room. However, Marrone’s lack of people skills rubbed many co-workers the wrong way. He took a coarse tack that wasn’t well-received in the building, according to sources.
Isn't a valid parallel, IMO.
Elmgrovegnome
Legend
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Doug Marrone sounds like he is better suited for college. College coaches can be bossy control freaks. If they win they are revered on campus.
LesBaker
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If Brady didn't have a fucked up ankle the Giants would have lost that game IMO. He could barely walk.
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It was more thjan the equipment manager, it was the travel manager, the security manager, it was the alumni director and the pubnlic relations director. Spags dictated how the socks were handed out, how lamps were placed, what pictures were on the wall, and he cancelled the scouting contract with the group that had really helped Vermeil. It was also the head trainer and the assistant trainer . He also disconnected with lots of alumni.
And all those people were canned for a coach who had never been a head coach on any level. He was given too much power, it's not like rams were bringing in Bill Parcells or someone with gravitas. And Spags was disliked by many people. The building was toxic. And that changed under Fish.
Lesson
Oh, really?
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Well, that and sort of going against his philosophy of letting younger players play.
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Yeah, I remember some subservient changes too, and not permitting guys like Hanifan to wander around the weight room. All that did was piss off the people who got fired. The head trainer is still the head trainer, so it had to have been a good hire, yeah? The article you posted spoke about the higher ups in the Organization and players who disliked the coach to a toxic level. I don't recall that being an issue here with Spags. Countless discussions with Demoff and player interviews (except for Karney, lol) pretty much showed that he was well received around Rams Park. If the idea that he was a control freak or given too much power is the issue, then okay. But that wasn't the reason he was let go. According to Demoff, all he had to do was win about 4 or 5 more games in 2011 and he would have still been the coach. There wasn't any motivation to get him out of the building otherwise.
Lesson
Oh, really?
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Really? I figured as such, to be quite honest. I understand 2011 was a complete freakshow with regards to the personnel being required to play, but I felt that some players-I'll use Al Harris as an example-prevented other players from being on the field that were younger. If the roster hadn't gone from like one of the youngest to one of the oldest, I could have seen Spags getting another year if they'd been able to win a little more with young players.
NukeRam
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And if Bradford didn't get injured...........yada, yada, yada
I'm sure a lot of Giants were nursing injuries too. I just remember Spag's D in Brady's face all day and putting him on his ass plenty. I was loving it.
Boffo97
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Medium-sized Lebowski
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Yeah, he answered that in one of our chats with him. [LINK]
I left the host's question for last. (Also, that picture is from Tampa, we probably need a better one that's not as Tampa Viceish).
The organization's decision to make a change would not have been made had we been 8-8 or anywhere close to that. We were fortunate to have a great person in Steve Spagnuolo leading our organization and a talented and dedicated group of assistant coaches. I don't know of any coaching staff that had to face more adversity last season than ours between the hardest schedule in the NFL and the number of injuries we faced. They did an admirable job having been dealt a lousy hand and our team played hard for them until the end. I think this team has a bright future and much of that is because of the work Coach Spagnuolo and Billy Devaney did in changing the culture and perception of this team and finding young talent like Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, Sam Bradford, Rodger Saffold, Lance Kendricks, Austin Pettis, Greg Salas, Bradley Fletcher, Jerome Murphy, Jason Smith, Darian Stewart and others. They don't get enough credit for the work they did in pointing this team in the right direction. Steve and Billy are the type of people you root for every day and when this team turns the corner they deserve all of our appreciation for the role they played in that.
The organization's decision to make a change would not have been made had we been 8-8 or anywhere close to that. We were fortunate to have a great person in Steve Spagnuolo leading our organization and a talented and dedicated group of assistant coaches. I don't know of any coaching staff that had to face more adversity last season than ours between the hardest schedule in the NFL and the number of injuries we faced. They did an admirable job having been dealt a lousy hand and our team played hard for them until the end. I think this team has a bright future and much of that is because of the work Coach Spagnuolo and Billy Devaney did in changing the culture and perception of this team and finding young talent like Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, Sam Bradford, Rodger Saffold, Lance Kendricks, Austin Pettis, Greg Salas, Bradley Fletcher, Jerome Murphy, Jason Smith, Darian Stewart and others. They don't get enough credit for the work they did in pointing this team in the right direction. Steve and Billy are the type of people you root for every day and when this team turns the corner they deserve all of our appreciation for the role they played in that.
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Probably not, but he probably could have won a couple more if they played as inspired as they did against the Saints that year. It's gotta be pretty hard keeping an entire team focused when the whole complexion of the team changes from week to week. I do remember guys like Laurinaitis and Long being constantly upbeat and focused as the year went along, and that's a testament to coaching, no doubt. In the end, though, we owe him debt of gratitude, because there wouldn't have been a blockbuster trade on the table the following year if they DID go 8-8, yeah? lol.
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I don't think it was sole reason he was let go, but it, coupled with the 2011 season was. Spags was well-recieved inthe beginning, after Linny. Who had his own issues, couldn't get along with star players, or so-called star players and he had a bad temper, was on the paranoid side. Spags wore thin because he came in an wanted to "change the culture" and all he did was take a bad situation and made it worse.
That said, I wanted Spags. I didn't know these issues existed . . . perhaps no one knew because he never was a head coach anywhere. But, in his zeal to change the culture he screwed a lot of good people who were seemingly good enough for Vermeil, all of them were there win Rams were winning. To me, the issue with control freaks is they need to focus on the field, the game, the players, the coaching. They shouldn't try to change a culture by firing people who had nothing to do with wins or losses to bring in a few buddies for patronage jobs.
And to those who lived through it hated it, they didn't know if they were going to be berated by Spags, fired, or what. Spags did that with Hewitt, the trainer, and others. The me the moral of the story, is until you've proven yourself a good head coach, perhaps you shouldn't wield you power plays so widely. The story wasn't covered that much, only a little, but Spags was known to many as a Neopoleanesque firgure there.