I´d agree… There´s also the (right) assumption that you´d fit your system to the players, not the other way around like the arrogant and dumb Kelly did. I mean he´s the worst of them all. I thought 5 years ago that no one ever will challenge Norv. I was wrong… Switzer is a genius in comparison.

Here’s what cracks me up. Seattle Seahawks build a great defense once Carroll got to Seattle. After the first season that they led the league in defense, the Jags hire away the DC. Seattle promotes the next guy from the staff and repeats as #1 defense and wins the Super Bowl, so Atlanta hires that guy. All this coaching talent drain has to have effected Seattle, right? Nope, #1 defense again. Bradley was clearly in over his head, especially given the success Marrone has had in charge. Quinn made a Super Bowl, but he’s, at best, shaky and just lucky the offense is on autopilot.

Lots of nepotism running around the NFL as well. Sometimes it works. Sometimes a team just has no clue what is doing because it is broken from the top down.

Ex-players (established pro guys, not guys who hung out in camp a couple times and never played) usually end up becoming vanity hires with success few and far between, plus, even if you are an player with the chops to make it coaching, the Networks can give you more more to sit on a couch for a few hours a week to talk football, rather than 100 hours a week to make a franchise happen. But the current players do respond better to a guy who has put on the helmet than a legacy like Todd Haley.

Here is the other thing. NFL coaching has become its own little clique. So many of these guys get in with a system and a staff early, like foregoing even playing pro after college and heading straight to coaching. It’s damn near impossible as an outsider to crack those cliques, and more established guys bring their staffs everywhere. If you’re a player trying to get in after a career at age 30 or so, it’s an uphill climb. You’re bitch to guys 5 years younger and much hungrier because they don’t have money in the bank already.

If I’m a GM, you want a guy with NFL connection, but some of these coaching lifers lack the creativity to evolve the game. I respect the guys who drop down to the college ranks to understand how the talent is being developed and coached there, learns to implement his own system, philosophy, and approach. You get a better feel for his character and poise as he (or she, why not) responds to the media and stakeholders. While NCAA lifers seem to struggle on the big stage (Spurrier, Kelly) because of the culture shift, guys that straddle the line have had success (Saban, O’Brien, Marrone, Carroll, Harbaugh)… and the ones that have struggled like Koetter showed signs of that while in college. Also, selecting an offensive/defensive specialist to run the show is risk/reward. Best to find a balanced mind that is comfortable delegating equally. However, the Eagles and Rams are benefiting from getting young offensive guys in to get them the tools to succeed. These teams have seen immediate short-term results, but yet to be sustained.

And as GM, regardless of who you hire, he’s gotta be your guy, and you have to fee that his (or her) actions will be defendable to ownership. Payton, Garrett have survived mediocrity because they are the guy. Kubiak was Elway’s guy and now the Broncos look a mess that they don’t have that relationship. Apparently Lewis is the Brown’s guy till one of them dies.