Simpleton
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 24,488
"500 coaches could've won the Super Bowl."
This is the original sin of the last 30+ years, and I say 30+ because the 3 90's Super Bowls should've been 4, 5 or even 6, but at the very least this is the original sin of the "drought" since 1996.
No matter what Jerry says or tries to convince people of (i.e. "I controlled everything from the beginning, I've always been the GM, nothing has changed since 1989", etc.) the pathological disdain, hatred, dismissal, and belittling of head coaches goes directly back to Jimmy.
It's the reason he held on to Garrett for so long, because he was desperate to have a guy that he knew he could control develop into a top-tier coach. It's the reason he basically refuses to fire HC's before their contract is up no matter the circumstances, it's the reason they don't conduct real HC searches, it's the reason they fiddled around with McCarthy and tried to strong arm him into some sort of cheap extension, and it's the reason they hired a guy who had been in the league for 20+ years and hadn't received a HC interview since about 2011.
And I'd argue that it's as strong as ever today, maybe because it's one of the few things Jerry actually still controls.
Stephen has wrested away control of several aspects of the team (draft, FA philosophy, etc.) but it still remains a "collaborative" effort as they love to remind us. I think that language is really just a tool they've used to placate Jerry as his influence has decreased over the last 10-15 years, but the one thing Stephen can't change is this pathological need that Jerry has to prove that he was right about Jimmy, that it was he who deserves the credit for the 90's Super Bowls, and that is the root of the last 30+ years.
In a league that's designed for parity, where 75% of the teams all have about even talent in various forms, what makes the difference is coaching and an environment that empowers coaches to thrive.
Having a baseline of talent obviously matters, and having elite talent obviously increases your chances of winning even more, but the nature of the sport itself (injuries, attrition, 70+ man rosters when including practice squads) combined with the way the league structurally pushes for parity means that coaching is what really ends up making the difference over the long run.
How does Minnesota have an elite defense with a no-name depth chart? How has KC gone from a "run and gun" offense oriented around Mahomes and the passing game to making him a bus driver with an old school running game/defense oriented team? How has SF had elite OL play for the last 6-8 years despite having only Trent Williams and a bunch of JAG's? How did Seattle have one of the best defenses in the last 20 years last season with no clear future HOF'ers, and win a Super Bowl with a QB on his 5th team?
Coaching (and a generally sane organizational culture) is the only thing that matters in this league once you have a baseline of talent that puts you in that middle 75%.
Fans (myself included) focus mainly on the players and the talent level because that's the most objective way to gauge what might happen going forward, but coaching is the reason year after year people laugh about the "talent" on this team as the sum becomes less than the parts. In reality I think we usually have the "talent" pegged about right, there's just no way you can overcome the demented stance Jerry takes on coaches over the long run.
So we can sit here and complain about this player or that coach but none of it really matters from a macro view of things. The old saying is that the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing people he didn't exist, with Jerry the greatest trick he ever pulled was convincing people he'd do anything to win.
I believe that a lot around this organization has improved substantially over the last 10-15 years, mostly thanks to Stephen, even though he has his obvious flaws. It's the reason we won 12 games from 2021-23, won the division twice, were the 2 seed, got rid of Garrett before 2030, so on and so forth, but at the end of the day it's going to take an extreme amount of luck combined with all of the pieces falling into place to overcome the insane environment Jerry fosters, all of which begins with the inferiority complex he's developed since Jimmy left.
Jerry once said that not going further with Romo was the biggest regret of his career and that he didn't want to repeat things with Dak. The good news is that barring some sort of Parcells-like course correction/come to Jesus moment for Jerry in the next 4 months, the Dak era is already wasted, and Jerry has just enough years left to see it end before he blessedly fucks off forever.
This is the original sin of the last 30+ years, and I say 30+ because the 3 90's Super Bowls should've been 4, 5 or even 6, but at the very least this is the original sin of the "drought" since 1996.
No matter what Jerry says or tries to convince people of (i.e. "I controlled everything from the beginning, I've always been the GM, nothing has changed since 1989", etc.) the pathological disdain, hatred, dismissal, and belittling of head coaches goes directly back to Jimmy.
It's the reason he held on to Garrett for so long, because he was desperate to have a guy that he knew he could control develop into a top-tier coach. It's the reason he basically refuses to fire HC's before their contract is up no matter the circumstances, it's the reason they don't conduct real HC searches, it's the reason they fiddled around with McCarthy and tried to strong arm him into some sort of cheap extension, and it's the reason they hired a guy who had been in the league for 20+ years and hadn't received a HC interview since about 2011.
And I'd argue that it's as strong as ever today, maybe because it's one of the few things Jerry actually still controls.
Stephen has wrested away control of several aspects of the team (draft, FA philosophy, etc.) but it still remains a "collaborative" effort as they love to remind us. I think that language is really just a tool they've used to placate Jerry as his influence has decreased over the last 10-15 years, but the one thing Stephen can't change is this pathological need that Jerry has to prove that he was right about Jimmy, that it was he who deserves the credit for the 90's Super Bowls, and that is the root of the last 30+ years.
In a league that's designed for parity, where 75% of the teams all have about even talent in various forms, what makes the difference is coaching and an environment that empowers coaches to thrive.
Having a baseline of talent obviously matters, and having elite talent obviously increases your chances of winning even more, but the nature of the sport itself (injuries, attrition, 70+ man rosters when including practice squads) combined with the way the league structurally pushes for parity means that coaching is what really ends up making the difference over the long run.
How does Minnesota have an elite defense with a no-name depth chart? How has KC gone from a "run and gun" offense oriented around Mahomes and the passing game to making him a bus driver with an old school running game/defense oriented team? How has SF had elite OL play for the last 6-8 years despite having only Trent Williams and a bunch of JAG's? How did Seattle have one of the best defenses in the last 20 years last season with no clear future HOF'ers, and win a Super Bowl with a QB on his 5th team?
Coaching (and a generally sane organizational culture) is the only thing that matters in this league once you have a baseline of talent that puts you in that middle 75%.
Fans (myself included) focus mainly on the players and the talent level because that's the most objective way to gauge what might happen going forward, but coaching is the reason year after year people laugh about the "talent" on this team as the sum becomes less than the parts. In reality I think we usually have the "talent" pegged about right, there's just no way you can overcome the demented stance Jerry takes on coaches over the long run.
So we can sit here and complain about this player or that coach but none of it really matters from a macro view of things. The old saying is that the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing people he didn't exist, with Jerry the greatest trick he ever pulled was convincing people he'd do anything to win.
I believe that a lot around this organization has improved substantially over the last 10-15 years, mostly thanks to Stephen, even though he has his obvious flaws. It's the reason we won 12 games from 2021-23, won the division twice, were the 2 seed, got rid of Garrett before 2030, so on and so forth, but at the end of the day it's going to take an extreme amount of luck combined with all of the pieces falling into place to overcome the insane environment Jerry fosters, all of which begins with the inferiority complex he's developed since Jimmy left.
Jerry once said that not going further with Romo was the biggest regret of his career and that he didn't want to repeat things with Dak. The good news is that barring some sort of Parcells-like course correction/come to Jesus moment for Jerry in the next 4 months, the Dak era is already wasted, and Jerry has just enough years left to see it end before he blessedly fucks off forever.
