Why Teams Should Avoid High Priced Coaches (Peter King MMQB Article)

[ramsbruce]

Interesting take by Peter King on hiring high priced coaches.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...k14/index.html

It's getting to be that time of year ... and I don't mean cheery. I mean coaching hot-seat time, and, ultimately, the firing time. Every owner will deny he's thinking of making a change, but be realistic. There are coaching changes every year -- 17 after the 2005 and '06 seasons combined. We could have a decent amount of firing this year as well.

I'd like to see owners stop looking for the miracle cure when they pick a coach. I've got proof it doesn't work. Since 2000, by my count, NFL teams have hired seven big-money geniuses (average salary per year: $4.3 million) to take their teams to the promised land.

The Magnificent Seven: Nick Saban (Miami), Steve Spurrier (Washington), Dick Vermeil (Kansas City), Dennis Green (Arizona), Bill Parcells (Dallas), Joe Gibbs (Washington) and Bobby Petrino (Atlanta). They have coached a combined 21 years with those teams. Playoff appearances in those 21 years: 4. (It's mathematically possible to be five this year, if the 6-7 Redskins run the table and get some help.)

Playoff wins in those 21 years: 1. Championship Game appearances: 0. Super Bowl appearances: 0. Gibbs won the playoff game with Washington, 17-10 over Tampa Bay in January 2006. Parcells made the playoffs in two of his four Dallas seasons. Vermeil had the other playoff season, a one-and-done job in 2003 with the Chiefs. One playoff win by the geniuses in 21 years.

I'll get to the moral of the story here in a moment, but one last bit of they're-not-who-we-thought-they-were data to make my point. The records of each coach with the team that hired him to turn the program around, including playoffs:


Coach Team Years W-L Pct.
Dick Vermeil KC 5 44-37 .543
Bill Parcells Dal 4 34-32 .515
Nick Saban Mia 2 15-17 .469
Joe Gibbs Wash 4 28-35 .444
Steve Spurrier Wash 2 12-20 .375
Dennis Green Ari 3 16-32 .333
Bobby Petrino Atl 1 3-9 .250

Totals: 21 years, 152-176 (.463)


There's something more important than a $4 million coach -- a quarterback. Vermeil had a chance every year because he had Trent Green. Parcells milked Drew Bledsoe for a while, then gave the team a bright future by putting Romo in the lineup in 2006, his fourth and final year as coach. The Cowboys are glad he made the switch and are benefiting from it now.

Saban never had a quarterback, and Green didn't have one until Matt Leinart was drafted in the coach's last year, 2006. Spurrier had a bunch of Shane Matthewses. Gibbs picked Jason Campbell in 2005 and waited too long to play him. Gibbs won't get the full benefit of the brightness of Campbell's future, obviously, because he may be in his last year. Petrino got jobbed by Michael Vick's dog fighting conviction, and he'll pick a quarterback of the future, most likely, high in the 2008 draft.

Coaches can't do it without quarterbacks. What was Bill Belichick like before he put Tom Brady in the starting lineup early in 2001? A lot less of a genius. Look at the recently hired coaches who have succeeded. Mike McCarthy is 19-10 in two years coaching Green Bay -- Brett Favre's resurgence has helped. Sean Payton got to the NFC title game last year, thanks largely to Drew Brees. Mike Tomlin's Steelers are 9-4 in his rookie coaching season, with a big assist to Ben Roethlisberger. Romeo Crennel was a lock for the unemployment line 'til Derek Anderson started throwing strikes all over the field for Cleveland this fall.

The moral of the story? Patience, a good personnel staff and a quarterback. I said on NBC last night that Huizenga does not want to fire Cam Cameron, 0-13 as a rookie head coach. The owner shouldn't fire his head coach. He should give Cameron and GM Randy Mueller at least another year to put their program into place. If Huizenga doesn't, what does that say about the hiring process that brought Cameron to south Florida last winter?

Yes, John Beck looks like anything but the Dolphins' quarterback of the future. But look at the early-career resume of Phil Simms with the Giants and John Elway with Denver. It would be polite to say they struggled early in New York and Denver. Really, they stunk. But they hung around long enough to get a hard shell and some experience, and they became two of the best quarterbacks of their era, obviously.

A month ago, Brad Childress looked like he might be in over his head, and Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was overmatched. Minnesota fans were thinking, "Hmmm. Donovan McNabb sure will look good in purple next year.''

The Vikes have gone on a 4-0 run since, with Jackson leading a run-heavy offense averaging 35 points a game -- while completing a Brady-like 74 percent of his throws. Patience, people. Patience. So avoid the star system in the coaching office. Don't go looking for an Urban Meyer to save your offense, or a Parcells to drag out of retirement again to put the fear of God in your undisciplined team. Doesn't work.

[TekeRam]

While I agree with this, you also have to look at the names he used. Vermeil, who was the most successful, only was successful here in St. Louis overall in his career. Gibbs is too old and was not prepared for the NFL he's in now. Parcells, while he may not have won in Dallas, was worth it for the NFC championship that he built this season.
Green was in Arizona, nuff said. The other three don't deserve to even be mentioned as they all were upstart college kings that couldn't handle the real game of football.

[Ram Dragoon]

This artical doesnt answer the Rams situation. New HC, Linehan, inherts a top knock QB in M. Bulger, a NFL leading WR in T. Holt (I. Bruce not being too bad either), a hard hitting/running RB in S. Jackson. Further he walks into a defense thats been a work in progress for the last 3 years. So how many new HCs walked into such a plum job, considering a lot of new coaches have to rebuild?

Its fair to say theres a higher level of expectation for success with the Rams. Most of the pieces where there waiting for him. A lot of this artical points out correctly that a critical piece of their teams was missing or where not taken advantage of. So where did the Rams go wrong?

Injuries didn't help matters, yet those injuries where not so much on the skilled possitions on the offense. I still don't buy the arguement that replacement lineman are that inept at a game they have played a large part of their lives. A breakdown here and there-yes-but to have your starting QB eating that much sod and turf? To not be able to power block for S. Jackson tells volumnes.

Leadership is where I am looking. The HC is the General of his team, and thus far haven't seen anything to be confident over

[ramsbruce]

This artical doesnt answer the Rams situation. New HC, Linehan, inherts a top knock QB in M. Bulger, a NFL leading WR in T. Holt (I. Bruce not being too bad either), a hard hitting/running RB in S. Jackson. Further he walks into a defense thats been a work in progress for the last 3 years. So how many new HCs walked into such a plum job, considering a lot of new coaches have to rebuild?

Its fair to say theres a higher level of expectation for success with the Rams. Most of the pieces where there waiting for him. A lot of this artical points out correctly that a critical piece of their teams was missing or where not taken advantage of. So where did the Rams go wrong?

Injuries didn't help matters, yet those injuries where not so much on the skilled possitions on the offense. I still don't buy the arguement that replacement lineman are that inept at a game they have played a large part of their lives. A breakdown here and there-yes-but to have your starting QB eating that much sod and turf? To not be able to power block for S. Jackson tells volumnes.

Leadership is where I am looking. The HC is the General of his team, and thus far haven't seen anything to be confident over

The injuries were not so much on the skill positions? How do you figure? Bulger is pretty much done, Jackson was in and out. Holt has been hurting all year. Bruce missed time. Bennett and McMichael also missed time. Injuries hit us hard all over the place.

Our defense was pretty bad when Linehan got here, our O Line wasn't great, we had no pass rush, special teams were bad, so how much of a plum job was it really?

Anyways I found the article an interesting read, whether people think it applies to the Rams or not we may or may not find out.

[Ram Dragoon]

And why has Bulger been injured so much of this year? If I recall correctly, he was pretty healthy at the start of the season. Holt had that nagging injuring but hadn't missed a lot of games. Yet Holt isn't the whole WR core--just darn good when he is 100% Jackson too got hurt--yet didnt and hasn't explained his lack of success this season. Where the Rams that shallow in depth that they couldn't win without these players? Harris from the Colts has missed how many games, yet Manning still manages to get completions. Certainly injuries where not the issue to the Ram's loss to Frisco earlier this year

I wonder how much is the Rams lack of talent depth at ALL positions and/or lack of good coaching that is the result of 2007 season. If memeroy serves, the Pats patchwork defense got them into the AFC championships.

[ramsbruce]

And why has Bulger been injured so much of this year? If I recall correctly, he was pretty healthy at the start of the season. Holt had that nagging injuring but hadn't missed a lot of games. Yet Holt isn't the whole WR core--just darn good when he is 100% Jackson too got hurt--yet didnt and hasn't explained his lack of success this season. Where the Rams that shallow in depth that they couldn't win without these players? Harris from the Colts has missed how many games, yet Manning still manages to get completions. Certainly injuries where not the issue to the Ram's loss to Frisco earlier this year

I wonder how much is the Rams lack of talent depth at ALL positions and/or lack of good coaching that is the result of 2007 season. If memeroy serves, the Pats patchwork defense got them into the AFC championships.

Bulger was hurt in the first game with sprained ribs, the same game that Orlando Pace went out for the season, interesting turn of events isn't it. The second game which was the whiners game was where Bulger broke his ribs, so I would say that having no Pace and Bulger with broken ribs contributed to the loss against the whiners. You certainly can't discount it.

Why people continue to try and compare us to the Colts and Pats is beyond me. They are the exception, not the rule.

There are plenty of valid reasons and some invalid ones why we are bad. This stuff has been hashed and rehashed and it's old.

Not that the article is the gospel, I just found it interesting.

[Fat Pang]

Interesting article.

More than a grain of truth in it too.

As Bruce said in his blog when he talked of fans with the '...microwave mentality...', King I think is talking largely of the belief that there are no quick fixes, no magical cures and no one who can coach a team to the playoffs every season.

It amazes me how people can possibly consider the Rams a plum job. It wasn't when Linehan was hired and it isn't now. Terrible special teams, lack of talent on defence and an injury-susceptible, aging offence were the reason we went 6-10 before Linehan was appointed. People have to stop thinking of us as some kind of powerhouse because we just aren't. We have a base to build on on both Offence and defence, but if the club gets to the playoffs next year, it will have taken a lot of work, a good draft and some nice FA pick-ups.

In short, a different team than the one we have now. Certainly a healthier one.

All the pieces quite patently are not there. This isn't now, and hasn't been a superbowl team for the last four years.