A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library. ~Shelby Foote

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Aw Crap

Damping my enthusiasm for the misfortunes of the Da Bears is the knowledge that Ted Thompson's controversial-- read, bone-headed-- decision to choose... err... who again? Oh yeah, Mike somebody or other would almost inevitably lead to the exiting of Jim Bates, the one truly good personnel move the Packers have made in recent years.

Bates took an underperforming, and yes under-talented, bunch of guys and turned them into a top-ten defense. Which is exactly the same thing he did in Miami. The other thing he did in Miami is fill-in as interim coach and finish with a 3-4 record. Unimpressive? Well, the guy he replaced (Dave Wannstedt) managed to field a 1-8 record with the same team. Three of the four losses were on the road, and one of the wins was against New England-- a team that lost only one other game that year.

Bates got the most out of what he had, could gameplan with the best of them (anybody that can gameplan with Bill Belichick and come out even or ahead is a good gameplanner), and already knew our system. Plus, he liked it here.

Perhaps Mike whatever his name is will turn out to be an okay coach, maybe even a good coach-- but I can state with reasonable certainty that we already had a good coach, maybe even a great coach, already in Green Bay!

Crap.
Comments:
stop this negative nellie crap. I for one think this Mike whathisname is a fine choice and I have confidence that I will like Mike's choice for D-coordinator better than Bates. Despite your opinion of Bates as a coach I personally didn't like him at Green Bay just not a good fit, I think he would be much better suited to coach an AFC team after all that is where he has had his success... as for the Packers I think Mike whatshisname would do well with someone who has longtime (at least 2 years)intimate knowledge of the NFC north like say Ted Cottrell... now that would be a good hire...
 
Ted Cottrell would be an aweful hire. (Leave it to the Vikings fan to doom us.)
If you want a defensive coach with knowledge of the NFC North, you take Dick Jauron, who has coached both the Bears and Lions.
Personally, I didn't want Bates because he plays too conservative. I prefer a Dick LeBeau-type who is always working on new blitz schemes and changing up the defenses all the time. There is no way that Pittsburgh would have beaten Indy with Bates as their coordinator.
Either way, I just want us to take AJ Hawk or Mario Edwards with the 5th pick, no matter who the defensive coordinator is.
 
I wonder if McCarthy is just a great interviewer. Being in charge of the NFL's worst (?-- pretty bad at least) offense doesn't suggest to me that you are in line for a promotion. What did he do in New Orleans as offensive coordinator? What is it that he has done as a coach that shows he would be better than Sherman? Bates did a good job -- I would have hired him as head coach. Lastly, I would trade the pick.
 
I am not a fan of aggressive blitzing defenses unless you have the personnel to pull it off. GB does not have that personnel. In general, I favor a defense that mixes things up, keeps the offense off-balance and is good at making mid-game adnustments. Jim Bates was good at all those things, and he got the most out of an average (I'm being generous) bunch of talent with no superstar to hang his hat on.

Would I prefer Dick LeBeau? Yes, but that really wasn't an option, was it? Bates took a bottom 1/3rd defense (25th in '04) and made it a top 10 defense (7th in '05) with the only significant personnel change being the addition of Nick Collins.

Anyway, it's not surprising that we lost him-- if you were Bates would you want to stick around and work for Mike Whatshisname after Thompson stiffed you? As to Mr. Hawk-- I'm with Greg, let's trade the pick.
 
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