Redskins head coach Steve Spurrier resigned yesterday, bringing an end to two years of frustrated hopes and gloomy Mondays. I, like Tony Kornheiser, believed in the "ol' ballcoach", thinking that the whole good ol' boy image hid an evil genius:
I thought Spurrier would be great here. I thought his offensive genius would quickly translate to the NFL. He was so far ahead of everybody else in college, I thought he couldn't help but be great in the pros. I mean, football is football, right? Eleven guys on a side in college. Eleven guys on a side in the NFL. How tough could it be?
I predicted that with every successive 10 games Spurrier coached, his record would improve. Onward and upward was my message. I honestly thought by the end of his third year Spurrier would have the Redskins in the Super Bowl. The joke's on me. There is no third year for Spurrier.
Ha ha. Joke's on me too. (Ed.: NFL SundayTicket? What were you thinking?) Because, as Michael Wilbon points out:
He never demonstrated that he had the stomach for confronting the big problems that come with being an NFL coach. Players were late for meetings; Steve Spurrier let it slide. Cell phones would go off during meetings, Jon Jansen revealed this week; Spurrier let it slide. Players jumped offsides on defense, couldn't stay lined up properly on offense, followed their own personal game plans instead of their assignments, and the head coach didn't make them accountable the way successful pros must be held accountable.
He never dealt with the harsh realities of pro football, never was able to manage the unpleasant day-to-day details a successful NFL coach has to stay on top of. And in the end, he didn't even confront his own resignation, didn't even stick around to have the tough conversations with his players or with the man who handed him $10 million for two losing seasons. He didn't even stay to tell the truth to some of his own assistant coaches, several of whom found out their fate by television or radio yesterday afternoon.
After this unpleasant interlude two things have become crystal clear:
1. I miss the Squire, Jack Kent Cooke. His masterful hand and enlightened ownership blessed the Redskins for many years. Moreover, he was (at the time I heard this) the only foreigner ever to become a naturalized U.S. citizen by an Act of Congress (while proving that not all Canadians are a bunch of hosers, eh?)
2. Unless a college coach has experience as an assistant coach in a pro league, or he is running a university program like a pro club, he will inevitably have trouble assuming the top position in a pro organization. That's because he simply hasn't adopted the right paradigm for success. I mean, there are so many anecdotes of professional coaches eating, breathing, and living their jobs, e.g. Joe Gibbs (the greatest coach of ALL time, but that's another post altogether) had a cot in his office so that his need for sleep Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights would not detract from his preparation. Taking time out to golf regularly is not part of a professional football coaches routine. At least not a winning coach.
But Wilbon's point is even more disturbing. You have a college coach who can't enforce discipline on his team: the guy who is molding young student-athletes (ha!) into upstanding gentlemen and citizens of the world, doesn't have the stomach for discipline? The worst part about it, is, after the penalty-filled games, after the endless parade of sacks and miscues, it never got better. That's a work ethic problem. That's not acceptable.
Before this revelation, I thought -- for a second, mind you -- that maybe the "Fun 'n Gun" offense just wasn't right for the NFC East, where you run to set up the pass, always kick the field goal, and make sure your linebacker is juiced up to the eyeballs and gets paid bounties for every injured opponent. Maybe it would work in the NFC West, with its wonderful weather and domes. Who knows. And, after two years in the wilderness, I don't really care.
As a Cowboys (and Alabama Crimson Tide) fan, I've always thought Spurrier was a terrific coach even though I didn't want him to do well. Clearly, his work ethic and belief in his "system" didn't translate very well in the NFL. But there's also quite a bit of evidence that Snyder the GM was a big obstacle to his success with the Redskins. Snyder is very much like the Jerry Jone from post-Jimmy Johnson through the end of the Campo era, but with less knowledge of football. He's got no business GM'ing a pro team.
Posted by: James Joyner | Friday, January 02, 2004 at 07:31 AM