Which coach is the first to get fired?

One other comment about a couple of the "dumb" guys:

I think with some of these guys, it's as much about ego as it is intelligence. They start to believe their own hype, and they think that by sheer force of will they can take the same underachieving players they already have and make them into Super Bowl winners. When they get that way, it's more about showing everyone what a great coach they are than it is about finding the right mix of players.

Martz is probably the best example. I think his ego was a big factor in the Rams losing the Super Bowl to the Patriots. He was determined to win with a pass happy game plan even when everyone else could see that running it with Faulk was much more effective.

I'm beginning to think Parcells is headed down a similar road.

 

I don't think so. I bet if Parcells had the roster Martz has, the Cowboys would be hands down Super Bowl favorites. Parcells has got an ego, but I don't see it undermining his ability...yet.

 

tice - after the vikes do their usual collapse starting in November.

 

Well, 1, Parcells isn't married to a particular system. How is not important, he just wins. He's won a number of different ways, playing to his teams strength. That's Martz failing, and perhaps Gruden as well. Any system can lose, you need players, and to adjust.

I'd also say that lately, when he leaves, teams seem to be in bad shape afterward.

 

Granted. But do you think that's generally the rule, or the exception? Gruden left Callahan a pretty good team, and Johnson left Switzer a Super Bowl winner. But as we saw this year, success itself in the salary cap era can be detrimental to the team.

 

Here's where I see warning signs with Parcells:

He’s always been known for being tied to certain players, guys that are “his” type of player, and he brings them with him whenever he goes to a new team. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes his loyalties to a player continue past the time when that player is effective on the field.

I think that might wind up being the case with Testaverde. Yes, he looks good now, but his stats are somewhat inflated because the Cowboys can’t run for ----. If he’s forced to keep up the pace for a full season at his age, I’m not all that confident of the results. A buddy of mine who is a diehard Cowboys fan and loves Parcells has the same issues. It’s the same sort of complaint many Panther fans have re: Dan Henning – Rodney Peete.

Beyond that though, I think this year’s draft was a bigger red flag. Parcells bypassed the guy generally considered to be the best halfback in the draft and instead wound up with Julius Jones. Guys who worked with Parcells said this wasn’t a huge surprise to them because they knew Parcells believed his system was good enough to win with lesser talent in the backfield. (My friend just about hit the ceiling when he watched all that).

There’s other things, but those are the things that make me wonder the most. Piper is right that Parcells tends to leave teams in bad shape when he takes off. There are reasons for that too, but that’s something of a separate issue.

 

great googly moogly