Penthos
Am I on speaker phone?
I agree with what you said, but IMO Phailbin hasnt shown anything that tells us he is improving as a HC. Noone can doubt that RT has shown visible improvement but where is Phailbins improvement? He hasnt shown us any visible improvement. He still makes the exact same mistakes he did when he was a rookie HC
I think he made some improvements in clock management towards the end of the year. I also think he made a smart move by hiring Lazor, which led to progression from RT and the offense (4K yards, 27tds 12ints). Can you really say RT's improvement had nothing to do with Philbin? IMO Philbin's biggest issues were injuries combined with a lack of depth which (again IMO) was what kept us out of the playoffs. And while Philbin is certainly not blameless in that, he is not the personnel guy.
I'm not a Philbin homer. I don't believe OR disbelieve in him. In fact, I wouldn't have minded replacing him with Harbaugh or even Marrone, but other than that, there was no-one else I thought was worth firing Philbin for.