Disconnect between FO and Coaching Staff or Poor Coaching?

[JTech194]

Last year I watched every game and came away wondering if our FO and coaching staff even spoke to each other during the drafting process because there seemed to be an obvious disconnect between the players we drafted and how they were used on the field. Example

1. Micheal Egnew - Wasn't a blocking TE in college, we needed a seem threat TE which in my opinion is why Ireland drafted him... But we get him here and he gets yelled at by Sherman for not being able to block... WTF?? The guy wasn't a blocker in college sooo why do we expect him to be a blocker here? Why not use him at his strength which is catching the ball? Now if he constantly dropped passes or couldn't get open then I'd say he was a terrible pick but when we draft a receiving TE and ask him to block.... That makes not sense to me. Maybe Sherman's old school style didn't think highly of the new breed TE in todays NFL but if that was the case... why not express that during the draft process instead of getting him here and making him play Fullback and then wonder why he's not successful.

2. Dion Jordan - Looks to me like the scouting department had an idea of how he could be used but the coaching staff had no clue. They couldn't figure out how to get him on the field consistently. He's obviously athletic and he seems to have a good skillset but our coaching staff didn't know what to do with him. I know he was hurt but I think that was more of a blessing in disguise because I'm not so sure even if he would have stayed healthy that our the coaching staff could have figured out how to use him AND O. Vernon at the same time because Vernon played pretty damn good last year. Why not have that conversation prior to the draft Jeff.. "Coach.. i'm thinking about moving up to draft jordon... what do you think"... Coaches.. We're not sure how we will get him on the field". Maybe they all planned to use him at RDE thinking Vernon wasn't that good, but the play of Vernon made it tough for the coaches to insert Jordan.. If that's the case then I'm fine with that. Rookies gotta earn their spot.. regardless of draft position.

3. J. Martin... Not sure anyone could have seen this coming but reports came out that Philbin wanted Albert but JI wanted to give Martin a shot at LT. Seems like Coaches were right.

The moral of the story is this... The GM and Coaching staff MUST be on the same page. You can not have the FO doing one thing and the coaches looking at each other like "What the hell are we gonna do with him?" And at the end of the season... you have the coaches pointing at the FO and the FO pointing the finger at the coaches. The very definition of dysfunction.

 

[Yessir]

Combination of both.

 

[ChambersWI]

little of both. With Jordan though (and I said it last year) with him missing as much time as he did with the shoulder, I wasn't expecting much. Now admittedly he fell below my expectations (was expecting 5-6 sacks), but still I felt this year would be a bit of a redshirt

 

[datruth55]

Egnew was garbage in college IMO. The majority of his receptions were from bubble screens. He struggled to get separation in mini camp and training and still struggles with it so I don't see how he could be a seem threat. He timed well at the combine but his play speed is much slower than his 40 time (watch his games at Missouri). He was a project from day 1 and I said as much when we drafted him. Never should have been drafted in the 3rd round...should have been a 5th rounder at best.

This was a classic Jeff Ireland, "oops, I missed out on a TE in the deepest TE draft possibly in history in 2010. Let me draft one now after the fact." move. Mr. Reactive a.k.a. Jeff Ireland who watched our team struggle at certain positions and then decides to address the issue rather than having the foresight to take care of the position before it becomes an issue. Man am I glad Ireland is gone.

And Dion Jordan is more athlete than football player...and we took him at #3. You would think if you take a player top 5 he better be elite and a player the coaching staff just can't keep off the field. Reminds me of the NBA draft where teams are taking players based on potential instead of production.

 

[phinking]

Last year I watched every game and came away wondering if our FO and coaching staff even spoke to each other during the drafting process because there seemed to be an obvious disconnect between the players we drafted and how they were used on the field. Example

1. Micheal Egnew - Wasn't a blocking TE in college, we needed a seem threat TE which in my opinion is why Ireland drafted him... But we get him here and he gets yelled at by Sherman for not being able to block... WTF?? The guy wasn't a blocker in college sooo why do we expect him to be a blocker here? Why not use him at his strength which is catching the ball? Now if he constantly dropped passes or couldn't get open then I'd say he was a terrible pick but when we draft a receiving TE and ask him to block.... That makes not sense to me. Maybe Sherman's old school style didn't think highly of the new breed TE in todays NFL but if that was the case... why not express that during the draft process instead of getting him here and making him play Fullback and then wonder why he's not successful.

2. Dion Jordan - Looks to me like the scouting department had an idea of how he could be used but the coaching staff had no clue. They couldn't figure out how to get him on the field consistently. He's obviously athletic and he seems to have a good skillset but our coaching staff didn't know what to do with him. I know he was hurt but I think that was more of a blessing in disguise because I'm not so sure even if he would have stayed healthy that our the coaching staff could have figured out how to use him AND O. Vernon at the same time because Vernon played pretty damn good last year. Why not have that conversation prior to the draft Jeff.. "Coach.. i'm thinking about moving up to draft jordon... what do you think"... Coaches.. We're not sure how we will get him on the field". Maybe they all planned to use him at RDE thinking Vernon wasn't that good, but the play of Vernon made it tough for the coaches to insert Jordan.. If that's the case then I'm fine with that. Rookies gotta earn their spot.. regardless of draft position.

3. J. Martin... Not sure anyone could have seen this coming but reports came out that Philbin wanted Albert but JI wanted to give Martin a shot at LT. Seems like Coaches were right.

The moral of the story is this... The GM and Coaching staff MUST be on the same page. You can not have the FO doing one thing and the coaches looking at each other like "What the hell are we gonna do with him?" And at the end of the season... you have the coaches pointing at the FO and the FO pointing the finger at the coaches. The very definition of dysfunction.

And because you saw every game, you are able to make a very intelligent observation and I commend you for that. I do believe though, that the coaches are incompetent.

 

[spiketex]

Don't write Jordan off so fast. He was underweight and a little understrength in his rookie season. I would expect him to be bigger and stronger and more ready to contribute this year. He appears to have a very good motor and is eager to learn. In Green Bay they deliberately took a slower approach to developing rookies and they enjoyed much greater success by not just throwing them in the deep end. I think that Philbin is working to a methodical process and I'm looking forward to see Dion Jordan in training camp.

 

[NRA]

we have about 3 guys on this team you can actually call "talent". well, 3.5 as we dont know whats going to happen with tanny yet.

and thats ALL jeff ireland. so call it disfunction, dis association, whatever, joe philbin has had almost nothing to work with.

and last years draft may go down as one one of the worst, maybe THE worst drafts of all time as far as production from the players he drafted.

everybody is up in the air about the new o-line coach. and he IS a very good coach. this guy is nothing new to philbin, he is the guy he wanted to run the o-line in his first year as dolphins h/c, but, due to contract snafu with the guys other team, he couldnt join the dolphins. philbin was scrambling for other guys he wanted but couldnt get them due to mostly obligations elsewhere. SOONER OR LATER, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A BODY TO FILL THE SPOT!!

the nfl is a game of TALENT and the cupboards almost bare. joe philbin did one hell of a job this past two years, especially this past year having a MASS talent shortage, coaches that were not available to him and what i call a ghost draft. the guy was handed a WORSE team than the one he had his first year, outside an upgrade at wr and 1 cb. and i know everyone wants to blame wallace for the lack of cohesion between he and tanny, but, wallace had no issues getting into the endzone and making huge plays before coming here. but, of course, truth be damned, tanny had NO blame.

throw in one of the worst scandals the nfl has seen in a while and philbin coaches this team to an 8-8 record!! now, if you knew, before this past season that we were getting a 99.9% bust draft, the worst o-line in the game, a major scandal costing us 2 starters on the line, who of you would have said, "oh yeah, were going 8-8"!! no one. me included!!

but the sheer hatred piled on to philbin is just amazing. the only other coach i think could have pulled that off under the same circumstances would be billichek. but right now, if given the go ahead to do it, 99.9% of the fans would fire philbin right now. and hey, why not! we get maybe the best personel guy [the main thing we needed] available for our GM spot and before the guys plane even lands, the fans want him tarred and feathered and run out of town!! all before he makes ONE decision or has ONE draft!!

anyhow, the front office is far, far more to blame than joe philbin or ANY of the coaching staff. without talent, you can have all the best coaches, from h/c down to the kicking coach and it wont make one bit of difference. jeff ireland handled the draft and free agency and he was the one responsible for finding talent, not philbin.

front office mostly to blame, far and away!!