I hear ya (and great to see you back Cedar!!!). It would be unimaginable to lose a child.. I shudder at the thought.
However, him rushing back to take this job if not emotionally ready is on him. But considering how when defacto demoted 2 levels to Colts OLC, supposedly his bailiwick, first he got Luck almost killed and this season either set or came close to setting the record for sacks on the QB,
I'd say anecdotally that his incompetence had less to do with emotional trauma and more to do that he was really just an il-equipped figurehead OC at GB..
Oh, I'm not excusing him being a complete nitwit on losing his kid...I'm just surprised he went back to Green Bay is all...but if they're willing to give him a job...
Thanks Vaark...it's good to be back.
I was never that excited at the hire in the first place...Clements (I believe) was their QB coach at the time, and really was the assistant in helping McCarthy develop Rodgers along, not Philbin. To my knowledge, and my memory of those days is a purple haze, but I think I remember reading that Philbin was really in charge of literally putting PowerPoints together and helping put a game plan together more than anything.
What always concerned me more than anything with that nincompoop was that he surrounded himself with guys that he didn't view as threats to take his job, guys that weren't going to elevate him, more or less guys he was just comfortable around. Look at what we had...Zac Taylor, Mike Sherman, and a whole list of others...it was like an acid casualty version of Richard Karn's "Family Feud"...couple this with his propensity to run off guys who weren't always the nicest guys on the field but actually produced...it was indicitive of his tenure as a coach.
Couple this with the Bullygate fiasco, his underhanded dealings with Aponte, and everything else, and you had a real shitstorm. I'm glad he's gone. Never liked the guy...I always hated people coming up and telling me "Oh Cedar, I watched Hard Knocks...Joe Philbin..you've got a hell of a coach there"...I always wondered if they had gotten some bad acid or something.
He was a terrible head coach. Ross showed his cluelessness for football decisions by hiring him...as I think that he thought Philbin, by virtue of his "Offensive Coordinator" title, was in fact, in charge of the Green Bay offense...
As I've said, I think Gase has his shortcomings, but he's a guy that I think can do some good things with this team. We've whiffed on so many coaches over the years, and he doesn't fistpump, doesn't act like a mummy, and doesn't have a mean pornstache, so he might be worth giving a few years to.