Kilmer72 wrote:RayNAustin wrote:HEROHAMO wrote:SkinsJock wrote:nobody is "protected' here - everybody is accountable
Mike Shanahan is his father. You dont think that offers any type of job security?
There are a number of conflicts that could possibly arise.
Mike may not go as hard on his son as he would another coordinator? Mike may go too hard on his son? Mike may not overrule his sons play calls when he feels necessary? Mike may not tweek the game plan as he normally would?
From Kyles side,
Kyle subconciously does not have to worry about job security. So this can either provide piece of mind and allow him to concentrate better on the offensive game plan?
Or Kyle may not work as hard because he does not have to worry about losing his job.
Either way working with your own son affects the way you make your descisions. Try and tell me its not true. Every father out there knows how this is. Either you go too hard or too soft. Or somewhere in the middle. Either way it is a conflict of interest.
Important game descisions are influenced by Mike and Kyles relationship. That is the bottom line.
Most human beings don't know there limits until they are pushed to it and past it. Part of exceeding your limits in performance is a fear of losing your job.
I have worked with friends and family many times. You always get treated better and can get away with much more. Dont care what people say. Father and son love each other. It gets in the way. The man held Kyle in his arms when he was a baby. Give me a break there is always a conflict of interest with family and work.
I agree .... a father & son team doesn't mean it can't be wildly successful, but it sure does pose MAJOR issues if success is elusive.
Dad & Son are now a team ... and you can bet your last dollar that McNabb and every other body on offense will be thrown under the bus before you see Kyle's body there.
So we're going to live or die by the coaching talents of those two inseparable men ....
Unfortunately, they haven't demonstrated impeccable wisdom in their handling of players or their decision making in strategy.
Haynesworth and McNabb are just the most visible ..
One could argue that it was a mistake to revamp the entire defensive philosophy ... when adding a solid free safety and moving Landry back to his natural position of SS would have netted the best results, allowing them to focus on offensive talent, where it was needed the most.That would have tailored the defense to the personnel ... avoided the Haynesworth fiasco ... and provided McNabb with better talent to work behind.
As for McNabb .... you get what you get with him .... it's rather foolish to expect to make any significant changes to his fundamentals ... or change his game in significant ways at this stage in his career. There is more than enough data on him to know what you're getting ... and you run with that by tailoring the offense to take advantage of his strengths ... not try and tweak him at the same time he's expected to learn a new system, new teammates, new coaches, etc, while playing behind a line that can't block ANYBODY.
Frankly, I've heard about as much as I care to about cardiovascular issues from Shanahan .... go be a freaking aerobics instructor, or drop the cardio act.
Thank you. I have and many other have stated it. What drives me crazy is trading for mcnab...That is a win now philosophy. If you want to win now then why revamp the defense knowing it (personnel)isn't suited for it?
Things might and probably will work out lets see.
Well, I was and still am in favor of the trade for McNabb ... he's not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning ... but he's a legitimate starting QB in the NFL, and that's something we haven't had in a long time.
Some of the critics from Philly have raised legitimate issues .. he is streaky, and tends to throw too many balls into the dirt. But the payoff with him is his leadership and ability to make big plays at critical times, and has done this over an extended period of time. So you take the bitter with the sweet ... and I know of nobody else out there that was better or available than McNabb. And he easily has 2-3 more good years left in the tank.
What we don't need is an arrogant staff that thinks their system is more important than the players .... as happened to the Redskins defense in 2006 when they took a nose dive after letting a handful of key players leave over the course of the 2004/2005 timespan that bit them in the rear in 2006. Remember? They let Smoot go (after trading Bailey), then Ryan Clark, Antonio Peirce ... including the mishandling of Arrington which ultimately led to the firing of the linebacker's coach. Both starting corners in 2004 gone in 2005, followed by the starting safety ... and middle linebacker .... THAT was why he defense took a nose dive in 2006. Greg Williams got a big head, and thought he could plug in replacement players and not miss a beat. He was wrong.
Systems don't win football games ... players do. And the professional athlete is a complex, psychologically fragile entity that runs on emotion and confidence ... confidence in himself and in those around him. The last thing you want from your coaches is to act in a manner that negatively impacts, or undermines either one ... and any coach in any sport that is worth his salt understands that, first and foremost. Even good QBs know this ... when a receiver drops an easy catch, a good QB will go right back to him soon after, to maintain that confidence.
Now, if you have a player that is refusing to comply with coaching directions ... or a player that is not expending maximum effort ... sitting them down may be the only way to correct such a situation. But that is far from the situation that occurred on Sunday. That decision to pull McNabb with the game on the line is in DIRECT OPPOSITION to reason you traded for him in the first place, and most certainly did inject negative emotions and impact confidence ... and is something that will linger in the back of his mind ... and in the minds of other players the next time the Redskins are faced with coming from behind to win a game. And if you think that this won't be the case, you just don't understand the psychology of the mind. McNabb, if he lives to be 100, will remember being pulled in that last 2 minutes, and watching from the sideline.
Now will this negatively affect his performance for the rest of the year? Maybe, maybe not ... he's been down this road before and has absorbed a lot of criticism over the years in Philly, and has still performed. But you have to ask the question ... if McNabb does indeed have a propensity to choke in the "Big Games", as is the feeling in Philly ... how much of that came from the constant reinforcement of those negative thoughts and emotions from the Philly fans, players and coaches?
I liken this to golf .... why is it that when faced with a wide open fairway off the tee, you can hit the long drive straight down the middle ... but when faced with a tight fairway ... trees lining one side ... water on the other, so many hit a bad shot, and wind up exactly where they don't want to be? It's all in that tiny space between the ears. The moment you let those negative thoughts of the trees and the water invade your mind, the chance of taking a confident, fearless swing all but vanishes, along with your chances of a desirable outcome.
And it happens to everyone ... it works the same way with everyone ... from the weekend warrior to the PGA Tour Pro. That's why those island greens, surrounded by water find so many balls swimming .... a pro could stand there and zero in on a green from 130 yards out, and can hit that green 100 times out of 100 .... (they're actually unhappy if they aren't inside 10 ft, from that distance) ... but surround the green with water, and they all breathe a sigh of relief just to be anywhere on the green and dry.
When you see "momentum" shifts in football games, it's this collective confidence of positive emotions and feelings that are taking over on one side, with negative emotions taking over the other side.
Confidence and success are as inseparable as a chicken and an egg. You gotta have one, if you want the other. And ANYTHING that negatively affects confidence compromises the possibilities of success. This is why there is almost unanimous opinion that pulling McNabb was not just a bad decision ... but a blatantly bone headed thing to do. Nobody was offering draft picks to trade for Rex Grossman, and at the beginning of the year, do you think ANYONE said oooooh ... watch out for the Redskins, they just signed Rex Grossman?
Now, dismissing the specific negative psychological affects of that decision itself, what you also end up with is legitimate doubt regarding the wisdom of the coaching staff to make future decisions. I mean, if they can be that wrong about something that is fundamentally recognized as dramatically faulty decision making ... what confidence is there that they'll get the more nuanced decisions right in the future?
It's a very legitimate question.
