Sgt. Largent":1gagznzh said:
I know everyone's clapping over what Clark said, but him even saying anything...........or what Earl said about Bobby..........or what Bennett or Sherman said/say on a weekly basis IS a problem as well.
You don't ever hear any Patriot players calling each other out, or the coaches, or anybody. Pete's "let the players be themselves" style of coaching has finally hit critical mass, and is now a detriment to the team.
And it's been a detriment for a couple years now.
I think you can let players be themselves to a large extent but you can't do that while spouting empty platitudes and putting it mostly on them to figure out and then having that blow up in their face. You also have to nurture the growth of the players so that who they are is who you sculpt them into being.
Pete has had his paws on some of the more vocal elements of the team since their inception to the NFL and with Sherman especially has allowed Sherman to be himself while seemingly just thinking it's Sherman being himself rather than Sherman being an alarm bell to managing the team. The problem isn't inherently Sherman being a vocal malcontent at times, it's that nothing seemingly is done with it, either in a concrete game way or in a social space telling him to pipe down. And probably the most damning is that Sherman isn't wrong except for possibly piping up. But hey, if you're going to tolerate a malcontent maybe you should take their issues to heart?
I really get the sensation that Pete has never had to build a firm framework with his players on handling adversity - it's one of the double edge swords of consistently doing well and pulling the plug himself when things look their darkest. It is really damning if PC's 'leadership' hinges so much on the success in aggregate - he's almost like a cool IROC driving uncle, leaves when the party is out of beer but always shows up with the best stories and snacks.
The funny thing with the Pats though is that BB has been validated over and over and over again that his method works with enough regularity that you'd have to be stubborn as hell to not try to buy in fully for 2 or 3 seasons to potentially taste the fruit of a championship and then a nice payday afterwards. He has the cache to warrant that buy in. He delivers the goods and you might bust your ass hard enough and be lucky enough not to face Eli Manning to reap it. Pete squandered that after SB49 and as much as people are tired about talking about it (I kinda am in specifics but not in knock on effects) I think the core is tired of the shtick and needs more from PC.