chris98251":1crdru0l said:
Here is what I see.
Shula great Coach and his window was the early 70's
Knoll great run mid 70's.
Johnson had his window late 80's early 90's
Walsh the early 80's till late 80's.
Landry early 70's
All these guys had windows, there are others such as Madden with the Raiders as well, but they have success windows, whether it be their systems a group of players or a staff that is in sync and work well together.
Pete may have come to the end of his window, he had success with his big Corners and systems, he had success with a generation back in Lynch and a Staff that has over time been hired by other teams.
The league adapting to his system, him being farther removed for the talent pool in college which he gleaned so well and the type of players he was selecting which other teams passed on since they were not prototypical in size for positions, has changed to where other teams choose them now based on Pete's success.
Getting Wilson fit into all the above as well.
What I am saying is also many of those teams held onto that coach too long Shula, Knoll, Landry.
Cowher eventually got Pittsburgh back to contention, Johnson's was able to get Dallas back to success, Miami is still looking, we seen the collapse after Walsh handed the controls to Seifert and he rode Walsh's players till they were gone.
You could throw The Rat in Denver into this as well until Elway retired.
Maybe we have seen the end of Pete's window, we are fading not collapsing.
Madden and Cowher, Johnson and Walsh stepped away while still a success, others retired in a losing house of cards.
Thoughts?
I dont want to disagree too loudly , because there is something to this..in my mind not just coaches but players.
But one of the examples you give..youve accidentally shown why its often not the case because -- frankly -- the NFL is a tough gig obviously.
Don Shula.. you say had his window in the 70s and basically was done. But that is far, far from true.
Yes..the Dolphins famously went to 3 straight Super Bowls, winning 2 from 1971 to 1973..but Shula didnt fade out. In the early 80s the Dolphins again went to the Superbowl 2 times in the space of 3 years.. one was the year BEFORE Dan Marino joined..1982, getting to the Super Bowl with David Woodley and Don Strock at QB.
THEN.. after a 9 year gap, in the 1990s Don Shula fielded another series of strong teams.. they didnt get to the Super Bowl , because they twice faced that historic Buffalo team that went to 4 straight Super Bowls, then in 1994 they somehow lost to the Chargers in the divisional round despite winning the battle in just about every statistical category except points.
Not only did Shula either go to the Super Bowl in 2 different decades and build very strong teams in 4 different decades (he won the NFL championship with Baltimore in 1968) , he built these teams very different ways. The 70s he let 3 star running backs and a super efficient (for the era) QB support a suffocating defense. In 1982..well.. hell..I will just say that was the best coaching job no one ever talks about. Like I said..David Woodley was the QB, the leading rusher had 700 something yards.. that was masterful. In the early 90s, the Dolphins went more balanced on offense as they adjusted to an aging Marino.
That decade from 1973 to 1982 Im sure tons of people were sure the game had passed Shula by. and again from 1985 to 1990, at that point I was old enough that I remember speculation about whether a different coach was needed. and its true he didnt get to the Super Bowl in the 90s.. but thats another lesson: the other guys out there get paid too, they are trying to win too. Winning in the regular season is NOT enough, but doing it indicates a lot. And when you come up against other really, really good teams.. its a battle.
Our last Super Bowl might seem a long time ago.. out last DEEP playoff run as well.. but, I would be caution against being too sure we know the reason. I dont even know that Pete is too stuck in his ways. I keep reading that.. but even what he means by "balance" has changed.. his goal for it has changed. Each DC we had, the defense clearly had different wrinkles. We fired an OC after a 12-4 season. Totally agree it had to be done, but can we at least acknowledge thats pretty rare?
Pete Carroll has flaws. A lot of coaches do. But , man, we never even went through that true rebuilding we thought we would have to and nearly every NFL team does in the modern era.
Its the normal cycle. But we didnt do it. We didnt go back to losing records for a couple years that made drafting easier and players cheaper. Despite always drafting in the bottom..every year.. weve stayed in the playoffs every year except one. and once youre in the tournament, youve got a chance.
Maybe the game has passed Carroll by. I tend to doubt it, but its possible. But sometimes patience pays off. Mike Holmgren needed 7 years to get the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, and seemingly regressed the year before he got us there. His last 2 Super Bowl appearances were 8 years apart.
The way we went out in the playoffs stung. Hurt. Left me angry and feeling hollow.
But we shouldnt take that emotion and then emotionally dismiss the significance that we recaptured the West with one of our best 5 records ever.
Flame away!