I'm still not clear on why this thread is titled Pete and Richard. I was expecting to find a discussion where one was in conflict or agreement with each other on how to proceed with our defense in light of Earl's absence from the field for the remainder of the season.
One thing that has really sunk in for me this year is Pete's coaching strategy. I.e. "next man up", and "compete for your position". In his mind its never a matter of " if a player will be injured, its only a matter of when", its pro football, players get injured everyday, in practice, on the field during a game, off the field when their wife kicks their ass.
With Pete's approach, when that time comes, its "next man up", and the individual who best competed for the job, less the injured player, moves in to that position. That way there is always a man ready to fill any position, at any point in the season, and because Pete also has a coaching philosophy wherein each player is taught to execute their position the same as every other player at that position, so that when the time comes to play, they already know what to do and how to do it.
I'm not saying that the loss of Earl won't be felt. It will,but not as much as it would, had Pete not coached the way he has. Let's also remember Earl's not dead, just injured, his greatest strength is his helping coach the defensive line. Getting everyone in place, he can still do a lot of that from the side lines during the games.
