seabowl":2qxaylnj said:
I know all of us hate that it came to this and wished Percy would have worked out for us. With this said how much blame do you put on Bevell for Perc's failure? Not only from a standpoint of getting him correctly involved in the offensive scheme but also his involvement with even wanting to acquire Percy in the first place. Remember Bevell was Percy's OC in Minnesota and was completely informed of his on the field/off the field issues. Thoughts?
i think its all a bit more nuanced than people want to see. I don't think its any one person's fault but have a feeling by the end of the year, we'll know at who's feet the blame should lie. If you look at each of the conditions individually, it's easy to see how we got to where we are
1 - a player who although he did have a rep as a hot head, had teammates come out and say that its born out of a desire to compete and for everyone around him to have that same passion and commitment ... to be excellent. Doesn't excuse him calling out his former coaches publicly, but what are either of them doing now? He was openly critical of both for not being good enough. wrong for doing it, but at the end of the day... neither frazier nor childress are coaching a team.
2 - a coach who has built a team in HIS own image and will defend that image and those key components of his approach that threaten its integrity. I personally think that this offense would be better off with someone else running it. Its not about drawing up 'magic plays' for a superstar, its about creativity, judgement, adjustment, maximizing the best of the players you have and exposing an enemy's weeknesses. Bev doesnt do that. But until this year, it hasnt mattered because the Hawk's philosophy has been to do what they do and dictate the game to their opponent. well now, they no longer have the benefit of a defense that can cover their O's mistakes and set them up in scoring position time and time again. But Pete has what he has. He's built it, orchestrated the acquiring of Bevell because i'm sure he figured he'd work within the system he wanted. remember the OC we had prior who on the surface didnt look too bad but was canned the second the season ended? he wasnt doing what PC wanted. bevell does. But without the D to support the ultra conservative approach and in my opinion, a very limited OC, the cracks are showing and the players see it and are beginning to show their frustration. But Pete cant let open criticism of his coach exist and thus, his philosophy exist.
3 - an OC that is limited and has been protected by his HC's desire for a simple approach and a QB who can turn his ineffective plays that dont help a bit to creatively free up WR . When he's most effective, he's doing what PETE wants him to do, which is run run run, set up the pass with the run and then hit the big play. When he's strayed from that or been given the freedom to push beyond that limitation of a few 'select' plays, you get a lot of WTF schemes and questionable calls. I think its BS that there's all this talk about how we just couldnt make Percy fit. You make him fit by stretching the field with him several times a game. BUT, Pete's in a pickle because he put Bevell in the spot he's in. he's Pete's puppet, in the past, running the plays he wanted and calling a game 'not to lose'. Now, when the O needs to do more, i think we're REALLY starting to see Bev's limitations (hopefully Pete is a s well).
So you end up with a situation where you have an offense sputtering because its being asked to do something its O coordinator cant do, a head coach who has to now stuck with his coordinator because he cant let him go 5 games in the season and up until now has been ok because he was never relied upon to win, and a dynamic player who's personality is to call a spade a spade, regardless of whether a player or coach. They had a star player who looked at the situation around him and probably spoke his mind. Problem is, and i'm not condoning the douchiness with which PH has hsitorically leveled his criticism, i cant disagree if what he was most troubled by and vocal about was piss poor planning, questionable offensive leadership, and a gameplan that literally wastes the talents of its players. But regardless, you cant let that type of dissension exist.
My gutt says this situation is not going to get better with PH's departure. I dont get the sense that the players are happy about it and slapping high fives because the guy was an ass. The responses so far have been more along the lines of regret. that alone should tell you that if he was complaining about how things are done, he was being used or a game is being called, that some must see the same thing. some might include ADB who has been vocal about the O's ineptitude and Lynch.
So we'll see over the next two months how the team responds. IF Pete can get bev to put together a string of solid games then he'll get buy in again. if not, i think things are going to boil over rather quickly because it will mean that the team let go its most talented (albeit hot-headed) player because he was being honest in his criticism of its leadership.
we shall see.
