Sgt. Largent":1w1rv347 said:
Worst thing you can do to a team that's winning is disrupt culture and continuity.
There are always two sides to this argument.
I'd say that in the short term, this is often true. But in the long term, it can be disastrous.
With Pete, I think there are just a handful of coaches in his tree that could pull off continuity. One of them is entrenched in Atlanta. But Pete is a really unique cat. Part of what makes his system work is tied indelibly to his personality. Most coaches couldn't come in and provide that kind of continuity. It'd be markedly disengenuous. And it'd be extremely difficult to get veteran players to respond to the same message from a different messenger.
Ultimately, you want to have someone that can come in and execute their program. If that requires a short term step back while a coach brings in his kinds of players -- that's a cost one should be willing to incur. The absolute worst thing you can do is maintain continuity with a coach that can't execute the old style. I believe that Pete's program style is really hard to pull off. There is a level of energy and authentic positivity that is difficult to duplicate. It works for Pete, but really is there any other coach on this staff that could replace Pete at the top of the organization? I can't think of any.
IMO, Seattle would be best served to forge in a new direction with a coach who has the credentials to fully implement his own program day one. Much like Pete was able to do when he came on board. Of course I hope that day is many years in the future. It's just I think it'll be near impossible to find a coach familiar with Pete's system that has the requisite force of personality to implement it at a high level.