Clearing the Deck

JKool · 06-10-2004, 03:26 PM

Clearing the deck more popular than ever

By Pat Kirwan
NFL.com Senior Analyst

(May 31, 2004) -- Every NFL coach over 40 years of age has had to adjust the way he motivates his players, and more importantly, how he evaluates his players.

In the NFL before the Collective Bargaining Agreement, all veterans spent the month of August competing head to head with the new rookies for their starting jobs. Coaches would watch two practice tapes a day and four or five preseason game tapes to draw a conclusion. That seems logical and enough information to make a decision about who was the best player to help the team win in that particular season.

Things are much different these days because roster decisions more and more are made in the offseason, not in pads, and now more than ever, not head to head. Over the past few years, teams are "clearing the deck" before a competitive situation can exist. There is a trend afoot that challenges how coaches coach

Get the rest here: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/7377865
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I thought two things were of interest in this story:
(1) What do you guys think about this tactic (clearing the deck) for dealing with players? Do you think players are really all such babies that they can't handle the competition with another skilled player? It does make you wonder about coaches' abilities to really deal with the attitude of players these days - perhaps it sheds some light on the "cancers" that seem to develop on teams (i.e. players are just such giant babies that when things don't go there way, THEY become a problem). It looks like lots of coaches are opting to avoid those kind of problems to the detriment of the team (fewer good competitions for startings spots, fewer respected vetrans, and so on). I was just wondering if any of you had thoughts on this trend.

(2) Perhaps this says something good for our own coaching staff. They did not immediately dump one of Howard or Grant the second they got Smith. They are not getting rid of vetrans like Pathon and Horn to make room for Stallworth (and thank goodness too). Our team may have more wide open competitions for starting spots than many others: TE, WR, MLB, OLB and DE. I believe that is both a good sign and something our coaching staff has done well this season.

Thoughts?

06-10-2004, 03:26 PM	#1
JKool 1000 Posts + Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 2,423	Clearing the Deck Clearing the deck more popular than ever By Pat Kirwan NFL.com Senior Analyst (May 31, 2004) -- Every NFL coach over 40 years of age has had to adjust the way he motivates his players, and more importantly, how he evaluates his players. In the NFL before the Collective Bargaining Agreement, all veterans spent the month of August competing head to head with the new rookies for their starting jobs. Coaches would watch two practice tapes a day and four or five preseason game tapes to draw a conclusion. That seems logical and enough information to make a decision about who was the best player to help the team win in that particular season. Things are much different these days because roster decisions more and more are made in the offseason, not in pads, and now more than ever, not head to head. Over the past few years, teams are "clearing the deck" before a competitive situation can exist. There is a trend afoot that challenges how coaches coach Get the rest here: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/7377865 _________________ I thought two things were of interest in this story: (1) What do you guys think about this tactic (clearing the deck) for dealing with players? Do you think players are really all such babies that they can't handle the competition with another skilled player? It does make you wonder about coaches' abilities to really deal with the attitude of players these days - perhaps it sheds some light on the "cancers" that seem to develop on teams (i.e. players are just such giant babies that when things don't go there way, THEY become a problem). It looks like lots of coaches are opting to avoid those kind of problems to the detriment of the team (fewer good competitions for startings spots, fewer respected vetrans, and so on). I was just wondering if any of you had thoughts on this trend. (2) Perhaps this says something good for our own coaching staff. They did not immediately dump one of Howard or Grant the second they got Smith. They are not getting rid of vetrans like Pathon and Horn to make room for Stallworth (and thank goodness too). Our team may have more wide open competitions for starting spots than many others: TE, WR, MLB, OLB and DE. I believe that is both a good sign and something our coaching staff has done well this season. Thoughts?