Smidgeon, I think there are degrees of scapegoating/blaming. I will own that I questioned the possibility of firing Capers and letting TT continue to be the solution provider for the roster issues. I wanted Capers to be replaced and I wanted TT to step aside or move into a new role, as was previously indicated would be the plan when he's done. I think when they knew they needed to move on from Capers, it was a reasonable time for the organization to address the longer-term needs in the front office.
I try to be reasonable and see relationships between things that are happening. Capers didn't pick all the green as grass backups on D. Capers didn't resist reasonable free agent signings for the D. He may have had some input, but was not the final decision maker. He took what he was given and tried to coach them up with his staff, and the results were mixed. He has to wear the results, even if it's not all his fault.
TT had his chances to fix the defense, but in the multiple chances that he had, they could never really get back to where they were in the Super Bowl year, when the D still had Collins, Tramon, and Woodson and a young Clay. I think it just shows how hard it is to find talent. In totality, TT did well. Lately his record was not as good, he was letting guys walk who had talent to offer other teams, which didn't used to happen, and likely the biggest factor, he's getting older, and the team needs some new perspective.
I don't think I was scapegoating as much as being realistic to what was happening and wanting the team to take a new approach to fixing what was wrong, and there definitely are deficiencies that need to be addressed. We're not out of the woods yet. It's a good start, but it works with the new leadership/coaches when they start to overcome the deficiencies they were showing, which hopefully will be the case in A-Rod's remaining time here. Staying the same wasn't going to work, that's all it was for me. If it had been working well with TT and Capers, sure, stay as long as you want. It wasn't, so it was time for the change. No disrespect to any previous success.
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