Prediction on Kurt Schottenheimer...

[Bretsky]

Joe Baker did a respectable job with the secondary last year. He coached with Bates for many years. For whatever reason, MM chose a Fraud over a qualified coach in Baker. It's what happens when you let your personal past loyalties cloud your judgement.

B

[Guiness]

I think the best thing we can hope for is Lurker's scenario - they bring in another guy to 'help', but essentially put him in charge. Then they can just let Schott be the guy who deflects the balls in the tip drill.

[Freak Out]

Shott needs to be shot. Just get it over with.

[Merlin]

Re: Prediction on Kurt Schottenheimer...

He will be fired right after the Rams game...

Even if the packers win, this will give them enough time to find a new coach / premote one and have the bye week to get him be comfortable with the defense....

Thats my prediction...

They already have a coach in Lionel Washington. The players respect him, he did a good job last year. He even got Carrol to actually do his job 80% of the time last year. why he isn't already the coach is beyond me...

[Bretsky]

Re: Prediction on Kurt Schottenheimer...

He will be fired right after the Rams game...

Even if the packers win, this will give them enough time to find a new coach / premote one and have the bye week to get him be comfortable with the defense....

Thats my prediction...

They already have a coach in Lionel Washington. The players respect him, he did a good job last year. He even got Carrol to actually do his job 80% of the time last year. why he isn't already the coach is beyond me...

Good points; I've often thought the same. I almost wonder if he's a guy too close/in with the players so the coaches question whether he can be their buddy and leader. Just a hunch.

Sherman passed him and now MM; if Baker wasn't rehired I sure was surprised Washington was not. When I heard about Schott by only reaction was OMG. I'm sure the Rams were happy though.

B

[Oscar]

I said in another thread that Schottenshooter should just step down. Take one for the team as another poster said. It's also been noted that these young players can't play any worse than A.C. SO wheres the harm in bringing in Washington or another young coach to take over for Schott. He can't do any worse... Right?

[Merlin]

I said in another thread that Schottenshooter should just step down. Take one for the team as another poster said. It's also been noted that these young players can't play any worse than A.C. SO wheres the harm in bringing in Washington or another young coach to take over for Schott. He can't do any worse... Right?

I agree, the train of thought needs to be:

"What's the worst that can happen?"

[packmac]

What keeps surfacing is that coaching changes are rarely made during the season. But it's not that it's unprecedented, just rare. (i.e. Jim Bates 2004 Dolphins)

The question is...why is it rare? Does it not work? Does it take too long to learn a new scheme? Too confusing for players? Too expensive?

If it's just because it's too hard to admit a terrible mistake...better to confess and go foward. It's time to start making plays. It's time to win.

[cpk1994]

Its because, as Bretsky says, HC are overprotective of the assistants they hire. Exhibit A: Tom Rossley. They guy was here way too long. But Sherman wouldn't fire him because he was Shermans's buddy.

[run pMc]

I've wondered about why Baker didn't stay on; the only reason I can think of is he was a "Bates man", i.e., he didn't want to stay if Bates was going.

I'm squarely in the camp that was surprised at the Schottenheimer hire, and thinks GB should replace him. When/if it happens, it will be this offseason.

Lurker is dead-on about bringing in another assistant to help. Wouldn't be surprised if they do something like that over the bye if we continue to get shelled. I also agree with Bretsky:

NO WAY they fire him during the season; sends a bad message to all coaches in the NFL about GB

I do think MM could have done better with selecting a DB coach. Washington has been around for years; if he's not the DB coach, there's gotta be a reason why. It's a little early to speculate on who GB should replace Schottenheimer with. Washington aside, the candidate pool probably comes from looking at fired coaching staffs, someone really good from the college ranks, someone young & relatively unknown.

[run pMc]

What keeps surfacing is that coaching changes are rarely made during the season. But it's not that it's unprecedented, just rare. (i.e. Jim Bates 2004 Dolphins)

The question is...why is it rare? Does it not work? Does it take too long to learn a new scheme? Too confusing for players? Too expensive?

My impression of this is that it happens on the head coach level when the coach has lost the confidence of the players, GM and owner, and is essentially a lame duck /dead man walking. The pressure gets to the organization, they decide to give in, and convince the HC to resign or just fire the guy. Someone else on the staff is voted to step up and audition to see if they have the stuff to turn it around. If not, no big deal; the rest of the staff was likely to get fired with the HC at the end of the season anyway. You wouldn't bring in a new HC mid-season; HC usually need a couple of years to install a system, get "their kind of players", assistants, etc.
That's head coaches. On the DC or DB coach level I think it's pretty rare because a HC is going to protect his assistants, and also because a shake-up in staff is very unsettling for the other coaches and players. Plus, I'm not convinced it sends the right message. Firing someone after 4-5 games is a pretty short leash. That's not a situation someone is going to want to work in, especially if you have to move your family across the country to Smallville for it.

[Guiness]

What keeps surfacing is that coaching changes are rarely made during the season. But it's not that it's unprecedented, just rare. (i.e. Jim Bates 2004 Dolphins)

The question is...why is it rare? Does it not work? Does it take too long to learn a new scheme? Too confusing for players? Too expensive?

If it's just because it's too hard to admit a terrible mistake...better to confess and go foward. It's time to start making plays. It's time to win.

'04 Dolphins were definitely an exception. Wannstedt resigned, admitedly under heavy pressure, and they HAD to find someone else. I think you'll find most mid-season coaching replacements are like that. Even Spurier finished out the year with Washington

[Brainerd]

Monday was a watershed day in the brief NFL head-coaching career of Mike Nolan. It was the first time someone asked if the 49ers' coach was prepared to can a member of his staff.

Based on Sunday's 41-0 loss at Kansas City, there was indeed plenty of NFL chatter and later, a posting on the Web site profootballtalk.com -- which gets it right a lot more than it gets it wrong -- that Nolan was poised to fire 49ers defensive coordinator Billy Davis and replace him with Mike Singletary.

They've all been through this, NFL coaches. Dick Vermeil endured endless grief about his trusted friend and defensive coordinator, Gunther Cunningham, whose horrible units were consistently ranked among the worst in the NFL while the Chiefs' offense was establishing itself as the league's most prolific.

What happened? Vermeil's great offenses were weighed down by his terrible defenses, and the Chiefs paid the price as a whole. In 2004, Kansas City's offense averaged an NFL-best 418.4 yards per game; the defense surrendered 377.3 yards per game, 31st in the league. The Chiefs finished 7-9.

Last season, Cunningham's unit finished 25th (328.1 yards per game) and the Kansas City offense continued to rule the NFL (1st, 387 yards per game), despite a serious injury to running back Priest Holmes.

The result? The Chiefs finished 10-6 and didn't make the playoffs. An exhausted Vermeil resigned.

Former Denver Broncos secondary coach David Gibbs plans to dispute how his midseason dismissal from the team was handled and whether he's due a salary through the 2005 season. Gibbs, fired by coach Mike Shanahan Nov. 9, has informed the NFL and the NFL Coaches Association of his plans and has asked an arbitrator to rule on his salary

There is always talk of firing DC's mid-season. The dismissal of position coaches may not be common place but there is precedent.

[Packers4Ever]

I don't think anyone has posted this - I just came from reading a few posts at JSO, the one in question being "did MM praise Schottenheimer?' on his show the other night. It was posted today, some interesting reading on this topic...