Turnaround Time

[NC_Skins]

I've waited a bit before I came in here with my thoughts. I believe Mike is still a top notch coach when it comes to the offensive side of the football. You probably won't find a better mind when it comes down to it. Unfortunately for him, he's probably the right coach at the wrong time. Let's review some of the road blocks he's had to deal with:

2010- Inherits oldest team in league with salary cap issues.
2010- Unable to gain any decents FA due to restricted FA market in uncapped year.

2011- Lockout forces delay of TC and free agency.
2011- Penalized 38 million salary cap hours before the start of free agency. 18 mil applied this year.

2012- 18 million salary cap penalty

That in and of itself is hard for any coach to overcome. I'm not sure I would have even walked up in this mess to begin with, but something tells me he has the ego to think he can undo it all.


Fast forward to 3 years later. Even with all that has hampered the initial rebuilding, Mike apparently got it right in the fact we had the talent on this team to win our division last year. Are there other teams with more talent? Most definitely. Are we capable of competing and winning our division again? Most definitely. So that leaves us with the question.....why aren't we?

I think, bottom line, this comes down to coaching. It takes a good coach to realize when he needs to replace a broken cog in the wheel, and to instill discipline in players on the field. What we have seen on the field the past two years is anything but that. I for one thought Haslett should have been replaced last season, and nothing has changed that opinion so far. He's trotted out one of the worst defenses in NFL history, yet has the talent to be much better. Yes, players to bare some of the blame here, but we've heard from insiders saying they didn't buy into Haslett's scheme. It shows. To be fair though, Haslett should have never been hired. He didn't want to run the 3-4 scheme, and he's suited for a 4-3 style of defense. Hiring a square peg trying to fit him in a round hole was another huge mistake from Mike.

Another coach that needs to be let go is Bob Slowik. Who is this guy you ask? Well, you have to reach back to the Denver days during a time when their defense was shitty, which ultimately caused Mike his job. The main reason is because he refused to fire the DC at the time, who was none other than Bob Slowik.

Another huge sign of discipline comes in the forms of penalties. A team that has huge amounts of penalties shows very little discipline. It's the ONE thing that will drive me up the wall, and there simply is no excuse for it. You can forgive a blown coverage, but personal fouls, offsides, and others are inexcusable.

Bottom line is Mike has to make some changes to this team or Mike has to go. It really is that simple. Is he willing to make the necessary changes to prolong his career and push this team to the next level? Only time will tell, but if his stubbornness gets in the way again like it did in Denver, he needs to be handed his pink slip.