He routinely fails to set the edge on outside contain. He routinely fails to get near the QB on his blitzes. He is routinely beaten in pass coverage. Today, in particular, he had crucial missed tackles.
I realize he has a lot of knowledge and leadership, but his dwindling athleticism is negating whatever intangibles he brings to the table. [Reply]
For the record, this very topic was discussed on the NFL Network before the 49ers-Chargers game last night. Deion Sanders thinks he could be an NFL head coach right now but admitted there's no way he'd put in 18 hour days, as Mariucci said would be required.
What was also discussed was the fact that being a good or even Hall of Fame player doesn't guarantee a good or even great head coach. Coaching and playing are completely different, as evidenced by Singletary's failures.
They also mentioned that most guys will not put up with being essentially an intern or low level coach because they've generally earned huge amounts of money and won't need to put up with that nonsense.
ESPN the Magazine did a really interesting piece on this topic a few years ago when Bonds was going completely ape shit. The reporter asked Bonds if he ever felt a responsibility to take others under his wing and pass on his knowledge.
Bonds related a story about trying to tell one of his teammates about how a pitcher was tipping his pitches by changing his arm slot. The teammate couldn't see it, despite Bonds' repeated attempts. Incredulous, he said, he ended up walking away.
Bottom line: the greats see and do things that are difficult if not impossible to pass on to others.
So if money isn't a motivator, I can completely understand why many players don't want to deal with the frustrations, even if they wouldn't mind the hours and work. [Reply]
