One of the things I haven’t seen a ton of discussion about, and is actually (IMO) one of the most compelling reasons to consider moving on is the brain drain in the coaching staff and front office.
many of us credit Scarnecchia for “coaching up” and getting the most out of undrafted guys, late round guys and journeymen. But I haven’t seen a lot of the inverse, where these current position coaches get blamed for guys not developing properly.
Bill is notorious for not going external for coaching hires, usually promoting from within. When he does go external, it’s usually a reunion (OBrien, McDaniels, Judge) or a former player (Klemm, Mayo). There have been a few exceptions, Dave DeGuglielmo etc but he almost always defers to his network of guys. And I think that pipeline has been tapped dry over the years.
as much as made about Bill the Gm, or the underperforming (or bad) players he has drafted or signed, it could be that Troy Brown and Adrian Klemm are just bad at their jobs. There’s nothing in Klemm’s resume to suggest he’s an effective OL coach (certainly Steelers fans didn’t like him much), Brown has no resume other than being a fan favorite and pretty good slot receiver. What qualifies Vinnie Sunseri to coach RB or Cam Achord to coach ST?
it’s a ton of inexperienced and unproven guys coaching and developing players. You don’t have veteran coaches, or even guys who were moderately tenured assistants.
A new coach would have a whole new network of position coaches and assistants. Might hurt on the defensive side of the ball (Steve, Mayo) but none of the coaches on the offensive side of the ball are inspiring and certainly seem to lack the skill, leadership and coaching ability of Scarnecchia, Fears and (yes) McDaniels.
The 2004 team had McDaniels, Daboll, Fears, Scar, Pepper Johnson, Pees, Crennel, Weis, Mangini and Seely. Yes failed future head coaches abound in that list but they were skilled and talented at their specific role. Even the young guys in that group went on to bigger and better things before stalling out. This current group of coaches is nowhere near as inspiring.