Honestly, I watch it and my takeaway is wow all that knowledge and experience of seeing every imaginable situation in football history is now out the door. They were prepared for everything.
Yep, same. One of my theories with the falloff the last few years is that Bill spent so much time trying to win those last few years with Brady that he didn’t prepare for the losses of guys like Ernie and Scar that he could trust. Which led to … well, we know what that led to.
But in the spirit of Celebrating What Is/Was, this shit is must see. Two hours and forty five minutes of Ernie talking football and Patriots!
Watched it this morning. Outstanding. So many great stories and insights. And he’s very funny and engaging as well. Every time I read or see something about Ernie, I’m reminded how ridiculous it is that so few, if any other, teams employ someone like him. At least that I’ve ever heard about. He can’t be the only football nerd who would love to do that for a living.
Ernie, Scar, Josh, Ivan Fears, even the Brians (Flores and Daboll). Those were some great coaches and staff members who had pelts on the wall. You can argue that none of them were adequately replaced. That’s a shit ton of great teaching and coaching. Coach Bill’s staff the past couple of years was extraordinarily mediocre.
As an in Bill We Trust fan, I think this is fair. I wonder if @Van Everyman is correct in that Bill inadequately prepared for all the brain loss. I'm not sure he couldn't handle balancing trying to win as much as could during TB's last couple years and replacing a staff ... so much as he had whatever process he developed for doing so and it simply didn't succeed. That stuff happens and isn't uncommon even to the great ones.
Looking at the current staff, I don't see much hope in improving upon the outgoing staff but that's a topic for a different thread, I suppose. In any event, Ernie is a delight and these Edelman pods are amazing and fun. A good bow on a stellar 20-year run.
Reboot time.
I just got through reading a post on how AJ Brown would have sucked with the Pats because the Pats suck. After reams of similar arguments about why drafting a QB is useless at best, signing high-end talent at different positions is a waste, etc., because the team is a dumpster fire.
Even with the two all-time NFL GOATs in the rear-view, the Pats are not a dumpster fire.
They have competitive talent at most spots - a full set of high-in-each-round picks - tons of cap space. And yeah, it gets cold in NE, and the taxes are high. But, with sorrynotsorry apologies to Pittsburgh, Dallas, Green Bay and SF, the Pats are THE most accomplished franchise in league history*. With the asterisk meaning, "especially in the current century, most of the good footage of those other franchises might as well be in b&w."
Lots of if's today, but if Mayo can get the ship pointed in the right direction and everyone rowing that way, this team can definitely make some waves this year and in the next several.
I just got through reading a post on how AJ Brown would have sucked with the Pats because the Pats suck. After reams of similar arguments about why drafting a QB is useless at best, signing high-end talent at different positions is a waste, etc., because the team is a dumpster fire.
Even with the two all-time NFL GOATs in the rear-view, the Pats are not a dumpster fire.
They have competitive talent at most spots - a full set of high-in-each-round picks - tons of cap space. And yeah, it gets cold in NE, and the taxes are high. But, with sorrynotsorry apologies to Pittsburgh, Dallas, Green Bay and SF, the Pats are THE most accomplished franchise in league history*. With the asterisk meaning, "especially in the current century, most of the good footage of those other franchises might as well be in b&w."
Lots of if's today, but if Mayo can get the ship pointed in the right direction and everyone rowing that way, this team can definitely make some waves this year and in the next several.
Yeah, the idea that excellent players would fail in New England is an absurd take. Get good players and the rest becomes a lot easier; no team has All-Pro caliber players at every position.
The reboot should be fun to watch, and it starts with this draft.