When a franchise chooses the wrong guy | Page 2

LifelongNiner · 2017-12-10T15:26:34-08:00

As we enter the last quarter of the season, the rumors are beginning to fly about coaches and GMs on the hotseat. Often times, someone is made to be the scapegoat for a team's woes and there are a few times when a franchise has canned the wrong guy. Often times, it's evident at the time of the firing. Other times it is not. I want to recap a few times when a franchise canned the wrong guy and want to talk about coaches or GMs who may be unjustly fired this offseason. 1. San Francisco 49ers (1997)- George Seifert. Now I've heard he was fired. I've also heard he resigned. Regardless as to what happened, I don't think it should've gone down that way. There were lots of things the franchise did wrong throughout the 90s that led to the team being in the state it was in following the 1996 season. I glistening 12-4 record, but we weren't scaring anyone because we could no longer beat the top teams. Add in some terrible drafting, save for 1994, the talent level on the team really took a nosedive and we were really held up by the efforts of Steve Young (when healthy( and Rice during this time. The issues that plagued us didn't really improve after Seifert was gone and the wheels completely came off a few years later when Young got that final concussion in 1999 and a 2-1 team became a 4-12 team. I place the blame for our problems at the time on the front office of Carmen Policy, Dwight Clark, and to an extent, Eddie DeBartolo. 2. San Francisco 49ers (2003)- Sreve Mariucci. Of course it's us again. Under new ownership, Mariucci led us out of a temporary nose dive to some level of respectability. Back to back playoff appearances, an incredible playoff comeback, and a team that seemed poised to make a run, it was said Mariucci wanted more power. The Yorks opted to push Mariucci out and went with Bill Walsh's handpicked guy, Terry Donahue. That sent the team into a downward spiral until.... 3. San Francisco 49ers (2015)- Jim Harbaugh. I see a pattern with our team. This time, it was Baalke over Harbaugh. I don't know what the source of contention was, but I find it hard to believe it couldn't be worked out. Regardless, the decision was made that Harbaugh was out and the team went with Trent Baalke, who seemingly was going to bring in someone to solve our offensive woes. We see how that worked out. 4. Chicago Bears (2013)- Lovie Smith. I disagreed with this firing then and I disagree with it now. Coming off of a 10-6 team, I saw the Bears as a team lacking offensively, couldn't keep Jay Cutler healthy, and it was mostly due to the bad drafting the Bears had for years. I thought Ray Charles could see this from the grave. Nevertheless, the Bears gave Lovie the ax and the Bears haven't even had so miuch as a 9-7 season since. 5. New York Giants (2016) Tom Coughlin- This is another one I disagreed with, but maybe it was Coughlin's time. Two years removed and it is abundantly clear that Coughlin wasn't the guy. Coughlin ends up in Jacksonville and all of a sudden, the formerly woeful Jaguars are in the midst of the playoff run. Since Hollywood is doing all of these remakes, they should do a remake of The Miracle Worker and make it about Tom Coughlin. As for the Giants, they gave themselves a headstart by firing the head coach and the GM who was truly at the root of their problems. The team once had pass rushers galore, running backs galore, and receivers galore. Now, not so much. 6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016) Love Smith. Lovie makes his second appearance for a wrongful termination. He seemingly learned from his major failure in Chicago by getting a decent OC the second time around. They drafted Jameis Winston first overall in 2015 and the trajctory of the first two seasons had Tampa looking like a team poised to make a run. 2-14 in 2015 in year 1 and 6-10 in 2016 in year 2, with his rookie franchise QB. I thought things were looking up for Tampa and they suddenly decide to fire Love Smith, with Jay Glazer being quoted as saying he wishes the team were more successful over the last two seasons. I wonder if he wishes the Bucs were more successful this season. Does Dirk Koetter lose his job? Any others that anyone can think of?

Dec 19, 2017 at 12:33 PM

#16

LasVegasWally
Veteran
Posts: 24,912

Originally posted by jcs:
Mooch benefited from good talent...just look at his career after getting fired...lucked into the job anyway should have never taken Seiferts Job.

You nailed it!

Dec 19, 2017 at 12:34 PM

#17

LasVegasWally
Veteran
Posts: 24,912

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by socalniner:
The Browns who had Belichek and Raiders had Shanahan.

The Cowboys had JJ and could have won more championships with him.

These are, or should be, near the top of any owner-as-idiot list. Good post!

x 2

Dec 19, 2017 at 3:13 PM

#18

ColorMeBaddFan
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Posts: 770

It wasn't immediately apparent what Belichick and Shanahan would become at the Browns and Raiders.

Jimmy Johnson on the other hand had just won two Super Bowls. It was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Quite honestly, firing Jim Harbaugh was far dumber than the Browns and Raiders firing Belichick and Shanahan judging by the circumstances on hand when they had all occurred.

Trent Baalke must have been the GM version of Jeff Fisher. An incompetent Rasputin who somehow bamboozled ownership to keep him around. It's hilarious how three QBs under Fisher at the Rams are QBing the top 3 teams in the NFC right now.

Dec 28, 2017 at 2:58 PM

#19

LifelongNiner
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Posts: 24,990

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:

Originally posted by jcs:
Mooch benefited from good talent...just look at his career after getting fired...lucked into the job anyway should have never taken Seiferts Job.

You nailed it!

Who was succeeding with Joey Harrington as QB and Matt Millen as GM?

Dec 30, 2017 at 6:08 AM

#20

Dr_Bill_Walsh
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Posts: 20,755

Seifert should've retired in '95 and Mike Shanahan should've taken over

Dec 31, 2017 at 9:14 AM

#21

brodiebluebanaszak
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Posts: 15,621

Yes. Shanny was the rain maker. Should have promoted seifert to team president or some white collar position in or out of football ops.

[ Edited by brodiebluebanaszak on Dec 31, 2017 at 9:15 AM ]

Dec 31, 2017 at 9:32 AM

#22

Jcool
Veteran
Posts: 44,546

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by crabman82:
Holmgren should've got the hc job over seifert but we won 2 more titles so ppl never really mention it

Agree! Seifert was a pretty good coach, but Holmgren could have continued the Walsh offensive dynamic.

You weren't going to hire Holmgren with only 3 years of NFL coaching. Especially when you could just make him the OC & have the more experienced coach (Seifert) run the team.

[ Edited by Jcool on Dec 31, 2017 at 9:37 AM ]

Jan 1, 2018 at 8:21 AM

#23

LifelongNiner
Veteran
Posts: 24,990

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by crabman82:
Holmgren should've got the hc job over seifert but we won 2 more titles so ppl never really mention it

Agree! Seifert was a pretty good coach, but Holmgren could have continued the Walsh offensive dynamic.

You weren't going to hire Holmgren with only 3 years of NFL coaching. Especially when you could just make him the OC & have the more experienced coach (Seifert) run the team.

This. It would've been totally unrealistic for Holmgren to get the job in 1989. Also, with Walsh on the team, was Mike even calling the plays before 1989?