The Coach Killer

When a player is labelled a coach killer, it usually means that to borrow a phrase from Jerry Glanville, that for that player NFL stands for Not For Long, I say usually as in this modern age the money invested in certain players does tend to tip the balance back towards the player rather than the coach.

 

In recent years there have been two examples of this, I present the careers to date of Robert Griffin III and Jay Cutler.  Both have shown great promise and possess extreme natural talent of that there can be very little argument, but both have so far failed to really deliver on that ability and promise at the expense of their coach, as the respective owner / GM is more reluctant to admit mistakes at the QB position over the coach.

 

Let's look first at the two seasons Marc Trestman had in charge of the Chicago Bears, Trestman has been an offensive coordinator and QB coach both in the NFL and in Canada and although largely unheralded as a head man, it was thought he could be the man to get the best out of the big sulk himself (Cutler).  Trestman’s first season actually went quite well and the Bears had a chance at a Wild Card till reasonably late in the season.  I remind you though that for much of the season Josh McCown was the Bears QB after Cutler went down. 

 

McCown played well enough in that half season under Trestman to win himself a big payday as the starter for Tampa Bay last season and is expected at this time to be opening day QB 1 at Cleveland this time around.  None of that would be possible without the influence of Trestman.  Yet when Cutler returned last year, the Bears fell to their worst record in years.  So who was the problem the coach who performed magic with the backup the previous year or the starter who didn’t seem to be on the same page with his options.  The team had chosen to reward Cutler with multi million $ contract when they let McCown go, therefore when sifting through the rubble of last season, Trestman was let go.

 

The Ravens have inherited Trestman now who reverts to a coordinator role once again, I have heard some Raven fans worry what they are getting because of the Bears last season.  As Aaron would say R-E-L-A-X!  Joe Flacco is much more a McCown type than a Cutler.  The Ravens will be just fine and have a great shot at the AFC North this year.  As for Cutler he has inherited Adam Gates as his new coordinator in Chicago.

 

Gates has worked with Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning and won playoff games with both, Cutler certainly falls somewhere in the middle of those two, but will we see an improved Cutler in 2015, I just don’t know. 

 

RG3 came in as the number 2 pick overall of course and Washington gave up 3 first round picks to St Louis to get him.  That debut season was one for the ages and the Redskins made the playoffs on the back of the arms and legs of RG3.  One injury to his knee and the RG3 hype train came to a shuddering halt.  Trying to find that form has cost Mike Shanahan his job already and Jay Gruden’s relationship with the QB is far from comfortable.

 

Griffin returned physically but not mentally in my opinion.  The supreme confidence he had in his own ability was shaken by the injury and robbed of his physical abilities Griffin played nowhere near the level expected of him.  Free of injury now, Griffin has managed to get through offseason and conditioning and looks from all accounts to be very sharp in camp.  Whether he is back to RG3 rookie season good remains to be seen when the games actually matter.

 

Injury to DeSean Jackson certainly won't help Griffin’s cause, but Dan Snyder seems to still believe in him so Gruden will be hoping for big things from Griffin, pulling QB’s like last season may just cost Gruden his job as well.

 

Out of the two, I think RG3 has the best chance of shaking off the negativity surrounding him, sorry Bears fans but I think despite the money invested you will need a new QB next year, for your sake I hope I am wrong!