As the cries to fire Josh McDaniels added up last year, one of the big criticisms was that he was trying to be Bill Belichick Jr. These observations were valid ones; presumably Josh had seen Bill Belichick's methods work in New England, and tried to bring all of it with him. As Broncos fans, we should be happy to see some of these similarities.
While the results have not come yet, we should be happy that McDaniels looks for "system" players, who have good attitudes and play for the team first. Tom Brady and a bunch of no-names won three rings, and meanwhile the Cowboys are always entertaining but have no recent results to show for it. As hard as it was to stomach at times, McDaniels has been very consistent in showing that no player is bigger than the team, and if one thinks he's bigger than the team, he's gone. Not everybody agrees, but to many analysts, coaches, etc, that is the way to win in today's NFL. Hopefully McDaniels finds some success with those methods that he learned in New England.
It's all the other Belichick stuff that needed to go. It was the secrecy of injuries, simply listing a player as out with a "lower extremity" or "upper extremity" injury. It was all the short, curt "I don't know" or "I can't comment on that situation" answers. It was interrupting reporters, talking to them like they were stupid, and guarding every last bit of information to seemingly not give anything away to other teams. That was how he truly alienated himself from fans and reporters. Bill Belichick gets a pass for being a jerk because he's a "genius" and he's just kind of quirky. Nobody else is going to get that pass, and it was extra frustrating from McDaniels because you got the sense it wasn't who he really is. One example of this was his interview after a Brandon Marshall dust-up last training camp. He blitzes reporters with "I don't know" answers, and even says to one, "even if I did (know), I wouldn't tell you." McDaniels interview 8/2/09.
Now McDaniels seems to be showing some of his own, genuine personality. It is a welcome change, and he may prove to be an engaging coach when he's himself. We saw somewhat of a transition out of the Belichick Jr. behavior when he celebrated a victory over the Patriots last season by pumping his fist up and down the sidelines and high-fiving fans. As training camp continues this year, McDaniels is much more open and candid, and in doing so, he is not completely shutting out reporters and fans. In this interview after yesterday's practice, he explained that special teams coverage would be a point of emphasis in the coming practices because of the over pursuit in the Bengals preseason game. He then went through the wide receivers, referring to each by name, and said what they do best. McDaniels described Jabar Gaffney as crisp and efficient, Brandon Lloyd as smoothe and sneaky fast (if you say so, Josh) and Eddie Royal as great in the slot and quick. What is perhaps the most noteworthy is that he has ditched the "what a stupid question" tone in his answers.
To compare, Bill Belichick gave this interview after a recent Patriots practice. To be fair, he is much more friendly with the local media than he is national reporters in interviews we see on ESPN during the season. But the answers are still blanket answers that make the reporter look stupid for asking in the first place. When asked about an emphasis in practice, Belichick cut off the reporter and said "Just trying to get better. Every phase of the game." He later answered a question about Wes Welker, who is coming off a very serious knee injury, by simply saying "Wes is here. Yep. Wes is here."
There are those of us who have always been on the Josh McDaniels bandwagon. For others, there have been a number of reasons to shout, join facebook groups or create websites about why McDaniels should be shown the door. Whether those fans are right that McDaniels is a bad coach remains to be seen (one season isn't enough. Sorry). Regardless of where you stand on McDaniels with x's and o's, we should all find his departure from the Bill Belichick persona refreshing. Now he just needs to lose that hoodie.
Please just trade him
Here's hoping the Nuggets don't let themselves get jerked around by Carmelo Anthony like the Raptors and Cavaliers just did by Chris Bosh and Lebron James. The Cavs were especially naive in thinking that one great season with a run at the title would persuade Lebron to stay. He clearly was going to take his talents to South Beach all along. If Carmelo does not sign his extension, and if he starts giving the same elusive answers we saw from the free agents of this past summer, he's gone. He's an east coast boy and it appears he has always wanted to move closer to home. If he plays out this last season in Denver before his free agency summer, it does not matter how far the Nuggets go; he will leave. And by the way, this Nuggets team is not going anywhere. Al Harrington doesn't answer any questions unless you're asking "who else can we get who shoots first and worries about defense and rebounding later (or never)?"
None of us should be fooled by Carmelo's half answers. These guys are PR saavy enough to know that they cannot say outright "I'm leaving." Anything short of 'Melo signing his extension and saying "I'm a Nugget for life" means he's gone, sooner or later. So please, make it sooner and get something for him.
Favre Watch!
Not. He's back. Whatever.
Links to good reads around the Web
1. Don't be fooled by Ric Bucher. He may have "confirmed" the rumblings about Carmelo Anthony, but Chris Dempsey had the story first for the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_15790008
2. Mark Kiszla on how the Nuggets should approach the 'Melo situation: http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_15800179
3. Dave Krieger with another Carmelo take (hey, it's the news in CO right now): http://www.denverpost.com/krieger/ci_15810611
4. Tom Verducci says that Josh Hamilton is the best all-around player...since Mickey Mantle (!): http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/08/17/josh.hamilton/index.html
5. Jeff Passan from Yahoo! on concussions: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AqpoSN2MIVcRiVq_8hyQnZ45nYcB?slug=jp-concussions081710
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