Answers in Search of a Question: Repeating the Past
by BShrout on Mar 18, 2010 4:30 PM MDT
in Strictly My Opinion
31 comments
"We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself." -- Lloyd Alexander.
"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it." "Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it." "Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it." "Those who are ignorant of history are condemned to repeat it."
The above quotes have one thing in common: they are all misquotes of George Santayana's famous aphorism: "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." It is often helpful to look backwards as we try to understand the direction we are taking as we move towards the future. This is especially important for us as we try to discern the direction that McDaniels is leading us. Listening to voices from the past might just give us some insight into where we are headed, and lend us hope that we will not simply be seeing a repeat of the last ten years. More after the fold.
Today's article is based on a couple of different things. First, McDaniels is, by all accounts that I've read, well-versed in NFL history and strategies. I'm inclined to believe that he has, at least, book knowledge of what it takes to build a winning franchise. I would also suggest that his eight years with the Patriots gave him, at least, some hands on experience with such a process. Since McDaniels hiring in 2009, there have been widely varying perceptions of what he is trying to accomplish. During the free agency period of 2009, when he brought in a number of veterans to bolster the defensive secondary, there was a sense that we did not understand his approach. It became assumed that he was focused on "winning now." It was further assumed that he would use the draft to build for the future. That draft met with mixed reactions. The 6-0 start bolstered the belief among some fans that McDaniels was of the "win now" school. The 2-8 finish caused many to believe that he was focused on long-term team building. The start that we have seen to the 2009 free agency period once again has many fans believe that he is in the win now school. How the rest of the draft will play out, we'll have to wait and see.
My own inclination is to believe that McDaniels is attempting to walk the fine line of balancing both options. By bringing in veteran players through free agency, he attempting to create a culture of winning in the present, while using the draft and the installation of his long-term vision as the means to develop the players into a consistently competitive team over the long-term. How well he will accomplish this remains to be seen. One thing that I believe would help him, would be to listen to voices from the past, if he is not already doing so. As we listen to these voices, let us also see if we hear echos of these great minds in the the things McDaniels has been saying.
Chuck Knoll, Pittsburgh Steelers (1969-1991), Super Bowl Record 4-0 (IX, X, XIII, XIV)
| "A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning." |
| "Before you can win a game, you have to not lose it." |
| "It's not pleasant when you lose your whole football team." |
| "The key to a winning season is focusing on one opponent at a time. Winning one week at a time. Never look back and never look ahead." |
| "The thrill isn't in the winning, it's in the doing." |
| "Some coaches pray for wisdom. I pray for 260-pound tackles. They'll give me plenty of wisdom." |
Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers (1979-1986), Super Bowl Record 3-0 (XVI, XIX, XXIII)
| "We have a lot of players in their first year. Some of them are also in their last year." |
| "Nothing is more effective than sincere, accurate praise, and nothing is more lame than a cookie-cutter compliment." |
| "There's so much to orchestrate." |
| "The running game in pro football has gotten so boring. There's just four or five plays they can run. I think the whole thing is headed in the wrong direction and I think that's unfortunate." |
| "You have to reinvent yourself each year, . . . What helped us was that there was some turnover each year." |
| "It's going to take fans to a whole new level of fantasy." |
Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins (1981-1992), Super Bowl Record 3-1 (XVII, XVIII, XXII, XXVI)
| "A winning effort begins with preparation." |
| "Failures are expected by losers, ignored by winners." |
| "People who enjoy what they are doing invariably do it well." |
| "We want to go back to the glory days." |
| "We have a smart football team, and they understand." |
| "Look for players with character and ability. But remember, character comes first." |
Bill Belichick, New England Patriots (2000-Present), Super Bowl Record 3-1 (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLII)
| "What pleased me most probably was that we made decent steps with fundamentals and the foundation of the team." |
| "In the end, for me, it's more about having the best players that we can have on the roster. I think you have to look at it that way. You have to be cognizant of the overall makeup of your team, but you try and get the best players you can." |
| "A lot of times a player has a lot of versatility. That's really what their strength is and what their role is." |
| "You can play hard. You can play aggressive. You can give 120%, but if one guy is out of position then someone's running through the line of scrimmage and he's going to gain a bunch of yards." |
| "One thing that could be a problem is breaking old habits. It's not that you don't understand what the new responsibilities or plays are, but just the fact that you've been doing something a long time and you're kind of used to doing it, it's a habit, and that's not what's required in the other system and that means kinds of undoing something before you can even start to do something new." |
| "There is an old saying that the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it's not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together." |
Bill Parcells, New York Giants (1983-1990) New England Patriots (1993-1996), Super Bowl Record 2-1 (XXI, XXV (NYG), XXXI (NE))
| "Don't worry about it. It's just a bunch of guys with an odd-shaped ball." |
| "I like linebackers. I collect 'em. You can't have too many good ones." |
| "Success if never final, but failure can be." |
| "Now matter how much you've won, no matter how many games, no matter how many championships, no matter how many Super Bowls, you're not winning now, so you stink." |
| "Something goes wrong, I yell at them - "Fix it" - whether it's their fault or not. You can only really yell at the players you trust." |
| "When you don't know that you don't know, it's a lot different than when you do know that you don't know." |
Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys (1960-1988), Super Bowl Record 2-3 (V, VI, X, XII, XIII)
| "Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve." |
| "If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job." |
| "When you want to win a game, you have to teach. When you lose a game, you have to learn." |
| "I don't believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on the field and be prepared to play a good game." |
| "The secret to winning is constant, consistent management." |
| "Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan." |
Don Shula, Baltimore Colts (1963-1969), Miami Dolphins (), Super Bowl Record 2-4 (III (Bal), VI, VII, VIII, XVII, XIX (Mia))
| "I don't know any other way to lead but by example." |
| "I think what coaching is all about, is taking players and analyzing their ability, put them in a position where they can excel within the framework of the team winning." |
| "One thing I never want to be accused of is not working." |
| "Success is not forever, and failure isn't fatal." |
| "Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck." |
| "I don't want a player that's content with not playing." |
You may have noticed that I chose to include just seven Super Bowl winning coaches. The first five (Noll, Walsh, Gibbs, Belichick, Parcells) each have appeared at least three times in the Super Bowl and have posted a winning record in those appearances. The last two (Landry and Shula) were included since they had appeared in more Super Bowls than any other single coach. You may have also noted that some of the quotes are set in italics. These are the quotes which I believe I have seen echoed (to at least some degree) in how McDaniels has gone about being the Broncos coach. The five quotes, I've listed below are the ones that I believe I have most clearly seen in McDeaniels' coaching philosophy.
"The key to a winning season is focusing on one opponent at a time. Winning one week at a time. Never look back and never look ahead." (Noll)
"Look for players with character and ability. But remember, character comes first." (Gibbs)
"In the end, for me, it's more about having the best players that we can have on the roster. I think you have to look at it that way. You have to be cognizant of the overall makeup of your team, but you try and get the best players you can." (Belichick)
"There is an old saying that the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it's not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together." (Belichick)
"I don't believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on the field and be prepared to play a good game." (Landry)
What quotes from coaches have you heard that you believe McDaniels should take note of?
11 recs |
31 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
"Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck."
Notice Mr. Shula didn’t say “great” quarterback!
and this from Mr Landry “When you want to win a game, you have to teach. When you lose a game, you have to learn.”
I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades.
-- Duffy Daugherty
Oh Yeah
Thanks for the post BShrout. That was great info!
I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades.
-- Duffy Daugherty
Awesome!
I love this series and this edition in particular; well done, sir!
MileHighReport.com member since 02/06/07, promoted to "Position Coach" (i.e. new staff writer) on 02/16/10!
There is a whole lot of wisdom in those 48 quotes.
I think that McDaniels has the make up to be a great coach. That remains to be seen. It will be interesting to see if he learns as fast as he expects his players to.
I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades.
-- Duffy Daugherty
"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan."
I like this and I think McD already recognizes this as a huge part of what he wants from his players, specifically, and his team, in general.
It never hurts to reiterate something important, though.
If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.
PS3 ID: broncomaniac6
BShrout… you may have a typo on your Santayana quote. Ahhhh the irony. ; )
"My job description is to win football games. I'm a hard worker. I'm not flashy by any means, but my job is to play football and win and I plan to do that." Kyle Orton
Typo? What typo? ;-p
just kidding.
You’re totally right that that is a classic case of irony.
Thanks for catching that. I changed it to what it should have been.
We live in an age when instant gratification isn't fast enough
What quotes from coaches have you heard that you believe McDaniels should take note of?
Just one.
“We’re just trying to win the MotherF***ing game!”
Verbose in style, dispersion of thought, procrastination in life.
The guy formerly known as ZAPPA
by Tim Lynch on Mar 18, 2010 5:18 PM MDT reply actions 3 recs
This!!!
If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.
PS3 ID: broncomaniac6
by kentuckybronco on Mar 18, 2010 5:29 PM MDT up reply actions
Ditto!
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
by BroncoSense72 on Mar 19, 2010 7:00 AM MDT up reply actions
Oddly enough...
McD’s rather crude and rude quote may become one of the classics of all time.
by ivanthenotsobad on Mar 18, 2010 6:06 PM MDT reply actions
"winning is not a sometimes thing...
…it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once is a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately so is losing."
-Vince Lombardi
"Have you ever heard of the emancipation proclamation?"
- "I don't listen to hip-hop"
"Born like this / Into this"
thanks for adding that in
I had arbitrarily chosen to restrict my set of quotes to coaches with 3 or more Super Bowl appearances, but Lombardi was one of the best.
We live in an age when instant gratification isn't fast enough
McDaniels is an absolute RockStar
Your prepararation and research is apparent. You got my rec. Mr. shrout. Great read.
Good luck with the Redskins Mr. Mike! I'll be watching and cheering for a non-Bronco team for the first time in my life. Well, except when they play the Broncos!
We’re tryin to win a Mother F—-ing Game!
by Charlie Kirkpatrick on Mar 18, 2010 8:28 PM MDT reply actions
Good Quotes and Thanks BS
Calling the Pats players a wolf pack is fitting for the teams they fielded in the last decade. With a “pack” mentality, they built championship team chemistry and that is what we are trying to build in Denver as well. Hope it comes together for us like it did for New England.
"All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses." Friedrich Nietzsche
McD's always tryin'. He may not always be successful, but he's always tryin'....
He never lays down, he’s just tryin’ to win the mf game. And he hates losing. Superb post, congrats, excellent
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime.
"Losing stinks" - Josh McDaniels
by azbroncomaniac on Mar 18, 2010 10:24 PM MDT reply actions
Lol mixed results?
That draft met with mixed reactions
Mixed results? Our 12th pick in the draft was out produced by a journeyman running back (Tbuck). He had fumble problems. He was horrible in short yardage situation until the last game of the season. His speed and quickness were sub par and his supposed strength, lateral movement, was only average. Spare me the o-line woes, Tbuck produced far more behind the same line. I hope he was thinking too much last year and this year will unleash the athleticism worthy of a 12th pick. That, unfortunately, did not happen last year.
Robert Ayers was the 18th pick in the draft. Cushing was the 15th, Matthews was the 23 and Maualuga was a second round pick. Each of these had a huge impact on their teams as rookies, as did Orakpo who McD said would be cut.
Smith was basically a third first round pick. Production last year was horrible and one wonders how many productive draft selections this year will be around the spot we could have had this year had we not traded away our first rounder for smith.
All of these individuals may prove McD to be a wise man. They did not last year and still have a lot to prove.
I like Orakpo...
And was quite upset when we passed on him for Moreno.
Unfortunately however, he is a similar player in many ways of Doom, and therefore would’ve sat on the bench much of the time. Matthews is the same type of player. Cushing had injury flags.
Ayers, for good or bad has a different skill set. He sets the edge, engages the TE, etc. He showed glimpses of being good at this last year, but obviously needs to continue to develop to be the player we hope he could be there.
While a good situational passrusher to line-up across from Doom would be great on 3rd downs, I’m not sure any of those guys you’ve mentioned are actually better for what the LOLB is asked to do. If put into Ayers role, Matthews would definitely get run over from what I saw of him…. he’s a weakside guy, not a strongside OLB.
Cushing would be a great replacement for A.Davis next to DJ, but he could be hurt and out of football tomorrow (though true for all players, his is a higher likelihood than others due to history).
Orakpo continues to be the most interesting one to me… as a former DE he seems to be stronger at the point than Matthews… but once again, most of his impact last year was as a weakside pass-rusher (I live in DC and saw most of his games). Was he a better player than Doom? Absolutely not.
My interpretation of your analyses Keyworth is that you often compare apples to oranges. Comparing a strongside OLB in a 3-4/5-2 (Ayers) to a weakside OLB (Matthews) and 2 strongside OLBs who play in 4-3 DEFs (where they have more D-line interference) simply is not a fair comparison.
If you want to really compare those guys to a Denver player in 2009, you have to compare them to Doom, in which case all 3 were actually worse than what we already had. Sure they’re good players, but are they good enough to take playing time away from Doom? Do they produce the same impact if only in as situational backups?
Same with Moreno and Buck… Moreno is an inside the tackles guy, Buck is a fast outside runner… look at our 2009 O-line… which style would you predict would work better given the guys blocking?
So for the draft – Moreno looks competant, if not great. Ayers looks intriguing, but needs to have more impact. Smith looked totally lost at times and will have to turn it around to not bust. McBath looks like a stud, and may be the long-term solution at the cover safety position. Quinn was good at what we asked him to do (Block, Special Teams) but its unclear what will happen if given a larger role. Bruton looks to have a ton of potential and was a good SpecTeamer. Olsen is a big ?, but may be our starting G this year. TB is a developmental QB pick… who knows what happens. One pick never made it out of camp.
So yeah, that to me is “mixed results”. I generally don’t like early first round RBs, but I’m also not on an anti-McX witch hunt like you seem to be.
Now, I’m not saying your totally wrong… there is definitely cause for at least some concern given the mediocre results the team as a whole had in 2009… but you state your analysis like it is the absolute truth, when there are other potential explanations for which reasonable people could disagree.
by cjfarls on Mar 19, 2010 9:15 AM MDT up reply actions 3 recs
Great breakdown
I like how you drew distinctions between the different roles that the players had. It definitely makes a difference the position and scheme that a player is in. Straight across comparisons of players (though technically playing the same position [LB in this case]) must begin my being fair comparisons. Thanks for pointing that out. I didn’t know the difference between them all myself.
by bennybronx on Mar 19, 2010 9:41 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
Thanks BShrout. Good info.
Just a couple of comments:
Moreno was late coming into camp. Any days missed – I don’t remember how many he missed – is very critical to a rookie. Ayers also missed some time. I would like to see a better situation for these guys to be signed and into camp on time. These missed days were a contributing part of lower performance – how much – hard to tell.
BTW: I read in a SB Nation on the Redskins that they were going to play a little 3-4 defense in 2010. That report said that Haynesworth might be better playing DE. Interesting. When they play the 3-4, it might give some of the Orakpo fans an idea how he could have fit here. If you need the article, I will try to find it.
Madden classic!
“The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.”
John Madden (Sorry for the Raider reference)
"Mr. President, call in the National Guard! Send as many men as you can spare! Because we are killing the Patriots! They need emergency help!"
by bronco-Maine-iac on Mar 19, 2010 6:57 AM MDT reply actions
Another very relative article Brian...Alway enjoy them...Rec'd
“Luck is when opportunity meets preperation. Perfect performance comes from painstaking preperation, often for weeks, months, even years in advance.
The most successful people in every area invariably spend far more time in preperation than the least successful."
Brian Tracy
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
WTF...Didn't mean to line that out???
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
by BroncoSense72 on Mar 19, 2010 7:13 AM MDT up reply actions
Gotta love Parcell's humor and logic LOL
Thanks for the good read!
"Brandon Marshall will be a happy BRONCO WR in 2010"
Broncotodd - 2009
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
John Adams
Preparation
I remember reading up on McDaniels in the first several days after his hiring. It was a Denver Post article that quoted him (and I’m paraphrasing): “If you’re nervous, that just means you aren’t prepared enough.” I think this quote says a lot about McD: he understands that there’s going to be a lot of work involved in winning, that running an NFL team is an unbelievably complex job, that every opponent is different and thus offers different challenges and requires different strategies to conquer, that there is a whole lot more to winning than X’s and O’s. I think this quote shows that McD knows it’s a lot of work and that he’s willing to do the work, may even relish it.
And I love: “We’re trying to win a MutherF-N football game here!” This exhibits McD’s passion and love for the game and his role in the winning process. A team needs to see that their leader cares. This passion coupled with other good leadership skills and people management will percolate through the team members and invigorate and motivate them to do their best and give their all for the team.
It takes more than passion and hard work to consistently succeed but you’ve definitely got to have these two things and McD does.
Great Post. I loved all the quotes.
Nice post, Brian!
These are my two favorites of the bunch, first from Walsh:
“The running game in pro football has gotten so boring. There’s just four or five plays they can run. I think the whole thing is headed in the wrong direction and I think that’s unfortunate.”
And then from Belichick:
“You can play hard. You can play aggressive. You can give 120%, but if one guy is out of position then someone’s running through the line of scrimmage and he’s going to gain a bunch of yards.”
I think both of these things help shape McDaniels’ offensive philosophy (short passing) and the preparation aspect of the game.
Abide, the dude does. Know you not, but comfort in that I take.
Bill Belichick's qoute is a favorite of mine..It about sums up everything a head coach should believe in.
“In the end, for me, it’s more about having the best players that we can have on the roster. I think you have to look at it that way. You have to be cognizant of the overall makeup of your team, but you try and get the best players you can.”
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Getting Social With MHR
Next Game
Web Stuff
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
