The Easiest, Most Correctable Action: Fixing the FO/Coaching Disjointment

[Bear Hands]

Opinions on Fitterer aside, this cannot happen again.  This is the Tepper-era's GM/Coaching Pattern (not counting Interims):

Hurney/Rivera -> Hurney/Rhule -> Fitterer/Rhule -> Fitterer/Reich -> ?

You start with an established GM/Coach combo (that we should've cleaned out) that had a set structure.  Then, move to a coaching car-sales czar that controlled all w/Hurney as a lackey. Then you shift to hire a GM to pair with the coaching czar, then as things are slipping, the GM is given more power to build.  Onto a GM & AGM collaborating with the HC in a more evened out role.  IT'S AN ABSOLUTE MESS organizationally.  

And then you factor in an assessment of the roster this actually resulted in: The player personnel is the worst in the league, bar none.  It's the absolute worst.

There is legitimately no one on offense, line or skill position to feel even a modicum of comfort with moving forward.  We've got Derrick Brown and (maybe) Brian Burns to build around on defense.  Frankie Luvu is set to be a FA but is our notable fan fave and has played great.

And this all comes back to management.  Whether coaching influenced certain FA or draft selections, at the end of the day, you need a GM and scouting department that maintains course, and can stand their ground with the team's vision.  A staff that understands what the team needs over who a coach's favorite is. 

I heard far too much this offseason about Reich for example really loving Chark, or Evero loving DJJ, or Campen wanting Zavala.  So with this pushover GM situation, how on earth do you move forward with that and finding a coach to pair him with? You simply don't, you hard reset this.

If there's any lesson learned by Tepper that can start a course correct, it is that you need to wipe the slate clean.  EVERYONE is starting to recognize this--national & local media and diehard fans alike.  

Whether any particular move was pushed by a coach, Tepper himself or Scott, at the end of the day, you need a GM who can push back to show how to exercise patience.  You need a guy that can have the healthy argument and own it-- "Hey, I know you like him but we have glaring holes at our offensive skill positions, we can't give up more picks". 

 

 

And bottom line/TLDR --

It needs to be a pairing, with established roles.  I honestly don't care if Tepper gets someone or not to run the search for him and come on in a president/exec role, but the disjointment between GM and HC needs to end.  Clean it out, reset.

 

[frankw]

To say the cupboards are bare is a severe understatement.

2 out of our 3 top defensive players were drafted by Hurney.

On offense we traded away a top 10 WR also drafted by Hurney.

Scott Fitterer must go!

[Waldo]

The hard reset should have started in the FO. It's a bad sign that a poor performing GM is lined up to be kept.

I see zero signs Tepper is ready for a hard reset. It appears to me he is just changing the parts that got in the way of what he envisioned in the offseason.

Maybe in '25 we get that beautiful hard reset but it could very well be another 1 and done HC next year under Fritterer. (I also have zero faith that will end better than this year)

 

[jamos14]

I think Fitt is all but gone.  I don't see any chance he stays around.

 

This is the way.

[Bear Hands]

4 minutes ago, Waldo said:

The hard reset should have started in the FO. It's a bad sign that a poor performing GM is lined up to be kept.

I see zero signs Tepper is ready for a hard reset. It appears to me he is just changing the parts that got in the way of what he envisioned in the offseason.

Maybe in '25 we get that beautiful hard reset but it could very well be another 1 and done HC next year under Fritterer. (I also have zero faith that will end better than this year)

 

That's what I'm afraid of and hope he realizes sooner than later.  Whether he likes Scott or not, he needs to reset this so that the GM/Coach pairing actually makes sense.  Fitterer has this ever-changing role going on since Rhule, but as his role has expanded, we keep getting worse.  And whether it's his decisions or not, he's the GM, and the roster top-down is the worst in the league.  It's just unacceptable.

 

[Waldo]

11 minutes ago, Bear Hands said:

That's what I'm afraid of and hope he realizes sooner than later.  Whether he likes Scott or not, he needs to reset this so that the GM/Coach pairing actually makes sense.  Fitterer has this ever-changing role going on since Rhule, but as his role has expanded, we keep getting worse.  And whether it's his decisions or not, he's the GM, and the roster top-down is the worst in the league.  It's just unacceptable.

 

It stinks but all signs point to more not less of the same.

[Bear Hands]

After today's presser, it's hard to tell what will happen with Fitterer.  

 

[Mr. Scot]

Yeah, the offensive line is not in any way devoid of talent. It's just being misused.

[Bear Hands]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Yeah, the offensive line is not in any way devoid of talent. It's just being misused.

Was Bozeman a 6-game stretch aberration? He's been awful regardless of assignment this year.  Same goes for Icky.  Is he really going to be better at OG simply because scouting reports suggested such?  Why are we confident he suddenly becomes a great OG? 

Corbett is injured again and may be long term issues with his leg.   Moton is still good.  So I'll give you that, but he won't be here by the time we build something.  

Have no faith or comfort in their ability moving forward.  

[WhoKnows]

1 hour ago, frankw said:

To say the cupboards are bare is a severe understatement.

2 out of our 3 top defensive players were drafted by Hurney.

On offense we traded away a top 10 WR also drafted by Hurney.

Scott Fitterer must go!

Our offense’s best players were Moore and CMC, both gone before 2023 and both drafted by prior GMs (Hurney and Gettleman). Heck, our best OL was drafted by Gettleman too. It’s pretty scary how stripped our team is right now and without our 2024 1st and 2025 2nd, we don’t even have a full set of picks to get better. We need a new GM stat.

[Mr. Scot]

54 minutes ago, Bear Hands said:

Was Bozeman a 6-game stretch aberration? He's been awful regardless of assignment this year.  Same goes for Icky.  Is he really going to be better at OG simply because scouting reports suggested such?  Why are we confident he suddenly becomes a great OG? 

Corbett is injured again and may be long term issues with his leg.   Moton is still good.  So I'll give you that, but he won't be here by the time we build something.  

Have no faith or comfort in their ability moving forward.  

Bozeman is having to adjust for having one, and frequently two, poor guards beside him.

Ickey would be better as a guard for the very simple reason that he would have blockers on either side of him rather than having to go wide, something that isn't his strength.

The Saints protected Drew Brees well by having three very solid interior blockers rather than just good tackles. That's extremely important for a shorter quarterback like we have.

[FuFuLamePoo]

Exactly. You need a GM + HC that share a similar vision for the construction of the roster/identity of the team. You do not waver from that. If Fitterer isn't gone we are truly screwed. Tepper has to also allow patience to let them build this roster from scratch more or less. By far the worst roster we have ever had.

[PanthersGTI]

100% those guys need to be simpatico. We need 2 fresh pair of eyes that can evaluate this mess and have no ties to anything before it. Correct me if I'm wrong, the GM usually brings in the HC ( with owner input ), so why have we been shying away from that? There is too much corporate America through patterns floating around BOA. 

[Bear Hands]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Bozeman is having to adjust for having one, and frequently two, poor guards beside him.

Ickey would be better as a guard for the very simple reason that he would have blockers on either side of him rather than having to go wide, something that isn't his strength.

The Saints protected Drew Brees well by having three very solid interior blockers rather than just good tackles. That's extremely important for a shorter quarterback like we have.

Not really about the thread but sure to the Saints point.  You're selling me on changes to the OL and what could be successful.  But that's reliant on making changes under a new staff, and hoping they progress once things are adjusted.  I'm not banking on that and that's not what this is about.  

Poor roster construction, poor scheme pairing.  Doesn't change the point of having alignment between a front office and coaching staff.     

There's nothing to suggest any modicum of comfort moving forward.  If you're needing to sell potential improvement on both scheme and positional changes..(& needing better guard depth) then they clearly had some misalignment staff-wise.  Product shows that at 1-10 clear as day.