Cam Ward

[TerryBoats]

3 hours ago, scine09 said:

LaFleur also fell into a great situation which enabled him to grow as a head coach.  I don't think he'd have had the success that Vrabel had with the Titans.  Mainly because I don't think he was ready.  He took over a Green Bay team with a motivated Aaron Rodgers still in his prime.

LaFluer got a HC job because of the way that he handled one of the worst situations imaginable in Tennessee. Vrabel was on his way out of the door the following year before Tannehill swooped in to save his ass.  And Rodgers had been in a rut for years until he was restored to his MVP form under LaFluer.  If every QB does better with him as their coach, maybe there's a correlation?

Edited September 2, 2025 by TerryBoats

[IsntLifeFunny]

6 hours ago, Mythos27 said:

Listen, I have no intent on arguing against Matt Lafleur. He is a great coach and he did scheme those guys open a bunch. Corey couldn't stay healthy and Taylor had bricks for hands. Mariota was too scared to throw the damn ball. Just more evidence that coaching can't cover up shit play for very long. 

And then turned around and got a HC job when our offense was mediocre to terrible besides Henry. I'm sure they were judging the offensive output when making their decision lol.

[Mythos27]

5 hours ago, titanruss said:

Willis was always a 3-4 year project before he was even supposed to see the field. He's not a good player nor has he ever been. His floor was so low that of course after 3 years he looked less incompetent. 

 

This has zero to do with LaFleur coaching him up. But putting him a decent spot to produce is a credit to LaFleur. 

 

The argument could easily be made that Callahan is the one that improved Willis. Since BC had Willis in the spring and for part of camp . He was gone for a couple of weeks and then he's magically not terrible? No. 

 

This is also a bigger indictment on Vrabel than anyone. 

 

 

That said, I don't expect Terry to follow anything other than short term answers. He's blind to long term effects of basically anything. You can see that in his political responses.

I actually forgot that BC had his hands on Willis for a bit. Personally, I don't think it was enough time to actually improve a QB nor do I think Malik improved much but if you're someone looking to give a coach credit for developing him, Cally had as much to do with his development as Lafleur did. Good point there. I agree that Vrabel largely failed in the Willis development plan but I will say that almost beating the Chiefs with Malik at QB is a coaching feat of strength. 

[Mythos27]

9 minutes ago, IsntLifeFunny said:

And then turned around and got a HC job when our offense was mediocre to terrible besides Henry. I'm sure they were judging the offensive output when making their decision lol.

People that know what they're looking at can distinguish between bad coaching and players being put in positions to make plays that they fail to capitalize on because they suck. People will dislike hearing it and might disagree but that's partly why Lafleur got his first HC shot and Vrabel is getting another one. 

[rns90]

50 minutes ago, Mythos27 said:

People that know what they're looking at can distinguish between bad coaching and players being put in positions to make plays that they fail to capitalize on because they suck. People will dislike hearing it and might disagree but that's partly why Lafleur got his first HC shot and Vrabel is getting another one. 

For whatever faults he has Vrabel is a good leader of men and the locker room ( hard to explain).  And that’s a big reason why he’s getting another shot and overshadows whatever deficiencies he has as an X and Os guy.

[NashvilleNinja]

2 hours ago, rns90 said:

For whatever faults he has Vrabel is a good leader of men and the locker room ( hard to explain).  And that’s a big reason why he’s getting another shot and overshadows whatever deficiencies he has as an X and Os guy.

 

Not really too hard. He's 6'4", 260 lbs, his personality is that of a dominant alpha male, and he's a former player with 3 Super Bowl rings. I imagine that's going to carry at least some cache in a locker room.

 

The downside is that his ego is as big as he is. Being dominant and stubborn and having major blindspots is not a good thing. Hiring nothing but sycophants to run your team and stay under your thumb is even worse. Unless he humbles himself enough to even see his flaws, let alone fix them, he will be just another in a long line of failed former players-turned coach.

[oldschool]

16 hours ago, TerryBoats said:

LaFluer got a HC job because of the way that he handled one of the worst situations imaginable in Tennessee. Vrabel was on his way out of the door the following year before Tannehill swooped in to save his ass.  And Rodgers had been in a rut for years until he was restored to his MVP form under LaFluer.  If every QB does better with him as their coach, maybe there's a correlation?

 

what are you rambling about? Lafluer was here exactly one year and came in with Vrabel. 

[oldschool]

17 hours ago, scine09 said:

LaFleur also fell into a great situation which enabled him to grow as a head coach.  I don't think he'd have had the success that Vrabel had with the Titans.  Mainly because I don't think he was ready.  He took over a Green Bay team with a motivated Aaron Rodgers still in his prime.

 

What? Lafluer had way more NFL experience when Vrabel was picked over him to be the Titans HC. Vrabel's resume was super thin at the time with barely any coaching experience at the NFL level and only a few years at Ohio State.

[oldschool]

10 hours ago, rns90 said:

For whatever faults he has Vrabel is a good leader of men and the locker room ( hard to explain).  And that’s a big reason why he’s getting another shot and overshadows whatever deficiencies he has as an X and Os guy.

 

If he could dial back his ego and let his Coaches coach, he's be a damn good HC because of the intangibles you noted. He won't change though.

[Mythos27]

10 minutes ago, oldschool said:

 

If he could dial back his ego and let his Coaches coach, he's be a damn good HC because of the intangibles you noted. He won't change though.

I tend to agree that a leopard doesn't often change his spots but I think he seems to really respect his staff in NE right now. At the very least I don't see him over-stepping Terrell Williams  on defense nor trying to tell McDaniels what to do on offense. Unlike his previous OC's these aren't guys that owe their entire career to him. We'll find out this year if he's learned how to get out of his own way. 

[oldschool]

12 minutes ago, Mythos27 said:

I tend to agree that a leopard doesn't often change his spots but I think he seems to really respect his staff in NE right now. At the very least I don't see him over-stepping Terrell Williams  on defense nor trying to tell McDaniels what to do on offense. Unlike his previous OC's these aren't guys that owe their entire career to him. We'll find out this year if he's learned how to get out of his own way. 

 

it doesn't matter who his coaches are. See Pees for example. He thinks he's BB without the resume and acts like it 24/7. Who the coaches are in NE is immaterial. 

[bizzyeddie]

1 hour ago, oldschool said:

 

If he could dial back his ego and let his Coaches coach, he's be a damn good HC because of the intangibles you noted. He won't change though.

I thought kinda the same thing...if he had two good coordinators he would make a good head coach...but I still think you need to be better than your coordinators even if just a little bit...step in and steer the ship during the crucial moments in games or during the season...he doesn't have the resume to fill that role.

 

it takes a seasoned coach to pull that off...and your gonna lose your coaches to other teams too frequently

 

that model doesn't work in todays NFL 

too much turnover 

[TerryBoats]

2 hours ago, oldschool said:

 

what are you rambling about? Lafluer was here exactly one year and came in with Vrabel. 

LaFluer made lemonade out of nightmare situation in 18 when his top pass catchers and QB went down at the beginning of the season. It was clear to see that the scheme and coaching were doing much of the work.  Vrabel clearly had no idea how to manage an offense with Mariota, even after adding a lot of talent.  

Edited September 3, 2025 by TerryBoats

[Callidus]

1 hour ago, bizzyeddie said:

I thought kinda the same thing...if he had two good coordinators he would make a good head coach...but I still think you need to be better than your coordinators even if just a little bit...step in and steer the ship during the crucial moments in games or during the season...he doesn't have the resume to fill that role.

 

it takes a seasoned coach to pull that off...and your gonna lose your coaches to other teams too frequently

 

that model doesn't work in todays NFL 

too much turnover 

Ya, even morons like McDaniels get HC jobs and finding career DCs like Pees or Kifin is almost impossible  

[NashvilleNinja]

3 hours ago, Mythos27 said:

I tend to agree that a leopard doesn't often change his spots but I think he seems to really respect his staff in NE right now. At the very least I don't see him over-stepping Terrell Williams  on defense nor trying to tell McDaniels what to do on offense. Unlike his previous OC's these aren't guys that owe their entire career to him. We'll find out this year if he's learned how to get out of his own way. 

 

I was talking with a Pats fan the other day in a fantasy league I'm in about Treveyon Henderson and how they might use him and he said he thinks Vrabel is a meathead. I guess it's not just a thing with Titans fans.

 

He said he thought they brought in McDaniels because he thinks McDaniels will be easy to keep under his thumb, that McDaniels knows he's not getting another shot at a HC gig.

 

I guess we'll see.